<p>It's basically down to these two schools, and I really can't decide.</p>
<p>Wash U seems great with their quality of life and fun factor. The campus is beautiful, and I liked it much more than Northwestern's. However, I found their engineering curriculum did not seem to have as much breadth or depth as Northwestern's curriculum. Northwestern's campus was ok (maybe I just visited at a bad time-on Monday April 20, when the ice just evaporated and left a bunch of dead trees with no leaves and no grass, just dirt; so i didn't like the aesthetic characteristics of Northwestern). I feel as if Northwestern will provide me with more classes and a better program, but worse campus and no real "nurturing"/help/motive to work and research. Wash U seems VERY "nurturing" and helpful, but I am not sure if their engineering program is even close to as good as Northwestern's. Can anyone give me some feedback on what I am thinking?</p>
<p>How much better, if it even is at all, is Northwestern's engineering program than Wash U's?</p>
<p>Does Northwestern's campus get ugly around this time of the year, which was what I thought when I saw it.</p>
<p>Does Northwestern "nurture" at all, compared to Wash U?</p>
<p>Which school provides better opportunities for research, CO-OPs and internships, acceptances to graduate schools, etc.?</p>
<p>The kids seemed happier at NU. Were they just stressed because of finals or are they usually less happy than Wash U's students?
Please help me out; I am really stuck and can't choose!</p>
<p>Flat out, WUStL is NOT nurtuing or helpful. My sister is an alumnus and they were and are completely useless in that regard.</p>
<p>NU’s campus is pretty from September till November, as long as there is new snow on the ground, and from about today till September. You came on one of the worst days of the year in that regard :/</p>
<p>In many ways, Wash U’s campus reflects the school’s general ambience. It’s homey, nurturing, it makes sense, it’s “easier.” I find it generally pretty, but never beautiful, and after repeated exposure, a bit pink stone monotonous.</p>
<p>Northwestern: Winter, no surprise, can be as gloomy as the day you visited. Though when the sun is out or fresh snow is on the ground, it can be lovely. Spring, summer and fall bring out truly beautiful, memorable days on the lakefront. In many ways, the campus reflects the school here as well. Northwestern will seem a less “easy” place when you arrive as a freshman or with a high school tour group. But while “nurturing” at a place like Wash U offers safety and comfort when first arriving on campus, it can evolve into a restrictive, even suffocating environment by junior and senior years. Northwestern is a place that will encourage your growth and grow with you. You will have options over four years that few other schools can offer. No one, I mean no one, gets bored at Northwestern. The choices available to you on campus, in Evanston and Chicago socially and via internships/jobs are mind blowing. Students have incredible times here. Most are high achievers who challenge themselves but stress levels/competition are across the board less than found at our east coast counterparts.</p>
<p>I have little to say about engineering that you don’t already know. Northwestern is widely regarded as a vastly superior overall program. Even BioE, strong at Wash U, is higher ranked at Northwestern. Sam Lee has spoken to the innovative undergrad curriculum. It is a great environment.</p>
<p>I transferred from WashU to NU for engineering. Granted, it’s been a while ago so things may have changed. But I seriously doubt WashU is more “nurturing” when it comes to academics. In terms of how engaging and personal the professors were, there’s a range at both places and it really depended on whom you just happened to have. But research opportunites were plenty at NU when I went there; not sure about the opporunties per undergrad basis but there are definitely a lot more projects going on at NU. WashU engineering school was in a bad shape in recent years and the former dean had to step down like last year or two years ago; I am not sure if the school has recovered totally from that. But regardless, I think NU’s engineering is superior, in terms of not only published rankings, but also the curriculum, course offerings, research, and CO-OP (I don’t think they have co-op). I think the fact that NU went out of its way to develop a unique undergrad curriculum shows how much it cares about the undergrad engineering program. It could have easily done nothing and followed the old ones that others including WashU have been using for several decades. After all, it’s not reflected by any graduate rankings and to most other schools, it’s not worth the time, the risk, and the investment to them.</p>
