<p>Foolish mortal.</p>
<p>To access it and to transfer into it are two different things entirely.</p>
<p>Penn >> northwhatever</p>
<p>I got waitlisted at Penn and, if not accepted, will be heading to NU in the Fall. However, I've come to realize that I like both of them about the same. Both have great econ programs, which is what I'm doing. I like Chicago more, but like how Penn is more in the city. Penn's campus is cooler IMO, but the people are arguably quite stuck-up. NU has a slightly less nice campus, but I found the people to be a little more welcoming, it being the Midwest and all. Penn has Ivy League prestige, and NU doesn't but isn't far behind by any means. Both have really good social scenes. Considering all this, there's not much to separate the two, so I would really just go based on which campus experience you liked more.</p>
<p>Oh, and with regards to engineering, from what I know, it is a very popular and rigorous program at Northwestern. It is apparently pretty challenging and thus well-respected, better than Penn's I'm pretty sure but not on par with Berkeley.</p>
<p>Rankings for undergrad engineering:</p>
<p>Berkeley: 3</p>
<p>NU:14</p>
<p>UPenn: 28</p>
<p>You are correct; they are different and I didn't say they were the same.</p>
<p>ya, from what it seems, it's not hard to have a coupla if not a bunch of classes in Wharton, and it sounds like almost everyone who goes to Penn does so.</p>
<p>I do like the Northwestern campus maybe a little bit more, although Philadelphia isn't AS bone-chillingly cold in the winter. It seems as if it is easy and widely encouraged to get summer internships at Penn, which I want not only for work and resume or whatever, but mostly just to sort out what I like doing. With the Co-op at NU, I would be stuck with one engineering company for at least 4 quarters, unable to broaden out and experience other jobs.</p>
<p>I do still have trouble with worrying about the "worse" engineering at Penn, although it was hard to get anything out of the professors and representatives at Northwestern about the Eng/Chemical engineering so i'm still kind of clueless about the program past the freshman year design project.</p>
<p>I just went to Cal Day today, and the academics seem very impressive, but it also sounded like I will always have trouble with huge masses of students and competitive curve grading and impacted majors (in case I changed my mind about chemE). But still, Cal is like home to me (which is good but bad at the same time)...</p>
<p>
[quote]
Penn chem people won Nobels. That has to count for something.
[/quote]
To paraphrase your own words, chemistry and chemical engineering are two different things entirely.</p>
<p>
[quote]
With the Co-op at NU, I would be stuck with one engineering company for at least 4 quarters, unable to broaden out and experience other jobs.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Hmm...I am not sure I'd agree with that. You can do your internship the summer after freshmen year since the first co-op quarter doesn't start until summer after sophomore year. 2 of your first 4 co-op quarters are not in the summer. You fourth one is in winter quarter of pre-senior year. After that, you would have a year of working experience under your belt and be ahead of most other people still in school. With that, you should have no trouble finding some other internship for the summer after your pre-senior year. So if things go as planned, by the time you are senior, you'd have 6 quarters of working experience--4 for your engineering co-op and 2 for whatever internship you've found for yourself.</p>
<p>ya that's true... i dunno if I would want to do the co-op anyway though. It seems like it would take me away from having the opportunity to take classes in one of the other schools at NU since the co-op is at least 4 quarters.</p>
<p>I really did like the campus and the lake and lagoon right there at Northwestern, but all the dorms were spread out throughout the campus, and it gets so cold (-10 fahrenheit) that no one would want to leave their dorm room, so it seems like a sort of... disjoint and unconnected campus? if those are the right words. But at the same time, I would probably get really close (or annoyed) with the kids in my dorm...</p>
<p>Ted, it is true that the dorms are spread throughout campus. However, in some ways, this works to your advantage. It allows the school to feel more "small" if that's what you are seeking, as with residential colleges and what not. And if you are afraid you are going to miss out, you won't. If you are into theater, humanities, etc., you can live on the south campus and you will be able to find everything that you want with relative ease. If you want to be involved in math/sciences, the greek scene, and partying in general, you can live on the north end of campus. There is a cluster of dorms there that are very close to the frats, making the trip pretty easy to make even in the coldest of weather. However, if you want to live on the south campus and still party a lot, that may present some problems...</p>
<p>It isn't a disjointed campus at all. I lived in Allison last year and most of my friends lived on north campus, mainly in Bobb. In the winter months you simply have to brave the cold for a few minutes while waiting for the shuttle to take you up and down Sheridan Rd.</p>
<p>tedhead,</p>
<p>
[quote]
It seems like it would take me away from having the opportunity to take classes in one of the other schools at NU since the co-op is at least 4 quarters.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Not really. You are still spending the same number of quarters on NU campus. But in the end, the co-op is just one option to you. It's an asset that many other schools don't have. I don't think you should be worrying about getting internship as a student from NU.</p>
<p>ya that's good to know...</p>
<p>i hear that the PEOPLE at northwestern are much more friendly, etc. That penn has a rep of having stuck-up, stereotypical northeastern attitudes... how true is this? i'm actually leaning very slightly toward northwestern right now... but it's still hard to turn down the prestige, reputation, and wall street opportunities with UPenn... although I'm sure northwestern isn't like a significant step down or anything. plus all i hear from people who go there say the LOVE it. although i rarely hear bad things about upenn too</p>
<p>The midwest in general, I've found, is much friendlier an atmosphere than the east coast. That's not to say that students at UPenn (most of whom come from out-of-state anyway) aren't friendly. </p>
<p>Recruiting opportunities at NU are excellent, I wouldn't worry about that. I know several seniors about to graduate who majored in industrial engineering (some did the co-op program, but not all) and are about to go off to new shiny jobs in NY working for JP Morgan and other big financial companies.</p>
<p>ok well, there's about 5 days left, and i'm still not much further than where i started in terms of deciding... i feel like since i'm going into engineering (or business), i SHOULD go to berkeley, cuz it's cheaper (although we can afford the private school) and it has the best engineering, and best business (not counting wharton). Is a private school really marginally better than a public???</p>
<p>not really.</p>
<p>At a top private school you will have smaller classes, more accessible professors and better facilities/resources overall than at a public school, no matter how good it is. That's not to say that the quality of education is worse at Cal than NU or Penn, but NU and Penn can definitely afford to be more focused on their undergrads because they are smaller and private.</p>
<p>joshua... you're saying you would go to berkeley if they all costed the same?? The thing about berkeley is that I've heard some bad stories (out of engineering) with way too much competition, no life outside of studying all night, professors who focus on only graduate students, and the likes. Not to mention that chemical engineering isn't even in the college of engineering so if i discovered that I liked a different engineering better, it would be hard to impossible to switch because of impacted majors...</p>
<p>berkeley's class sizes are big, less endowment etc. I mean I know their ranked higher for eng than penn or northwestern but at a top private school teachers are so more accessible and research opportunities more abundant. Just flip a coin or somthing there all great schools.</p>