In terms of undergraduate engineering programs:
More comparisons stuff 
At NW you have to walk about 15 /20 minutes to downtown Evanston. Great downtown but limited selections for students (cost wise). Also amazing to be on the lake except my sonâs t-mobile like never worked. Going downtown is of course Chicago is a world class city but newsflash⊠The kids I know that have been there donât go as often as you would think. Both campuses have stuff to do there plus this crazy thing called studying ?. It is Not unusual at both schools for people to be in the library or wherever on Saturday night.
Northwestern has more of a Greek vibe but at either school you donât have to be involved.
At Michigan the city of Ann Arbor surrounds you on Central campus. More places that are student affordable to eat at. More stores in general.
Detroit is up and coming and Midtown is really amazing. I live in Chicago but grew up outside Detroit so itâs a big change. Again cool to go downtown but itâs not done as much as people think you would go.
On North Campus itâs more like the suburbs to me. There are choices and places to go to but most of the cool places are on Central campus.
Taking the bus to central from North campus for my son just is not a big deal since we live in Chicago he took a train to a bus to school for 4 years and about 35-40 minutes each way. At Michigan itâs about 20-25 minutes door to door. For the suburban kids it might be an eye opener but not the true city kids. People make too much of this subject.
Both schools have good school spirit but I would challenge that Michigan has âGreatâ school spirit. Both schools are very proud of their students and Alumni!
Both have engineering study abroad programs. My sons going to France for an engineering study abroad then he just found out today was accepted to go to Israel for an engineering internship.
What am I missing?
I canât find the article but Michigan was voted to have the best school uniform. There you go, that should be your deciding factor. Lol⊠?.
@Knowsstuff : OP has a scholarship to Northwestern and a contingent scholarship to Michigan that seems to kick in only after freshman year if engineering is declared as OPâs major. (It would help if OP would add more clarity to the scholarship status during OPâs freshman year at Michigan. My reading is that there is no scholarship during OPâs freshman year at Michigan, and a contingent scholarship thereafter. The Northwestern scholarship has no restrictions according to OP.)
Distance to downtown Evanston totally depends on where on campus a student is living. If you are living on the northern side of campus, absolutely 15 - 20 minute walk to Downtown. If you are on the south side of campus, it can be less than a block to Clark St depending on dorm location. I also think there are a ton of restaurants for students, plus many participate in the Wildcard discount. I personally love Ann Arbor but think Evanston is a fairly comparable college town, and with easier access into the city.
I still think the bigger differences are overall size, and quarter vs semester system. DD also found the student body to be a bit more laid back at Michigan.
@momofsenior1 : I agree that Michigan has a more laid back student bodyâalthough it may vary by school / college within each university.
I did an internet search for âcolleges with the most stressed out studentsâ. Although Northwestern did not appear on other lists, I found one that ranked the top 10:
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Harvard
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Stanford
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Tulane
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MIT
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Wake Forest University
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NYU
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Cornell
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WashUStL
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Northwestern
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Univ. of Pennsylvania (Penn)
Vanderbilt, Princeton, Duke & Columbia & Chicago also ranked as schools with very stressed out students. William & Mary is another. This is a major reason that I see LACs as an easier, more comfortable transition from high school to the top ranked elite schools. I prefer National Universities for a variety of reasons, but no setting or type of school is perfect.
The article stated that 23% of Stanford students thought about suicide. Yet, at Michigan, which did not appear on this list, the University of Michiganâs own recent study revealed that 24% of Michigan students thought about suicide & that 11.3% went a step further.
Not sure what to make of this beyond preparing high achieving students who place pressure on themselves to engage in stress relieving activities such as exercise & relaxation each & every day.
Those are sobering stats. There was a suicide at my DDâs school last semester as well (also not on the list). We need to keep giving our children the message that a bad grade, changing majors, even failing out, is not the end of the world. I also agree with the need for balance and daily R&R.
FWIW, my DD spent a lot of time with engineers on both campuses so was comparing apples to apples in terms of her impression of âlaid backness.â
Typically, but not always, AA is ranked at or near the top of the best college towns in the US:
2
https://www.bestcollegereviews.org/50-best-college-towns-america/
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https://www.forbes.com/pictures/5a3032bb4bbe6f703b4b008e/1-ann-arbor-mi/#9cee41a2076b
15 (2014)
https://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/americas-best-college-towns#20
3
I have not been to Evanston, so I cannot comment, though due to its proximity to Chicago, Iâm sure itâs a great suburb/town/city.
