<p>Hello, I have been accepted to Northwestern, Chicago, Brown, Penn, Dartmouth, and WashU. I would like to ask for your advice.
Academically, I need a college with a broad-range of (liberal arts) education. My current interests include economics, natural science (biomedical science), and pre-med (or possibly law) track. I dont exactly know what I want to do after college. Yet, serving others is what I want to do in life.
Ive heard about Chicagos academic excellence, but lowering GPA might hurt my chance of admissions to the medical (or law) schools. Also, I want to play sports and have fun with people around me. I prefer to be in near city (urban or suburban environment).
I think Chicago (without TOO much pressure in academics), Northwestern, and Brown are good fit schools for me. Penn seems to be way too pre-professional (hard to change major), and the others are just out of my sight. Thank you in advance for your advice.</p>
<p>Great choices. You are in an enviable “can’t lose” situation.
That said, I would pick either Brown or Northwestern. BOth superb institutions of comparable rank. Brown is more “prestigious,” if that is a factor for you.
They have different atmospheres, though, so I would go to whichever of the two you think you’d be happier at.</p>
<p>Brown is more prestigious than Northwestern? Maybe in 1950.</p>
<p>From your description, I see Browna and Northwestern fitting you better than UChicago.</p>
<p>UChicago seems a little to intense for your taste.</p>
<p>Between NU and Brown, pick the one that’s closer (or farther if you’re like me) from home, or that gives you more money.</p>
<p>Both are amazing schools and you’d find yourself happy at either one, so I guess this is where all the little things about each school begin to matter.</p>
<p>Objective789-
I have to disagree, and think that you are not living up to your name.<br>
I absolutely love NU, but Brown remains better known, harder to get into, and more prestigious on a coast-to-coast basis.</p>
<p>I could not disagree more. Brown is not a top 20 school. Its day is past.</p>
<p>Brown is still an Ivy, but is is the shining beacon of great academics it once was? Most of the prestige and name factor comes from being number one an Ivy and number two being the most prolific college choice for fake characters (see: The O.C. and Anywhere but Here) and Emma Watson. </p>
<p>But really what matters is what offers the best overall fit in academics, social life, money and opportunities. Brown seems definitely a lot more freewheeling (no core, pass/fail) than Northwestern, which is something I wouldn’t want to have but provides the perfect template for others. </p>
<p>These college are different enough that what you really want from the next four years can pretty much decide the right choice.</p>
<p>When you say not a top 20, what are you referring to, and why is this hypothetical top 20 the determinative factor in national prestige?</p>
<p>^^Moreover, despite offering the conclusory “I couldn’t disagree more,” i didn’t see you dispute that “Brown remains better known [and] harder to get into.”</p>
<p>WCASParent, you make it sound like it’s fact. That’s not the case at all. Though Brown is more selective and is an Ivy, Northwestern is more well-known, at the very least because of its sports but also Kellogg and Medill. The average Joe doesn’t even know Brown is an Ivy nor do they know it’s selective. More people think it’s a historically black college than an Ivy. Now if we’re talking Midwest only, then Northwestern is even more supreme.</p>
<p>Okay, so we’re in agreement that Brown is harder to get into. That is consistent with my experience as to why, from the perspective of an employer in NYC (in my case, a law firm), as good as NU is, an undergrad degree from Brown remains more impressive. And I know from my discussions with other legal and business employers on both coasts that that is a fairly common view.
And since we’re talking about the value of an undergrad degree, the reference to Kellogg is irrelevant.<br>
Clearly, if we’re talking about someone seeking to study journalism, Medill wins, but that wasn’t the premise of the initial question.
Nor are we “talking Midwest only,” because then I would agree than NU is regarded as highly as, if not more so than, Brown.
And I disagree: most “higher end” employers - who are educated people - know that Brown is an Ivy. I don’t know what your reference to people thinking it’s an “historically black college” even refers to, but without intending to be off-putting, that’s just hogwash.
Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely love NU. I think it’s fabulous. I said that both schools are superb and were of “comparable rank.” I said this was a “can’t lose” situation and recommended choosing whichever school s/he would be happiest at.<br>
I simply said that IF so-called “prestige” was a factor for him/her, that Brown had the edge there, and that is due, first and foremost, to the fact that everyone knows that it’s still tougher to get into Brown than NU which, as noted above, does not seem to be in dispute (nor could it be seriously disputed).</p>
<p>Brown is harder to get into? By what measure? The 30% of Brown applicants who have no chance whatsoever to be accepted but apply because its an “Ivy”?
