Hello! The college process came to a close for me today and I could really use some guidance deciding between these two schools. I understand NU is the higher ranked school but I really want to attend a school that has great student life and atmosphere in addition to academics. I am interested in journalism at the moment (but that will probably change) so those rankings don’t matter to me much.
Would I be crazy to pick usc over northwestern?
Cost is not a factor. For me it’s really just determining fit/trying to get more information on the social life at both schools and overall quality of student life.
Any comments/thoughts/opinions would be helpful from current students/alum or anyone who knows about either school. Thank you in advance
I personally was considering both USC and NU because I was also interested in journalism.
I don’t think you would be crazy to pick USC over NU for social life. But, keep in mind that NU is a big 10 school. There are still parties, sororities/frats, etc. just like USC.
I personally would reach out to students going to both USC and NU to see which people you vibe with more.
I don’t know where you are from, but USC is going to have a lot of California kids while northwestern will have a lot of midwestern kids. Depends on your preference.
Personally, I loved USC’s campus but did not like the surrounding area of it. Evanston/Northwestern felt much more like a college town to me.
Both journalism programs are extremely well ranked. This is not a bad decision you have to make. It also doesn’t hurt to make a pros/cons list. Good luck!!!
Isn’t The Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University ranked #1 in the nation ?
Agree with the above poster that USC has a not-so-nice location while Northwestern enjoys a fairly spectacular location in an upscale suburb on the shores of Lake Michigan.
Nevertheless, significant difference with respect to weather & with respect to major city–LA versus Chicago.
I’d recommend looking at how hard it will be to change majors if you decide journalism isn’t for you. I have a neighbor who is going through this right now at NU and Engineering/Business are competitive for transferring. I don’t know about USC.
@AlwaysMoving: Northwestern University does not have an undergraduate business school.
Also, Northwestern University is well known for ease of switching majors & ease of double or triple majoring.
Maybe your neighbor lacks certain pre-requisite courses for engineering or did not earn an acceptable grade in a required pre-requisite course.
If your neighbor is trying to transfer into a business major as an undergraduate, it will be very difficult since NU does not have an undergraduate business major.
USC is also known for facilitating and even encouraging switching majors/double/triple majoring. When I visited to audition I met music students double-majoring in psychology, humanities, sciences.
I believe she was trying to go Econ with certificates from Kellogg, but I could be mistaken. It was a 5 minute conversation at the mailbox when she came home due to the Coronavirus.
@gummybear202 did you choose one of them or neither?
And I am closer to the midwest than I am to Cali. I feel as though USC would be a huge culture shock.
Which school has more pride do you all think? By this, I mean I really want to go to a school where students love their school and aren’t all bitter about being rejects. As harsh as it sounds, which one do you think would be better in terms of this?
OP -I live one block from NU. It’s a beautiful location and the students are engaged and bright. NU is on quarter system and many students double and triple major. It’s a fabulous school for people with multiple interests.
If you are big into sports, I think the rah rah school spirit is somewhat lacking. The running joke in Evanston is that NU plays all their games away because their football stadium is packed with fans from the opposing team. That said, if you are into the arts, the performances are PACKED and it’s a very warm and supportive atmosphere.
Merrill is the top rated journalism school in the country but honestly you can’t go wrong with either of your choices.
Our winters aren’t the best but being on Lake Michigan in the Fall and Spring are amazing. There is a boat house on campus and beaches.
Thank you all for the responses! I want to double major in Journalism and Public Policy/Poli sci. But I honestly know that could change so I want to focus more on the student life aspect.
Is Northwestern “fun”?
Does Evanston provide a good experience for college students?
Is USC respected all throughout the country?
@AlwaysMoving
FYI, transferring to the engineering or arts and sciences school from Medill is very easy at Northwestern.
The Kellogg certificate is a special program which requires quite a few pre-reqs (because the core courses are all grad level classes with quite a bit of math). It also requires an application but the acceptance rates have been around 65%.
I suggest you to check out “Live from Northwestern” series on YouTube. You will probably find some useful info there.
You can think of Evanston as a hybird of college town and suburb (a fairly urban one). It got lots of eateries and coffee shops. But it doens’t really have many bars or much nightlife. For that, you’ll need to go to Chicago. It’s very easy to get to Chicago with the subway and there are intercampus shuttles between Evanston campus and downtown Chicago campus.
I suggest you google map USC. It’s not in the safest part of the city. It’s not easy to get around without a car in LA.
