<p>S got into Emory and Northwestern. He's interested in campus life, benefits of nearby big city, poli sci and history, overall academic excellence. Where would you go?</p>
<p>Both are excellent choices. Are you consering strength of major, and comparable aid pacakges. It will be a tough decision, but your son will enjoy either choice.</p>
<p>I assume that your son got admitted to Weinberg college of arts and sciences.</p>
<p>Emory is strong in undergraduate business, whereas Northwestern has one of the best economics programs in the nation. </p>
<p>Both colleges are full of bright, preprofessional students. There are more students from the Midwest at Northwestern, and more students from the South at Emory. Emory probably attracts more students from NYC, too.</p>
<p>In general, I think Northwestern has slightly stronger liberal arts programs.</p>
<p>Northwestern, of course, is rated higher and is more prestigious generally, but both colleges are pretty comparable and the difference in prestige level varies from region to region. In the Midwest, Northwestern is much more well known and connected. In some places like NYC and Atlanta, however, Emory holds it own. Nationally Northewestern is still more prestigious and well known, thanks in part to that fact it has division one sports teams, which is another difference between the universities. </p>
<p>The campuses are somewhat similarly located -- in an affluent suburb of a major city. Both are well kept, pretty beautiful campuses. Frats are a major part of the social scene on both campuses. Emory's campus, of course, does not often get covered with as much snow as that of Northwestern. Indeed -- there is quite a difference in the level of brutality of their respective winters!</p>
<p>My decision would depend. If I wanted to go to undergraduate business school, avoid cold winters, and live in NYC -- for example -- then I would probably choose Emory. But if I was interested in economics, able to bear cold weather, a fan of division one sports, and wanted to live in Chicago, then I would probably choose Northwestern.</p>
<p>Emory if you are going for Premed or Business
Plus... waaaaaay better weather.</p>
<p>Northwestern. It has a higher rank, it’s more well known and the students there have a lot more school spirit.</p>
<p>Using the rank is a fail dude. That’s like someone choosing Vandy or Rice over Emory simply because of the rank (20 vs. 17), or lay prestige. Vandy or Rice is not that academically different from us. I hear the same about Northwester. Those ranks are relatively trivial and kind of full of it. Many public schools deserve a place in the top 20. Also, as I always say, I don’t think Emory being more well-known would enhance the quality of the teaching or resources I receive. “School spirit” is important, but this is left to be defined by the student. What if one got into USC, Berkeley, or UVA? Are they to simply choose Emory, Vandy, NU, Rice, etc. b/c the rank is higher. Berkeley is more well-known than Emory, but we rank higher. See this is a gray area. Who should one choose? See, that’s a lame set of criteria to use in decision making. That’s how many end up attending schools that aren’t even happy at, simply because it’s ranked higher.</p>
<p>Also, people, be careful when saying that some school has stronger “liberal arts”. This shouldn’t be used interchangeably with “humanities/social sciences.” And for anecdotes sake, my former roommate (transfer from NU) says he can’t really feel or tell the difference from polisci here and polisci at NU. However, I have a friend who transferred (to do GBS) from Miami U in Ohio who says that so far, he prefers the polisci/history at Miami. Go figure. These stupid rankings manipulate many of us into believing in things we know nothing about, b/c many have no affiliations with the schools we speak of. I trust the words of those here who have attended these places way more than USNWR’s numbers.</p>
<p>First and foremost, go for the program… NU has engineering, communications, school of social policy… whereas Emory doesn’t. Emory has accounting and other b-school majors whereas NU does not. (although NU has a very strong economics program, math methods in social science program, and a business certificate… more on that later in the post)</p>
<p>What about the programs that both have?</p>
<p>As for pre-med, NU and Emory are both top-notch. Both have really good pre-med programs, with really competitive pre-med students. A good GPA in either program is golden.</p>
<p>As for journalism — this is self-evident. NU’s journalism program is one of the best in the nation and is leagues above whatever journalism instruction Emory offers.</p>
<p>For economics, NU’s economic progarm is better than Emory’s. NU has econ, mathematical methods in social sciences, and business certificate, all of which are strong programs that CAN (way too strong, especially ITE, to say will) place into great jobs post-graduation)</p>
<p>For liberal arts — I mean, the liberal art academics, I think, will be pretty much the same at both. Both great faculties, similar students. I give the edge to NU, partly because its relatively artsy south campus scene… Probably more active EC’s going on, better and more theater, although similar music. However, not a significant difference for academics in the liberal arts and – anyways – most of the liberal arts graduates at either are not going to have job offers flying-in. NU will have regional advantage in Chicagoland (get in ternships more easily, etc) whereas Emory has it in Georgia.</p>
<p>I have a son who is a Junior at Emory. A daughter who graduated from Northwestern. Pretty good feel for both. The advice from these replies is even-handed and largely accurate. Couple things not mentioned. Dorms: Emory wins hands down. Amazed at what Northwestern gets away with for dorms; they are terrible. Emory has much nicer dorm facilities. Some students don’t care but it could be a consideration.
More East coast students at Emory but it does not dominate the culture. While Emory is in the south, it has so many students from the NY Tristate area and elsewhere, it does not have a ‘Southern’ feel to it like, say, Vanderbilt. A decidedly different feel at NU which is more midwest. </p>
<p>As a parent, I have been quite satisfied with both schools. My children have made great friends at both schools. </p>
<p>But your son is going to have to live with the decision. It may be based upon where he feels more comfortable since this may have something to do with any success that he achieves at the school. If he has not visited, obviously, he should do so. </p>
<p>Feel free to PM me if you have further questions.</p>
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<p>The following data show that the student body at Northwestern are just as geographically diverse. </p>
<p>Enrolled geographic distribution at Northwestern:
Midwest 40%
Mid-Atlantic 17%
West 15%
South 10%
New England 6%
Southwest 6%
International 7%</p>
<p>Out of the seven most represented states with more than 350 students, only two are in the Midwest - IL and OH. The other fives are CA, NY, TX, FL, and NJ </p>
<p>Admitted geographic distribution for Emory College:
Southeast 36%
Mid-Atlantic 18%
Midwest 9%
West 8%
New England 5%
Southwest 7%
International 17%</p>
<p>Note that these are admitted stats for Emory College; it’s likely the enrolled stats skew more toward the Southeast. Furthermore, transfers from Oxford College increase the representation from the Southeast as 46% of Oxford admits are from there.</p>
<p>Three year old thread. Not that the info is bad, but let it die</p>
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<p>Other than HYPSM and Caltech, the academic differences between the top 20 universities are negligible.</p>
<p>Since you revived a 3-year old thread, I bet you have some sort of connection to Northwestern. Good for you.</p>