<p>I was fortunate enough to be accepted at Cornell, Northwestern, and Johns Hopkins. Couldn't believe how lucky I was. But now, I can't decide between those three schools...</p>
<p>I applied as a chemistry major, but I intend to switch to Chem-E ASAP. Heard its pretty easy to switch to an engineering school (during freshman year, at least) at Northwestern and Hopkins, but a bit more difficult at Cornell? Is this true?</p>
<p>I really don't know which school to commit to. From what I've found, all three of these schools have pretty strong engineering programs, and, well, are just great schools overall! Leaning a bit towards NW though. I plan on actually visiting these colleges during the month to find out more, but, for now, any suggestions/advice?</p>
<p>I’d also give the nod to NU or Cornell in Chem E, great at both. Decision between the two should come down to location, social scene, $. Personally love Engineering First program here and the Nanotech/chemistry integration.</p>
<p>I ended up picking NU over Cornell due to location. Excellent colleges, but at the end of the day I wanted to be near Chicago, as opposed to 4 hours away from NYC. Take a look at the clubs and ECs available at the universities, as well–I took that into account when making my final decision.</p>
<p>Last Question: Does anyone know how easy it is to transfer from the College of Arts and Sciences to College of Engineering (and vice versa) for those aforementioned schools? The difficulty might be a factor in my decision-making process.</p>
<p>I’ve never known anyone at Cornell who wanted to change schools but was unable to do so. That being said, I think the procedure may be a bit of a Pain. At NU, my D transferred from Engineering to SESP, and based on what she said, it seemed to be pretty painless. </p>
<p>FWIW I changed colleges at Cornell, but it was in the other direction and it was a million years ago.
My recollection is the procedure was not really “a bit of a Pain”, for me, back then. I had to fill out an [abbreviated] application and talk to a couple of advisors. I’m not sure how much less one can ask it to be, in any university where there are separate colleges. I did have to wait a while to find out whether I got in though.<br>
The good news is that virtually all the freshman engineer’s classes, save one or two, were actually taught in the arts & sciences college, and I’m guessing one can probably use free electives to take the others too. So not much ground to lose prior to transfer, if you pick classes with that in mind. If you do poorly in those classes though this may be an issue, I would imagine. But I’m just guessing.</p>
<p>But transfer admission isn’t absolutely guaranteed. Certainly in the direction I was going, back then, it wasn’t. The fact that someone was admitted by one college, to do the work there, does not automatically mean that person is also qualified to handle the work at the other college. So they will check. As they should. I would imagine that is the same at Northwestern, it sort of has to be at any place that has standards. Probably not everyone at Medill, e.g, would make a great engineer, they have to verify that.</p>
<p>BTW I’ve read on CC that Northwestern has some “special” engineering sequence that I believe starts freshman year. Suggest you look into when exactly that starts, and, if it’s first semester, whether you can take it if you are not enrolled in their engineering college. And what happens if you miss it.</p>
<p>The personalities of the three schools is very different. NU is probably the most low key and social. Cornell can be very stressful, they sort of pride themselves on surviving. I love Ithaca, it’s absolutely beautiful and my family has camped around there for years many years after I graduated. Collegetown is a great little college town and then you have downtown and the “strip” of chain stores a short drive away. But the school is much more of a pressure cooker and much larger.</p>
<p>JHU is not in a great area, but you are near DC. I don’t know much about it other than one kid loving it and another transferring after Freshman year.</p>
<p>NU has a great college feel, is, as I said, a little less of a pressure cooker than Cornell. It’s a little smaller and I believe has less graduate students than Cornell so I think that’s a plus also. Evanston is a terrific college town with just about everything you could need. A bit easier to get around as there are no hills at all, as opposed to Cornell. Then there’s the great public transport system that allows easy access to Chicago and other areas surrounding Evanston.</p>
<p>You can’t go wrong academically with any decision, look into the social scene and “feel” of each school to help you make your decision. Good luck!</p>
<p>amtc, this is at least the second time you’ve posted about how much more of a pressure cooker Cornell is.
So now I will post for the second time that my daughter’s high school friend who attended Northwestern complained to her about how stressed he was about the academics at Northwestern.
That’s all I’ve heard about it. </p>
<p>Do you know something I don’t? (not difficult, BTW) Did you attend and take classes at both schools, in similar fields? Or are you just saying stuff you actually in fact really know nothing about , on the internet?</p>
<p>Let me give you my one data point. My daughter transferred from Barnard College to Cornell. She told me that the level of the academics was essentially the same.</p>
<p>amtc, would you advise people go to Northwestern over Barnard College because Barnard was such a pressure cooker?</p>
<p>From my D’s perspective at Northwestern, certain schools within NU (e.g., McCormick) are much more like pressure cookers than others. My D’s response to Cornell after she visited was that it was just too insular. She likes the proximity of NU to the real world of Chicago (she was very involved in the Freshman Urban Program). Although, except for some very good restaurants, Ithaca itself doesn’t offer much during the school year (in the summer, it has a zillion vacationers and lots of great music and other cultural events), Cornell has tons of wonderful on-campus activities. Still, it retains that “beacon of light in the wilderness” kind of allure. I’m kind of partial to that, but my D didn’t like the concept of being that far from a big city. </p>
<p>Those three schools are all fabulous, and each has its draw. You need to know what makes you happy. Congratulations, and all the best in your undergraduate adventure!</p>
<p>Here’s what I personally believe to be the case. With no real knowledge. just the impressions I formed visiting campuses for our various college hunts, and talking to the kids.
At most places, with similar students seeking similar life objectives, the level of courses and work requirements is probably pretty darned similar.
However the hard sciences, pre-med and engineering students tend to have it a bit tougher than the liberal arts majors. Generally, At all these places.
If you have a school that has relatively a lot of students majoring in those areas, you may hear relatively a lot of whining, But that does not necessarily mean that the work in comparable majors at the various places is really materially different.</p>
<p>Best wishes for your time at Northwestern! I studied engineering at NU and would be happy to answer any further questions you may have - feel free to send me a PM.</p>