<p>I was admitted to Weinberg at Northwestern and the college of arts and sciences at WashU. I'm on the fence between the two and just wanted to see what anyone has to say about the advantages/disadvantages of each school.</p>
<p>To be honest, when I visited both, I was more impressed with the aesthetics of WashU’s campus. I was very impressed with the layout of the campus, the architecture of the buildings, and the interior of the dorms. I thought Northwestern’s campus was scenic but I did not like the layout and the eclectic mix of architectural styles of the buildings. Now, this is not even an issue, and I’m SO glad I did not let this aspect deter me from choosing Northwestern. In my opinion, Northwestern is more beautiful now. In part, this is because of the changes it has made recently but also because the campus really grew on me and I came to love it over time. Northwestern is also investing heavily in beautifying the campus even more, by taking advantage of its lakefront location, building a brand new student center, adding more green space, and changing the campus layout to make the campus more continuous. It will be an exciting and gorgeous place during your years there, and it will be an even more exciting place to call your alma mater 4 years from now.</p>
<p>Reputation wise, Northwestern has far surpassed WashU. In part, this is due to the strength of Northwestern’s professional and graduate schools but also its long history of being one of the premier colleges for top high school students looking for both a vibrant social and academic experience. </p>
<p>Also, I hate to bring this up, but WashU’s name has inevitably become known as “Waitlist U,” and let me tell you that a lot of students (and their parents, many of whom are employers) now hold a grudge against it and will put it down for that reason in their own passive-aggressive ways (even if they’re already at HYP, etc because they don’t like the feeling of being rejected). If you care about prestige, pride in your school, and not having that insecurity lingering, choose Northwestern. There is widespread agreement that Northwestern is a niche school and would choose it over other top schools because of its powerful social and academic brand.</p>
<p>What are your interests? Maybe I could construct a more specific response based on those. I would definitely encourage you to visit both if you can, but many would rule WashU out based on its “Waitlist U” reputation alone-- it is a very real concern.</p>
<p>They are two absolutely wonderful schools. It’s win/win.
My kid had it down to those two for ED and ultimately settled on NU after much thought. It proved to be a great decision.
Yes, the architecture of WashU’s campus is, overall, more attractive, but I just think NU is spectacular.
At the end of the day, the best way to decide is to spend time at both schools and ask yourself where you’d be happiest, not for a semester or a year, but for four years. That’s the school you should pick.</p>
<p>^ I never really got the Wash U campus. Great very initial impression and believe this often sells high school students visiting, but fake pink gothic building after building got old real fast. Couldn’t imagine not being bored with the aesthetics by the end of freshman year.</p>
<p>hoppop, it would help us to tell us what you’re into, what your specific concerns, interests are.</p>
<p>I would lean towards NU…</p>
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<p>Indeed, I did get bored with it pretty fast. That WashU campus is relatively small didn’t help. After seeing NU campus, I couldn’t wait to transfer. Glad it worked out. It’s unfair that NU got the amazing lakefront. But it is what it is.</p>
<p>Both of our sons narrowed it down to the same exact choices. Our older son chose WashU by a “nose” and loved every minute of it. He’s Class of '11. We’re now going through the same thing with our younger son…full disclosure, we loved being WashU parents and thought it was a great place. That being said, we’re completely neutral and know that if our younger son chooses Northwestern, we’ll love being Northwestern parents! We just got back from WashU and will be at Wildcat Day on April 16th. As we told both our sons, there’s no “wrong” decision here!</p>
<p>If you are premed-WashU has a much better reputation. If you are business or communications, NU.</p>
<p>^WashU does have an especially large concentration of pre-meds which makes the pre-med courses very competitive. It’s up to you whether you like that kind of challenge or not. Northwestern’s pre-med courses are also very difficult but I don’t know how difficult compared to WashU’s. The pre-med rates could very well be the same.</p>
<p>I just posted this in a similar thread…so apologies for doubling up:</p>
<p>I guess, as his Dad, I want to hear more about the “holistic” reasons people are at Northwestern (full disclosure, I hate that word…every time I’d hear an info session leader talk about their “holistic” process, I had to restrain myself from being a 12-year old and coughing “bs” into my hand, but I digress…). We know that both schools will offer amazing educations…we also know very, very well about “fit”. So, because we’re so familiar with WashU, we’re very curious to know what are the “fit” aspects that attracted great students to make Northwestern their college destination. Fact is that, unless a student applied early decision, we’re sure that they were choosing between great places. So, to repeat, why did that person choose Northwestern? We can answer that for WashU. Thanks!</p>
<p>Well, if you want to know about the ‘holistic’ reasons behind the choice, I could share my thoughts about WUSTL vs. NU. As a bonus for the OP, when you’re comparing two brilliant schools, that’s really what the choice comes down to. </p>
<p>—As an interesting aside, my high school provides graphs showing test scores and GPAs of students that applied to NU, and there’s an obvious pattern there. As the test scores of admitted students goes up… the GPA is allowed to be X amount lower. Very interesting. </p>
<p>Now! My thoughts:</p>
<p>St. Louis vs. Chicago (suburb, if you want to get picky, but it’s -right- there). No-brainer for me, personally, but it’s still a question to consider. Maybe there are already friends at one or the other, which would make it easier to start out.</p>
<p>Campuses. Wash U always seemed a bit ingenuine… it’s incredibly beautiful and the campus was very well designed, in my opinion… but that’s just it. It feels designed or engineered, and it doesn’t have quite the same natural feel that NU has, with its mixture of old and new buildings.</p>
<p>The hard-sell style tours that they gave at Wash U when I was there did turn me off a bit, too. They’re trying very hard. For what it’s worth, I saw the same thing at BC–in that case, it seems to be because the administration thinks that they’re living in the shadow of the elite new england schools, and it shows up in how they operate. I’m not sure if the same thing’s happening at Wash U, but there you are, all the same. I think that there’s a difference in reputation (but not quality) that they still think they need to overcome.</p>
<p>Now, I chose NU over Wash because I’ve lived in a pretty rural suburb for my childhood, and I really wanted to get into a more urban environment for a few years. Wash U has more of a country club feel to it, and I thought that it was just a bit too detached from the St. Louis city center. NU, on the other hand, is set up against downtown Evanston, and the El train is right off campus. NU also seems to have a little livelier social scene, from what I’ve heard.</p>
<p>I picked NU, in case you haven’t already guessed.</p>
<p>I am an NU alum and parent of an NU student, but honestly I think there are enough similarities at the 10,000 foot level that you need to visit and pick based on personal preference. You can’t make a poor choice.</p>
<p>Yes, we know that…we went through the same exact thing in '07 when our older son chose WashU over Northwestern by a “nose” and had an amazing experience there. As we said to both of our sons, there is no “wrong” decision here. So, because we’re so familiar with WashU, we’re very curious to hear the reasons why Northwestern students chose to go to Northwestern…not necessarily to compare the benefits of one school over the other. As parents, we’ll be thrilled with either choice.</p>