My daughter is accepted into the Engineering school at U of I (in state), U Mich and Northwestern. U Mich and Northwestern both offer merit scholarship that nearly matches the in-state tuition of U of I. Daughter has written U of I off because she does not like the campus. We have not had the chance to visit Ann Arbor. The tour of U Mich Engineering school on the days that I’m able to take vacation is all booked although I still plan to drive to Ann Arbor for a general campus tour (we live in Chicago). Due to the proximity, daughter has heard a lot about and leaning toward Northwestern. I’d appreciate opinions from those who have intimate knowledge of both programs/campuses.
@Knowsstuff has a sophomore/junior in UMich Engineering and lives on North Campus, which is where the Engineering Campus is located. He/she can fill you in on the details. He/she also lives in the Chicago area.
I’m a parent of a freshman in LSA, so I’d be happy to fill you in on any other details at UMich.
Great options on the table!
I think one of the biggest differences is the quarter vs semester system. NU stresses the ability to easily add double majors or minors but students are jumping into their classes immediately with no ramp up because the quarters are so short.
There is also a huge size difference between the two school.
Can you send your DD to Michigan alone? Lots of students will make those visits without parents.
@phoebehana4. @sushiritto speaks the truth. I live in Chicago and my son went to one of the well known and number 1 selective enrollment high schools. He was excepted to both as well and didn’t want to go to either since we live closer to Northwestern and none of us cared for UIUC school /grounds /attitude towards engineering students. He also wanted to go to school with kids with his type of stats. Northwestern and Michigan would provide that as the students are similar. He is in Industrial engineering and Michigan is ranked second in the world in that. He was wait listed from Georgia Tech which was first.
My son lived on Central campus his first year and on North husk second. He likes both for different reasons. Keep in mind you can live anywhere you want to including apartments all 4 years but Michigan randomly places you the first year anyhow.
His school is like a feeder for Northwestern and University of Chicago. He spent 3 weeks on Northwestern campus doing a year of stats in 3 weeks in 11 th grade summer with 12 other kids. They called that fun and thought it was easy. He really didn’t care for the campus. He told me he does less walking to campus now then he did in NW campus. They lived in Dorms there also. I actually love both campuses. There is just a different feel when at Michigan to us. You “need” to visit Michigan now question. Both central and North campus can look baren depending on the day. Both have great school spirit. They are close educationally and again have students. Both have great campuses.These two schools are more similar then different. My son wanted to go away to school. Going to NW was to close for his likening. He would be home on the El in less then 30 minutes… Lol…
My son is the chairperson of an augmented /mixed reality conference this weekend. Go and see what student’s actually do in the spare time 11 lectures and 20 exhibits. If you need to know more how Michigan supports their engineering students PM me. Have to go into surgery now.
I’d say both schools are good enough so that this would boil down to an issue of where your daughter feels most comfortable.
Absolutely everyone I know who went to Michigan loves the school and Ann Arbor.
Thanks to everyone’s comments. Personally, although I have never been to Ann Arbor, I feel that Ann Arbor is a better choice for a young adult learning to be independent. NU students are required to live in dorm for the first two years. When they do live off campus, they end up living in Rogers park or somewhere in the city and take CTA to school. In comparison, Ann Arbor is cheaper in housing and safer for new drivers (she has yet learned to drive). Daughter does like the ease to double major in NU. I also suspect that she is more impressionable to the perceived “elite” status of NU. So are many of her friends who have been accepted into both.
Other than the different feels of these two towns, ultimately I would like to compare these two engineering schools. Daughter is very strong in STEM but her interests are very broad. Although she picked mechanical engineering, her initially love was chemistry and more recently she is talking about biomedical engineering or environmental sciences. The UMich scholarship is contingent upon her declaration of engineering major at the end of freshman year while NU scholarship does not have any restriction. Thus my questions are - How easy is it to switch from one engineering major to another in UMich? How easy is it to double major in UMich (for example, mechanical engineering major and environmental biology minor?)
@phoebehana4 - I am pasting what I wrote in another similar thread. Both are great schools. I would recommend Northwestern because it is more exclusive / elite at the undergraduate level. Most students at Michigan cannot get into Northwestern, except maybe the top 10-20%. Top 10 in USNews vs. Top 30. And now to SAT / ACT scores, Northwestern has had significantly higher scores for many many years compared to Michigan. About a 100 point difference in SAT average until the last year, when scores have been re-centered (causing the scores to converge towards the top). And it is not just about test scores when it comes to exclusive, elite admissions - Harvard could enroll a class with a 1600 perfect SAT average. They are looking for very talented, unique individuals. Northwestern / Duke / Dartmouth, Stanford, etc. could similarly enroll a class with a 1550 SAT average if they wanted to but UMichigan could not. Go look at the RD decisions threads for these schools and you’ll see a ton of students with 1500+ SAT scores / 34+ ACT scores (with perfect grades) rejected on the regular.
