<p>I have no idea what I want to study at the moment, I'm just aiming to go to a good, prestigious university that has a good name.</p>
<p>Also important, would be the feel and the fit of the university for me.</p>
<p>Could anyone give me some advice?</p>
<p>The best way to make this comparison, which is by its nature utterly subjective, would be to visit both, attend a class or two, and maybe even stay overnight. That’s how you get the feel of a school.
They are both absolutely great schools. NU and UMich are undoubtedly nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in the Big Ten. NU is more prestigious, if that matters. It is rightfully among the very top national universities in the country. It would be my choice, hands down. I think its mixture of first tier academics, what i call “Greek Life Lite” and “BIg Ten Lite,” together with the gorgeous beachfront campus, location in Evanston and having Chicago at one’s doorstep is fantastic. Michigan is bigger and more “rah rah.” I think that both schools have extraordinarily enthusiastic student bodies and alumni.<br>
You really can’t go wrong, but as i said, for my money it would be NU.</p>
<p>I visited both and as state, visiting the campus is the best way to tell. To help, Northwestern is more prestigious and is a small school. Everything on campus is walking distance and classrooms are a bit smaller. They are very involved as far as community service and clubs/organizations and dorms are arranged based on your major which is nice when your surrounded by people who are taking the same classes as you. Plus there is transportation that takes you straight to Chicago.
Michigan however is your traditional, college. It is very huge and greek life and sports are done very big. Classrooms are lecture hall size and the campus is nice, but big. You literally have everything on campus from dining to clothing shops, there so much to do and it never gets boring.
If cost matters, Michigan is gonna be more expensive whereas Northwestern works around your family income. Hope this helps. If you need any more advice let me know</p>
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<p>Michigan is a much larger school with a lot more students. It is going to have more fields due to its size. </p>
<p>OTOH, Northwestern probably offers the widest range of studies among schools of similar size (e.g. Duke, Stanford, Penn, Harvard, etc). The quarter system allows you to take more courses and makes it easier to add things like certificates, minors, second major, etc. I think I read that Over 60% of undergrads have more than one major at NU.</p>
<p>In general, top private schools like Northwestern tend to have less red tape and offer better support, such as advising and research opportunities, on per capita basis than public flagships. It also has lower student:faculty ratio.</p>
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Without knowing what you like, it’s very hard for us to address this one.</p>
<p>Since most grads from either of these schools will look for gainful employment upon graduation, my recommendation would be that a liberal arts degree from NU will carry greater weight than a liberal arts degree from UMichigan. Of couse, the situation is different if you get into Ross at UMichigan or the Kellogg Certificate/MMSS at NU.</p>
<p>I-banks/Consulting firms will routinely recruit Northwestern Econ/Poli Sci majors but they don’t really go after UMich LSA students. All the other factors Sam Lee cited are in NU’s favor as well in terms of class sizes and less red tape.</p>
<p>Northwestern is much harder to get into than Michigan.</p>
<p>Prestige doesn’t matter. You aren’t picking well if you’re just worried about getting into a high profile university. We don’t know what stats, what size you like, sports, campus type, etc. If you want help looking at colleges, go to the college selection section here.</p>
<p>That being said, Northwestern is the better school academically in most things. It’s a smaller size, so easier to walk around. It’s also a private school so it’s more expensive, but won’t have the kids going because it’s their public school (i.e. most people will be focused, whereas UMich would probably have a lot of kids who didn’t really care). Purple is a better color than blue and yellow (Fact :-D), and Chicago is a bigger, and to some better, town (Although, Ann Arbor is a fairly typical “college town”).</p>
<p>“That being said, Northwestern is the better school academically in most things.”</p>
<p>This is simply not true. If you go by graduate rankings of similar deparments, since there is a limited amount of undergraduate rankings, Michigan is usually the higher rated school. That said, these two schools are peers academically. </p>
<p>"and Chicago is a bigger, and to some better, town (Although, Ann Arbor is a fairly typical “college town”). “).”</p>
<p>Why do I get the feeling you’ve never been to Evanston or Ann Arbor before?</p>
<p>Pretty much any ranking of academics, or otherwise, would say that Northwestern is better. While USNWR obviously isn’t all that good a measurement, it’s still the most commonly referred to, so I’m going to use it anyway. NU is 12, UMich is 29. They may be peers, but NU is definitely the top of their peer group. UMich will always be held back by the fact that it is a public school, and therefore has to have enough Michigan kids, that could bring down the quality. Also, graduate rankings are, obviously, for graduate school, and UMich is definitely way more grad focused than undergrad (My dad worked there, and lived in Ann Arbor, an he, and all his friends, relatives, etc. say that, so don’t dispute it).</p>
<p>And yes, I lived in Canton, and all my relatives lived in Ann Arbor. I’ve been to Ann Arbor plenty. And no, I haven’t been to Evanston, but I was talking about Chicago anyway. NU is on Chicago’s public transit, and so it’s close enough to consider it with NU’s pros.</p>
<p>Northwestern and Umich are both great. As far as undergrad is concerned NW has the edge though. </p>
<p>Also Jakey, if the intelligence of your peers plays a factor into your decision, NW is going to have a smarter student body-Higher SAT averages, higher GPA averages, lower % admitted.
