Northwestern or Princeton?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northwestern University
1

<p>I'm in the process of applying, and my school limits the number of applications I can send off (I know it doesn't make a lot of sense, but that's the system), and I'm down to Princeton and Northwestern for the last slot. I need some help choosing. Here's the run down:
- Right now I'm looking to study something within Engineering. I'm leaning towards computer stuff, but that might change and quite possibly will.
- I plan on going on to graduate school.
- Financial aid is nice, but negligible considering that I won't get much at either school.
- I have the numbers to be a competitive applicant at either (I'm not saying either is a sure deal, just that I have the numbers to be within the ballpark). Also, my chances of getting into either are not an important factor in the decision.
- I liked Northwestern more when I visited it over the summer (which is obviously limited at best considering no one's really there), but for primarily superficial reasons: nice lake, cool building, etc.
- Princeton has the more attractive programs, but no double majors, which is unfortunate because I might want to do that.</p>

<p>Does anyone have any suggestions?</p>

<p>*Note: this is also posted on the Princeton thread too.</p>

2

<p>It depends on your attitude and outlook. Both have solid strengths, NU is stronger in the Engineering and if you are interested in ISP (Integrated Science Program) as a double major, it will positively help you in graduate school admissions. Research opportunties are plenty at NU. You might also want to check out the overall happiness of the student body in both the schools. Are the students at Princeton super competitive and do they have grade deflation as compared to NU? (might have an impact when you apply to graduate school, esp. medical, law schools). Does it seem like the overall student body in one school is more stressed out w.r.t other? </p>

<p>Since you will be spending four formative years in your undergrad school, there are many factors apart from academics that you may want to consider.</p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

3

<p>^^ With respect to the grade inflation issue: Princeton recently (i.e., the last 4-5 years) enacted a grade deflationary policy (which left many of their students - and parents - pretty unhappy because it hurt them when competing with students from, e.g., Harvard, which is very grade inflationary).</p>

4

<p>Grade deflation and inflation are relative. What is the frame of reference? We know the grades at Princeton are now deflated when compared to, say, 5 years ago. But that’s only comparing to itself. Does Princeton really have grade deflation when compared to, say, McCormick or WCAS at Northwestern?</p>

5

<p>If you think you’ll be happy at NU, apply ED - if your stats are competitive at Princeton, you should have a solid chance in the ED round. In the RD round, you might not get either, so you take that risk into consideration.</p>

6

<p>What are yiour stats and other schools? Its hard to advise without the entire picture. Are you applying ED/EA anywhere?</p>

7

<p>“I’m down to Princeton and Northwestern for the last slot” </p>

<p>He’s not going to apply ED for the “Last Slot” </p>

<p>If these two schools really are your “Last” slot, then flip a coin. Actually, you may not get into either of these two unless you apply ED, but since you have another preference, your chances of getting into either of these schools is going to be slim for an RD app.</p>

8

<p>Princeton!!</p>

9

<p>Princeton does not offer EA, therefore NW might be more likely to give you an early acceptance, but that would be binding. If this is your last slot, RD would be the way to go.</p>

10

<p>This is CC. Everybody is a prestige hound. Yet you have to ask about Princeton vs. NW. For the “last slot.”</p>

<p>Obviously, you either really like NW or really don’t like Princeton, or both. Just go with NW.</p>

11

<p>Why don’t you see where you get in first.</p>

12

<p>They are two totally different schools in so many ways. I can’t even fathom how you could be interested in both equally.</p>

13

<p>Given that Princeton just jumped over Harvard to be the #1 ranked university in the country by US World and News Report, I hope that you have some match and safety schools in the mix. Northwestern is extremely hard to get into, and Princeton will probably be at around a 6% acceptance rate next year. Also, these schools are so completely different that choosing to apply to one over the other seems like a random decision. I can see “should I apply to NU or Wash U?” as a question that could be logically discussed, but not Princeton and NU.</p>

<p>Princeton has snooty eating clubs. Just sayin’.</p>

14

<p>just apply for both and drop something else from your list. Once you get admitted you can choose</p>

15

<p>Really? Princeton…</p>

16

<p>Odd that you have chosen those two totally different schools as possibilities. I agree that if you tell us the other schools you’ve chosen to apply to we will be able to get a better picture of what you’re looking for in a college.</p>

17

<p>I know this is an old thread so any advice won’t make a difference, and maybe you have just not been clear, but why would you go to a high school that limits your ability to apply to as many colleges as you want? </p>

<p>Many applicants apply to a number of colleges to ensure academic and financial fit. Whether your school is public or private you should in no way accept any constraints on your ability to execute your college search strategy.</p>

18

<p>If you can get into Princeton, I don’t know why you are asking this question…</p>

