Need to decide between WUSTL, NU and Penn

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>Narrowed it down to 3 - Wash U., Northwestern and Penn. Which do you think would be best for Mechanical Eng. and why? I'm looking for overall experience - educationally, socially, opportunities for research, etc. (Jewish male from WI) THANKS!</p>

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<p>Among those who rate these things (US News), Northwestern is rated noticeably higher than Wash U. or Penn in engineering overall and in mechanical engineering in particular. All of these schools would provide a great overall experience. At each you will find a similar student body and have the advantages of a campus in or near a major city. If you care about it, Big Ten athletics distinguishes Northwestern somewhat.</p>

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<p>IVY. do it. 10char</p>

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<p>Engineering-wise, Northwestern:

  1. unique kick*ss first-year curriculum-integrated, emphasis on design, hands-on, real-world projects for real-world clients
  2. you get to build stuff at the huge toolshop at the ford design center
  3. engineering co-op
  4. higher engineering rankings
  5. one of the national solar-car competition finalists</p>

<p>I’ll leave the subjectives to others.</p>

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<p>What about quality of life, attention to undergrads, research opportunities, etc.?</p>

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<p>From what I’ve heard, WashU wins in the quality of life, attention to undergrads, and UNDERGRAD research opportunities departments… I’m a Jewish male from PA; the 25% Jewish population is a bonus, I’m thinking of going to Wash U for electrical engineering. Maybe I’ll see you there!</p>

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<p>^WashU wins in the quality of life as in food and dorm. There’s no evidence that shows it has better attention to undergrads (academics-wise) and undergrad research opportunities.
OP, check this out: <a href=“http://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/news/articles/483[/url]”>http://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/news/articles/483&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>WashU has many research opportunities, especially since it’s med school is so highly ranked, many students travel to the medical school campus to partake in research. The evidence that WashU professors pay more attention to undergraduates is only from students.</p>

<p>to OP: ask yourself if you like the city feel of Penn, the campus is quite pretty, but then again so is WashU’s. NU’s campus is half gothic, half modern, with the modern buildings very bland and gray colored. However, it does contain a nice lake on campus and Chicago is also a nice city, although I still prefer philly.</p>

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<p>^If it’s med research, WashU would have the edge, but not engineering. Its med school is highly ranked and highly ranked schools have lots of research projects which lead to opportunities for undergrads. So, perhaps graduate ranking does matter a lot. Graduate ranking in mech engineering:
Northwesten 12th
Penn 26th
WashU 48th</p>

<p>2009 Goldwater scholars:
<a href=“http://www.act.org/goldwater/pdfdoc/2009scholars.pdf[/url]”>http://www.act.org/goldwater/pdfdoc/2009scholars.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
This list may serve as another proxy for undergrad support for science research and advising.
Northwestern 3</p>

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<p>mike1123: Northwestern is 38% Jewish, just so you know.</p>

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<p>^According to what source? Hillel.org says it’s about 20 percent Jewish (undergrad).</p>

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<p>I did my undergraduate in MechE at WashU and I’m doing my Masters in Robotics at Penn. Feel free to PM me any questions. You can’t really go wrong with either school, but they are very different in terms of environment. WashU (although it is technically in a city) is basically in a suburban area while Penn has a real city feel. The MechE department at WashU has more students per year than Penn (60 or so compared to 30-40). You’ll find plenty of research opportunities at each. Personally, I’m glad I did my undergraduate at WashU because I loved the environment there. I like Penn too, but as a grad student I don’t really have a good grasp of what the undergraduate experience would be like here.</p>