<p>I seriously need some advice. I have wittled my choices down to 2 and I'm having the most difficult time choosing. I've visited both this past weekend for their respective programs and everything seems to blur. Can anyone bring some insight to my problem? Here are my pros and cons for each school...</p>
<p>Same for both
-great classes (ranging from large lecture to smaller discussion classes)
-strong departments
-undergraduate research
-a name for life after college
-a vibrant city offering many resources
-cost
-extremely nice people</p>
<p>WashU </p>
<p>Pros
-campus organization (classes are in one place, dorms are in one place)
-great dorms
-great food</p>
<p>Cons
-I live in St.Louis (although i'm not sure I mind)
-Only 15 AP credits (already have 9)</p>
<p>NU</p>
<p>Pros
-not in St. Louis
-the quarter system (i kind of like the quarter system)
-No AP limitation (I think)</p>
<p>Cons
-the dorm i stayed in (isrc i think) was "okay" but not as good as WashU, and the whole being really involved in your dorm so that you can get a better one and that you're only "virtually" guaranteed housing...
-separated campus (i'm not sure if that's really a con)</p>
<p>There are probably more but I just can't think of them now, as you can notice, my pros/cons are pretty weak, the schools are so similar.... I'm pretty much willing to flip coins...</p>
<p>I got into Wash U and Northwestern as well. I didn't get a chance to visit Wash U, I kind of just applied and then got in and it was too late for me to consider it. I actually live right by Northwestern, so my decision would have been similar to yours, but honestly, I think that you can get the "away from home experience" wherever you go to school if you play your cards right.</p>
<p>ISRC is not a good representation of NU housing. I also don't know what you mean by "the whole being really involved in your dorm so that you can get a better one and that you're only "virtually" guaranteed housing"- it sounds like you don't really get the housing situation here. </p>
<p>If you are undecided, I would choose NU just because I know how much it has to offer across a wide spectrum, and it seems likely you will find what you are looking for here.</p>
<p>If you are not sure about what to study, I think NU may be a better choice. There are more strong programs at NU. There are also more programs and courses to choose from. NU has over 4000 courses and that alone is rarely matched by schools of similar size. The quarter system also gives you more room to take more courses and I see that as benefit when you are just trying difference classes to figure out what field you like.</p>
<p>I recommend Wash U if you live in St. Louis.
I know you said you really don't mind but you will once you get to college.
It is much nicer to be close to home.
Wash U is so similar to NU.</p>
<p>Whether close to home is good really depends entirely on the person. Some want that and I was the complete opposite. For me, the further and the more different, the better. That's why I came to this country.</p>
<p>between NU and UVa echols scholar program; I thought that after I got all the acceptances that was where i wanted to go to school, but after doing both UVa and NU's preview programs, i'm not so sure anymore. NU was depressingly unimpressive, both in terms of the people i met and the class that i attended. Prolly should have considered Wash, with a stalemate like this i might have ended up going there lawl.</p>
<p>Just one word on that History of Political thought class...</p>
<p>It's really too bad that this happens to be the class you sat in on, because it is not a representation of the academic environment at NU. I took this class as a Northwestern freshman and was so disappointed that it drove me out of the poli sci program. No other course I took even came close to that one in terms of its poor organization and the incompetence with which it was taught. </p>
<p>You mentioned that the TA taught the particular class section that you sat in on. In my four years at NU, TA's taught lecture perhaps twice--not two courses, but <em>maybe</em> two individual classes when a given prof was sick or otherwise unable to attend (usually, a prof will simply cancel class or schedule a video instead of allowing the TA to lecture). </p>
<p>Anyway, I think you'll be happy at either NU or UVa, but whatever you do, do not assume that your experience in History of Political Thought is a true indication of what you'll be dealing with on a regular basis there.</p>
<p>I visited both schools in the fall and I decided to go with WashU. I felt that WashU had more of a campus feel that I was looking for in a college. The students at WashU seemed to be very involved in campus activites. After talking to students at NU, many go off campus into Evanston and Chicago. While I love Chicago as a city, I think college should be centered around the college and its students. At Northwestern, it seemed to be missing a real undergraduate experience. </p>
<p>The one thing that I liked about NU over WashU is the fact that it had D1 sports teams, especially competing in the BigTen Conference.</p>