<p>I know there's a ton of these, but I'm willing to try anything to help me decide. As May 1 gets closer, I'm getting more and more stressed and I honestly don't know what to do. I'm torn between University of Miami and Northwestern University. My major is currently undecided but I'm seriously considering engineering. Northwestern is obviously more prestigious and has an awesome engineering program. It's close to home and chicago, but the weather's crappy and it'll cost us 34k/yr after aid, which is a lot for us. At UM I would be in the honors program and a Foote Fellow, which exempts me from gen eds, gets me special advising, and first pick of classes(however if i do engineering, the gen ed exemption is practically meaningless b/c of all the engineering requirements). Miami's weather is nicer and it'd cost about 10k less/yr than Northwestern, but UM is much farther from home, not as well-known, and I'm uncertain about its developing engineering program. Other factors to consider: I have a feeling I'd be much more stressed at NU than at UM, but I'm not much of a partier and UM's party rep intimidates me. Logically, when I lay out all the pros and cons, miami seems to be the better choice. However, my gut is telling me northwestern, which seems to be a better personal fit. I don't know what to do! Please help!</p>
<p>go with your gut. The two schools are vastly different academically.</p>
<p>remember, you’ll most likely be spending the next 4 years of your life wherever you choose…so go where you can see yourself better…follow your gut</p>
<p>You may not want to be stressed by classes but you don’t want to be bored either. If NU thinks you are qualified, have confidence in yourself that you are. Even if you don’t go into engineering you want mental stimulation in your classes. Nothing worse than trying to have a real conversation in class with a student who’s hung over from the night before!</p>
<p>I would go with Northwestern. Better reputation, more solid programs, the weather isn’t as bad most people make it. During the spring quarter, it gets really warm because classes last until June.</p>
<p>UMiami is a good school. It has invested enormous effort and made enormous strides in improving its reputation, which was a joke 30 years ago but is good now. If that was where you got in, and you had not been admitted to a materially better school, I would recommend you go there.
I might also recommend you go there over NU if there were a $25K+/per year difference in cost, but you indicate that the number is much smaller, about $10K/year.<br>
That being the case, I honestly think it’s no contest, and I suspect you would regret later on having forfeited an opportunity to get the vastly superior education at the school with the MUCH better reputation. Do what makes you happy, but have some foresight and, as amtc says: “If NU thinks you are qualified, have confidence in yourself that you are.”</p>
<p>First-CONGRATULATIONS! You have worked hard, and now have to make a tough choice.
What I have picked up from your post-NU is “obviously more prestigious and has an awesome engineering program”—but—will cost more $34k/yr and you currently live close by.
If money is not the determining factor, then you are down to the proximity of the university to your home. Is it more important to you where the school is located or the type of program the school is offering?
If the location of the school is more important (this may be more than just a weather issue-it may be just the idea of living in a whole new environ from the mid-west) then can you get this experience after you graduate from college? Or do you feel now is the right time for this experience?
If the program is really more important, then you have already answered your question-NU. The same can be said if it is a money issue-Miami.
