<p>Here we go again.....younger son is choosing between both.....older son had the same exact decision and chose WashU by a "nose".....loved every minute of it (he was class of '11).....but would have loved NU, also. We're keeping very open mind even though we loved being WashU parents. Would love to hear viewpoints both from prospectives and current students. Starting visits today.....going to WashU for Monday, April 2nd and NU for Wildcat Day on the 16th. Thanks!</p>
<p>My sister attended Washington University’s Fox School of Art and I attended Northwestern. She had very bad experiences with the administration and did not like most of her peers, but she made friends (and a husband!) with grad students and liked St. Louis quite a lot. </p>
<p>The two schools and their surrounding cities have very different feels and cultures- NU is a bit nerdier and a bit more worldly, whereas WUStL is a bit more preppy and less academic. What sorts of things is your son looking for? NU obviously has more school spirit (Big Ten sports). What academic areas is he interested in? Just the college of arts, generally?</p>
<p>Surprised, arbiter, to hear about sister’s issues with admin at Wash U. They tend to the very politically correct - sometimes to a fault - administratively and this certainly seems like a outlier.</p>
<p>mtldad - There’s a real good chance the visits will seal the decision for him. I would warn your son (as best as one can any 17-18 year old) to think past initial impressions (and salesmanship) and envision the experience of four full years on each campus. On this particular score I really think NU excels. Opportunities to grow and evolve socially and academically are remarkable. The policies President Shapiro is putting into place to expand for-credit fall-winter-spring internships in all majors in all schools both locally in Chicago and nationally are just icing on the cake.</p>
<p>As stated in a similar post below, I would choose NU.</p>
<p>Thanks for the viewpoints so far. As parents of a WashU '11 grad, we’re very, very familiar with WashU and, as said earlier, our older son chose WashU by a nose over Northwestern. We’re really eager to hear viewpoints of others because we’re remaining very, very unbiased. So, we’d love to hear what people liked/disliked about Northwestern. We just got back from WashU and we’ll be at Wildcat Day on April 16th.</p>
<p>I really liked WUStL during my grad recruitment season, but ended up choosing NU for a myriad of reasons.</p>
<p>What do you and your son want to know exactly?</p>
<p>I guess, as his Dad, I want to hear more about the “holistic” reasons people are at Northwestern (full disclosure, I hate that word…every time I’d hear an info session leader talk about their “holistic” process, I had to restrain myself from being a 12-year old and coughing “bs” into my hand, but I digress…). We know that both schools will offer amazing educations…we also know very, very well about “fit”. So, because we’re so familiar with WashU, we’re very curious to know what are the “fit” aspects that attracted great students to make Northwestern their college destination. Fact is that, unless a student applied early decision, we’re sure that they were choosing between great places. So, to repeat, why did that person choose Northwestern? We can answer that for WashU. Thanks!</p>
<p>My D was accepted at both last year. She visited them back to back on the same trip.</p>
<p>When it came to her choice, NU was, for her a ‘no brainer’. (To be honest, WashU wasn’t even her second choice.) The reasons she gave us.</p>
<p>At NU, she felt ‘at home’ from the minute she set foot on campus. At WashU, she felt that every student she met LOVED the campus, whereas she ‘liked’ the campus. </p>
<p>Another factor was she loved the approach of the Engineering First Program at NU, and didn’t feel that the WashU’s engineering differentiated itself from other schools.</p>
<p>So, it came down to intangibles and the specifics of the first year curriculum.</p>
<p>Another two reasons to pick NU: </p>
<p>[Kaplan</a> Humanities Scholars Program](<a href=“http://www.kaplanscholars.northwestern.edu/]Kaplan”>http://www.kaplanscholars.northwestern.edu/)
[Brady</a> Scholars Program](<a href=“http://www.bradyprogram.northwestern.edu/]Brady”>http://www.bradyprogram.northwestern.edu/)</p>
<p>And the many other specialty programs that really make NU a terrific place to study.</p>
<p>I mean, really, where would you rather be: Evanston or St. Louis? I may be arguing the virtues of the Boston area with arbiter213 on another thread, but Evanston (and, by extension, Chicago) is just way cooler than St. Louis (I’ve been to both places)! NU seems more wordly, more savvy than Wash U to me.</p>
<p>Hey, I’m not disagreeing with your points about Boston lol. Like I said, aesthetic judgments are subjective.</p>
<p>Well, my reasons are different from undergrads in that I was choosing between graduate programs. NU is #1 in my discipline and WashU is somewhere between #20-#30.</p>
<p>I also like Chicago and Evanston more.</p>
<p>The students (both graduate and undergraduate) were a lot more welcoming and social at NU than at WashU. The atmosphere made it seem much more livable.</p>
<p>arbiter213, I should have put a winky in my comment! I’ve been reading your posts forever (since before my daughter decided to go to Northwestern) and I always find them very informative and interesting. Here is the winky I should have written before.</p>
<p>;)</p>
<p>My son (now a very happy junior at NU) and I visited Wash U when he was in HS, and he decided not to apply to Wash U, despite my pushing for Wash U due to its highly ranked academics. He just thought Wash U was too much a little “bubble” near St. Louis (which he had visited often and did not like as much as Chicago). And he did not like the Wash U tour guide rooting for the Cardinals over his beloved Cubs (this should not have been a factor IMO :)). </p>
<p>Now, comparing his experiences to that of his good friend who is a junior at Wash U, I am very happy with his choice of NU. Wash U seems to be a “cozier” place for freshmen with its nicer dorms, but not as energizing or mind-opening in later years. My son is a Big 10 sports nut, while Wash U is division 3 with comparatively little school spirit. Also, seems like NU has a much better academic reputation than Wash U – and we are in central Illinois, just 2 hours from Wash U.</p>
