<p>My son graduated from Harvard last year. My daughter is a sophomore at Northwestern (McCormick) now. Neither school is for everyone, so you need to think about what it is that you are looking for. I have to disagree with the person who said that everyone at Harvard wants to be #1. My son was a physics major (now in grad school), and he talked much more about collaboration than competition. As for music Harvard has enormous opportunities for everyone, probably because there are no performance majors. Northwestern has a zillion extracurricular activities, and your only danger is that you might overcommit. My daughter was waitlisted at Harvard and ultimately didn’t get in, but I’m happy about that because it would not have been the right place for her. She is a real “doer”, and, although she is amazingly smart and accomplished, she is not as cerebral as her brother. She has her eye on her future, and she wants a great education so that she can become an engineer. NU seems to fit that personality. My son is more interested in the process of learning than in what will happen later (which is why he’ll probably be in school forever), and Harvard seemed to fit that well. Neither school coddles its students as the smaller top schools seem to (Williams, Amherst, etc.). One thing is really important, and that is money. If you come from a background of wealth or small means, then it probably won’t matter (both schools will give you nothing or big $$$ respectively). However, if you are in the middle class, Harvard will give you lots of financial aid, whereas Northwestern won’t give you anything. That is the only thing I regret about my daughter’s not going to Harvard. Try to visit both schools and get a feel for the atmosphere. We live near Harvard, so I can’t really judge my first impression of it. When we went to Northwestern with my daughter in April 2010, we couldn’t get over the enthusiasm of the student body and the friendliness of the community. You don’t get that mid-western warmth here in Massachusetts. They are both great schools; lots of people would envy your dilemma. Good luck to you.</p>
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