Northwestern vs. Brandeis

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Brandeis is giving me a $25000 annual scholarship while Northwestern is giving me nothing. </p>

<p>However, Northwestern sounds like, from all I've seen and heard, a much better place for me to continue my education. It's a more prestigious school and the environment is very social, combining top notch academics with an exciting campus life with NORMAL, yet interesting people. Greek life is evident and having a Big 10 D1 sports program is definitely something I would like to experience too. </p>

<p>On the other hand, Brandeis is reputed as having a very eclectic student body that might be unapproachable to newcomers. It's been labeled as a sort-of haven for jews (lost of them), gays (less, but still many), and political activists (everyone?). Now, I'm not prejudiced against any of those groups by any means, but considering I am none of those things (middle class agnostic asian male, anyone?) I think I would have difficult fitting in, especially considering their reputation for being very clique-y. </p>

<p>What it comes down to is, I would much rather go to NU. I'm planning on majoring in Economics with intent to pursue business in the future, possibly an MBA post-grad. However, I think that i could get a very good education in Economics at both these schools.</p>

<p>My question is, would it be worth making my parents pay about $100k more over four years to go to NU? Right now, I like the school much more than BRU, but will the prestige and social environment be beneficial to my learning and finding a good job in the future? I have a younger sister in 5th grade and I want to make sure she will be able to go to a school she would like to school. I don't want to bankrupt my parents either. Would it feasible to pay back enough of my loans to let the rest of my family live okay?</p>

<p>What would you do in my position? My mom says i should just go to the school I want to and is very supportive. My dad thinks like me. So now, I ask you: what should I do?</p>

<p>Any help, greatly appreciated.</p>

2

<p>Both are excellent schools. But honestly, Northwestern isn't that much better than Brandeis. It's definitely not $100k better. </p>

<p>Take the scholarship.</p>

<p>Brandeis is actually a really good school, and it's not ALL Jewish. Have you visited campus? Since it's such a good deal financially, I think you should definitely give Brandeis a shot. If you don't like it, you can always transfer.</p>

3

<p>It would be better if your parents agreed on the financial situation. Both schools are excellent. Brandeis doesn't have the big-time college sports but they are competitive in their conference (NCAA Division III level) (Northwestern's teams tend to have losing records in the Big Ten, so you'll be spending $ 100,000 to watch the other schools' teams win most of the time).
And Greek life isn't a good reason to choose a school where academics are important (and Greek life isn't important in a school wher academics are important).
At Brandeis most of the students are not affiliated with any of the campus religious organizations so as an agnostic you won't be alone. But students there do tend to form groups of friends for social purposes such as having parties. Different groups are formed on different bases, so all you need to do is find one or more groups that you fit into.
Good luck whichever you choose.</p>

4

<p>
[quote]
My question is, would it be worth making my parents pay about $100k more over four years to go to NU?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It's not worth it. Whether they have enough money to do it anyway, only they can decide.</p>

5

<p>You will indeed get an excellent education at both schools but they are very different in terms of the student body, social life, and campus environment. Have you had a chance to visit both? Which one do you prefer? </p>

<p>Now ask yourself, would I be willing to pay $25,000 per year for my favorite school? Yes -- YOUR own money (if you had it!) That will help you put it in perspective and really determine how much NU means to you.</p>

<p>Another consideration is your post-grad plans. By going to Brandeis, you could use the extra $100,000 to pay for your MBA.</p>

6

<p>Academically, the schools are comparable. Locationwise, they are similar distances from major cities. Chicago and Boston are both great cities to go to school. Most people would say that NW has a more beautiful campus, especially being on the lake. But Brandeis is on a hill--and overlooks the Boston skyline. Also not bad. </p>

<p>NW is much larger, and is D-I in athletics. NW has a large greek presence--which is usually viewed as more cliquish. Brandeis has never had fraternities--largely because it was founded on principles of inclusiveness. Brandeis goes out of its way to be inclusive (like having 3 chapels of the same size, and built so the shadow of one never crosses the others). Personally, I think that Brandeis' small size is a significant advantage but, obviously, that is a question of taste.</p>

