<p>How would Northwestern and Notre Dame differ in actual education, professors, student body, campus life, job prospects, etc.?</p>
<p>I should have searched first. I found lots of comparisons. Sorry about that!</p>
<p>Put this on the Notre Dame board too, if you already didn’t. The comparisons here will be(and were in the previous threads) very slanted towards NU. Over there they will be slanted towards ND. So you’ll have to shift through all that biased information. :)</p>
<p>I’ve been to Notre Dame’s campus and South Bend pales in comparison to Evanston. South Bend is like a failed attempt at renovating a town. Evanston is swanky and perfect for NU. That alone should make it an easy comparison beyond the fact that academics at NU are much better than ND. My two cents.</p>
<p>Compare NU and ND? Well, ND is a fine school, but honestly, there is no comparison. NU has a better location, a better name, better academics, and sometimes - just sometimes - even a better football team (but I definitely wouldn’t make my choice based on that last one!).</p>
<p>Case in point.</p>
<p>Oh and WCASParent, that last point is very, very rare, haha. </p>
<p>But seriously, I’m looking at both schools and I might even apply to both. Notre Dame has an awesome campus, and great overall school spirit that everyone associated with the school seems to carry. Campus is very united and supported. </p>
<p>Both are about the same difficulty to get in. I might be wrong about this, but I believe NU has a slightly higher SAT range, ND has a slightly higher ACT range, and the acceptance rate is about the same for both.
In other words, both are really hard to get into, haha.</p>
<p>I have not visited NU yet, but I’m really hoping I love the campus. I’d love to go to school in/near Chicago. UC was ok, nice campus, but I want to have a little fun in college, lol.
DePaul was nice, real close to Wrigleyville, in a yuppy part of the city. But I don’t think I want an urban campus.
Which leaves NU. Some say the campus is kind of ugly with a bunch of random building spit up all around campus, with no main theme or design. And apparently some love it.</p>
<p>I’m familiar with both schools and have these opinions:</p>
<p>The overall quality of undergraduate education is equally good. Evanston is much, much nicer than South Bend. You can reach Chicago by train from either school, but it’s easier, cheaper, and less time-consuming from Northwestern. Evanston has a lake view; Notre Dame has two tiny lakes that pale in comparison, but otherwise the ND campus is much prettier.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in the spiritual life—not necessarily Catholic—ND is for you. Lots of emphasis on spiritual and moral issues, community service, etc. Not that you won’t get some of that at Northwestern, but at ND, it’s a way of life. Mind you, ND is not religiously exclusive; Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and atheists attend and are welcome and happy. Nor is it oppressive. It’s just that the spiritual aspect is always present, whereas Northwestern is decidedly secular.</p>
<p>As for D-I sports, you can enjoy them at either school, but the school spirit at ND is unsurpassed. (Harder than heck for alumni to get football tickets, though. Without selling their firstborn, I mean.)</p>
<p>Job prospects are equally good, but Northwestern has the advantage for internships, being so close to Chicago. However, the advantage is slight, because ND alumni are literally everywhere. You will meet them in the jungles of Cameroon. It’s just that there are few local prospects in South Bend, so you’ll have to travel to get a decent internship. And if you’ve ever seen South Bend, you know that’s not a bad thing.</p>
<p>In the end, if your choice is between these two schools, you can’t lose.</p>