<p>What's it like? Really hard? I do want a social life.
And I heard somewhere there is grade deflation...is that true also?
NU and Purdue are my main contenders for (biomedical) engineering. Purdue would obviously be cheaper, but would NU be that much better?</p>
<p>Hiii I’d like to know the same thing, if anyone could give us an answer 
I’m in about the same situation.</p>
<p>My D just graduated in 2009 as a ChemE major; she went co-op and is working in her field. She absolutely loved it, and if you can get in to NU, you can do it - not that it’s easy! BUT she did DM for 4 years, studied abroad at Edinburgh, and also was an all-star at Slivka, the engineering res hall. </p>
<p>She played rugby for 4 years, and went with the team to Germany and Ireland, and rugby was a great intro to friends at Edinburgh - she played with their 1st 15 (like varsity in the states).</p>
<p>re: Purdue - When my D visted, her “mentors” cut class!!! All doubts wer removed - NU was better, and her contacts through NU have been great.</p>
<p>Go Cats!</p>
<p>NU is probably better. Also, Purdue is known as more of a sink-or-swim school. I think students get less support there.</p>
<p>Given the economy we are in now, it’s difficult for me to tell people to go to more expensive private schools. That said, NU is probably better because of the support the adminstration provides. CO-OP, undergrad research, and study aboard are probably more readily available. Whether that’s worth is or not is partly based on your financial situation.</p>
<p>Actually, NU was MUCH better at giving aid than public schools, like Purdue, Iowa State and U of I Ch-Urbana for my D. She received more, and paid less - total net less - at NU than the other schools, although I have to say that was 5 years ago. My main point - don’t automaticaly assume it would cost less to go to Purdue.</p>
<p>I know for a fact it would cost less to go to purdue because I qualify for the tuition scholarship, plus my brother is going to college this year and applied for financial aid–we didn’t qualify for any; we’re sort of in the middle of qualifying and being able to afford a top notch private school. He’s going to purdue even though he got into MIT. So in all likelihood I’ll go there too, but NU is my other top contender. but thanks for your input, everyone!
but yeah it’s not too hard is it? social life still there, grades pretty easy to keep up? anyone aware? thanks again</p>
<p>HSjuniorgirl: MIT is notorious for cutting off aid packages at a relatively low income level. If you are below 75k, the aid award is huge and includes way too generous amounts for travel, incidentals and books/food etc. And, it is awarded the same to internationals [10% of the student body] as it is to US applicants. MIT views itself as having some type of mission to low income/first generation applicants and the number of these on campus is large compared to other comparable schools. The result is a huge divide between the minority paying the full 50k plus per year and partially subsidizing the the majority who are getting free or subsidized educations. </p>
<p>So if youre middle class and have the qualifications there are far better places to apply than MIT if you need aid. harvard, Yale, princeton, Stanford, even dartmouth, for example. Unfortunately, NU is just plain stingy when it comes to aid.</p>