Those in the know, and those who need to know, know Rice, as they say.
I have a friend who studied engineering at NU and was originally from the east coast, and apparently people there often don’t know the difference between Northwestern and Northeastern. That was the harsh reality for him. Maybe Northwestern really is more well known in IB and consulting on the east coast, but that’s a very specific area of which we do not know if OP’s son is interested. However, in terms of other fields, I don’t think people at, say, Boston Scientific are necessarily going to jump out of their chair upon seeing the word “Northwestern” in a resume when Northeastern probably already has a strong partnership with them. Plus, management consulting recruits very heavily (and somewhat annoyingly so) from Rice, and that area along with oil/gas is one of the most popular fields into which Rice grads go straight after undergrad. There are dozens of Rice students that go into MBB each year either for full-time positions or for internships, and many others go to Accenture, Oliver Wyman, Deloitte, Credera, Alvarez and Marsal, Simon-Kucher & Partners, and so forth. As for investment banking, Rice has its fair share of alumni at Goldman Sachs, Citi, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche, JPMorgan and Chase, etc. Basically, going to Rice does not mean throwing away the chances of going into consulting. If you go to Rice, you’ll still be able to get your foot in the door.
At face value, given the limited information that OP has provided, it seems like the cards are stacked up against NU, because it appears that Rice is the cheaper option and is subjectively a better environment. I think nitpicking 6 spots in accordance with U.S. News may not be enough to overturn such factors, perhaps unless the goal truly is specifically to go into IB/consulting in the east coast. However, I do think that if your son wants to remain in the Chicago area after graduation, if your son wants to have a college experience more akin to a stereotypical university (e.g., better attended sporting events, Greek life), and/or if your son wants to remain close to home/his peers, then NU would definitely be worth the extra 20k per year.
There’s a chance that OP’s son already made a decision and none of this matters, but it is important to keep in mind that no school is a magic bullet to landing the post grad opportunity you want, nor is there a school that is the ultimate “perfect” fit in all possible aspects. Sometimes, the only tangible factor you have is the price difference and you just have to make a decision based on financial cost and opportunity cost.
OP- and???
@jym626 FWIW the OP last logged into CC on 4/17
They could be reading offline. So frustrating when posters give off their time and knowledge, and the OP leaves them hanging.