Harvard’s acceptance rate is 9%…what would it be without the applicants that receive the voluminous mailings from Harvard and are convinced to apply even though they have no chance? Think about it. Why do the Ivy schools ever need to send out a mailing to prospective students? To drum up applications to decrease their acceptance rate, that’s why.
Analyze the statistics before you conclude what they mean, please.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone. Still, not many people compared b/w Northwestern and Chicago.
I will be taking the pre-med track, so having a good grade is the extremely important factor of my decision. Also, I need some time to relax, but I go to college to learn and broaden my mind. Another question: how hard is getting a good (pre-med) grade at the two schools, Northwestern and Chicago?</p>
<p>Not too sure on pre-med but Chicago is infamous for grade deflation although NU also has harsh grading.</p>
<p>But I’d say UChicago is the worse of the two grading wise.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You sound like you’re looking for a broad, traditional college experience. Brown and Northwestern are great choices, Chicago probably less so. Chicago is a phenomenal place, but only for the right person. It is clearly the most “niche” of the schools you’ve considered. The core curriculum dominates and students wear intellectuallism on their sleeves (often at the expense of other pursuits). </p></li>
<li><p>Brown and Northwestern are academic equals at the undergrad level with Northwestern clearly trumping at the grad level. The student bodies at the two schools have very similar academic credentials, but Brown receives more applications for spots available and a much less predictable, more quirky adcom office (probably more unpredictable than any other elite college, in fact).</p></li>
</ol>
<p>WCASParent, let’s get real here. When people think of schools in terms of prestige, they don’t just consider specific schools, e.g. the undergraduate school, in isolation. They think of the OVERALL college and on that front, NU clearly wins. Selectivity is important, but if you look at the stats, they’re almost equal. This is the first I’ve heard that Brown is more prestigious.</p>
<p>As for why people think of Brown as a historically black college, it’s because of the name. Brown=school for blacks & minorities. It makes no sense but I guess that’s how some “average Joes” think.</p>
<p>“Average Joes” are not the future employers whose perspectives and perceptions have any material effect on the value of an undergrad degree. Alums of schools like NU and Brown will (I would hope) be seeking employment with other highly educated people, the cognoscenti of the employers, if you will.
Again, please don’t misapprehend me, because I am as big a fan of NU as one is likely to find. (And it’s exactly the place where I wanted my kid to be, even though she probably could have gotten into many schools deemed more “prestigious” in various circles; someone else’s notion of “prestige” was simply not a priority for either of us.)<br>
I am surprised that this is the first you’ve heard that Brown remains more “prestigious,” but stick around, because if you become employed in the business or legal communities of the east or west coasts, you’ll realize that my view is the majority and yours is very much in the minority.
That being said, by the way, I should note that I wouldn’t be surprised to see Morty Schapiro get NU even higher in the rankings (people who know Morty suspect he’s aiming for Top 5 in USNWR, which I deem wildly unrealistic, but Top 10 wouldn’t surprise me a bit), and with that, over time, its “prestige” factor could eventually overtake Brown’s on both coasts.</p>
<p>Brown is more ‘prestigious’ because it’s an Ivy and some people have the Ivy-or-nothing mentality. Northwestern, in my opinion, is a better school in many respects, but it unfortunately just doesn’t carry the same amount of prestige Brown or Cornell does. Since Brown is an Ivy, people automatically think it’s better. </p>
<p>As for me, a high school senior attending Northwestern in the fall, I hadn’t even heard of NU until last year, and I wouldn’t consider myself dumb or uninformed about colleges. I guess it is much more famous in the Midwest than where I live (North Carolina), but Brown (and when i say Brown, i mean the name of the school, not exactly the programs it offers) is not only more famous nationally but also around the world. and it’s not only because of Emma Watson either…</p>
<p>sorry OP, we’re all getting off track here :D</p>
<p>but as other people have said, if you want to go into pre-med and don’t want to see your GPA shot down, Northwestern is the place to go. you seem like you’d fit in better there compared to UChicago. it’s much more competitive there, and correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t it more well known for its Economics program than it is for pre-med?</p>
<p>Well, my point was the people don’t even KNOW Brown is an Ivy. and just because a school is an Ivy doesn’t automatically make it more prestigious. For example, MIT is surely a lot more prestigious than Brown even though it’s not an Ivy. When the average person on the street refer to “Ivy,” they really mean the top schools, so that roughly includes the Top 20. If you say you’re an employer and your fellow employers view Brown as more prestigious, then fine. But I say that perception is unfounded.</p>