<p>I don't know what gave you the impression that Brandeis students were not "normal," or that it's students would be unapproachable for newcomers. I don't think that is true at all. BTW, there is a sizable Asian population on campus. </p>

<p>Both schools are great places to spend 4 years. While I don't think that money should be the only consideration, in your case, the difference is significant. If money were no issue and it were me, I'd probably go to NW. But with the difference in money, my decision would be easy--I'd go to Deis.</p>

7

<p>to be honest - i find your post to reflect an incredibly narrow uninformed view of people you claim not to be prejudiced against. jews and gays are cliquish so you assume they will make YOU feel out of place? you prefer "NORMAL" people?</p>

<p>if you have trouble fitting in it will be because of your own assumptions about others -- not because of theirs about you. brandeis has a wide variety of people -- many of whom would normally be in the minority at most other schools -- if anything that probably makes them more tolerant of different types of people.</p>

<p>what you need to examine is your own tolerance for an atmosphere that does not necessarily reflect what may be the dominant culture in this country.</p>

<p>and if greek life and Div 1 sports are important to you -- brandeis may well not be the place for you.</p>

<p>only you can decide what is worth the money (well, you and your parents if it is their money that you would be spending).</p>

8

<p>Brandeis does have fraternities but they are a minor factor in college life there.</p>

9

<p>How much of a hardship is this for your parents? Are they planning to borrow some/all of the money?</p>

<p>I think that if your parents are willing to pay for your dream school, it's OK to accept it. You aren't making them spend it; it is their choice.</p>

10

<p>I think you misunderstood. I do not think those groups of people are clique-ish because of their lifestyle. I'm not making any assumptions about people here. Everything i have said is based on personal reviews from people at the school and reviews and impressions from sites like the princeton review.
Once again, I'm NOT prejudiced, and however cliche, I do have many friends who fall into those categories.</p>

<p>I hope that anyone who has said anything about either school knows because they have personally attended or know someone who attended those schools.</p>

<p>I'm not looking for a school to party at, I'm looking for a school that will offer as much of full bodied college experience, which includes greek life and sporting events, as possible as well as a great education. I believe it's possible to achieve both, although of course I prioritize my education.</p>

<p>Besides the people and atmosphere though, it's the prestige of the school that also plays a big factor in future career options isn't it? I could be wrong about this, but isn't NU a much more prestigious school and both their Econ department and Kellogg school of business are top programs in the nation? And isn't that recognized by many potential employers?</p>

<p>But the important factor is money. I would say that if it were my money, I would pay the extra $25000. That money can also go towards making it potentially cheaper for me to get into grad school, and a better one too. And both my parents are being very supportive of letting me choose.</p>

<p>I know I'm being very one-sided right now, but no one has really defended NU.</p>

11

<p>As a parent I highly recommend Brandeis. 4 years ago my older D gave up Cornell for a similar scholarship to Brandeis. Academically, she had a great experience and it got her where she wanted to be which is medical school at Tufts. Socially she had a more difficult time but probably because she made some bad roommate choices. Brandeis has many asian students and they are involved in everything. There is so much to do on campus, in surrounding towns or in Boston. You are only 9 miles from downtown and the shuttle takes you to Cambridge and Boston for free.
This year my younger D got into NU, got a full scholarship to Brandeis and an $8K/yr for UMD. I am heardbroken that she does not want to attend Brandeis (not enough choices for her). She is planning to go to UMD because we can't justify the cost of NU.</p>

12

<p>"I would say that if it were my money, I would pay the extra $25000. ... And both my parents are being very supportive of letting me choose."</p>

<p>OK, then this should be very easy. You know what you want to do. Go to Northwestern.</p>

<p>Seriously, you got into your dream school, you think it's worth the money, your parents are supportive, and they're willing to pay. I don't see the problem! :)</p>

13

<p>@ Jyu31 </p>

<p>I would definitely consider Brandeis before you go into debt at Northwestern. You can always transfer in your sophomore year if you do not like Brandeis.</p>

14

<p>Thanks for all the help so far. Consider however,</p>

<p>Since a lot of you have said that an education at Brandeis is comparable to NU, would that mean that it's out of the ordinary for one school to give me so much and the other to give me nothing, even if the latter is more renowned?</p>

