<p>I'm currently a freshman at Duke and I'm thinking about transferring to Northwestern. I was accepted to Medill last year and in the end was deciding between Northwestern and Duke. I think I made the wrong choice, and I have a few questions.</p>
<p>1) Given that I was accepted last year, and got good grades this semester (hopefully I will 2nd semester too), would I have a higher chance of being accepted as a transfer student?
2) (Hopefully another transfer student can answer this) How welcoming is the campus of transfer students? In other words, will I be able to easily make friends or is it very cliquey/unwelcoming?
3) One of the things I don't like about Duke is people's preoccupation with appearance/money. I feel like everyone there is either hyper-studious and not social, or hyper-social, and concerned about legacy/money/things like that. Is Northwestern like that, or is it more chill? </p>
<p>If anybody could answer any of these I would be very appreciative! Thanks :)</p>
<p>I’m not a transfer student, but I have transfer friends and it wasn’t difficult to make them, so I presume you shouldn’t have too much trouble. </p>
<p>I can answer #3 - Northwestern is chill. Your description - of the dichotomy of hyper-studious and not social vs hyper-social and concerned about legacy/money - is not at all something you will find here.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I asked D when she was home during break if some kids at NU have a lot of money, and she said she has absolutely no idea and that everyone seems to treat everyone else as a peer. Either she is totally oblivious, or it’s not something folks at NU place much emphasis on. ;-D</p>
<p>Also, when we were on campus for Wildcat Welcome and Family Weekend we found the vibe to be very welcoming and chill. All of the students we met seemed very poised and open.</p>
<p>We have also found Chicago to be an extremely friendly city. A bar tender on the Architecture Cruise even lent D her sunglasses for the entire tour rather than trying to sell her some!</p>
<p>I think Northwestern is more diverse in terms of what students want to do for their career. Duke has only two schools for undergrads and I heard even most of their engineering students go to consulting/finance; it makes sense because if they were serious about engineering, they wouldn’t have gone to Duke (other than BME, it’s engineering isn’t that great). </p>
<p>Northwestern, on the other hand, has six schools. Like many top privates, Northwestern has many premed and prelaw. They are often found in the college of arts and sciences. Some would go to management consulting or investment banking. But you also got the Medill, communications, education, and music schools; as you know, they are among the best of their kinds. These schools house future journalists, musicians, educators… that are probably less concerned about money.</p>
<p>Thank you all very much! That’s extremely helpful, and everything you said makes a lot of sense. Sam Lee, your point about limited majors is SO true. Everybody seems to be an engineer, pre-med, or an econ major! And MomCares, I am from Chicago, and that’s one of the reasons I’m so tempted to transfer. I miss my city so much! Viviste- so glad to hear you have friends who are transfers. I figured there would be some sort of orientation for transfer students anyway, which would probably supply a social group right away. Again, thank you all for your insights!</p>
<p>We had our older son submit for transfer to NU for both the 2nd and 3rd years. Our experience was that more consideration is given to junior transfers than sophomore, so that may be an issue for you to consider. Your application is likely to be evaluated as part of that respective transfer pool and your prior acceptance may not be of considerable benefit. </p>
<p>I also have one 2015 NU kid and a Duke Grad school kid. The environments both feel similar to me. Now as an old parent, my perception may be distorted but NU is not without its financially affluent or studious. The kids there seem to be very focused and blend quickly into groups. It would appear that you can still move into any established groups but they do form quickly. My kid is in residential housing and this facilitates the social interaction. At inception, the kids are all motivated to make friends and this appears to subside as time passes. I noticed this over the course of the first quarter. My kid also tells me that some male students show up to class dressed in slacks and a blazer with a brief case. Most of the student population is casual in dress and demeanor. As a transfer, there will be motivation for your group to socialize but also consider that most of your transfer class will be at a point in their education where they are focused and quite busy with those elements of their upper division status. This will limit the time that everyone has to socialize. NU is a busy place and it is on the quarter system and that is something to not take lightly. I would really think about that transition to the quarter system. I have heard many arguments pro and con, but my NU kid makes a reasonable intellectual argument against it. Not much he can do but certainly something for you to consider. </p>
<p>I’m a little surprised as to your view of Duke as two of my cousins each have a kid who goes there and neither fit either profile you mention at all. Any chance you can expand your horizon of friends at Duke before transferring? Perhaps it’s premature for you to transfer and I think that might be why jacksparrow said more consideration is given to junior transfers than sophomore transfers. I don’t know your situation or anything about you but it is a thought.</p>
<p>Hey there!
I am also thinking about transferring to NU next year. I currently attend the College of Charleston, but am finding the atmosphere too laid-back and not as academically rigorous as I had hoped. I took classes for credit at NU before college, and am from Chicago as well. I am currently working on the application.</p>