<p>See my points here: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/northwestern-university/1315156-northwestern-wustl.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/northwestern-university/1315156-northwestern-wustl.html</a></p>
<p>To add to that, I’m very impressed with Northwestern’s leadership and like the direction they’re taking the university. Morton Schapiro is a great leader, and I have no doubt Northwestern will rise to the top faster and in greater leaps and bounds than its peer schools. </p>
<p>Northwestern right now has a global reputation that WashU does not have (at least not to the same degree) and I don’t see WashU ever catching up. See this: [Education</a> - Image - NYTimes.com](<a href=“Education - Image - NYTimes.com”>Education - Image - NYTimes.com) . Maybe this reputation is due to Kellogg, but regardless, the positive effect definitely does spill over to the undergraduate schools. </p>
<p>Northwestern has a leadership brand, and it definitely delivers. Employers are consistently impressed with Northwestern students who are not only intelligent but also creative, innovative, bold, and have strong leadership traits (no matter how that manifests itself–leadership styles vary). Furthermore, the employers graduates today will encounter have always held Northwestern in high esteem growing up but not WashU. Whether they like it or not, they are biased in favor of Northwestern.</p>
<p>Northwestern’s professional schools (not only business but also law, medicine, education, speech, music, engineering, journalism, entertainment/theater) and graduate schools (arts & sciences) are ALL very strong. Its incredible strengths in so many areas contribute to its prestige in a wide variety of fields. Northwestern attracts talent from these diverse realms in a way no other university (besides Harvard because of its name) truly can.</p>
<p>Northwestern’s campus is poised to be among the top 10 most beautiful campuses in the US in a few years. Its layout, exterior and interior aesthetics, and lakefront location will make Northwestern even more beautiful than it already is.</p>
<p>On the beautiful front:
[University:</a> Mid-Campus Green coming spring 2013 - Campus - The Daily Northwestern - Northwestern University](<a href=“http://www.dailynorthwestern.com/campus/university-mid-campus-green-coming-spring-2013-1.2722362#.T33Y_79YuE0]University:”>http://www.dailynorthwestern.com/campus/university-mid-campus-green-coming-spring-2013-1.2722362#.T33Y_79YuE0)</p>
<p>Thanks…these are helpful replies…I can make a very strong case for WashU, but we want to go through this process (as his parents) with the same open eyes that we had for our older son. We’ll be thrilled with his choice either way…but, one thing that I will never argue with is the access to Chicago is definitely far superior than being in the St. Louis area. St. Louis is a pleasant-enough city, but Chicago is Chicago. We’re off to visit this Saturday and he’ll be on campus for Wildcat Day on the 16th…please keep the Northwestern viewpoints coming (we know the WashU viewpoints!).</p>
<p>I transferred from WashU after my freshmen year. To me, one of the main diffrences is how Northwestern seems to be more innovative and bold in coming up unique programs/curriculum. Here are some examples:
-First material sciences & engineering in the entire world
-First BA/MD program in the US
-One of the earliest engineering co-op programs
-One of the earliest BME programs
-First MBA program to emphasize and integrate teamwork in its curriculum
-ISP/MMSS established in the 70s; they are still unique today despite the reputation they both have been enjoying among employers and grad schools.
-Engineering First in 1997; the reasons behind the makeover have been well-recognized among the academica/education experts. But after 15 years since Northwestern took the lead, most other schools still followed the same old and oudated first-year curriculum.<br>
-Kellogg certificate (where else can you take graduate-level business courses without sacrificing liberal arts or engineering education?)
-1-yr MBA; this has been around for a while and quite common in Europe but Kellogg is the only top US business school that offers it, let alone implement a strategic expansion in the near future</p>
<p>Innovation just seems to be in NU’s DNA. Contrast that with WashU; it wasn’t until late 1990s that they had the BME department, despite the fact that it already had an engineering school for quite some time and a top-ranked medical school. How is this relevant to undergrad? If you look at the undergrad programs, you’ll see there’s wider array of special programs available at NU.</p>
<p>Thanks, Sam. Very helpful stuff. I remember your posts from when my older son was choosing (in '07) and always found you very informative…</p>
<p>From my daughter’s experience, I would add both the professors and the administration are receptive to new ideas.
Cases in point: She spear-headed the NU voter registration for the 2008 elections. She saw the possibility of registering voters from their home state while they attended NU. The Professor (If I remember correctly it was a Physics professor) supported her and they did just that. After the election-he encouraged her to write a paper about her idea and how it was implemented. That following summer it was submitted and selected for publication–one of only a handful of papers EVER accepted by an undergraduate-as this publication is primarily used by Political Science professors and a few graduate students from all over the USA-it is not an NU publication.
In addition, she was active in SEED-a group interested in the environment. A few of these members approached the Administration, and succeeded in establishing the GREEN House.
These are but two examples of what made my daughter’s experience at NU stand out. Your son’s experience at NU will most likely only be limited by his imagination.
I hope this helps-
~APOL-a Mum</p>