<p>College of Arts and Sciences at Penn vs. Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern. I love both schools and I can't decide which to pick. Any thoughts or words of advice?</p>
<p>Quality of life at Penn gets much higher score.</p>
<p>go to Penn!!</p>
<p>It depends on how serious you are about journalism, obviously. You really can't beat Medill in that respect. Also depends on which city you prefer, Philadelphia or Chicago, and whether or not you want to be in a more urban environment or in a suburb/small town. Student body size is about equal, and the strength of the student body is similar as well, so I would definitely decide based on your career interests as well as location.</p>
<p>to answer lilybbloom, I slightly prefer Chicago to Philadelphia, though I don't think you can lose with either city. And I also slightly prefer NU's suburban campus. Journalism is the big question - I have no idea now if I want to be a journalist. It is certainly something I'm interested in, but I'm not sure of it as a career. The good news is that Medill provides such a strong liberal arts education that I think I'd get a great education even if, after 4 years, I decide journalism isn't quite my thing. I agree, if journalism isn't for me, it does take away one of NU's big plusses...at least in my situation. Again though, at 17, I don't know if I want to be a journalist in ~10 years. </p>
<p>One of the big issues I'm dealing with now is the reputation of Penn. I don't want it to influence me, but I can't help thinking of the ivy prestige that comes with UPenn. An innumerable amount of people will so quickly tell me you can't turn down an ivy, no question you have to go to the ivy, etc. While I know that reputations should not be the basis of one's decision, you can't completely ignore the way that society (often ignorantly) views college reputations. </p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>well in response to that, then maybe you should go to Penn. A lot of students I met at Northwestern were those who turned down places like Cornell. Penn probably wins more cross-admits with Northwestern than does Cornell. If this was Cornell vs Northwestern, I would say that NU was a no-brainier. However, both are great.</p>
<p>thanks for the thoughts from everyone so far. Anyone else have any strong opinions or helpful suggestions for me deciding between Penn and NU?</p>
<p>FineOsFan,
You make the comment,
“While I know that reputations should not be the basis of one's decision, you can't completely ignore the way that society (often ignorantly) views college reputations”</p>
<p>I urge you then not to be part of the ignorance. As others have counseled you, these are both excellent schools and both would be on anyone’s list of the top 15 schools in America. Choose the one that YOU like and not the one that you think others will like. These are different schools with different feels, but both offer a wealth of postgraduate opportunities, so choose your school for the right reasons for you.</p>
<p>I am sure that you know all of the following data, but for others who may be comparing these schools, I thought that some of this might be helpful.</p>
<p>Data mostly drawn from USNWR</p>
<p>OBJECTIVE DATA</p>
<p>Undergraduate Enrollment:
Northwestern: 8023 U Penn: 9841</p>
<p>Cost (Tuition & Fees):
Northwestern: $33,559 U Penn: $34,156</p>
<p>Graduation & Retention Rank
Northwestern: 8th U Penn: 8th (tie)
-% of Students expected to graduate in 6 years:
Northwestern: 91% U Penn: 94%
-% of students who do graduate in 6 years:
Northwestern: 93% U Penn: 94%</p>
<p>Faculty Resources Rank:
Northwestern: 9th U Penn: 1st<br>
-% of classes with 50+ students
Northwestern: 9% U Penn: 6%
-% of classes with <20 students
Northwestern: 72% U Penn: 73%
-Faculty/student ratio
Northwestern: 9/1 U Penn: 6/1</p>
<p>Student Selectivity Rank:
Northwestern: 17th U Penn: 8th
-Average SAT/ACT:
Northwestern: 1320-1500 U Penn: 1340-1520
-% of students ranking in top 10% of high school class
Northwestern: 82% U Penn: 94%
-% acceptance rate
Northwestern: 30% U Penn: 21%</p>
<h1>of NMS Finalists from 2005 and % of student body:</h1>
<p>Northwestern: 178 (9%) U Penn: </p>
<h1>of 1500 scorers enrolled and % of student body:</h1>
<p>Northwestern: 1998 (25%) U Penn: 3110 (32%)</p>
<p>Financial Resources Rank:
Northwestern: 14th U Penn: 7th </p>
<p>Alumni Giving % and Rank:
