College Comparisons

<p>Hi everyone, first time posting</p>

<p>Was wondering if I can get a direct comparison about everything (academics, population, campus life, aid, etc) between
Northeastern vs Boston University
University of Chicago vs Northwestern
Columbia vs Harvard
SUNY Fredonia vs SUNY Geneseo</p>

<p>Also if anyone has been to or has experience with NYU, was wondering about the campus life, amount of aid given, and maybe a breakdown per school since you must apply to one college</p>

<p>I know this list is extremely varied, but if you have any input on any of them please feel free to share
Thanks!</p>

<p>This is a lot to ask in one question. There are tons of threads on U. Chicago vs. Northwestern, so make sure to check those out. I will just say on the Boston University vs. Northwestern that I think the academic quality at Northwestern in general is considered to be higher. The Fiske guide, which rates academics from 1 to 5, gives BU a 4 and Northwestern a 5. Not to mention the US News difference. Northwestern has a beautiful suburban campus separate from Evanston and BU has a very urban campus in the City. BU has 17,000 undergrads and Northwestern has only 7500 which can make quite a difference. I think they would be about the same on the liberal—conservative scale (not totally sure) and both somewhat pre-professional (which would be one big difference with U. Chicago which is very intellectual/headed toward PHD oriented). Not to say that Northwestern doesn’t have it’s share of students who get PHDs but UChicago is just a bit more so. You have mentioned both Columbia and UChicago, so you should also take a look at the core curriculum at each because most schools don’t have that and look at threads on core curriculum vs. open curriculum or distribution requirements.</p>

<p>Thanks for the quick reply! I was actually looking at northeastern vs BU as a safety, as Northwestern surely is more respectable academically
so youre saying most NWU grads go on to grad school and almost all UofC grads do too?
When you say theyre the same on the liberal-conservative scale, which direction do you mean?</p>

<p>Sorry I read your northeast and northwest wrong! I think when people talk about pre-professional they mean lots of pre-meds and people headed to law school or business school as opposed to people who might want to be scholars and get PHDs for research or teaching purposes. If a school has more of one or the other it can lead to a different feel. (on the NorthEASTERN vs. BU as a safety I would go with BU if your stats are comfortable enough —i.e. way at the top of their range. Fiske gives Northeastern a 2, I think, maybe because of the emphasis on work experience which might a plus for some people. Also, do people not graduate in 4 years there? And I wonder how the co-op work experience program effects bonding and social life. Just things to consider).</p>

<p>After some searching, I am really happy this forum exists!
In the past couple hours i narrowed it down, since im mostly looking for a somewhat secluded campus near a city and moreso preprofessional
So my current list is:
Boston College
Northeastern
Harvard
Notre Dame
University of Rochester
NYU
Columbia
Northwestern
SUNY Geneseo
I’m probably gonna research more into these on my own, but if anyone has any comments feel free to throw them out there! or other colleges to check out, like i was looking at maybe some PA colleges</p>

<p>Just wondering what your stats are but anyway,
You have a really great list with good variation. Nice to see Geneseo on the list as it tends to get lost among the other great New York Schools and it is much better then fredonia. For ideas of colleges in PA i would check out Cargnie Mellon</p>

<p>Thanks man!
I have about a 93% GPA, 36 ACT, 1530/2180 SAT, and 760 on two SAT 2s
For ECs I have national honor society, ap scholar with honor, eagle scout, young citizen of the year, lifeguard at 3 different pools, and rowed crew for four years and elected captain, and some others that would be too lengthy to write haha</p>

<p>Also if anyone has been to or has experience with NYU, was wondering about the campus life, amount of aid given, and maybe a breakdown per school since you must apply to one college</p>

<p>NYU is awful with aid. Anyone who has been here on CC during the spring months got to see their fair share of very sad students posting about their awful aid packages.</p>

<p>Since you have a 36 ACT, you would probably get some merit, but that doesn’t mean that you also wouldn’t get a big gap as well (if you have a lot of need). However, if your parents have a good-sized EFC that they will pay for, then perhaps a merit scholarship from NYU would work.</p>

<p>(However, there are some colleges at NYU that don’t give any merit - according to NYU website)</p>

<p>What is your EFC?</p>

<p>Quick EFC
[FinAid</a> | Calculators | QuickEFC](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Quick EFC - Finaid)</p>

<p>thanks for the heads up! if i did it right i think its around 15k
i guess my best bet at this point is to just apply and see what they offer! haha
do you know which schools specifically don’t give aid? i was thinking of applying to either steinhardt, stern, or CAS</p>

<p>if i did it right i think its around 15k</p>

<p>Have your parents said that they will pay at least $15k?</p>

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<p>I thought Hitch was commenting specifically on the number of students who get PhDs. Among liberal arts universities (that is, not LACs or technical institutes), Chicago ranks first (or close to it) for the number of graduates who go on to earn PhDs. [COLLEGE</a> PHD PRODUCTIVITY](<a href=“http://www.reed.edu/ir/phd.html]COLLEGE”>Doctoral Degree Productivity - Institutional Research - Reed College).</p>

<p>The number of alumni who earn PhDs is nevertheless relatively small even at most of the top producing schools. For every 100 Chicago bachelors degrees awarded, maybe 10 will earn a PhD in the following decade. Only CalTech and Harvey Mudd exceed 20%. Northwestern is not among the top 50. I don’t know what its PhD production rate is, but it must be less than half of Chicago’s (though it may be closer if you only include arts & science graduates).
[nsf.gov</a> - SRS Baccalaureate Origins of S&E Doctorate Recipients - US National Science Foundation (NSF)](<a href=“http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08311/]nsf.gov”>http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08311/)</p>

<p>I don’t know what the comparative rates are for entry into all graduate and professional school programs (including law, med, and business.)</p>

<p>Maybe you should look at Villanova, too.</p>

<p>With your stats, you need to include a couple of financial safeties that will give you HUGE merit for your ACT 36.</p>

<p>Apply to Fordham in New York: either LC or Rose Hill. They will POUR scholarships on you.</p>

<p>Thanks for the advice guys, Not too interested in fordham, since I’m not religious and liberal almost to a fault, looking for somewhere modern and artsy
Right now i narrowed it down to Harvard, Columbia, NYU, Northwestern, University of Rochester, Northeastern, and SUNY Geneseo, with the last two being financial safeties. I only haven’t visited northwestern, i was VERY impressed with northeastern though when I toured, its obvious they are recruiting trying to make their college stats grow rapidly every year</p>