<p>Hey guys!
got into those schools for Engineering, i'm thinking NU Upenn or Duke.
i'm pretty divided tho;
NU is in chicago (my sister goes to chicago uni)
Upenn is an ivy (mum's got a thing for ivies)
Duke is superior to both NU and Upenn in engineering.</p>
<p>I'm pretty poor so i can't go on tour.. could you please tell me what NU is like?</p>
<p>Duke is not superior to both NU and UPenn in engineering; in fact, Duke is the worst overall out of the three while NU is the best as far as engineering rankings go. Also, Duke’s program is rather limited. It doesn’t even have chemical engineering. </p>
<p>Which engineering field are you thinking?</p>
<p>chemical engin lol
obviously havn’t done my research!
i wanna do nanotech at masters…</p>
<p>Nanotech is most closely related to chemistry and material sciences. NU has incredible material science (top-5) and chem (top-10) departments and is considered one of the strongest in nano-research. I am not sure how accessible that area of research is to undergrad as it’s a little more sophisticated. But I bet you can get involved if you try your best.</p>
<p>bwabwa-
From what I’ve read, I think that Sam Lee is dead right: NU is the best of the three for engineering (with Duke being second), especially given your stated interests.</p>
<p>In nanotechnology, Northwestern is arguably second to none. Northwestern has four Feynman prize awardees in nanotechnology (the field’s highest prize), Mark Ratner (2001), Chad Mirkin (2002), Fraser Stoddart (2007) and George C. Schatz (2008). In addition, they have Sam Stupp, the director of the Institute for BioNanotechnology in Medicine at Northwestern, who in 2006, because of his novel breakthroughs in nanotechnology and medicine, was named one of the “15 Scientists That Will Change Your World.” When Stoddart came to Northwestern in 2007 he said, "a century ago if you were an artist or a writer, Paris was a magnet drawing people. Today, Northwestern is the magnet drawing people in nanotechnology.”</p>
<p>From the Chicago Tribune article on Stoddart’s arrival at Northwestern in 2007:
Northwestern estimates it has received more than $350 million in federal and state research funds for nanoscience over the past decade, including $100 million for infrastructure and equipment.
About a dozen nano start-ups have sprung from Northwestern’s research efforts, including NanoInk, NanoIntegris, Nanotope and Nanosphere, which this week said it plans to raise $100 million in an initial public offering of stock.</p>
<p>[NU</a> adds star to nanotech roster<br> Hiring boosts effort to be industry leader - Chicago Tribune](<a href=“Chicago Tribune - Chicago News, Sports, Weather, Business & Things to Do”>Chicago Tribune - Chicago News, Sports, Weather, Business & Things to Do)</p>
<p>If you’re interestsd, Northwestern has a YouTube video, “They Call It Nano U,” on the nanotechnology program and it’s International Institute on Nanotechnology:
[YouTube</a> - They Call It Nano U](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FQmYqAFq8A]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FQmYqAFq8A)</p>
<p>Penn…</p>
<p>don’t get caught up in the fact that penn is an ivy!
