<p>and besides, stanford is just generally more awesome (don't flame me!! <em>hides</em>)</p>
<p>Thanks for the help guys.</p>
<p>Basically I feel like:
If I go to Stanford... and Northwestern wins a Nat'l Championship while im at Stanford... I will regret my decision/ wonder how good i could have been.</p>
<p>BUT</p>
<p>If I go to Northwestern... and I don't win while im there, or don't ever get to start, or hurt myself, i will regret my decision and wonder what Stanford would have been like.</p>
<p>So, i mean i know if i take lacrosse out of it completely I should obviously choose Stanford, but it's just kind of hard for me to do that, and so then Duke creeps in to mind, and then i remember the scandal. </p>
<p>Also, if i go to Stanford I feel like i might want to stay out there does anyone know about the acceptance rate to Stanford Med/ Business from Stanford U-grad?</p>
<p>What do you guys think the impact of the Duke scandal will be? Bc it does have good pre-med and business, and the Duke in LA film program and the #1 lax team. So if i really wanted to go to the NCAA tournament, that would provide me with that outlet. I am skeptical about being a female lacrosse player however, as well as the Duke treatment of women (i know stanford has that equality feel).</p>
<p>dude, you can quit the mmss major anytime you want ... it's super easy to change majors/schools at NU. it's a really flexible school.</p>
<p>also, Northwestern has a great econ department and our radio/film/tv major is top-notch. pre-med is also <em>really</em> good here.</p>
<p>Methinks that the scandal will blow over quickly, and in a year or two, be of little consequence -- the Pres will take a little harder look and control of the athletic department, but perhaps that is probably a good thing. Duke and Stanford both have excellent premed resources -- a good friend went to Stanford undergrad and is now at Duke Med. Don't know about film programs, except that USC, UCLA & NYU (Tisch?) seem to corner the market on that major.</p>
<p>i don't know much about sports, but i'm feeling a strong northwestern vibe here</p>
<p>Yah, there is a northwestern vibe. I think however, it is mostly my desire to be a part of a top lacrosse team (duke or northwestern provide this). I think socially I fit in best at Stanford.</p>
<p>How could you not go to Duke? Stanford? Not good fans. Northwestern? Not fans. Yale? Not sports.</p>
<p>Rip em up, tear em up, give em hell DUKE</p>
<p>
[quote]
I am skeptical about being a female lacrosse player however, as well as the Duke treatment of women (i know stanford has that equality feel).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Uh, not sure what you're getting at there, but I can tell you I'm a Duke female with no complaints about how I'm treated.</p>
<p>DuneBuggy
You have a really tough decision. I think you were right to eliminate Yale. Where are you from? If you are from someplace warm I would have to say pick Duke or Stanford. I went to the Princeton/Northwestern lax quarterfinal (?) game last year at Northwestern and the field is beautiful, it is right on Lake Michigan, but it was sooooo cold. You are right, though, the coach is awesome and the team would be so much fun. I know a girl on the team and winning an NCAA title is pretty cool.</p>
<p>there is life beyond lacrosse, as much as it pains me to say it (i'm NU 2010), go for Stanford if it really feels right for you.</p>
<p>Stanford or Yale...if you are serious about sports, then Stanford.</p>
<p>DuneBuggy </p>
<p>The difference between Northwestern and Stanford is probably negligible in terms of academic rigor. As a MMSS students, your chance of getting interviews with major business/finance firms is likely greater than average Stanford's kids when you major in MMSS+econ. MMSS has been around for a long time and has earned great reputation among the recruiters. I'd almost never heard of anyone doing MMSS+bio though. That combination yields little professional benefit; do you mean mmss/econ +bio?</p>
<p>Pick Stanford</p>
<p>sam - yah, you were right i did mean mmss/econ + bio, as i am interested in both med and business and maybe combining the two. In the long run does anyone honestly think it will make a difference whether i went to Northwestern or Stanford for undergrad?</p>
<p>The difference, if there's any, makes the most impact upon landing your first job. Once you start working, your performance at work matters more than any difference between Northwestern and Stanford. That's why many CEOs are from other non-Ivy schools and in fact, the most recent stats put Wisconsin as the one that tied with Harvard for having the most CEOs of Fortune 500 companies (Northwestern is about the same as Wisconsin if normalized by student population and has more than quite a few lower Ivies). If you do well at Northwestern, you'll be more competitive than someone with just an average grade at Stanford. CCers seem to overrate the difference between the top-20 schools and I said that as a person who went to Northwestern for undergrad and grad school at Stanford.</p>
<p>I am just talking about regular Northwestern program vs Stanford program. MMSS is no regular program however. The unique and rigorous program is recognized by many top firms, as far as I gather. Many firms know that only a small selected fraction of mostly econ majors are in the program and they specificly recruit them because the students are among the top students within the econ department, which in itself is already one of the top-10 programs in the country, and have great quantitiative skills. Typical econ majors, even the ones from Ivies or Stanford, generally don't have as much training in math/stats modeling applied to finance/econ as those with MMSS. And the quants are in high demand: </p>
<p>Check out the most recent alum newsletter:
<a href="http://www.mmss.northwestern.edu/alumni/AlumniNewsletter2005.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.mmss.northwestern.edu/alumni/AlumniNewsletter2005.pdf</a></p>
<p>A MMSS senior honors thesis (2000) was referenced in WSJ. The full-text of the paper can be viewed at
<a href="http://www.vanderbilt.edu/Econ/wparchive/workpaper/vu00-w26.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.vanderbilt.edu/Econ/wparchive/workpaper/vu00-w26.pdf</a> (apparently the advisor moved to Vanderbilt sometime after 2000)</p>
<p>Two of the relatively recent graduates (99 and 2001) have been promoted to VP at Goldman Sachs and Sandler O'Neill and Partners.</p>
<p>So in short, for premed, Stanford is probably a better choice. But for landing top jobs in business/finance, a MMSS student is likely more prepared than an average Stanford grad.</p>
<p>Sam Lee is the most intelligent person I've come across on collegeconfidential. His posts are always on target. Listen to him.</p>
<p>Sam- that makes a lot of sense. So if I am not sure right now what i want to do (maybe med school, or business school, or film or politics....) which would be better? Also, I feel like I would probably stand out better at Northwestern, and it would be easier to double major there.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I am interested in pre-med, or maybe business school. I might major in bio, human bio, economics. I am also interested in film, politics, and philosophy/psych.
[/quote]
Whew! Quite a load of interests there. I really think any of the three would fit your interests quite well, so I understand your indecision. Stanford easily takes the cake in psychology and philosophy, and probably biology as well. Duke is very strong in film- they offer a Literature major (conc. in film) and a Film/Video/Digital Certificate. The Center for Documentary Studies is right near East Campus, where freshmen live. Duke is pretty strong in most of the areas you mentioned, so I think it would be an awesome fit. But..............if you aren't comfortable with Duke lacrosse (although the women's team is doing very well), then maybe it wouldn't be the best choice. If you're uncomfortable with Duke, my vote would be for Stanford. With such a variety of interests, I'm willing to bet my bottom dollar you'll change interests at least once, and I think Stanford has strength in such a variety of areas that you'd be fine.</p>