G’Luck! APOL-a mom</p>
<p>Go with your gut. It’s probably right. That’d be my advice going either direction, so choose NU.</p>
<p>Just as an update, I’m currently leaning heavily towards miami after several conversations and email exchanges btwn students and faculty. Overall, Miami seems to be more flexible and more fun. And I can always go to Northwestern for grad school. I guess now I’m looking for any last ditch efforts to convince me that Northwestern will be fun, not overwhelmingly stressful, and that walking all the way across campus in a blizzard is bearable. I’ve wanted to go to Northwestern since I first started looking at colleges, but I’m willing to give up the prestige if it means a better overall college experience, which to me is more than just academics. Any last minute arguments/advice?</p>
<p>Um, you’re really over-exaggerating the weather. The Evanston campus is small. It’s very easy to walk to classes. There are a lot of fun things to do on campus. It’s one of the more diverse undergraduate colleges simply because you have the artsy people AND engineers living together. The quarter system is fast, but you can take more courses. It’s very easy to double major on the quarter system. The school offers so many interdisciplinary majors.</p>
<p>I’d second that you’re over blowing the weather thing, but honestly, if you care more about fun than about the quality of your peers and education, than Miami is definitely the place to go, both because that’s what you’ll get there, and because that seems to be a more fitting place.</p>
<p>Def go with your gut. I made the same decision today and chose UT engineering over NU engineering. Although im still worried about being stuck in texas and reluctant to pass on NU prestige i think i made the right choice</p>
<p>Not sure how you think grad school could possibly substitute for the undergrad experience, but if fun is your paramount interest and Chicago winters and the “stress” of being academically challenged are major negatives for you, then I think you are right - go to Miami.</p>
<p>are you talking Miami-Ohio or Miami-FL?</p>
<p>Edit: Your going to make a horrible decision if you dont go to NU, Miami cant touch NU anywhere remember that.</p>
<p>The weather really isn’t an issue - I was purposely exaggerating. I’ve grown up an hour from NU, so I’m used to it. Honestly the miami weather is mostly a perk. And as far as fun goes, I’m honestly not a party person. I am the type of person who alienated all of her friends junior because of the stress of studying for AP classes and missed most of the social experiences of high school. I’m afraid to make the same mistake twice, and going to miami would force me to think about more than just studying. The real reason miami appeals to me over NU is b/c of the freedom I’d have there. I’d have no ged eds and more major options. Plus, they seemed a lot more welcoming to me (although i have a feeling this was just b/c they are more desperate for someone of my calibar to attend their school than NU). The bottom line is that miami and nu both have everything I looked for in a school, but miami had a lot of extra pros I never thought to look for.</p>
<p>Yet, in spite of all of this, something is holding me back from committing to miami. It could be that I’m still in love with northwestern, which has been my number one choice for the last 2 years. It could be that I’m afraid people will think less of me for going to miami instead. In all honesty, I never seriously started to consider miami until this month (or even this last week), so that makes me feel uncertain as well. I haven’t slept at all the last 3 days, so no matter what I pick, I’m really looking forward to getting some peace tomorrow night.</p>
<p>oh, and wcasparent --my reference to grad school was in relation to the prestige. It’s a common rumor that most employers look primarily at where you got your graduate degree, so even if I went to a less prestigious undergrad school, I could justify it to myself by going to an elite grad school.</p>
<p>Chronic–I am talking about florida</p>
<p>“(although i have a feeling this was just b/c they are more desperate for someone of my calibar to attend their school than NU)”</p>
<p>^ that to me says a lot.
Don’t just think about the academics… think about your peers.
Do you really want to attend a school with students of a lesser caliber, or at the same level?
I don’t think you simply learn from professors, I think you learn from those around you.</p>
<p>“going to miami would force me to think about more than just studying”</p>
<p>College is what you make it. You seem to have worked very hard to get into NU. You said it was your top for 2 years… why do you want to give up on it now? If you want college to be fun, it will be fun. NU seems very work hard AND play hard to me, so I think you’ll get your fun, party atmosphere if that’s what you want. You just have to put yourself out there. Why risk the chance of feeling stuck at a school with kids who probably are not at the same level? If that were me… I’d get pretty frustrated.</p>
<p>I almost went to another school for similar reasons: I thought I would have more fun. I liked the atmosphere of my #2 school and I loved how nice it was aesthetically. But at the end of the day, the quarter system allows for you to explore SO much, and to be honest I can’t wait to be at a school where I am with students of the same caliber. I’m tired of being stuck in a school with peers who don’t really care about anything and just party.</p>
<p>go with ur guts. i mean if it’s fitting ur personality!</p>
<p>Finding parties or not stressing at NU shouldn’t be concerns (really depends on your major).</p>
<p>If there was a bigger diff. in $$, I’d say go to UM, but for $10k/year, I’d say that the benefits of an NU degree are worth it (unless your family is really struggling w/ $$).</p>