My son is very good at math, thinking of majoring in physics, but isn’t sure what he wants to do in life. Is Northwestern too pre-professional? Can it be a good place for someone who isn’t sure what he wants to do after college or is too competitive? For example, if he decides he wants to do investment banking, will he be competing for jobs against students who have been planning for that career for years? Also, do NYC investment banks recruit there? Is the party/Greek life too much or is it manageable? How does the school compare yo WashU?
Both are outstanding universities.
Northwestern offers at least two special programs for students who are strong in math and want either IB or MMSS (mathematical methods in social sciences). Completing either of these two programs will get one into almost any related career / profession or graduate school.
Northwestern also offers a 10 month master’s degree in business from the Kellogg School of Business which is only open to recent Northwestern University graduates. (Duke University has a similar 10 month master’s degree program for recent grads, but it is open to all and attracts a sizable contigent of foreign students from international universities. Duke’s program has more lenient admissions.)
Greek life is manageable.
Not sure how a school can be too pre-professional for one targeting investment banking as a career.
WashUStL overlap schools are: Chicago, Northwestern, Rice, Vanderbilt, Cornell, Duke, Stanford, and Yale.
Northwestern University overlap schools are: Yale, Stanford, Harvard, Michigan, UPenn, Princeton, WashUStL, and Duke.
Hopefully the overlap schools help you to differentiate the two universities a bit.
FWIW Northwestern’s ocean is bigger than WashUStL’s.
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Some thoughts:
NU handily beats WashU on school spirit with regard to sports that’s for sure!
Both schools are academically rigorous and intense. NU probably places better into banking careers, but some of those jobs are located in Chicago…I am not sure how many would be in NYC. I would do some sleuthing on the career center sights. The access to Kellogg at NU is an advantage. Overall the feedback I hear is that WashU is more collaborative, and NU more competitive among students.
It’s relatively easy at both schools to change majors, take classes from other areas within the school, double major/major + minor in different schools.
I think it’s close to half of women and 35%-40% of men who participate in Greek Life at NU(don’t forget to include the proportion of freshman who pledge second semester). I expect one can still have a fine social life without participating in it. A significant proportion of Greek events are not open to non-Greeks AFAIK.
WashU Greek Life is not as prominent, and more inclusive. Again, AFAIK.
It is much colder in the winter and spring at NU, the lake effect on weather can be dramatic.
I also think NU is a great place for someone undecided because the quarter system allows for taking more courses during the academic year.
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Hm. One of the reasons that S19 wouldn’t consider NU was because he was undecided and I’ve heard from students first hand that advising is not great there. He (and we) didn’t want him taking a bunch of intro classes trying to figure out what he wanted to major in. I started a thread on CC in the NU section about this and got a lot of students saying things like “NU expects us to be adults and figure out our classes ourselves”. We just didn’t think it was a good fit in that way. That being said, the quarter system does let one try on different hats and you have plenty of time to decide on a major. I’m an alum and I was an engineering major for a year and a half and switched to the college of arts and sciences and was still able to eek out two majors not using any of my math and science classes towards them.
In answer to your question, will he be competing against students who from day one knew they wanted IB? Yes. But if he’s a good student and has taken the right classes, he’d be fine. MMSS is a great (but very small) major and those kids do very very well in the interviewing pool for jobs. If your S is very independent and can figure out his major while taking fairly large intro classes and do it without much advising, I’m sure he’d be fine.
In S19’s case, he wanted smaller classes and more of a chance to get guidance from his professors to figure out the best direction for him so NU wasn’t the best fit. He is also a math and physics kid and, after one year under his belt, got a lot of support from faculty in both departments and will double major. Not everyone, though, wants an LAC.
@momofboiler1 I’d argue that the quarter system is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, as you stated in your comment, you can take more classes over your 4 years. On the other, classes that are taught over a semester (not sequential courses like math and most intro stem courses,) are now condensed into a quarter. The quarter system, IMO, is for students who are VERY self-motivated, organized, and can handle taking multiple
@TomMW4 Both schools are known for rigorous academics, a lack of inflation (no grade inflation like at other schools,) and a pre-professional atmosphere, albeit more-so at WashU. However, every T20 is pre-professional (read: overwhelmingly pre-health/med, except Penn Wharton which is notably both) which is a function of top med schools and their prestige being extended to the undergrad, at least in a pre-med student’s eyes.
Both schools are in the Midwest, but Chicago’s a much larger city (although Evanston’s a small town near Chicago) than St. Louis. If financial aid is a concern, it’s important to note that WashU, while meeting full need, is need-AWARE, though applying ED likely minimizes this factor, or if an especially strong applicant.
If your son is interested in studying Physics/Math AND business (or economics,) it’s important to research the feasibility of double-majoring (or major/minor.)
Regarding if WashU, NU or “fill in school name here” is a target school, you’ll be able to find more information by searching on Google and on CC. Some schools, like Brown (note that I’m biased b/c I go here, but the Open Curriculum is perfect for studying multiple interests) have Business Career Advising pages that you should be able to find on Google. Some schools, again like Brown, have posted data about the careers of concentrators (majors) in a certain major post-graduation.
Brown Business Careers Advising: brown.edu/go/businesscareers
Brown Focal Point: https://www.brown.edu/undergraduate_concentrations (Click on a concentration to see post-graduation data.)
Hope that helps! Good luck with admissions!
Consider the curriculum of Northwestern’s Integrated Science Program (ISP) for one interested in math & physics:
https://ISP.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/curriculum.html
MMSS curriculum and other majors & programs can be found here:
https://www.northwestern.edu/academics/undergraduate-a-to-z.html
P.S. Click on “Social Policy” (SESP = School of Education & Social Policy)
SESP is a small tight knit school within NU. SESP students are strongly encouraged to double major with study at the college of arts & sciences.
Outstanding curriculum & internships with significant personal advising
Northwestern undergrads receive as much personal advising as wanted. NU is a National University with tremendous resources and options available to all students.
Northwestern University is best suited for highly intelligent, motivated, ambitious students.
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where did your son decide to go?
Homerdog, where did your son go?
@TomMW4 You need to use the “@” to notify a specific person on CC that isn’t the creator of the thread. So it would be @homerdog 
Bowdoin.
@homerdog
What’s his experience been like there?
@TomMW4 he loves it. He will major in either math or physics or both but appreciates that he has plenty of space left for history and English classes. Tons of attention from his professors. Just what he wanted. If you have specific questions feel free to PM me.
This thread is a bit dated, but I wanted to echo @Publisher 's comment about IB careers. NU students place very well into investment banks (admittedly not as well as those from Wharton or Stern due to location and history) - all major IBs have recruited from NU every year.
MMSS is an extremely prestigious major that only accepts dozens of students a year. By the end of their junior year, most MMSS students already have multiple job offers (some from PhD programs) and have little to worry about their career.
Other IB hopefuls can also consider the Kellogg Certificate or a 5-year BA/Master in Management track. Again, very hard to get in, but once you do, you have a very good shot at IB/PE/HF interviews.
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