@StanfordGSB00. Not really. Everyone in Chicago that I know, knows what UIUC is and isnât. But itâs also great for engineering. My kid didnât want to go there and wanted the general population to be a higher GPA overall. He applied to Cornell and Georgia Tech for the same reason. Not being elitist just the environment he enjoys more. UIUC Ranked well and the kids get jobs. Again, not going into mine is shinier. There is a case to be made for all the these schools. Just trying to give a perspective since I know the 3 she mentioned well and know many that have graduated and go there currently.
@momofsenior1 and @Publisher. Yes, no question that Michigan is much more laid back. I love Northwestern but what I was talking about stress and suicide is an issue. We need to support our children in anyway possible.
As far as the scholarship during freshman year, I assumed it included freshman year. Maybe I read it wrong but from the comments doesnât seem like the financials are a major concern.
As far as prestige, I think the parents make more of this then the kids do. My sons going in 2 weeks to LA for an intercollegiate meeting that he help restart this year and heâs a board member from Michigan. They have students from USC, Harvard, Yale, Berkeley, Stanford etc on this board /team. They have all met last year in Silicon Valley at a conference and do video chat meetings. I have stated this prior but I asked my son about the kids from Stanford etc and their attitudes, personalities etc. He said all the kids are the same t-shirt wearing /blue Jean kids. All understood each otherâs language and all were into geeky engineering stuff. All ate pizza and hamburgers (except for one vegan) and all laughed at the same bad jokes. He did point out that the Stanford and Berkeley kids were taller!!!
So the only people who care about what school seems to be the PARENTS. All these kids are going on to great careers and futures.
@Knowsstuff - to suggest that the consensus among educated people (with at least a bachelorâs from a reputable college) in Chicagoland think that UMichigan is superior to Northwestern (at the undergrad level) is just patently false and misleading. Both are great schools but Northwestern (Dartmouth, Duke, at tippy top privates) are superior to UMichigan at the undergrad level, regardless of the ranking of a particular discipline. If we are talking about engineering, for instance, would you honestly recommend someone choose UMichigan engineering over Harvard, even though it has a lower undergrad engineering ranking? People pay too much attention to particular graduate rankings but the overall reputation of the school is more important. Both are great schools but Northwestern is the better option for most students, if in-state tuition (for Michigan) is not a consideration. Northwestern will provide more resources, more opportunities, smaller classes, better instruction at the undergrad level, and better resume pedigree (believe it or not).
âNorthwestern will provide more resources, more opportunities, smaller classes, better instruction at the undergrad level, and better resume pedigree (believe it or not).â
Hyperbole and simply not true. There is also no way you can prove the instruction will be better at NU.
Furthermore, I would not recommend Harvard over Michigan for engineering if the OP really wanted to be a working engineer.
Once again, NU is not Stanford. Even Harvard is not Stanford. You are assuming that all top privateâs are better choices that all top publics. This is also not true. The top public schools in CA, as great as they are, do not have the funding/endowment that a school like Michigan has. Michigan acts like a semi-private university.
I have been to Evanston. It is meh in my opinion. It does not have the vibe of a great college town like Ann Arbor, especially for an 18-22 yo.
@StanfordGSB00. Sorry wrong⊠Yes, I was making a broad generalization but I live here and talk with parents, students etc. Both are great schools. Harvard is NOT better in engineering. Please entertain this question on the engineering forum and get ready for the reaction. It has been done prior. You evidently donât have the knowledge on this topic. NW doesnât have better opportunities,more resources, smaller classes, better instruction on any level or better pedigree. Not sure what fantasy you are living in. Kids from either school will do great in the job market. Love to see your proof for these opinionsâŠ
This is also not helping the OP and derailing this thread. Yes, we all feel fondly of certain schools. Whether one is better is up to the applicant.
In engineering the first year engineers in large firms are from NW, Michigan, Georgia Tech, UIUC and so on but also from Kettering, Michigan Tech and some unknown schools in Europe. All the engineers work together. One is not better then the other. They are all first year and have a lot to learn. Each school has its strengths and weaknessâs. Yes certain school might be superior in one field over another.
In industrial engineering undergraduate Michigan is ranked 2 and Northwestern is ranked 7. Does this mean Michigan is that much better?
Maybe? /Maybe not. They all seem to get jobs in the same types of firms.
It is great fun reading these back-and-forths! Uniform - who would have thought of that!
