<p>I've been accepted at both schools. I am very interested in cognitive neuroscience, and REALLY want the chance to begin doing research as a freshman. Could you please give me a breakdown of the similarities and differences in:</p>
<p>-Research opportunities for undergrads and underclassmen
-Strength of neuroscience and cognitive science programs
-Difficulty of pre-med cirriculum
-Intellectualism on campus
-Overall atmosphere</p>
<p>between these two schools? Thanks a lot. I have my own opinion, but I'd love to hear from other people. (I cross-posted this on the Wash U forum too).</p>
<p>WashU is probably the better choice for your academic interest; smaller undergrad class and higher endowment per student; very difficult pre-med curriculum; probably more intellectual than Northwestern and in terms of overall atmosphere I doubt one is better than the other.</p>
<p>with all due respect brand_182, you are coming form a JC perspective, and you are saying that Northwestern is not intellectual. Did you go to like Harvard pre-JC school or something. Where do you have the background to say Northwestern is not intellectual. My brother had the same choice 3 years ago, and chose Northwestern. This was his reason: Wash U, not well known in the country, not good recruitment, and Chicago blows St. Louis out of water.</p>
<p>With all due respect, I may be coming from a junior college but I am well aware of the meaning of my statement. I said:</p>
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probably more intellectual than Northwestern
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</p>
<p>Not
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Northwestern is not intellectual
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<p>This is just how the schools seem to me; as I have not and do not currently attend either, I could not tell you from personal experience, though I will let you know about WashU if I decide to accept their offer of admission and attend in the fall. I am sure they are both very intellectual schools full of the brightest students in the nation.</p>
<p>I had an opportunity to visit washington university with my brother a few years back. This was my impression: you had a group of students that were intensely seriously about school, such as the pre-meds and others that really were into partying. After all, the school has some relations with a certain company that makes a profit on selling drinks. In fact, I was told by a student there that the drinking there is out of control. However, that was just one person. I think that choosing a college is a very individual choice. For my brother, the name of the school, its reputation, and offerings were far more important than the "intellectual nature" of the school. And to say that Wash U has a better rep than Northwestern is absolutely absurd.</p>
<p>I will be visiting next week, so I don't really know one way or the other, but your description is helpful nonetheless. </p>
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After all, the school has some relations with a certain company that makes a profit on selling drinks.
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</p>
<p>Ha. Yeah I thought it was weird for there to be an Anheuser-Busch Hall. </p>
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And to say that Wash U has a better rep than Northwestern is absolutely absurd.
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<p>I don't think that has been said here, but I think it's also absurd to say that NU has a better rep than WashU. In my opinion, they're peer institutions. I will not have the luxury of choosing between both as I did not and will not apply to Northwestern for personal reasons. In the OP's case, based on his/her criteria, I think WashU would be the better choice and I've made that known.</p>
<p>Well, I guess we will agree to disagree. However, if you even did a pull on this board, and got feedback from anyone who knows anything, you would likely find that the majority feel that Northwestern has a better name than Wash U, I think Wash U is more selective, but not by much. You have to remember that Northwestern doesn't play the wait list game and does not offer any merit scholarships whereas Wash U floods people with scholarship money to steel them away from other schools. And to give you evidence for my opinion, I will provide you with the recruitment core schools for consulting firms. You see Northwestern represented on almost all of them. Wash U...?</p>
<p>If you mean "better rep" as more renowned and prestigious, then I think you have been misinformed. It's not that long ago WashU was fairly easy to get in and pretty regional. When the first edition of Barron's Best 25 (now Top 50) came out around 1990/1991, WashU was not included. But through clever marketing and admission scheme with scholarship money, it has risen rapidly in selectivity and become a national player at the undergrad level now, just like NU has been for a long time. NU also has more high ranked programs acrosss different areas than WashU. You may think I am biased but if you look at PA (academic reputation) score in US News, NU's score is 4.4 while WashU is 4.1</p>
<p>I'll concede Northwestern has a better name...</p>
<p>But I'm not really interested in a breakdown of the differences in "prestige" of the two excellent institutions... I was more concerned with the strengths of the life sciences at the two schools, the availability of research for undergrads (esp. research starting very early on) and the social outlets and campus atmospheres of the two schools. As far as I'm concerned, the two schools are both fine universities with great opportunities, but I'd like (and I assume the other prefrosh who showed interest in this thread) would like some more opinions on the actual things the schools have to offer us rather than a lengthy argument about "prestige" or "better rep".</p>
