Yes very different schools I know but hear me out. I am having a hard time deciding which of these schools I want to apply to. I may want to ED to Emory or Northwestern, but I’m not sure if I would be disappointed about going to Michigan. I like college sports and having school spirit and a good sense of community. I am interested in studying business. I like being near a major city, but not in one. A college town is important. I prefer warm over cold but I can deal with any weather. In terms of my grades, I have a 93 average and a 34 ACT. I have a number of extracurriculars including sports throughout high school, debate team, and multiple jobs. I have been at two high schools and both were small with less than 130 kids per grade. I live in NY so in-state is irrelevant. Financial aid would be appreciated but it is not necessary. Based on these factors, where would I fit best?
Do not do ED unless you are positive that is the school where
you would be happiest attending.
@Markmargo11
Neither Northwestern or Emory have school spirit I’m the sports sense but their students do have pride in their school. But in my opinion they’re both a step above Michigan in prestige with Northwestern being 1.5-2 levels above. If you like all equally the smartest thing to do would be to apply Northwestern ED1 then Emory ED2. Then if you don’t get in to either apply RD to Michigan. If you want to be close to a major city but not exactly then Emory is perfect as its a 10 min drive/30 min walk to midtown ATL. I’m not sure about Northwestern but I know it’s close to Chicago. I will say that it sounds that you are not sure about your fit in a school. But since you are from a very small highschool Northwestern and Emory would be better choices as they would be less of a culture shock.
“But in my opinion they’re both a step above Michigan in prestige with Northwestern being 1.5-2 levels above.”
IMHO Northwestern is a true peer of Michigan. Emory is a step below both.
“If you like all equally the smartest thing to do would be to apply Northwestern ED1 then Emory ED2. Then if you don’t get in to either apply RD to Michigan.”
What? “Smartest thing to do?” Terrible advice. You can and should apply to Michigan EA. Michigan, like all public schools, doesn’t allow students to make a choice of ED to help maintain its yield.
@rjkofnovi lol Michigan and Northwestern peers?? Delusional man really. We’re only comparing undergraduate programs and even then Michigan’s grad programs barely, if at all, compare. And we can agree to disagree but Emory is still a cut above IMHO. US News agrees with me (at least for now).
“We’re only comparing undergraduate programs and even then Michigan’s grad programs barely, if at all, compare.”
Speaking of delusional…really!
I did make mistake when I said that only Emory was a step below Michigan and Northwestern. I forgot to include Vanderbilt. 
Michigan, Emory, and Northwestern are all excellent schools that hang out in the same ring of elite/top schools. Debating which one is marginally higher or lower than the others is kind of pointless. An alumni from any of those schools will have good post-graduation options and an excellent educational experience.
OP, if you’re a junior it doesn’t sound like you should apply ED anywhere, since ED is supposed to be for students with a clear first choice and you don’t have one of those.
That said, if you prefer a college town and don’t want to be in a city, Emory may not be the right fit for you. It is IN the city of Atlanta. Granted, the neighborhood in which its located has a more suburban feel to it than many other parts of Atlanta, and Atlanta has a lot of college students because of the proliferation of collegiate institutions in the area. But it’s not a college town per se - there’s a lot of other stuff going on in Atlanta besides the colleges and universities. Not like Ann Arbor or Evanston.
Based on your preferences - college sports, school spirit, a good sense of community, near but not in a major city, college town- out of Emory and Northwestern it seems like Northwestern is a way better fit.
Michigan is good at most subjects! And this global ranking UNDERSCORES THAT.
The Center for World University Rankings (CWUR), publisher of the largest academic ranking of global universities, released its inaugural subjects ranking. The ranking features the top global universities in 227 subjects covering all academic disciplines in the sciences and social sciences.
After Harvard and U of Toronto, University of Michigan was ranked 3rd in the world achieving Top-10 placements in 57 subjects. Emory ranked in the top-10 in 7 subjects, while Northwestern ranked 11 times in the top-10 subjects.
