What would be the best university betwenn Upenn, cornell and NU in:
- Physics
- Computer science
- Engineering
- Economics
- Social Life
- Location
Physics, CS - Cornell
Engineering - Cornell, NU
Economics - NU, Penn
Social Life - same between the three
Location - NU, Penn
Physics - Cornell > Penn > NU
Computer Science - Cornell > Penn > NU
Engineering - Cornell > NU ~ Penn (varies depending on what type of engineering)
Economics - NU > Penn > Cornell (but for business and business-related recruiting Penn > Cornell > NU)
Social life - Penn > NU > Cornell (but this is more subjective)
Location - Penn > NU >Cornell
For undergrad keep in mind that overall school standing, quality in addition to specific departmental quality matters as well as personally fit.
Overall undergrad desirability/standing: Penn > Cornell ~ NU
Yield rates (% of admits who choose the school): Penn (68%) > Cornell (53%) ~NU (53%)
Here is how cross-admits choose between these schools.
^reminder that parchment’s data is very skewed and quite outdated
Parchment has an extreme underrepresentation of the midwest because its not used nearly as frequently there. Thus, the data on northwestern is not super reliable because it doesn’t really take into account the preference of midwestern students (which commonly list northwestern as a dream school) because it’s not used nearly as frequently there.
Location is subjective also and I am not sure if you have spent enough time in Evanston/Chicago to tell.
I grew up in Hong Kong and live in San Francisco; London and Paris are among my favorites to visit. That is, I am far from the suburb type. However, it’d be a wash for me to choose between Evanston and Center City, where I have visited close to a dozen times (for those not familiar, Penn isn’t really in Center City anyway but not far). I definitely think Chicago is more vibrant than Philly and it’d be an easy choice for me between Chicago and Philly. For Evanston, its proximity to Chicago (no transfer with the subway if you catch the express train and there’s NU shuttle between Evanston and downtown Chicago campus) and the fact that Evanston downtown is vibrant enough for a suburb makes the choice between Philly and Evanston a wash. I was surprised how small Center City/Rittenhouse Sq felt. South Street would have been nice if the crowd were less sketchy and rowdy. I am not assuming many would share my view; rather, I am just giving a detailed example why the location is debatable.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/10/evanston-illinois-what-works-213282?o=0
SO is a Cornell grad and D is at Penn in CS and was admitted to both.
Penn and Cornell are both excellent CS programs. CS is the most popular engineering major at Penn. Both produce grads beginning with average starting salaries of about $105,000 based on their most recent career surveys. I could not find similar data for Northwestern.
D chose Penn but a different student could easily make a different decision. Things she liked were the One Penn policy that has allowed her to explore other schools at Penn, which she has used (she finished a math minor and needs one more course for a stat minor). Penn also has good research opportunities. She spent her freshman summer working as a research assistant for a Wharton professor. She prefers the city experience of Penn to Ithaca. She also likes to visit NYC which is only an hour away.
There are also many clubs and activities at Penn that she was interested in, such as SWE, Women in Computer Science, Tech Trek, Hack for Impact, Penn Apps, and Femme Hacks to name a few that come to mind. I am sure that Cornell has many too, but I am not as familiar with them.
She also explored the dual degree and special program opportunities at Penn.
My D went to NU and my S is going to Penn and had been interested in Cornell. I also live in the Philly area.
I can’t comment on the academics as my D didn’t major in those listed, and my S won’t either.
I think the point about the midwestern view of NU is very well taken. In the midwest, NU is viewed very prestigiously.
But for location: I do agree that Penn’s location and NU’s location are somewhat similar as far as city-ish feel. Chicago is the bigger city, but NU is not in Chicago; it doesn’t feel like it’s in Chicago; it’s on a gorgeous lake in Evanston, a suburb. True, you can get to Chicago by train or by cab/uber–how frequently will depend on how much you want to go into the city and your own schedule. The physical site of NU’s campus is stunning - the lake is so gorgeous - although for pure stunningness I personally think Cornell is the most stunning. As far as the campus itself - architecture, buildings, lay out - I think Cornell and Penn beat NU.
For Penn–Center City is not the only place to go to in Philly. Philly has many, many areas and many different places to explore. Penn is not quite in the area of most interests in Philly, but it’s still in Philly as opposed to Evanston; and you can easily walk to places of interest, eg the art museum. Transportation on the Septa or Patco is easy, although I wouldn’t go on it very late at night.
No one mentions weather but I think Penn is the clear winner here, but I hate cold weather!
Social life is totally subjective. They’re all large schools with many opportunities to join clubs, meet people etc. My D was very happy socially at NU. Of the three, Penn is the most urban, then NU, then Cornell.
@jaecha according to this parchment has a big representation in the midwest.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/09/04/upshot/college-picks.html?_r=0#s=1519
The study done in this link is all over the place because of the very small sample sizes but it you scroll all the way down there is a map of parchment utilization in each state in 2014. It seems that in the midwest parchment is used more than in the east.
Yield rates are another way to get an idea of admit preference, especially RD yields (Class of 2020):
Penn(50.5%)
Cornell(41%)
NU (35%)
But yes i greek all excellent schools, choice comes more down to fit than anything.
Suggest go to whichever you think you might like better.