<p>I am a rising senior in high school and I want to major in engineering, probably mechanical engineering (but definitely engineering of some type), and I want have narrowed down my search to my two top schools: Northwestern and Colorado School of Mines (CSM). I like smaller schools (but big cities) and cold weather (i'm from Dallas). I also love Chicago and the mountains. I got a 35 on my ACT and have amost a 4.0 GPA. I hate parties, but I want a decent social life. I am Catholic and I like sports, but I do not need to go to a sporting event every single weekend. Here is what I am worried about with each school:</p>
<p>Northwestern: Its too much of a party school and I won't get a scholarship (i would need some money to go there). The engineering program doesn't get enough attention (i.e. CSM is completely devoted to engineering, so everybody will have that same interest as me right when I walk in the door, whereas at NU, I will have to work harder to find people that have similar interests as me (unless they split the dorms by major?)). I feel like there is no way to meet people at NU other than parties, unlike at CSM, there are hiking activities, skiing, white water rafting, and many other activities where I can meet people that have interests similar to mine. Its in Illinois (messed up politically and has very, very high taxes). Its at the top of my size range.</p>
<p>CSM: Its too small. There aren't enough girls there. Its too far from denver. Its not prestigous enough and I won't get a good job coming out of there. Its too dull socially (and for me it takes a lot to be too dull socially).</p>
<p>I am also looking at Rice (too hot), Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, and Notre Dame. However, Chicago and Denver are my two favorite cities, and I hope to live in one of them when I get out of college.</p>
<p>Any advice you can give me about any of these schools or if there are any more schools that I should consider I will greatly appreciate.</p>
<p>I do have to agree with some of your ‘cons’ for CSM. I know lots of people who went there and were lukewarm on its social aspects. In fact, I know two young women CSM who spent EVERY WEEKEND in Denver because they thought Golden was so limited. </p>
<p>Check out Montana State University. Good engineering programs, low cost of living, fabulous location for mountain lovers, and relatively low OOS tuition. Or look into Colorado State University. It’s farther away from ‘good’ mountains (i.e. skiing/boarding) but good engineering, fun little college town and great hiking/mtn biking. But the OOS costs may be high.</p>
<p>On the topic of the Colorado School of Mines I can’t even begin to help, but I’m a little bit more familiar with Northwestern. I won’t make this a chance thread or comparing prestige or anything like that so I’ll just focus on your concerns. And let met tell you, I honestly don’t think you could be more misinformed about the school…</p>
<p>Obviously you won’t get an academic scholarship at NU, but if your finances are lacking, they try to be as generous as they can with financial aid. Hopefully they could meet your case. Firsts off, academics. Our engineering program gets loads of attention - whether you’re looking for attention in regards to future prospects or attention amongst fellow undergraduates. Although the engineering departments are more focused towards the north part of campus, you’ll find plenty of McCormick students on south campus too. Northwestern isn’t a liberal arts college with a nonexistent engineering program - its presence is felt throughout the university. It’s an incredible and rapidly evolving engineering department that we have here. It is very much evident and notable. </p>
<p>As for the social side of things, you make a lot of presumptions - and most of them can not be further from the truth. </p>
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<p>Well, clearly NU is in the city of Evanston right outside the much larger city of Chicago so I wouldn’t expect white water rafting and the likes, but you clearly know that if Chicago is one of your favorite cities. Anything that you’re interested in (within reason of course), there is probably a club or a student group to fulfill that need. With 8000 undergraduates from all 50 states and countless other countries, it’s a diverse bunch socially and intellectually. That means that not everyone parties - I’m not into that scene myself truth be told. Of course there are people that are, but with the availability of Chicago and the predominance of the arts at Northwestern, a lot of students look for and find more. It’s just a fact of college life that people WILL partake in partying and drinking - every school has this. But the social scene is large enough here where you can find your own niche and not feel overwhelmed by those of other people. I wouldn’t call it a “party school” by any stretch of the phrase - that would be an overstatement. </p>
<p>We also have “Residential Colleges” at Northwestern along with your typical dorm format. Residence colleges are applied to separately during the housing process, and they are essentially thematic dorms for people who want a stronger sense of community. Students get to know each other to a larger extent, and each dorm meets regularly to plan trips off campus, activities on campus, and just to generally get together. I was in one and thoroughly enjoyed it. You might care to look them up. There is a specifically engineering dorm known as “Slivka” that is quite new and has the best interior probably of any dorm on campus. So while you are sure to meet fellow engineers in your classes and around campus, sometimes for certain people, a residence college like Slivka could assuage fears of not finding like-minded people…and for others it gives them the kick in the pants they need lest they shell up. </p>
<p>And in regards to the comment on Illinois’s politics and taxation, well, that never even crossed my mind when deciding to go here. Honestly, don’t concern yourself with that. I live in Pennsylvania otherwise, and while the taxes are a smidgen higher, I’m a college student - I’m not buying a house and expensive jewelery. An extra couple of dimes on shampoo didn’t rock my world. And Illinois’s politics should not even be entering your mind in the area of concerns about a school. If you’re going to base a decision off that, then you might as well also base it off whether the campus has a McDonald’s or a Burger King (it’s the latter mind you). That’s too nit picky, too meticulous when considering colleges. </p>
<p>Remember, you’re comparing the two schools prematurely given the fact that you haven’t been (and easily might not be) accepted at Northwestern or even Colorado (but I think you’re a much safer bet for there in all honesty). But I hope I at least you have a better perspective now on the school you’re looking seriously into.</p>
<p>If you’ve got any other questions or areas of interest, feel free to lay them on me!</p>