East Coaster here, questions about Northwestern!

<p>For some strange reason I came onto the thread about Northwestern's beauty and liked what I say. I figured it features prominently on rankings, why not check it out.</p>

<p>And so far I like what I see (nothing too clinching that would make Northwestern my #1 choice but it made my list - I'm only looking at colleges I'm somewhat in love with).</p>

<p>Now I was wondering if it was a fit for my goals/ambitions. I want to work in Biopharma and eventually start my own company (not just pharma, go into other things too) or become a CEO!</p>

<p>I know about the new certificate programs and all so no need to tell me about those.</p>

<p>
[quote]
While you are an undergraduate student, careful coordination of your class schedule may allow you to take courses toward a master’s degree from McCormick. Taking graduate-level classes as an undergraduate shortens the time required to earn a master’s degree. For some students, it may even be possible to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the same time.

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<p>The above quote could quite possibly make Northwestern my # 1 choice. What is the average time for Engineers to gain both a Bachelors and Masters at Northwestern? (5 Years?) How many is "some students"? I know Northwestern has extremely bright students so I'm assuming it's like the Top 1% of the class.</p>

<p>How many classes do Engineers (especially Chemical Engineers) take? Can one reasonably take 5?</p>

<p>
[quote]
Note: You are guaranteed admission to a McCormick master’s program if you finish your undergraduate degree with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher.

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</p>

<p>How hard is to get a 3.5 in ChemE? What's the average GPA?</p>

<p>How hard is it to complete a double major (in something like either Industrial Engineering or Manufacturing and Design Engineering along with ChemE) in 4 years?</p>

<p>I think that's all I have for now.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>Hahaha another ambitious kid. </p>

<p>How bright are you? That's what really counts when it comes down to whether or not you can do all these great programs that are at Northwestern. Competition can be tough. But quite a few kids make it, so if you think you're in that register, and you're motivated, then don't worry about it! </p>

<p>BA/MS isn't that hard, I don't think. I believe the minimum GPA is 3.5 for most departments, but recommended is 3.7. If you come in with enough credits, you can even finish your masters in 4 years! That being said, I don't think it's 1%, which is ... 3-4 kids. I would make an educated guess that about 20 kids complete it each year. I may be wrong though, so it would be wise to check some more veritable statistics. </p>

<p>Average GPA for engineering students is 2.7, as I hear. In the honors sections, I would estimate the average GPA to be around 3.6. I don't know anyone with GPA under 3.0 though, to be honest. </p>

<p>I'm doing a double major in Materials Science and Engineering and Applied Mathematics. I'll be able to complete it in four years, although I may have to take classes over the summer some year. </p>

<p>Any other questions? Are you planning on taking honors EA and honors calc? Those are required for kellogg certificate, you know.</p>

<p>average engineering GPA last year was 3.39... higher than arts and sciences</p>

<p><a href="http://media.www.dailynorthwestern.com/media/storage/paper853/news/2005/04/28/Forum/The-Myth.Of.The.Engineer.Debunked-1918306.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://media.www.dailynorthwestern.com/media/storage/paper853/news/2005/04/28/Forum/The-Myth.Of.The.Engineer.Debunked-1918306.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>
[quote]
How bright are you? That's what really counts when it comes down to whether or not you can do all these great programs that are at Northwestern

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</p>

<p>Depends on your definition of bright. I'll PM you my somewhat okay stats tomorrow.</p>

<p>I think chemE + econ or chemE + industrial engg is a better combo than chemE BS+MS for you.</p>

<p>So what does Northwestern look for in a student? I've been looked at the fast</a> facts, do they care for Geographic diversity (Marylander)?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>Sam Lee that's what I was thinking too, but I don't know if the MS would really help me or anything. Business is definitely the direction I want to know but I feel that starting a company (or hoping to rise quickly in one) with such little experience in the biotech field could potentially hurt me. Unfortunately this is a new field and there aren't a whole lot of people who can advise me. Is it possible to finish ChemE + Econ or ChemE + IndE in 4 years?</p>

<p>When I was there, it was very possible. We had a group of students from Hong Kong and being business oriented, many of them double-majored XYZ + econ. One of the popular combo were econ + engineering (civil/industrial being the most popular). I don't know about now. Obviously, it depends on how many credits you come in with and how many courses overlap for two majors. I'd imagine IEMS + chem E and IEMS + econ (which is popular by the way) are easier than chemE + econ. You can take 5 courses, espeically if you are incredibly bright and disciplined. The bad news is chemE has one of the most demanding curriculum at NU; it requires bio (1 quarter if I am not mistaken) and orgo (1 or 2 quarters, not sure) as foundation courses. So taking 5 courses will be a huge challenge for most. By the way, if you want to pursue the cerficiate, you have to take their prereqs in the first two years. So that would complicate the schedule even further. The good news is there's some overlap between those prereqs and IEMS curriculum. Oh...there's also engineering co-op program....with so many options, don't you like NU? ;)</p>

<p>If you want to get into business in the future, having broader education is probably more beneficial; business-related courses in econ or management sciences department will be helpful.</p>

<p>I looked at the Pre Reqs (and I can't recall what it is, it's a program that takes a Mathematical approach to Social Sciences). I'm planning on applying to that so that the pre-reqs are taken care of. I do love the academic options of NU but I don't know the atmosphere of the college et al. Unfortunately visit isn't an option, I'll see what I can do about that.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>Well, if you take that program, I doubt you can do chemE + econ/IEMS on top of that, not within 4-years. Something's got to give unless you haven't realized.</p>

<p>anyway, this is fyi: <a href="http://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/news/articles/252%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/news/articles/252&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>LoL... MMSS, ChemE, Econ, and IE at the same time.....</p>

<p>Ya but the MMSS program is selective so there are no guarantees on getting that. If I get into the MMSS program I'll probably just attempt the Kellogg's certificates and the Biotech certificate. It's so not cool on Northwestern's part. I mean why create all these awesome programs when it's almost impossible for students to take ALL of them at once and still graduate in 4 years :p</p>

<p>Ya something's got to give...</p>

<p>On a side note, Northwestern definitely has the most academic choices (tailored to my needs) out of the colleges I'm looking at. But I want to know what Northwestern is really like (the students/atmosphere etc), are the visit reports a good place to start?</p>

<p>Northwestern moves up even further :D</p>

<p>
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Does Northwestern limit the number of international students?
No. Northwestern seeks the most diverse student body possible and does not place limits on the number of students from any country or group of countries.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>
[quote]
But I want to know what Northwestern is really like (the students/atmosphere etc)

[/quote]
</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=364425%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=364425&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>That thread has been sitting on my Bookmarks toolbar for quite some time now. Thanks, will read it!</p>