Also, if I’m not mistaken, NW enrolls the highest % of national merit scholars of any school. </p>
<p>Mich will have a little bit more of a laid back, party atmosphere, whereas northwestern will have a more intellectual one. Neither is right or wrong, it’s just a matter of what you prefer.</p>
<p>“While USNWR obviously isn’t all that good a measurement, it’s still the most commonly referred to, so I’m going to use it anyway. NU is 12, UMich is 29.”</p>
<p>Funny you should mention USNWR Crimsonstained7:</p>
<p>According to USNWR, the peer assessment scores from over 2,000 academics have always rated Michigan higher than Northwestern. </p>
<p>“Also, graduate rankings are, obviously, for graduate school, and UMich is definitely way more grad focused than undergrad…”</p>
<p>Michigan is ranked among the top ten (#6) in the country for its dedication to undergraduate teaching by the same source. Northwestern is not listed in the top 15.</p>
<p><a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/undergraduate-teaching[/url]”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/undergraduate-teaching</a></p>
<p>For these two ratings above, It appears that the USNWR ranks Michigan too low. Although it doesn’t really make sense and is not “all that good a measurement, it’s still the most commonly referred to, so I’m going to use it anyway.”</p>
<p>“And yes, I lived in Canton, and all my relatives lived in Ann Arbor. I’ve been to Ann Arbor plenty.”</p>
<p>You obviously have not visited many college towns Crimsonstained7 . Ann Arbor is far from typical.</p>
<p>I’ve visited Clemson, Charlottesville, Blacksburg, Athens, Ann Arbor, Chapel Hill, Wake Forest, and probably more I can’t remember. Ann Arbor is constantly rated as one of the best college towns, and most representative of the traditional “College Town.”</p>
<p>UMich, according to pretty much everyone I’ve ever met who went there (And that’s a lot of people), is not a great school for undergrads. Undergraduate teaching does not equal undergraduate quality. And peer assessments are not objective.</p>
<p>Mike, I have to be picky and point out that the correct abbreviation is NU, just because for some reason NW just looks wrong to me.</p>
<p>“UMich, according to pretty much everyone I’ve ever met who went there (And that’s a lot of people), is not a great school for undergrads. Undergraduate teaching does not equal undergraduate quality. And peer assessments are not objective.”</p>
<p>Amazing that every person you have ever met has told you that Michigan is not a great school for undergraduates. I guarantee I know many more than you do and rarely do I ever hear a comment like that. In the meantime you obviously feel that the USNWR overall rankings are objective since you used them. I see…</p>
<p>I never said they are objective, I said they are widely cited, and therefore carry some weight. Stop trying to pretend that UMich is better than NU, when it’s obviously not quite as good, but close. NU has a lower acceptance rate, higher states, higher rankings, etc.</p>
<p>UofM’s undergrad engineering is very highly regarded and outranks Northwestern’s. Admission to UofM is getting more selective. D had some classmates apply to the arts and science with the intent to transfer later to engineering. Unfortunately they were rejected in early action. Big surprise to many. D got EA acceptance to UofM but is still waiting RD for NU. D will likely not attend UofM because she is leaning toward smaller schools. But it was definitely on the top of her list for engineering.</p>
<p>rjkofnovi,</p>
<p>I am pretty sure you know that “undergrad teaching” ranking is a total BS. I am sure you have seen the methodology:
My guess is those votes for Berkeley and Michigan came from other public schools. The public schools have been complaining about how US News favors private schools; they need to form an alliance to help each other out. Regardless, top college administrators (whatever that mean) don’t even sit in the classes; can USN think of a more ridiculous methodology than this?</p>
<p>^^^I don’t disagree Sam. Honestly, I don’t trust even the so called objective numbers that many schools in general, particularly the private ones, have been manipulating to increase their ranking at USNWR. My point is that there are definitely some areas where NU trumps Michigan, but overall academics isn’t one of them. They are essentially peers in that regard.</p>
<p>“Stop trying to pretend that UMich is better than NU, when it’s obviously not quite as good, but close.”</p>
<p>I think you have it backwards. I never claimed Michigan is better than NU. I only claimed that is it underrated at USNWR. You on the other hand have continued to insist that NU is stronger in academics, which is not the case. Once again in this area they are peers, where NU is “obviously is not quite as good, but close.”</p>
<p>NU is academically stronger than UMich. I don’t know how you think there is an argument for this. NU has less grad students teaching, better class size, and higher stats. So education level/academics being the same you have professors teaching you, you’re not being ignored in a huge class, and students who are, on average, smarter, around you.</p>