my vote is NU…but only if you can stand the winters</p>
<p>Penn. Period.</p>
<p>I would say all these schools have strong nanotechnology programs. Academic prestige is the least of your worries with regards to this decision.</p>
<p>SOCIAL LIFE
<p>WEATHER
<p>NATIONAL PRESTIGE
<p>And so on.</p>
<p>Make lists like these. I think the difference in prestige between Northwestern and Duke is too large for you to give up Duke.</p>
<p>duke has a weak nanotech research program (if what they got even qualify as a “program”). but if you think couple little projects mean “strong program”, i guess we just have very different standards. </p>
<p>this isn’t just about academic prestige; it’s also about the fact that duke doesn’t even offer what the OP is interested in (chemical engineering). by the way, any respectable engineering school would have chemical engineering as it is one of the most important engineering disciplines. </p>
<p>in the absence of any particular reputation, i don’t see how you can tell which has better social life without attending all of them. perhaps you must really like that mediocre/slightly poor town called durham instead of evanston/chicago. good for you though i’d never imagine myself to live there. not even if you pay me $$$$. different strokes for different folks.</p>
<p>outside HYPSM, there’s very little difference in prestige among the top-25 schools.</p>
<p>OP,
If you are into nanotech, you may want to check out material science and engineering. To me, it’s more closely related to nanotech than chemE. The department is usually ranked within the top-3.</p>
<p>Trivia:
Northwestern instituted the first materials science department in the world in 1955.</p>
<p>I’d say at Prestige Upenn might be a hair better than Penn and social life at the two schools varies on the person. I personally would choose Penn.</p>
<p>
How interesting. I had no idea U Penn was more prestigious than Penn.</p>
<p>Here’s a good write-up on nanotechnology programs:</p>
<p>[Small</a> Times - Educating small tech’s revolutionaries](<a href=“http://www.smalltimes.com/display_article/292542/109/ARTCL/none/none/1/Educating-small-tech’s-revolutionaries/]Small”>Smalltimes.Com domain name is for sale. Inquire now.)</p>
<p>Northwestern came out fairly well on the list. CMU made the cut but did not fare well. Duke did not make it, although its research partner NC State did. Brown and Penn did not make the list. </p>
<p>Both Illinois and North Carolina made the list of top nanotechnology states. Pennsylvania and Rhode Island did not make the cut.
[Small</a> Times - Our annual ranking of small tech: only one first place but many winners](<a href=“Smalltimes.Com domain name is for sale. Inquire now.”>Smalltimes.Com domain name is for sale. Inquire now.)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Durham is NOT a college town, people. I go there almost every year. (Chapel Hill IS a college town.) Yes, Duke is great for the sciences. However, it’s NOT great for engineering. If your interests are engineering and nanotechnology, eliminate Duke, Penn and Brown from your list. You need to understand that DEPARTMENTS/FIELDS are more important than overall “prestige” rankings.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>And this survey was before Northwestern doubled the number of Feynman prize awardees in nanotechnology they had. Fraser Stoddart alone brought in over 20 researchers from his nanotechnology group from UCLA over to Northwestern. CMU, Duke, Brown and Penn are good schools and of course other factors may enter into play. One may prefer to be in the South versus being up North or near a major city like Chicago. But if nanotechnology is important, I’m not sure at this point in time whether the other schools can compare to Northwestern.</p>
<p>
Nonsense. Most studies suggest that 60-70% of undergraduate students change their major at least once. It makes little sense to choose a school based on its ranking in Subject X when the odds are extremely good one will end up studying Subject Y. The attrition rate for engineering at my university is quite high.</p>
<p>That said, all four are very good schools, and it makes equally little sense to choose a university that does not offer the major one is tentatively considering. For chemical engineering, Duke and most likely Brown should be removed from consideration. Penn and Northwestern seem to be the most obvious choices. Penn and Northwestern have equally strong chemical engineering programs, and while Northwestern has a better materials science program, the difference is not significant at the undergraduate level.</p>
<p>Between Penn and Northwestern, it would be a matter of fit. For example, I would choose Penn because I like the university and Philly a lot better, but you may be the complete opposite. I’d suggest doing some more research about both schools, ignoring prestige and perceived academic strength. They’re very different schools.</p>
<p>Um IBclass, I think you misunderstood my entire post.</p>
<p>Based on the responses on this forum, some would say Penn and Duke are more prestigious than Northwestern and therefore the OP should choose Penn/Duke. But why choose those 'more prestigious" schools over NU if they don’t offer what the OP would like to study (chemical engineering & nanotechnology)? NU was a good fit for me because it offered good interdisciplinary programs in my interest area (social sciences, journalism, education). The OP needs to think carefully about what he wants academically and socially. It doesn’t make sense to attend a school that doesn’t offer the program/department. But hey, that’s me. I also agree that the OP should do more research.</p>
<p>
No, I got that. See my second paragraph. :)</p>