<p>Overall rank: 14 (no change from last year)</p>
<p>Engineering program rank:14
Biomedical rank: 11
Chemical rank: 23
Civil rank: 15
Computer rank: 16
Electrical rank: 13
Environmental rank: 12
Industrial/Manufacturing rank: 7
Materials rank: 6
Mechanical rank: 17</p>
<p>all of our engineering programs are in the top-25--behind mit, stanford, caltech, cornell, cmu, and princeton among privates and ahead of duke, rice, penn, brown, colubmia..etc.</p>
<p>We should totally be #1 in every category...</p>
<p>Northwestern I believe is my #1 choice.</p>
<p>If Northwestern had an undergrad business school then it would be my #1 choice for sure. The certificate though I've heard is still really good.</p>
<p>Northwestern has a very good engineering program and should be at least the top 5.</p>
<p>I know this has been brought up before, but NU is known for its unique engineering program. The combined requirements of analytic and design classes are truly the envy of the academic community.</p>
<p>How is the physics/astronomy program at NU?</p>
<p>CerebralAssassin, could you elaborate on how NU's engineering is regarded and how it is different? Thanks.</p>
<p>@funployee
How do you know its good? I havent exactly been following it that much, but hasn't it not actually "started" yet? I seem to remember that last year was the year they announced it was going to be open...</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I'm not an engineering student, but from what I've read online and heard from friends, NU is one of the very few schools with such a unique curriculum. Studnets of all types must take an engineering analysis course for all of freshman year and an engineering design & communication course. EDC is really interesting in that its based on how products are designed. The course culminates in students (in groups of 4, I think) creating a new product complete with prototype for presentation. As someone with absolutely zero interest in engineering, I like the creativity and real-world applications of NU's engineering program.
Also, if you are considering being an NU engineer, think long and hard about Tech. The Tech building has the 3rd most square footage of any building under 5 stories, trailing only the Pentagon and another building that currently escapes me. It's very, very big. It has many eateries and lounges within it. Just be aware that you may very well have all of your classes in a given quarter in Tech.
From what I've noticed, engineering is demanding but not overwhelming, hard but not impossible. To be honest, there are some "less-gifted" students that just can't hack it and end up transferring into Weinberg (though Weinberg is not necessarily easier than engineering), but if you're smart enough to get in, you're probably smart enough to do well.</p>
<p>Perhaps some engineering students could actually shed some light instead of leaving some poor poli sci/econ student to fend for himself?</p>
<p>ooo, you're an econ major! =D
How well-recruited are econ majors from NU on average? How competitive is the econ major?</p>
<p>aquamarinee,</p>
<p>the purpose of the unique curriculum is to expose engineering students to real engineering early in the freshmen year. before that curriculum, northwestern's first-year curriculum was just like others--people took physics <em>from physics department</em>, linear algebra & differential eqns <em>from math department</em>..etc. these courses were taught usually in a context with very little to do with engineering. you probably have experience with AP physics; does it tell you anything about engineering application? the answer is probably no. with the usual curriculum, engineering students are often taking them without knowing what the point of taking them is, other than fulfilling the requirement and thinking it's "needed" (but not knowing how exactly) later in their engineering courses. the new curriculum integrate all these early on. for example, students will learn how principles in mechanics or differential eqns are applied to engineering application instead of just learning it as pure physics/math. this makes learning differential eqn more interesting and i think applying what you learn helps you remember it better. the unique curriculum also expose students to engineering report writing and presentation early. this is valuable in real world in which you often spend a lot of your time writing and communicating with coworkers and clients, not necessarily doing bunch of engineering calculations.</p>
<p>the usn engineering ranking of course doesn't capture this part of nu's engineering.</p>
<p>I'm a rising sophomore so I'm not sure I'm well-equipped to talk about job opportunities. From my graduated friends that were econ majors, most major banks and investment groups are aware that NU lacks a business program and has the 9th best econ department in teh country. I wouldn't worry that schools don't know who we are and what we do. There is a business major, which is suggested for those who want to enter banking or finance.
Most of the early econ courses are "weed-outs", so the classes are curved to a B- to scare away those who can't hack it. Many see econ as an easy major that doesn't require work. If you don't have the ability or work ethic, you find out very quickly.
I'm interested in econ, so I don't find it impossible or boring. If your sole goal is to get a 6-figure job out of undergrad and don't care about the principles and applications of economics, you're in for a long 4 years. Not that it isn't doable. 6 figure jobs aren't too uncommon for those with good grades and work experience; its just that you sell your sould to an I-banking company and work 80 hour weeks for 2 years.</p>
<p>Do you see any problems with majoring solely in econ without a technical background? I understand that finance is highly quantitative, so would it be difficult to get into the field without say, an engineering or math major? </p>
<p>Thanks for all the info. by the way! :)</p>
<p>Again, I hardly consider myself to be an expert on the subject, but I think "solely" an econ major is okay. Every econ major must take econometrics, which is a largely quantitative course. As I understand it, if you have the ability and the drive, you can take upper level courses offered by NU in conjunction with Kellogg (top 3 business school in the world).
Also, if you get an internship in an appropiate field, I'm pretty sure that would show your ability to handle an entry-level position at a financial firm.</p>
<p>I wonder if that would inhibit one from advancing in the firm. I'm still contemplating whether or not I should major in a technical field as an undergrad.</p>
<p>Going to an undergraduate institution for a liberal arts education is fine with banking imo. The schools that place the most students in i-banks are Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale. None of them has a business program for undergrads.</p>
<p>But they at still Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale..... I think it has more to do with that than with liberal arts vs business programs.</p>
<p>My uncle used to be the Global Head of Campus Recruiting for one of the top 3 investment banking firms in the world. He was one of the first people in my family to truly emphatically congratulate me on getting into Northwestern, and told me stories of how excellent the graduates were and how heavily recruited they were. Specifically, he noted mathematics and economics as the fields to be in.</p>
<p>Do you think that it is necessary to major in both Mathematics and Economics? If I were to major only in economics and a technical field (probably not engineering...), would I be okay? Actually, is it possible to do that [engineering + econ]?</p>
<p>i was playing poker yesterday at 18+ charitable casino and one of the guys at my table is a senior at NU. he's an econ major. He got a C in MENU(uh...gotta revisit my decision for the nth time) , his GPA is 3.2. The best part: he already has a job for the Bank of America where he will be making 70-80k right out of college! I'd say NU is recruited well since his GPA is not high at all and he already got a great job offer (From his summer internship though)</p>