I am torn between these two school and need any insight I can get to help determine where I should apply ED.
If you don’t know absolutely and without a question where you want to go and thus where you should apply ED, then you shouldn’t apply ED at all.
@Larkin29 I understand that argument. I could honestly see myself at either school, and want to have the best possible chances of being admitted. The worst case scenario would be applying to both RD and being rejected from both.
@markiemarbles98 What are your interests, preferences, and goals for your college experience?
@Much2learn I want a school with a fairly strong spirit, like NU could offer being in the Big 10 (although not that great). Ideally, I want a friendly, open, and down to earth environment. Being close to a city is a plus. Parties are super fun, but not super into greek life. I don’t want to compete with my classmates, but I do want to be challenged.
@markiemarbles98 I think either school will provide that environment for you. One difference is that Evanston is suburban, and Penn is right downtown, but I am not sure I would think that is a big difference.
What majors interest you?
Here are the schools’ ED admissions % from the 2015-16 CDS:
Penn: 23.98%
Northwestern: 37.95%
The stats of admitted applicants (GPA, test scores) are quite similar at these schools. So based on the ED admit rates, Northwestern is probably a bit more likely to admit you in that round.This doesn’t guarantee anything; just a comment on the likelihood.
Northwestern’s overall admit % is about 13% while Penn’s is about 10%. This tells us that chances fall quite a bit in the RD round. It’s hard to tell exactly how much, since we don’t know exactly how many hooked applicants get in ED… but they are certainly worse.
I think that you should only apply ED if one is your clear #1 choice. So I recommend visiting them – that may help you make such a decision.
ED admission rate is deceiving. Penn encourages all hooked applicants to apply ED. The rate for non-hooked is about the same with RD.
@markiemarbles98 not saying this would be the definitive criterion for your our decision but there are quite a few Northwestwrn kids transferring each year to Penn but have never heard of any Penn kids transferring to Northwestern. I don’t know why that is but it is an observation I have made throughout the years.
To quote a friend of mine who was at Northwestern but transferred to Penn, “Northwestern people are just as motivated academically as Penn people but not as pre-professionally driven as people at Penn.” So Penn is probably more pre-professional.
Penn probably has the bigger social life and its location in the city also lends itself to that.
Penn students are competitive when it academics, jobs, and EC activities on campus, but I wouldn’t say it is cutthroat or mean-spirited at all.
It all comes down to what sort if environment you want. Also you could consider the relative strength of the two schools for the specific field(s) you are interested in.
Yes^ , ive heard that penn students are VERY competitive in academics.
@dreamitdoit
It really depends on what you mean by compete. Penn has amazing students. They work hard. Northwestern has great students too. These are two outstanding schools. Their students can all compete at a high level or they would not be there. D has taken courses at both schools. In her experience, Penn is a bit tougher, but she likes both schools. You will need to put on your big boy pants at both schools. I suspect for most students the differences are minor.
Still, students do not tend to be cut-throat. They tend to work cooperatively through very challenging courses. At Penn, the typical student’s level of social connectivity is high. Because of that social connectivity, any cut-throat behavior is likely to be extinguished quickly through the social network.
Penn students will tend to be doers, who are very involved outside of class, and highly socially engaged with peers. That it true in comparison to almost any other university. They really make the most of their four years in class and out. They will tend to be more pre-professional and setting up their linked-in accounts as freshmen, seeking internships and research opportunities as freshmen and sophomores. Impressively, they are reasonably successful in getting results. Again, they tend to want to do things, not just read books and listen to lectures.
I really think that which school is better depends on the student, their major, interests, preferences, and goals. You have to investigate and consider which school is best for you. For my D, Penn is a better fit, but if she had ended up being a Wild Cat, I would have been thrilled about that too.