Duke or Northwestern for Economics and/or Political Science?

College Search & Selection
1

Who has the better programs?

2

Both are excellent schools. At some point it comes down to personal preference which nobody can answer for you.

3

They’re both great schools. It boils down to what you’re looking for. Personally, I’d lean towards Duke because it has a smaller student body.

4

Economics and political science are very popular majors. ALL good schools will have good economics and political science departments.

5

Northwestern hasn Economics department that I know is top-notch; I don’t know how PoliSci compares to other schools like Duke.

One great thing about Northwestern is that, if you attend and find out that you aren’t actually interested in studying Econ (like me), its sooo easy to change majors and even schools within the university. I changed schools and now am very happy with what I’m studying.

6

thatrunnerkid, Duke is as flexible as Northwestern when it comes to changing majors. Most universities are. That’s the beauty of US universities. One isn’t locked in a major for the first two years of college.

fuzzzzzzster, Northwestern is only marginally better than Duke in Econ while Duke is marginally better than NU in Political Science. I doubt the difference will be felt by an undergraduate student. Between those two great universities, I would recommend going for fit. For example, Northwestern has an excellent 2 year program called the MMSS (Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences), which can be taken in conjunction with the Economics or Political Science (or both) major. Northwestern also has two Certificate programs offer by Kellogg which are also great. I am sure Duke also has great programs to consider. Those are the details I would focus on…assuming you are fortunate enough to be admitted into both Duke and Northwestern. :wink:

7

Northwestern is near Chicago, so if you do like the city, you will love it hear. However, if you hate the cold then don’t even think about NU.

8

@Alexandre Thanks for the informative feedback. May I ask where you obtained this information?

9

I am a big fan of Northwestern, so I research the school quite a lot. Duke is as good mind you, but I am not as familiar with it. Perhaps others can provide you with more insight into unique programs at Duke.

http://www.mmss.northwestern.edu/
http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/certificate/

10

@Alexandre wow, those programs look great. Thanks!

11

Northwestern is a great, great school. It is a Big 10 school which has a enormous impact on its social life. If you are used to the trappings and attitudes of London, you won’t find that culture in a Midwestern suburb.

If you are interested because of Chicago and winter is an issue, temper your enthusiasm. Winter in Hanover and Ithaca will be much more fun with many, many things to do.

Also, figure 90 minutes each way to Chicago on the weekend on the train. I think you will find that students going to Chicago on the weekends is actually pretty rare. Roughly half of the students receive need based financial aid, so many won’t have the cash to party in Chicago. Even the students not receiving financial aid won’t be in a position to socialize in Chicago very much.

12

You may be right about the number of students going to downtown Chicago on the weekends, but 90 minutes each way is very excessive. Train rides are between 30 to 40 minutes between Evanston and the Loop.

http://www.northwestern.edu/uservices/transportation/commuter/public-transit.html

13

Public transport to and from the burbs on the weekends is typically not great. Also you need to build time before the train ride, transfers and time after you get off.

What’s the last train back and how frequently do they run from the city to Evanston on a Saturday night?

I have waited 30 minutes for transfers from the blue line to other trains during the week.

14

If OP is from London - NU has excellent Men’s & Women’s Rugby Clubs. I am sure they would be happy to recruit a new player that knows the rules before joining the club! :slight_smile: http://www.nurugby.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJuQXD3CHUk

15

@ScaredNJDad1 the last Purple Line train back to Evanston on the weekend runs at 1:50ish.

In addition to the El, there’s an express bus that runs from NU’s Evanston campus to the medical school campus just north of the Loop, which usually takes about as long as the trains but doesn’t require any transfers, which is nice if you don’t want to stand outside in the winter.

16

Here is the Purple line schedule.

http://www.transitchicago.com/assets/1/purpleline_schedules/Foster.pdf

The Noyes stop is 2.5 blocks west of NU’s campus. Weekdays, there are express trains that will take one directly to and from the loop. On weekends, the Purple line stops at Howard, and one has to transfer to the red or yellow lines. However, these schedules as supposed to match up so there is little waiting. The trains run until 2:00 AM.

17

While I’ve heard Duke’s campus is gorgeous, Northwestern has been going on a building spree…so I would expect the campus to be even more beautiful than it is today by then time you hypotehtically arrive on campus.

http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/northwestern-wildcats-football-facility-lake-michigan-chicago-021916
https://www.youtube.com/user/NUFeinbergMed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK01tDpqVMI

Also, something unique about NU is that there a number of specialized programs that attract top talent in those fields - if you look at NU’s most famous alumni, they are often in fields like theater, creative writing and journalism. Below is a couple links to just show a sample:

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/11/07/george-rr-martin-julia-louis-dreyfus-veep-thrones
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBou1uIhLYs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5C6kG57J7Q

At the end, you cannot go wrong with either school!

18

NU also has been making a big push in chemistry / materials as well as physics lately. The same with economics. Some big recent hires are below:

http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2015/11/physicist-gerald-gabrielse-to-join-northwestern-.html
http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2015/08/bioelectronics-pioneer-john-rogers.html
http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2016/01/dichtel-joins-northwestern.html

19

Talk about the hard sell!

If the NU boosters want to talk about how their school is ranked higher for economics, I think it’s only fair to point out that Duke is ranked higher overall on virtually every major ranking and is widely regarded as being more prestigious. Also, it isn’t as though any of these universities aren’t building new facilities or hiring new faculty. In fact, two standing Duke faculty members have been awarded Nobel Prizes in the last four years. Not many schools can match that. NU certainly can’t. NU has 16 American Rhodes scholars to Duke’s 44. It has never been ranked in the top 10 by US News (Duke has been ranked outside the top 10 only once since the ranking’s inception). I wouldn’t have brought any of this up because I don’t want this to turn into a flame war or whatever. I’m just setting the record straight. Duke is more selective and arguably more prestigious.

Of course NU is a great school and is probably marginally stronger for econ at the graduate level but Duke is stronger in political science and arguably stronger overall (specially at the undergraduate level).

You’re really getting ahead of yourself though! Focus on being admitted first.

20

I don’t want to get into a contest debating which school is better (they are more or less equals), but here are some counterpoints to your assertions.

Again, I think both equally excellent schools.