<p>I am trying to decide between which of these three colleges I should apply to (NU, WUSTL and Tufts). I want to be in a fun city that won't get boring but also be on a really fun campus as well. I plan on studying economics, business or physics. I'd love to hear everyone's opinions. Thanks!</p>
<p>Of those three, WUSTL is in the least fun city. Tufts is just outside of Boston, which is a great college city since there are so many other college kids attending schools in the area. That makes it a young, vibrant, and fun city. Northwestern is just outside of Chicago, which is also a cool city. Even Evanston (the suburban area NU is located in) is kind of cool with a variety of cute shops and other things to do. As for St. Louis, there are cool parts (it’s great that WUSTL is right by the park and zoo) but it’s not as nice overall. </p>
<p>However, for me at least, WUSTL seemed to have one of the more fun, exciting, and pretty campuses. To me it looks like most of the social life at WUSTL takes place on campus. I also love Northwestern’s campus-- it has gorgeous buildings and is right on the edge of Lake Michigan. I know NU has a pretty big Greek scene if you’re into that. Although Tufts is in a nice location with great views looking over Boston, I’m not in love with it’s campus. I think I recall somebody talking about the division between upper and lower campus dorms (Tufts is on a giant hill so I mean upper and lower quite literally). And at least when I was there (on a college tour), it just didn’t seem as alive as the other two.</p>
<p>In terms of academics, all three are fabulous. At NU you could take some business classes at their Kellogg’s business school and get a certificate in business (they don’t offer majors in business though), which is a great opportunity. I’m pretty sure that Tufts doesn’t have a business major either, but I know people interested in international business who are in their phenomenal international relations major. Olin at WUSTL looks great-- it probably provides more avenues for business/econ related majors than the other two. If you choose physics, I know WUSTL has phenomenal facilities for science/engineering stuff, but I don’t know much about physics at the other two. So you really can’t go wrong academically.</p>
<p>I think that if you have to ask this question, you are doing something wrong.</p>
<p>The three schools are not peer schools. If you are choosing one to apply to because you need to add a school to a certain tier, you need to rethink your choices. Both WUSTL and NU are significantly more difficult to get in than Tufts.</p>
<p>What other schools are you applying for?</p>
<p>All three are among the 30 or so most selective schools in the country (universities and LACs included). By USNWR’s metric, WUSTL is #7, NU is # 10, Tufts #17. In the scheme of things (over 2K colleges and universities), that’s pretty close. By SAT scores alone, according to one site’s ordering, WUSTL is #14, NU is #20, Tufts is #30 ([College</a> Rankings - Top 500 Ranked Colleges - Highest SAT 75th Percentile Scores - StateUniversity.com](<a href=“USA University College Directory - U.S. University Directory - State Universities and College Rankings”>Top 500 Ranked Colleges - Highest SAT 75th Percentile Scores)). Again, that’s quite close.</p>
<p>Average freshmen retention rates are identical (97%). 4-year graduation rates are nearly identical (T=85%, W=86.1%, N=86.4%, per Kiplinger’s). S:F ratios are close (7:1 for N & W, 9:1 for Tufts). All 3 claim to cover 100% of demonstrated need. All three are private, mid-sized universities (T=5200, W=7300, N=8400 undergrads) in urban/suburban settings.
All three are good all-around liberal arts universities well known for one or more stand-out areas (e.g. W for biomedical, N for journalism, T for international relations).</p>
<p>All 3 make this site’s list of 25 top universities:
<a href=“http://50topcolleges.com/[/url]”>http://50topcolleges.com/</a></p>
<p>RE: post 3 - Uh, no. They are pretty close in acceptance rates and SAT/ACT scores. here are the comparisons using 2012 data (Tufts acceptance rate this year was 18%) -
[College</a> Navigator - Compare Institutions](<a href=“College Navigator - Compare Institutions”>College Navigator - Compare Institutions)
I happen to love the Tufts campus. There is no “division” between uphill and downhill, the campus is too small for that 
Restaurants and cafes right off campus, tons more with a 15 minute walk or shuttle ride to Davis Sq., where you can pick up the subway to go to Harvard Square or Boston. It’s pretty but not as beautiful as some rural campuses we visited (Bucknell, Swarthmore, Cornell).
Haven’t been to WUSTL or NW…</p>
<p>Most kids stay on campus for fun- I grew up in Chicago and had many friends at NW- they didn’t have much time or need to go downtown (which takes a while to get to by public transport). WUSTL is in upscale Clayton, and there are lots of places in the Delmar Loop. I think the decision should be based on what’s on campus and not what’s off campus. You really couldn’t go wrong with any of the schools, although I will pitch WUSTL, as my son will be starting there next month.</p>
<p>I transferred from WashU to NU so I know a lot about NU/Chicago and a little bit about WashU/St. Louis. It’s true that many students at NU don’t spend much time in Chicago but there are also quite a few that do. While it takes a while to get to downtown Chicago, the most exciting neighborhoods are between downtown Chicago and Evanston. There are also free shuttles on campus that can take you to Streetsville or downtown Chicago Monday through Saturday. </p>
<p>Also, downtown Evanston is just next to NU campus and has as many restaurants/coffee shops as the Delmar Loop does.</p>
<p>If you are interested in undergrad business or accounting, WashU is clearly the best choice when the other two don’t have business major. Tufts probably offers the least as far as business related courses go. Northwestern offers quite a few business-related programs:
[Roads</a> to Business at Northwestern University](<a href=“http://www.roadstobusiness.northwestern.edu/index.html]Roads”>http://www.roadstobusiness.northwestern.edu/index.html)</p>
<p>Out of these, the most marketable is the Kellogg certificate. To get into the program, one has to complete 7 or 8 pre-req courses in multivariable calculus, linear algebra, econometrics, intermediate statistics and intermediate microeconomics. All the core courses are graduate/MBA level; at any given semester, the Kellogg profs often write the same exam for the MBA/graduate and undergrad sections. Somehow, the undergrads have consistently outperformed the MBA/grad students! The certificate students also enjoy the recruiting resources from Kellogg and have been very successful in getting internships/job offers from top firms. The certificate students are said to be more technically prepared than many MBAs. If you are interested in highly quantitative side of business/finance or managerial analytics, the Kellogg certificate program is better than a typical undergrad business program such as the one at Wash U because the Kellogg cert is more advanced and focused. </p>
<p>Because fulfilling the pre-reqs seems to be more than half the battle, the admission has been rather self-selected and the rate has been around 75-80%.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/Certificate/about.aspx[/url]”>http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/Certificate/about.aspx</a></p>
<p>hi Sam – I’m wondering if you could private-message me? I have some questions re your decision to move from WUSTL to NU. </p>
<p>Thanks very much.</p>
<p>There’s nothing wrong with WashU. It fact, I enjoyed my time there. But I became more interested in engineering during my freshmen and wanted a better engineering program. NU was not far away and was therefore under my radar. I also preferred the bigger city of Chicago.</p>