Northwestern is significantly more impressive on the pedigree level / resume. Why would you pay the same amount of $$$$ to go to a large public school (which is still awesome but not quite the same level as NW) when you can go an elite private school with more resources, a higher caliber student body, smaller classes, etc. It is extremely easy to switch in/out of Engineering and go into WCAS / Engineering. I think this is a no brainer to go Northwestern if money is no issue. If Michigan was giving a full-ride scholarship, then I would say Michigan could be a great option. But, in this instance, I would go to Northwestern and switch in / out of engineering (to Arts / Sciences). Or double major, etc. UMichigan alums will disagree here but if money is not a factor, 90% of students are choosing NW over UMichigan. Good luck and congrats on the acceptances
Northwestern University offers some certificate programs that merge different areas of study. For example, there should be at least one certificate program for engineering in conjunction with the graduate business school (Kellogg School of Business) and several others that make grads very attractive to a variety of employers.
Because the Michigan scholarship has a major contingency while the Northwestern University award does not, the choice is clear.
Good news is that she will be able to attend either school for graduate school if in her plans.
P.S. Agree that the quarter system allows for more flexibility in areas of study & for double majoring or adding minors to a major.
Also, Northwestern University has a significant Greek presence–especially sororities.
Most people at NU have at least a minor on top of their major if not having two majors. It seems that the school has a strong history of fostering interdisciplinary pursuit and creating interdisciplinary curriculum like “engineering first” back in 1997 and MMSS as well as ISP way back in the 70s.
Another strong point not reflected in any ranking is the financial support NU give for undergraduate research. Last year, they received 203 applications and funded 134 proposals. These are original research during the school year, not counting the independent summer research or ones led by graduate students/professors.
Two years ago, total funds for undergraduate research were $1.3 million for 563 projects, a 365% increase over a 10-year period. The number of applications were around 900 which means majority of applications were granted. The number is even higher now (though I don’t have the figure).
JHU may be number 1 in research funding, but their list of UNDERGRADUATE summer research winners is way shorter than NU. This just goes to show how you absolutely can’t go by those rankings.
@Knowsstuff Hopefully, you’re the doctor and not the patient. 
Just from a cursory look at the UMich CoE website, adding or combining majors and/or minors, whether in LSA or Music/Dance/Theater, as examples, doesn’t appear to be that difficult other than actually taking the extra courses.
https://bulletin.engin.umich.edu/ug-ed/other-minors/
https://bulletin.engin.umich.edu/ug-ed/degrees/
I know for my LSA STEM kid, adding 5 additional LSA courses, will get an additonal minor in a STEM subject. UMich also gives credit for AP courses taken in HS, so it’s not as bad as it sounds. As an example, a 5 in AP Calc BC removed then need to take Calc 1 and 2.
From what I read here, NU doesn’t have much school spirit, at least in terms of sports. Just recently, someone posted that NU gives away FREE tickets to sports (football, basketball, etc.) in order to get students to games. Let’s just say UMich doesn’t have that problem. Basketball games are sold out and 111,000 of your closest friends pack the Big House each and every home Saturday date. UMich competes for national championships, NU not as much. School spirit matters for some but not others. It mattered for my kid.
I live very near NU and it was next to impossible to come by football tickets this Fall. I wouldn’t say school spirit is lacking at NU.
One factor to consider is that Northwestern Undergrad Engineering is around 400 students per year, whereas Michigan is more like 1600!. Michigan has more faculty in engineering, but not by a factor of 4 (less than factor of 2). What it means is smaller class sizes on average at NU and more access to faculty.
I’m conveying another person’s thoughts on NU. Personally I have no clue about NU. However, student tickets are free for all sporting events. Just show your ID.
For the UMich Class of 2022, the number of CoE students was 1,363.
“UMichigan alums will disagree here but if money is not a factor, 90% of students are choosing NW over UMichigan”
The Michigan faithful tried to disagree with your comments, but somehow our responses have been eliminated!
“I live very near NU and it was next to impossible to come by football tickets this Fall. I wouldn’t say school spirit is lacking at NU.”
I’ve been to games at NU where opposing teams fans are a far greater presence than anywhere else in the B1G. Of course being located near Chicago is the main reason for this.
One factor to consider is that Northwestern Undergrad Engineering is around 400 students per year, whereas Michigan is more like 1600!. Michigan has more faculty in engineering, but not by a factor of 4 (less than factor of 2). What it means is smaller class sizes on average at NU and more access to faculty.“
Perhaps you confused Michigan with OSU? Facilities and accessibility are far more telling of quality than smaller class size. I never hear anyone at Michigan having problems getting access to their professors. With that in mind, Michigan and NU are both excellent in engineering. The OP needs to decide over which school offers him/her a better fit.
Northwestern football should be excellent over the next three or four years for several reasons including the new quarterback who was the first or second highest rated QB prospect coming out of high school 2 years ago.
OP’s concern, however, is with the academic side. Northwestern should offer a greater number of small classes.
It’s engineering folks. I’d be more concerned over getting my needed courses and the quality of the facilities/faculty than getting into slightly smaller classes.
From the Daily Northwestern, regarding the student section aka “school spirit,” not the raw numbers, since NU is simply a smaller school than most FBS power-conference teams:
Capacity of Northwestern’s football stadium is 47,000 (rounded).