Northwestern or WashU?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northwestern University
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<p>I'm deciding between which one. </p>

<p>I recently got admitted into the Medill school of Journalism at NU, and Olin at WashU. I don't know which one to choose!</p>

<p>Pros of NU: nice campus, driven but chill people, location, slightly bigger name, proximity to home is better, sports/school spirit
Cons: weather, quarter system </p>

<p>Pros of WashU: even nicer quality campus, food, driven but chill people, offered a bit more money, everyone there seems very nice (professors esp)
Cons: location isnt as good as NU, not much about sports</p>

<p>I like business, but for me straight up business would be bland. My strength is writing, and I like being involved with journalism somehow. I guess I was thinking to go to Public Relations, a combo of the two. If I went to Northwestern, I would minor in econ or get a Kellogg certificate. For WashU, I would study business and write for the paper. </p>

<p>A factor that I also want to take into account is how successful I would be out of college--journalism is certainly not a dying industry if I take the integrated marketing communications and I enjoy it-- but the parents are paying a lot so success is pretty important to me too. </p>

<p>Most people have been saying NU. Tell me what you guys think! Thanks so much.</p>

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<p>The Kellogg name goes a long way in business. Getting a certificate from them could really give you an edge. I’m not quite sure about the business program at WashU, but I think Northwestern is a great choice for you based on Kellogg and the location alone.</p>

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<p>You sound like you like Northwestern better. The only cons you came up with were weather and the quarter system, one of which doesn’t really matter since you said it’s closer to home, you must be used to the weather, and the other of which has pros too. More classes, get rid of bad teachers quickly, easier double major/minoring.</p>

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<p>Medill and Kellogg are two of the best programs in journalism and business, respectively. Your interests are Northwestern’s strengths. I’d go with NU.</p>

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<p>You may be interested in the Integrated Marketing Certificate offered by Medill. (Re-read the post… aaaand you are! Good on you.) Although it is geared more towards the marketing/PR type stuff you mentioned.</p>

<p>Kellogg is another good choice, but that’s geared more towards management consulting and financial consulting. And it’s extremely math heavy (by filling all the requirements, you’re roughly 3 courses away from completing a math minor).</p>

<p>Also look at the Kapnick Business Institutions Program, that’s another business-oriented program you could be interested in. Slightly less mathy than Kellogg.</p>

<p>The econ department is great, that’s my major. They do good work, and the profs are all quite good. I do design for the Daily, too–it’s a pretty chill place to be.</p>

<p>Yeah, the weather sucks winter quarter. No getting around that. But it’s getting warm again now, and let me tell you, it is -magical-.</p>

<p>The quarter system is nice, in my opinion. The courses aren’t long enough to let you get bored with whatever you’re learning… a lot of my friends at semester schools complain about that a lot.</p>

<p>Let me know if you have any questions.</p>

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<p>One thing about the weather. Despite what a lot of people think, it doesn’t suck for everyone. Someone coming down from North Dakota would probably love Chicago weather :smiley: Plus it will be a nice change of pace, since I hate the warm weather in SC. Just a thought.</p>

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<p>I would pick Northwestern for sure. It has a much stronger reputation on the east and west coasts. Wash U is a great school but in New York and Los Angeles (have lived in both cities), I can say Northwestern is regarded in a different (higher) peer group than Wash U. People I know consider Northwestern to be in the same league as the lower ivies and schools like Duke, UChicago, etc. Wash U I think is a peer of Vanderbilt, UVA, Emory, etc. Both are great schools but I would pick Northwestern.</p>

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<p>Two great schools.
My daughter loved both, but ultimately decided to apply ED to NU and had the greatest undergrad experience that we could have hoped for.
We have many very close friends who went to Wash U.
You cannot possibly lose. You should go where your gut tells you you’d be happier.</p>

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<p>at PieceofToast or anyone else, my dad keeps on telling me that businesses aren’t going to hire me over someone who has a pre-professional degree in let’s say accounting,finance, or econ and that i can really only seek and get journalism related jobs because ill be going to medill. say i wanted to do end up doing public relations, or possibly go into consulting. how much is this the truth?</p>

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<p>For consulting or operations? Well, no. If you’re interested in that sort of thing, I’d recommend a statistics major or minor, but that requires multivariable calculus and linear algebra. That would help you out for demographic analysis and that sort of thing, which is good–quantifying the situation and how it might change is an important function.</p>

<p>Minoring in economics probably wouldn’t be a big tip in your favor, though I could be wrong. It wouldn’t hurt, but if you’re looking at jobs that want an econ minor, you’re probably looking at jobs that would prefer an econ, stats, or math major.</p>

<p>[Degree</a> Requirements - Department of Economics – Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Northwestern University](<a href=“http://www.econ.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/degree/index.html]Degree”>http://www.econ.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/degree/index.html)</p>

<p>You might be interested in consulting, which would probably include a lot of math/stat and econ. The kellogg certificate might help you there, though there is a LOT of math. You’d be three courses away from a math minor. The certificate prerequisites have to be completed with a 3.0 average, too. Not for the faint of heart. There are a handful of programs that would get you experience as a consultant while doing your undergrad, though, if you want to try it out.</p>

<p>Regardless, I’d recommend keeping your mind open about switching into Weinberg, SESP, or SoC. They all have their own programs focused on HR, communications, and more general liberal arts studies. Medill is very focused on producing journalists; if that’s not what you’re interested in, you might be better off in another school. It’s very easy to switch to another school within the university.</p>

<p>Note: IMC isn’t related to journalism, per se, nor is it limited to people within Medill–any undergraduate can go for that certificate, as long as they fill the prerequisites. It’s more geared towards advertising, and in my opinion would mesh well with some in-depth statistics studies. Harvard Business Journal has an article from this month (might be last month, now) about statistical modelling in advertising.</p>

<p>I’m an econ and possible stats/math major, let me know if you have any other questions.</p>

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<p>I will also mention that the IMC requires courses that are incredibly competitive to sign up for. Students in Medill have an unspoken priority registration into those courses. Just something to think about. It’s easier to double major in a different school (Weinberg, Comm) than it is to try and take courses based in Medill while being a part of another school (despite the fact that anyone can pursue an IMC).</p>