Regarding the scholarship - this is the exact language âŠ
The Engineering Scholarship of Honor is granted for four years of undergraduate study or upon graduation, whichever occurs first. Recipients of the Engineering Scholarship of Honor must declare their engineering major by the end of the freshman year. The criteria for continuation each year are full-time enrollment in the College of Engineering and a minimum cumulative GPA of 3 âŠ
@phoebehana4. That awesome. Congrats! Is that the Michigan one? Anyway⊠So just declare. You can always switch to something else. Call the scholarship office for more clarification.
The avg GPA at Michigan engineering is 3.3 according to them. Itâs doable.
I can back up my claims. ??.
As a funny aside, I was at masterâs class tonight at Northwestern. There were a ton of students in the audience. At one point the guest lecturer stopped and commented that he knew he must be at a Big 10 school because of the enthusiasm of the audience. So, student attendance may not be strong at sporting events, but it sure is in the arts!
@IWannaHelp wrote:
Maybe someone can help me out here with R&D funding. I found this 2016 R&D ranking, with JHU as #1, but Northwestern isnât even in the Top 20. And UMich is #2.
https://www.bestcolleges.com/features/colleges-with-highest-research-and-development-expenditures/
Former 3rd string Clemson QB coming off an ACL surgery? 
Thank everyone for your contribution to this lively debate! You have touched on many many valid points to ponder.
@Knowsstuff, @publisher, @momofsenior1 â You are so right that striking a balance between academic rigor and care-free college life is important to consider. We live within walking distance to the other prestigious Chicago academic institution -U of C (my mater alma) and D refuses to consider it for the reason you talked about. Many years ago, one article ranked 300 universities/colleges on their fun-lovingness. U of C was at the bottom, lower even than BYU (where coffee drinking was prohibited) and Naval Academy. Since then, U of C has gone on an image make-over journey to shake off that bad vibe. At that time, NU was ranked at ~150, which was a nice perfect medium to be.
@stanfordGSB00 â I understand where you come from. I think that NU is more homogenous in terms of studentsâ braininess than a large state school like UMich. UMich clearly has a large number of high-achieving students. However, theyâd be a mathematical minority due to the sheer size of the school. Some may prefer the peer at NU because they challenge you more. Others may prefer the peer at UMich because the competition is not as fierce and one could more easily stand out. I guess what we should do is to find out where D stands among her cohort.
@Iwannahelp â Thanks for info on NU co-op program. I also found their publication on their undergraduate post-graduation job status. I read a bit on UMich CoE co-op program but have not found any post-graduation job report.
@Publisher â Would you conclude that the NU engineering programs provide additional emphasis on fostering entrepreneurship or management skills, thus, more well-rounded?
@sushiritto â Although college football is not a major factor (yet), the college spirits and the atmosphere of college town are definitely part of the package. Like the article you posted, I am not surprised that Boulder CO is ranked number 1 (love it!). This speaks very well of AA, being ranked number #2.
@cu123, @rjkofnovi â The terms of the UMich scholarship do cause some concern here. D did not decide on engineering until right before the deadline of college application. She swung from chemistry to environmental sciences to mechanical engineering and, most recently, biology.
I have secured an in-person appointment with a UMich CoE academic advisor in a week and will visit AA. I would like the advisor to help draft a mock four-years study plan and try to get clarity on the terms of scholarship. Obviously I will do the same with a NU advisor. Happy to hear more ideas on what I should ask. Thanks!
NUâs R&D is $700M. On per capita basis, maybe itâs no less than UMich? But as I mentioned in my last post, JHU was #1 in R&D but when it comes to funding for undergraduate research, itâs significantly less than NU. I think we can all agree which number is more relevant to undergrads.
According to UMichâs UROP website, 1400 undergrad students participate in research, mostly as research assistants without grants (i.e. the undergrad students are assistant to a team of faculty and graduate students, not original research). Through looking into their website, it seems that the ones with grants for original research are only available to select few. At NU last year, almost 563 projects already came from research grants for undergrads who wrote the grant proposal. Thatâs out of 900 applications. So almost 2/3 of applicants received funding. I guess you can make an educated guess which school provides more funding to undergrads on both the aggregate and per capita basis.
Posts #53 & #57 raise important concerns about the UMichigan scholarship. While seemingly assured during OPâs freshman year, it has contingencies regarding major & GPA.
@phoebehana4: I think that Ann Arbor & Evanston offer different environments. One is a mega college town while the other is a sophisticated suburb. Doesnât make one better or worse in generalâjust different.
While Northwestern overall wins the prestige battle at the undergraduate level, this is not true in the area of engineering.
Since engineering is a recent switch from chemistry for OP, the Michigan scholarship has some real risks while the Northwestern scholarship does not.