<p>D is a driven high-school junior. 23xx SAT scores, 4.0 UW GPA, several AP courses (all score 5) incl. Chem, Phy C, Calc BC etc. SATII chem 800, etc. Taking couple classes in UMich in fall. Decent ECs; no sports whatsoever (except Quizbowl varsity captain; unless you don’t think Quizbowl is a sport:-) </p>
<p>Interested in ISP major at NU. I haven’t found many threads here talking about it.</p>
<li>How hard is it to get into?</li>
<li>How hard is it after getting in?</li>
<li>What do they actually do in college?</li>
<li>What do they actually do after graduating?</li>
<li>Recommend for or against?</li>
</ol>
<p>Other schools considering - traditional science/engg programs in UMich (in-state, in-town actually), ND, Cornell, CMU, UIUC. </p>
<ol>
<li>not too bad</li>
<li>very very hard</li>
<li>the program is sort of isolated because they have their own classes</li>
<li>it’s a really good preparation for grad school</li>
<li>recommend it for science but cornell is probably better for engineering</li>
</ol>
<p>You can see it’s pretty loaded. Note that you don’t have to follow this 3-yr format and most ISP students spread these courses into 4 years and have a second major.</p>
<p>Well, my twin brother was accepted ED to the program and I know he’s really excited about it, so I would recommend it from that. From what I’ve gathered (which is by no means correct), it is difficult to get into the program, as they only accept about 20-30 kids or so, but once you’re in, it’s even more difficult.</p>
<p>My brother plans to triple major in three different science-y things I completely am forgetting, but he wants to go to grad school afterward and become a research scientist of some kind. I know one of the things that really drew him about it was the sort of camaraderie of students who are in the program- it’s difficult, but you work together, take a lot of the same classes, and support each other. There are usually a couple drop-outs who either find it too difficult or decide to major in one particular science rather than every last science course known to mankind.</p>
<p>My dad also enrolled in the ISP program, so a bit of this is from his experience as well, but again, this might be outdated. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>I am interested in your Dad’s experience graduating from ISP and the career paths that he and his fellow classmates followed. With ISP being a unique program that most schools do not offer, did he find the uniqueness to be a disadvantage? Did he continue his studies into grad school? Has he found employment more difficult through the years because of this degree or was it a good stepping stone?</p>
<p>I am assuming he had a positive experience since your twin is looking at the same program. Would he have any advice to those currently or considering the program? Thanks for your time!</p>
<p>Very true, very few, if any, major in just ISP. But does the double or triple major including ISP offer more of a benefit than a double major in two sciences or a science or math? For all the work ISP entails, is it worth the work or is it not given its due respect because few know of it?</p>
<p>ISP is for science lovers who aren’t satisified with traditional science curriculum. The benefit comes from the integrated and advanced curriculum. All ISP courses are honors courses and research opportunity is pretty much a given. Benifit is in the eyes of the beholders; I would find it hellish as things would just be way over my head. You may love it on the other hand. You should take it because you are truly interested in the curriculum and have pretty strong quantitative skills. </p>
<p>I am sure the grad schools know about ISP since the program has been around for 30 years and they’ve seen the quality of ISP grads.</p>
<p>Allies: I know my dad definitely liked Northwestern besides the program, as he actually dropped out of ISP his junior year and decided to major entirely in biochemistry (he went to medical school later). My twin brother on the other hand, while he did like Northwestern, is going there because of ISP. Advice in general he told both of us is that you have to love science. I believe his exact phrase was “You will take every science course known to mankind.” It’s hard, it requires a lot of work, but he found it fascinating and loved having the smaller, closer classes. For him, I guess it was a stepping stone to find a major he loved even more, but the science background definitely helped him in medical school (he went to University of Chicago for that), so I don’t think the admissions people minded or anything.</p>
<ol>
<li>When I called them 2 years back to ask about my decision, they said there was a ~30% acceptance rate.</li>
<li>It seems really really hard. It seemed comparable to Caltech in terms of difficulty.</li>
<li>The ISP’ers I talked to while visiting seemed to do a lot of studying and homework. Almost all double major. Double majoring in chemistry, or dropping out and majoring in chemistry seemed most common (NU is really baller for chemistry).</li>
<li>They go to grad school if their GPA didn’t die. Several of the seniors were headed off to Stanford, Caltech, Berkeley, other UC’s. Thought it was strange that every single one I talked to were going west.</li>
<li>You have to really like pure science, and want the integrated background with the goal of doing research in pure science.</li>
</ol>