<p>Since you live pretty close-by, the best way to find out is to visit and talk to the students in the neurosci departments. Research opporunities may vary across departments within each school so any generalization may not be true representation of what really goes on in your area of interest.</p>
<p>illinois_kid, i am in a very similar situation (with a strong interest in cog neurosci) so if you do stumble upon any more enlightening information (as the posts on this thread were slightly less-than-helpful) could you let me know?</p>
<p>if anyone else knows more about the cog neurosci program at NU could you tell us anything? it would be appreciated!!! thanks</p>
<p>Sam Lee - I am actually not trying to argue that WashU has a better rep than Northwestern as I think it is meaningless. The OP has outlined the important factors and they are being addressed: with regards to prestige, he will not be making a bad decision either way. </p>
<p>On a final note, I agree that most people would say Northwestern is better known than WashU right now. Relatively few people outside of academia and high-aiming students know of WashU as it is just recently becoming a national, prestigious university. However, this is all really changing as WashU is following in Penn's footsteps, riding the rankings to the top with a massive endowment, an increasingly strong undergraduate program, and several top grad/professional programs. Its increased selectivity (whether it be manipulated or not) is also working: I know many high school students that include WashU on their list of top schools these days and don't expect an acceptance, even with their top stats. This has certainly been demonstrated by the results threads here on CC.</p>
<p>I have no doubt that WashU will retain its current place among other top schools and may eventually make its way back into the top 10. Still, I restate, exact ranking or comparison of WashU and NU doesn't really matter at this point since it is silly to compare top 20 schools and say one is clearly better than the other (with the exception of the very top schools). I am getting ready to (hopefully) turn down WashU for Wesleyan although most people I know consider the former to be quite a bit more prestigious and impressive than the latter. Fit matters - a lot. </p>
<p>Illinois_kid - I still think WashU will best meet your criteria, but obviously nothing matters if you visit both and like NU more. Go where you'll be happy as the differences really aren't much.</p>
<p>I am doing research at NU as a freshman this summer (I could have started this school year, its quite simple through UCS and it doesnt hurt that i had 4 years lab experience/was published...) Anyway- I am a bio/chem major and NU has a sick chemistry department- one of the best in the country. and like its been said here, NU has more renown than Wash U. I chose NU over Wash U and I don't regret it based on the experiences of friends at Wash U- less intellectual, much worse city from what i understand. just my opinion/experience here...</p>
<p>Sam Lee- I'm going to do just that. I actually have a few connections to NU's psychology department, so I'm going to see if I can meet with some professors in neuropsychology/psych/bio, etc. for a very short talk. It would be even better if I could talk to students, I agree; however that's a bit more difficult to arrange. Even if that doesn't work, I'm almost certainly going to visit campus soon. </p>
<p>funfetti- I'll PM you a little later with what I know about Northwestern and Wash U cognitive neuroscience (I know a lot... I've researched both schools thoroughly, visited both campuses, etc. I created this thread just to get some differing opinions on the subject, and because it seems like there are a lot of cross-admits like myself who might like a breakdown of the pros and cons of both schools). </p>
<p>So... any more opinions? And if people would like to weigh in on their overall impressions of the two schools, not JUST their views on campus atmosphere and neuroscience, that would be much appreciated as well. Thank you all for the info so far.</p>
<p>Actually finding the students is probably easier than you think--just show up one or two of their classes. You want to pick the upper-level courses as you want to talk to majors in your area of interest, not others that are there to fulfill the distro. My suggestion is to show up like 5-10 minutes before the class and use that time to talk to some of those that show up early. They have nothing to do but waiting and that's the easiest time for ice-breaking. You may end up having a few eagerly to follow up with you after the class. Some may be hurried to go to next class but I am sure some will be free to talk to you. How the class goes is not as important as you probably don't want to judge the whole institution based on just one class.</p>
<p>"WashU is probably the better choice for your academic interest; smaller undergrad class and higher endowment per student; very difficult pre-med curriculum; probably more intellectual than Northwestern and in terms of overall atmosphere I doubt one is better than the other.</p>
<p>The endowment per capita doesn't have that much to with the quality of student life (not that there is much of a difference anyway, with NU having a larger endowment and student body).</p>
<p>The rest of your "arguments" don't have much merit either.</p>
<p>As for the clear differences - NU has a more scenic campus (with a great waterfront), Chicago is by far a better city than St. Louis and NU is in Div.1A sports while WashU is Div.III (if that matters to you).</p>
<p>illinois kid - since you are so close, you definitely should visit both schools to see for yourself.</p>
<p>"I have no doubt that WashU will retain its current place among other top schools and may eventually make its way back into the top 10".</p>
<p>Highly doubtful that WashU will break the top10 (unless WashU gets its PA score up - which is a very SLOW process).</p>