Institutions with the most Top-10 placements worldwide are:
- Harvard University, USA (112 Top-10 subjects)
- University of Toronto, Canada (66 Top-10 subjects)
- University of Michigan, USA (57 Top-10 subjects)
- University of Pennsylvania, USA (54 Top-10 subjects)
- Johns Hopkins University, USA (51 Top-10 subjects)
- University of California, Berkeley, USA (50 Top-10 subjects)
- Stanford University, USA (48 Top-10 subjects)
- University of Oxford, United Kingdom (47 Top-10 subjects)
- University of Washington, USA (45 Top-10 subjects)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA (41 Top-10 subjects)
It depends on the program. For engineering, NU and UMich are near tied (within a few spots). For overall school prestigious, NU may be slightly higher. For school spirit, UMich is far ahead.
My D choose UMich over NU for engineering at the end for a better campus, slightly lower cost, and closer to home. My friend’s daughter go the opposite way after struggling between the two choices for a couple months. They are peer schools in terms of quality of education although the admission rate is still lower with NU. The OOS admission rate at UMich is approaching 20% now.
"even then Michigan’s grad programs barely, if at all, compare.
That is a pretty big statement VANDEMORY1342. Michigan barely compares to Northwestern at the graduate level? What program are you referring to?
Engineering:
Michigan #5 (4.3 reputation rating)
Northwestern #19 (3.9 reputation rating)
Law:
Michigan #8 (4.45/5.0 reputation rating)
Northwestern #10 (4.25/5.0 reputation rating)
Medicine:
Michigan #9 (4.4 reputation rating)
Northwestern #17 (4.15 reputation rating)
Business:
Northwestern #4 (4.5 reputation rating)
Michigan #11 (4.3 reputation rating)
Biology:
Michigan #19 (4.1 rating)
Northwestern #26 (3.9 rating)
Chemistry:
Northwestern #6 (4.6 rating)
Michigan #15 (4.2 rating)
Computer Science:
Michigan #13 (4.1 rating)
Northwestern #34 (3.3 rating)
Earth Science:
Michigan #8 (4.2 rating)
Northwestern #34 (3.3 rating)
Economics:
Northwestern #7 (4.9 rating)
Michigan #12 (4.4 rating)
English:
Michigan #8 (4.6 rating)
Northwestern #18 (4.2 rating)
History:
Michigan #6 (4.6 rating)
Northwestern #11 (4.4 rating)
Mathematics:
Michigan #9 (4.5 rating)
Northwestern #17 (4.0 rating)
Physics:
Michigan #11 (4.3 rating)
Northwestern #26 (3.7 rating)
Political Science:
Michigan #4 (4.7 rating)
Northwestern #23 (3.7 rating)
Phycology:
Michigan #3 (4.7 rating)
Northwestern #17 (4.2 rating)
Sociology:
Michigan #1 (4.7 rating)
Northwestern #10 (4.3 rating)
Michigan and Northwestern both have strong graduate programs. They are roughly equal in the professional fields, but in the traditional disciplines, Michigan is more consistent.
“And we can agree to disagree but Emory is still a cut above IMHO. US News agrees with me (at least for now).”
If you are referring to academic reputation/prestige, Michigan and Northwestern have identical reputation ratings and both are slightly higher than Emory according to the US News Peer Assessment Score.
University of Michigan 4.4/5.0
Northwestern University 4.3/5.0
Emory University 4.0/5.0
Admittedly, the US News methodology, suits private universities better, and Emory and Northwestern have decided to report their data differently than Michigan, which gives them a decided advantage, but that does not make them better or more prestigious. According to the overall US News ranking, Chicago is #3 and Brown is #14. Do you really think Chicago is a notch or two above Brown? Or more prestigious for that matter.
In short, I would not get to bogged down with the rankings. Emory, Michigan and Northwestern are all excellent universities. I do not think any of those universities can make a strong case for being better or more prestigious than the other two.