<p>I'm thinking of appealing my financial aid situation to Northwestern. I'm not sure of the specifics right now, but I think they should offer at least something in terms of aid considering my family is not that wealthy at all. We are comfortably middle class, but asking us to pay so much seems a bit unfair. I've seen other people who have appealed, sometimes showing the offer of other schools to the one they want to go to, and they have had the offer matched or at the very least, had some improvement to their situation. </p>

<p>Since my FA can't get any worse, would it be a good idea to make this appeal? Are Brandeis and NU similar enough to at least make the margin of price smaller? NU doesn't offer merit based scholarships (which is they type that brandeis is offering, also no need-based) but would they still understand the significance of the price difference and give some "need-based" FA?</p>

15

<p>NVM, NU does not allow appeal of financial aid. That really blows :(</p>

16

<p>JYU31, let me be blunt: are you either crazy of devoid of any financial common sense?</p>

<p>I just checked the tuition, room and board at each school.</p>

<p>Brandeis tuition and room and board, per their web site is $44,549. If you get a $25,000 scholarship, your net cost is $19,549.</p>

<p>Northwesters tuition, room and board is $48,041. Thus you would have to pay an EXTRA $28,502 MORE at Northwestern, and this doesn't take any inflation increases into account that will occur over the next four years!</p>

<p>You have to be either extremely rich or insane to attend Northwestern over that of Brandies given that they have equivalent cache. This is why you are not seeing anyone ( except possibly Hanna)recommend Northwestern to you.</p>

<p>If you really, really are sold on Northwestern, you should call up their admission's office and try to negotiate similar financial aid to that of Brandeis. If they won't budge, go to Brandeis and NEVER LOOK BACK. Having an extra $110,000-$125,000 in your pocket over 5 years is a BIG deal. In fact, if you invest $110,000 at 8% for 40 years in an average mutual fund, it will be worth at retirement an extra $2,389,697! This is why I am asking if you are just plainly crazy or lack any financial sense in even wondering whether Northwestern is worth the extra money.</p>

<p>PS: I don't really think you are crazy or lack sense. I was a bit harder on you in my post because I find that unless I hit folks over the head with financial considerations, it may not sink in.</p>

17

<p>"This is why you are not seeing anyone recommend Northwestern to you."</p>

<p>Hello? You're perfectly entitled to ignore my posts, but the fact is, they are there.</p>

18

<p>Ok. I guess instead of Hanna, everyone has been recommending Brandeis. Feel better, Hanna?</p>

19

<p>Go to Brandeis. Actually I would go to any school if I could've saved roughly 30K than going to Northwestern or any other great school for that matter. I'm a little surprised Northwestern has been that stingy with people this year, I received a great aid package with scholarship for the most part and very little loan, so money was hardly an issue for me when I was deciding between Northwestern and my state school Cal.</p>

<p>Actually, I just remember reading an e-mail from the university that housing and tuition were going to be more expensive next year because they decided to expand financial aid for the incoming freshmen. Hmm.</p>

20

<p>some schools choose to give merit aid, others don't. it may not seem fair, but its just part of the facts of college admission life. a source for constant debate perhaps, but still a fact of life. its why some people apply to schools known for merit aid and don't apply to schools where they don't expect to receive financial aid.</p>

<p>have you visited brandeis? notwithstanding your claim not to be prejudiced, you are basing a lot of your negative views about brandeis based upon supposition (by the way a dictionary definition of prejudiced includes "an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason" which i think really does define your views here).</p>

<p>if at all possible visit. brandeis has an asian american student association -- <a href="http://my.brandeis.edu/clubs/baasa%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://my.brandeis.edu/clubs/baasa&lt;/a> whether or not you visit, try contacting someone on their board. if you visit, try to meet with someone from the dept. you are interested in. just sit around the dining hall and see if you think you'd be comfortable there.</p>

<p>the price difference is huge. but personally, i don't think you should go to a school if you will be miserable there -- but also realize, whether you are miserable at a school will be determined in LARGE part by your own attitude.</p>