<p>These schools seem similiar, which one is best overall. You can comment on anything from prestige to food etc.</p>
<p>Based on Prestige only:</p>
<p>Cornell
Georgetown
Northwestern</p>
<p>No idea about the ranking for quality of undergrad program at these schools.</p>
<p>Georgetown SFS, Cornell Architecture, Nothwestern Medill Journalism, as well as Northwestern’s School of Communication are all very prestigious. As is Cornell’s Hotel school and School of Agriculture. Regarding the other colleges or schools within these universities, they are all considered equally prestigious in my opinion. In my opinion, only Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT and CalTech are clearly more prestigious. Regarding quality, Cornell, Northwestern & Georgetown all have programs/colleges within the university that are regarded as the best in the country.</p>
<p>Well, it depends. </p>
<p>Cornell has the most stunning surroundings, hands down. And Ithaca is an awesome little college town. The Ivy reputation is impressive, but the school itself is probably the least pretentious school on your list (the atmosphere is very chill and down-to-earth…from my observations, at least). The hotel management program really stands out, and the science, engineering, and architecture programs are some of the strongest in the country. </p>
<p>Northwestern is in one of Chicago’s northern suburbs - but don’t let the suburban label fool you, it’s a very bustling area (city traffic and all). The campus has a very traditional feel. The programs in business, journalism, and engineering are really strong.</p>
<p>Georgetown is in a REALLY nice area of DC. Lots of shops and restaurants right near campus. The Catholic influence is a little bit stronger than what you might find at other religious schools, but I don’t think it’s too overwhelming (they don’t force it on you). Great for international relations, with solid programs in history, political science, the sciences, etc.</p>
<p>Stringa1234-
What are you going to major in?</p>
<p>powergrid, it is funny that you will say that Berk is more prestigious than NU but also that Gtown is more prestigious than NU as well.</p>
<p>Which one is it? NU has a higher PA score than does Gtown. It is higher than gtown in almost any world ranking. It has higher SAT scores and a higher US News ranking.</p>
<p>So if Gtown is more selective than NU (b/c you think its more selective), then NU is FAR more selective than Berk and thus more prestigious.</p>
<p>All the schools are top in academic quality. You will probably have to decide whether or not you want a city environment as Ithaca is definitely not the same as Washington DC and Chicago.</p>
<p>Let’s see what I know: Cornell has good food, Georgetown is best for anything government/IR-related, Northwestern has good professional schools, athletics are generally a bigger influence at Northwestern (Big Ten Conference), DC is a good town but I’ve heard GREAT stuff about Chicago, people at Cornell are apparently REALLY competitive, DC is warmer than both Chicago and Ithaca…I could go on.</p>
<p>If I had to choose, I think I would slim it down to Cornell or Northwestern. Those schools seem to offer the strongest programs across all fields (although the same could be said for Georgetown). Also take into consideration that on-campus social life is generally better at Cornell and Northwestern than Georgetown. Have fun choosing as these are all great schools.</p>
<p>To collegebound,
Selectivity DOES NOT determine how “prestigious” the school is. Berkeley’s academic reputation and name-recognition rivals that of Harvard, Yale, and Stanford in both the U.S. and the world (especially Asia). Northwestern and Georgetown probably have the same name-recognition, but it will depend where you are from (Midwest = Northwestern, East Coast = Georgetown).</p>
<p>Northwestern is the strongest school in terms of academic quality, that’s almost certain.</p>
<p>No it isn’t. See: Cornell.</p>
<p>Cornell and Northwestern are very close in academic quality, but I’m going to have to give the edge to Cornell…</p>
<p>icy9ff8’s points should be heeded.</p>
<p>This should not be another “my school is better than your school” thread.</p>
<p>ALL will offer particular strengths that set them apart though many departments at the 3 will offer very similar academic quality. </p>
<p>The settings for the schools are obviously quite different from one another and need not be rehashed (but certainly are critical in deciding where one might attend).</p>
<p>I actually think there’s a lot of overlap in character of the student body. </p>
<p>Georgetown’s Catholic/Jesuit ties are not superficial but surround you, a key defining point for the school. </p>
<p>Northwestern has the Big Ten, Georgetown has basketball, Cornell has hockey.</p>