Northwestern: 29% (29th) U Penn: 40% (7th)</p>
<p>SUBJECTIVE DATA</p>
<p>Peer Assessment:
Northwestern: 4.4 U Penn: 4.5</p>
<p>Those two schools are equal academically. I would recommend you pick based on fit. Chicago vs Philadelphia, quarter system vs semester system, Big 10 athletics vs Ivy League sports etc...</p>
<p>Penn 10char</p>
<p>if you're not sure whether you want journalism, then you might be better off going to Penn. Take some journalism classes there to see how it's like - if you fall in love with it, you could transfer or perhaps go for a postgrad at Medill, and if you don't, you'd do well having a Penn degree in alot of other stuff. </p>
<p>But there's always the possibility that the great Medill experience may make you fall in love with journalism, more so than Penn. so it's a tough choice, but if i were you i'd take Penn.</p>
<p>p.s. what's 10 char? sorry im a newbie :P</p>
<p>Does anyone have any experience with or special knowledge of the quarter system at NU and how that compares with the typical semester system(like at Penn)?</p>
<p>I have a friend who goes to NU. He says that the quarter system, contrary to what many have heard, is beneficial to the student. Granted, one has more finals/midterms, but each of these has a smaller amount of material. It basically just means that you are tested more frequently, but on smaller doses of information as opposed to having a huge final in each class each semester. Also, the quarter system allows you to take more classes (more terms=more classes). It kind of depends on your study habits, but the quarter system I think is pretty cool. Also, with regards to the general topic, I applied to both schools. I was waitlisted at Penn and accepted into NU. I plan on attending NU in the fall in the event that I do not get into Penn. I generally like Penn more for personal reasons (more in the city, campus, social life, proximity to New York for family reasons). However, academics are more or less even, but with a pretty clear edge to Penn in most fields. In my case, they are quite close for Economics, which is what I plan on studying. It's important to note that it depends greatly on your field of study. For example, in engineering and journalism, Northwestern is far superior while Penn wins in other fields. I'd definitely recommend visiting both to begin with and thinking about what you want to study.</p>
<p>Hello all!
I am in the same boat right now. I am not sure if anyone will see this, as this post is from a few years back, but I am really stuck and have no idea how I am going to decide in the next WEEK because I love both schools.
I am definitely interested in journalism, and probably would like to do something with this in my future, but my mind is always changing. I am also quite interested in environmental studies.
I just visited Medill and from what I can tell, they would really prepare me for 21st century journalism. Chicago is also a great city.
Penn on the other hand has always been near and dear to my heart and I live close by. I know everyone says I should be far away from home, but I do love this school.
Anyways, I am completely conflicted and 50/50 with my options and I do not want to make the wrong decision. I want to be happy wherever I go, but I also want to get to wherever I see myself in the future.
Could I get some feedback / opinions?</p>
<p>Penn and Northwestern are both great universities and obvious peers. </p>
<p>But Medill is to Northwestern much as Wharton is to Penn. Both these colleges within their select universities carry value-added brand recognition that can’t be denied.</p>
<p>I can’t see turning down Medill given your interests and the absence of any comparable program at Penn. If journalism or marketing communications proves ultimately not to be your thing, it’s a seamless transfer at Northwestern to either WCAS or Comm.</p>
<p>I think if you are 100% sure about Journalism then go to NU, but if you ain’t sure then go to Penn. Penn’s “One University” policy will let you take classes in any college at Penn and would be extremely helpful if you ever have a change of heart.</p>
<p>I prefer Chicago to Philly by 10 miles but i also prefer the semesters to qtrs. Medill is top notch but i am not convinced u are sure its what u want ( and thats great btw) you cant make a wrong choice, but i would go to Penn UNLESS it comes at a higher price.</p>