19

<p>I got into both, and was in interested in engineering like you too. Obviously I ended up going to Northwestern, and there were a number of reasons for that. Princeton is obviously a great school, don’t get me wrong. But they (students, faculty, admin.) know it is a great school - and there are many, many ways that fact makes itself clear. This results in massive differences in the types of people that go to Princeton. At Northwestern, people are extremely friendly, real go getters, and genuinely looking to improve other peoples lives. At Princeton, I found people felt a true sense of entitlement, because their father is the CEO of some fortune 500 company, or because every man in their family had attended Princeton since its inception. Things like that. </p>

<p>Aside from that, I also find that the Northwestern engineering department is much more innovating and much more on the cutting edge of research and technology. This will transfer immensely when you are looking to apply to graduate school. Furthermore, Northwestern truly cares about undergrad education, which can’t really be said for Princeton. </p>

<p>Keep in mind, Northwestern is also in Chicago - not the boonies of a massive SuperFund site. Northwestern also is in the Big 10. And I also find that the size of NU is perfect for an fantastic undergrad experience. Moreover, the academics programs at NU are extremely flexible, to the extent its possible to do a double (if not triple) major and graduate on time. </p>

<p>As a whole, I believe that Northwestern has a much better culture than Princeton. I turned down Princeton for undergrad and graduate school for a plethora of reasons. Although obviously I am a little biased. But definitely, DEFINITELY, do not get roped into the “#1 rank” perception. Yes, it is a great school. But is Northwestern deficient in academics by any means? Absolutely not. I go to Caltech now, and even here I found classes to be on effectively the same level as undergrad at NU. If you think Princeton would be a better fit, then apply there. But just keep in mind that you will be facing an almost statistically negligible chance of admittance. </p>

20

<p>I do not believe the thing you said about UG education at Princeton is true, but buy some things atmospheric differences (except entitlement thing. There a great degree of that most selective private schools). While am into whole we’re number one thing , I do know that Princeton is a pretty amazing place to get science (as is Northwestern), though not specifically engineering. As for Caltech vs. NU, just no. The level of science classes at Caltech is generally even higher than MIT’s. I can imagine “some” courses being at the same level, but the baseline (the introductory sequences) at Caltech are just much higher than normal (as in, higher than other science intensive schools), so I wouldn’t buy that argument as a summation. They could be similar in some respects, but not in general. This is just like how everybody going to some top 20 outside of Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Chicago, or Caltech who does science tries to swear up and down that their courses are more rigorous. For the most part, it isn’t really true at all (Berkeley students love to make such claims. However, I can easily just go to their engineering honors society page and take a look at the back exams and course materials and go compare). Not to mention, places like Harvard design their science curricula in completely different ways (you get it “easiest” if you’re pre-med and even those courses have been specially designed to be “integrated science courses”. Their introductory biology looks more like a mix of an intermediate/advanced biology course mixed with fundamentals of organic chemistry. I’m sorry, but not many other schools just can claim such things for introductory courses meant to serve pre-healths. If pre-med courses are that rigorous, you know that the courses geared toward grad. school and industry bound science majors are very rigorous as well). The grading patterns at each school is not equivalent to the level of content. Places like H may grade courses easier than other places, but the content appears to be at a completely different level. </p>

<p>I love school pride, but let’s be realistic here. Some places didn’t earn their reputation for “intensity” by magic dust that fell from the sky. This isn’t baseless commentary, BTW, you can actually go look at the course websites for many of these science courses at certain elite schools (like Caltech, Harvard, MIT, and in some cases Yale, Princeton, WashU, and Dartmouth). There are differences, trust me. I went to Emory, and found that some courses were much more rigorous than anticipated in a relative since (since we rank at the bottom of the top 20, I expected all courses to be easier than some of those places and some are indeed as tough or tougher. For example, there are two organic chemistry instructors that are about the same difficulty as Northwestern’s instructors. One of them usually has about 1/2 of the students taking the course, and next year both are teaching so maybe 250/400 will be in such sections. There are a couple of general chemistry instructors that put students in a similar boat) as the counterparts at some of those schools. However, I recognize that such a thing is not the norm or standard. It is certainly below NU (much more consistent rigor across the board, though probably not as intense as some of the other schools known for the rigor of science coursework. I would imagine it, Hopkins, and Cornell are similar in intensity. And while students talk these schools up as if they have harder courses than HYP, the actual course materials don’t bear this out. A lot of the intensity is coming from the grading practices at JHU and Cornell it appears) and far below HYPSChMCt in rigor overall and I know it (it does compare favorably with some other schools between 10 and 20, but not all of them and definitely not with hardly any top 10s). With that said, sometimes I do value innovation over rigor, so I can see where you’re coming from there, but we have to admit that some programs have a crap ton of both and that such programs don’t have it merely because students and administrators say they do. </p>