<p>SFS/international studies is a major strength at Georgetown as are the internship opportunities in government offered by DC.</p>
<p>Business majors are only available at Georgetown and Cornell.</p>
<p>Engineering is only available at Cornell and Northwestern and both programs are superb all-around.</p>
<p>Journalism, Communications, Music, Education programs are all top nationally ranked at Northwestern.</p>
<p>Hotel Admin, Agriculture, and Architecture are fantastic programs at Cornell.</p>
<p>Both Northwestern and Cornell have exceptional strength in the sciences across-the-board. Georgetown’s have been historically weaker, generally playing second fiddle to the humanities/SS departments.</p>
<p>Ultimately, yeh, it’s about fit.</p>
<p>All three schools are excellent. I would probably say Cornell = Northwestern > Georgetown, but we are talking about minute differences. I guess it depends on intended major and prefered setting. </p>
<p>As far as majors go, Georgetown has a solid Business school and an amazing International Relations program. If one wishes to major is another field, I would probably recommend a school other than Georgetown. </p>
<p>Cornell is very strong accross the academic spectrum, particularly in Engineering and the Sciences. However, it also has excellent departments in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Furthermore, Cornell has several world class programs seldom found at elite private universities. Programs such as Agriculture, Architecture, Hotel Management and Industrial and Labor Relations…all of which are ranked #1 in the US.</p>
<p>As some have mentioned, Northwestern’s Journalism program is second to none, but there is a lot more to NU than Journalism. NU’s school of Engineering is excellent. NU is also excellent (top 10 nationally) in Economics and Chemistry. NU is also very strong in the Social Sciences, particularly in Sociology and Anthroplogy.</p>
<p>Georgetown is in an amazing location. The Georgetown neighborhood is one of the nicest urban settings in the US. Cornell is sort of rural, although the town of Ithaca is quite pleasant. If one loves nature and the outdoors, Cornell is ideal. Northwestern is suburban with affordable and convenient access to Chicago, my favorite North American city.</p>
<p>Georgetown’s student body is quite prepy and focused on a career in Law or Politics. Cornell is probably the most “intellectual” setting of the three. Northwestern is similar to Georgetown, but more intellectually diversified.</p>
<p>Like I said, all three are excellent, but one must chose carefully as those schools are very different from each other.</p>
<p>Stringa-
It would help if you told us which majors you are considering.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how class sizes compare at Cornell vs. Northwestern for the College of Arts & Sciences classes? I keep hearing that Cornell has absolutely huge classes, more so than many of the other elite universities. I know most of the schools say that the intro classes are large but get smaller as you get into the upper level classes. But are Cornell’s larger than most (and larger than Northwestern’s?) I know there are always exceptions, such as freshman seminars and language classes, which are usually small in most places.) Also, how does professor availability and interest in students compare at Cornell vs. Northwestern (again, for the College of Arts and Sciences)?</p>
<p>Northwestern brags about their small classes, and their largest lecture halls aren’t too big, at least, that’s what they showed on the tour. Cornell’s class sizes are quite big (class size-wise), in comparison.</p>
<p>^^ Those things are accurate descriptions of NU.</p>
<p>NU and Cornell have a greater range of subject areas that they are known for than Georgetown.</p>
<p>Besides the previously mentioned areas – NU also has a top notch school of music, school of communications (particular known for its radio/tv/film and theatre programs) and school of education.</p>
<p>Enrollment numbers for the largest classes at NU (winter 08):
- General inorganic chemistry:
Lecture #1: 148
Lecture #2: 247
(lecture #1 meets early at 9am; maybe that’s why fewer people take that section) - Accelerated general physical chemistry: 156
- Organic chemistry
Lecture #1: 127
Lecture #2: 64 - Biochemistry and Molecular Biology:
Lecture #1: 153
Lecture #2: 138 - Intro to Macroeconomics: 155</p>
<p>Not bad for the largest, IMO. As a comparison, one of the public U (not gonna name it) is 3 times the size of NU (undergrad) yet its organic chemistry class has only 2 sections (same as NU) this semester. ;)</p>
<p>In my opinion u couldnt go wrong with any of them. I would base it off of what u want to study, the area you want to be in, sports scene u want, what school seems to feel right to u. I wouldnt choose one over the other based on a slight differencce of prestige, pick the school that fits you the best.</p>