<p>There seem to be a lot of these types of threads, but I hope people don't mind yet ANOTHER one. ;)</p>
<p>Okay, I was recently accepted to the Northwestern Medill School of Journalism. I didn't expect to get in and had already looked at UM and found a lot of programs that I was interested (I got into the RC there and was pretty excited to go into that). I planned to major in English (English Lit. being my passion), do some undergrad research, explore career possiblitities, apply to work on the Michigan Daily, and then apply to Grad school at Northwestern or Columbia if I settled on journalism. </p>
<p>However. Medill has an astounding reputation for Journalism . . . even though the thing is, I'm only 75% sure that is the career path I want to take. And it is a lot of money. (I'm instate for UMich). When I looked at Northwestern last summer, I fell in love with the campus, although it did seem a little smaller and quieter than UM (But then again, Chicago is right down the street, woop! and I'm a quieter person). And Northwestern, if I stick it out with a Medill degree and double major in English to fall back on, well, I've heard Medill will put you on the fast track as far as a career goes. </p>
<p>Basically I wanted to know: How is NU ranked/known as far as its English Department goes? Arts/Humanities? What makes NU so great that it costs nearly 3 times as much as UMich (and I don't mean that sarcastically or flippantly, I just don't know much about it and its programs)? What are class sizes like at NU CAS and in Medill? Would it be sensible to get a double major in English and Journalism at NU?</p>
<p>HELP! I know that there is really no way to go wrong with either choice (they are both excellent Universities from what I hear and find), but I'd like some other opinions about how each school compares, etc.</p>
<p>bump? </p>
<p>............................................................</p>
<p>You are right, they are both wonderful schools. THe reason that NU is 3 times as much as UMuch is that it is not funded by the government. I would also have trouble with this decision. I mean Michigan is alot bigger and you do not get to really experience living in a new place. For me,when the time comes, the choice would be alot easier since I live in WI and Madison is way to big and in the middle of the city. I would go to NU since I would believe that I would get a better quality of life there. Also, you might may many more "connections" at NU, which could help you in the future. For Journalism, Medill certainly would help with the whole Journalism thing and technically you do not declare your major untill your Junior year. Anyways....good luck! :)</p>
<p>Another thing you may want to take into account (although it doesn't sound like a big deal, it kind of is) is the schools' academic schedules. U Mich starts just after Labor Day and is done for the summer this week. We (at Northwestern) start around the 23rd of September and aren't done until the second week in June. U Mich only gets like a week-and-a-half for winter break, and we get like 3. I only bring this up because I know all of us at NU are going crazy knowing that our friends at The State School will be done with exams in a few days.</p>
<p>*I know that wasn't exactly the answer you were looking for, but I figured I'd just let you know. It's hard choosing between a state school and private school. In some ways, I wish I would have gone to U Mich (although I would have paid out-of-state tuition, so it was never really an option) but in other ways I am glad I went to a smaller private university. I am a student in Medill and am also not sure journalism is the career path I want to take. The (Medill) classes are tough and very discouraging if you don't want to be a journalist. However, don't let that sway you. The first-year Medill classes are pretty small (between 30 and 90 people - but the 90-person class has a three-hour lab section with only 15 people in it). If you double major with Medill and something else, you don't get two degrees. You get a BSJ and on the bottom of the degree it says you have fulfilled the requirements for a second major. If money is an issue, I would think about both options very seriously. I'm honestly not sure NU is worth three times what a state school costs either.</p>
<p>"Northwestern's English Department is an energetic, collegial community of distinguished scholars teaching and publishing in a wide range of literary, cultural, and creative fields, with a variety of disciplinary and methodological approaches.</p>
<p>With outstanding teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, a popular, well-organized undergraduate major (offering students more than a dozen areas of concentration, including creative writing), and a small, well-funded Ph.D. program--all supporting close working relations between faculty and students--the department combines the virtues of large scope and intimate scale. Located in historic University Hall, our highly ranked department has more than thirty renowned faculty members, publishing frequently and intensely involved in teaching. Among our strengths are the study of medieval, early modern, eighteenth century, Victorian, American, African American, modernist, twentieth century and postcolonial literature. Many of our faculty hold joint appointments and teach courses in related programs and departments, such as American Studies, Asian American Studies, Classics, Comparative Literary Studies, WCAS undergraduate Drama, Gender Studies, History, the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Theater and Drama, and Religion. The department also houses Renaissance Drama, an eminent journal edited by two colleagues, and--as part of its own lively culture--sponsors a large number of talks, readings, workshops, and colloquia. "</p>
<p><a href="http://www.english.northwestern.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://www.english.northwestern.edu/</a></p>