<p>As an engineer who just missed the unique curriculum (started when I was a sophomore) and had seen the some of the course syllabi and assignments, I can tell you that curriculum is really pedagogically superior. Because I went through the old ones (that other schools are still using), I can appreciate how great NU’s current curriculum is. There’s just no comparison.</p>
<p>Admittedly, dorms/food are nicer at WashU.</p>
<p>As for campus asthestics, that’s very personal. But it’s interesting that what I felt about it matches exactly what Bala said–“after repeated exposure, a bit pink stone monotonous.” I also chose WashU over couple others because it felt homey and prettier at the first place. But after a while, it became too small and a bit tiring afterward, esp when there didn’t seem to be other outlets within short walking distance of the campus.</p>
<p>I forgot to say NU is pretty in the fall and spring. I never got tired of hanging out by the Lake and the lagoon. You can’t beat the setting. I heard there was rain last weekend when you were there.</p>
<p>But, I was not too impressed with the Wildcat Day on April 20, and I am having a hard time giving Northwestern the benefit of the doubt. They seemed fun at first with our “roller coaster” activity, but then they didn’t really explain or demonstrate much of their engineering points, but rather just showed one project that freshman were doing and had one professor talk about nanoengineering. What about the kids who don’t want to go into nanoengineering-for them (I being one of them), it was not very informative.</p>
<p>Oh, and I am undecided on which Engineering, but am leaning towards Mechanical or Aerospace.</p>
<p>I’m not an engineering student at Northwestern, but I can tell you that they have SO MANY resources and you won’t regret coming here. Really a top-notch program. They do also have co-op. It is so nice here when it’s nice, and when it rains it gets gloomy.</p>
<p>Depends on how many AP credits you have and how many quarters of co-op you want. Yes, you can do it in 4 years though you probably won’t get the certificate since it requires 6 quarters of it.</p>
<p>TheMan66,
You are required to take 7 hum/ss theme courses. Within that, you can have a max of 5 courses in the same discipline. You will have 5 unrestrictive electives and you are free to take those 5 courses in the same area as your hum/ss theme. This translates to a maximum of 10 classes in one area of your choice (psych). That’s assuming you don’t have any AP credits to being with.</p>
<p>Party/fun? Depends on your IQ and how fast you can absorb the materials/finish assignments. So it’s hard to say. I definitely think NU’s engineering is academically stronger and highly recommend it. But WashU does have nicer dorm/food (so I heard; when I was there, it was nothing special but that’s right before their “makeover”) if that matters to you.</p>
<p>Honestly, you, Sam Lee, and that McCormick video gallery are what convinced me to attend Northwestern. I feel like I have so much more at Northwestern University now, and I could go on and on about it but I might do that some other time when AP’s are not in a week (so other people can see why I chose Northwestern over Wash U)!</p>
<p>Sam Lee, thanks for being an awesome, informative source. I can’t wait to start building ***** in EDC!</p>
<p>^The EDC is just part of why the Engineering First is superior. The whole EA1 through EA-4 series are great also. [Engineering</a> First - EA1: Home](<a href=“http://ea1.mccormick.northwestern.edu/home/]Engineering”>http://ea1.mccormick.northwestern.edu/home/)
You won’t encounter these kind of case studies at most other schools (in many engineering curriculum; you may not deal with any “case study” in the whole 4 years) . The first year curriculum in most other schools are a lot like college version of AP science classes --college profs instead of HS teachers and maybe a bit tougher exams. Northwestern was no exception before they got Engineering First. You wouldn’t do much “engineering” like you’ll be doing in EA-series. Just think of how much more interesting it is to deal with the first case study “Economics” while learning/integrating a little of linear algebra, programming on MATLAB, and economics than doing, say, a problem set for general physics I or linear algebra from math dept (as in typical math problems like given this and that, solve xy) (EA-series replaces five courses Math 221 Linear Alegebra, Math 217 - Differential Equations, Civil Engineering 212 - Engineering Mechanics, Physics 135-1 - General Physics, and Computer Science 110 - Computer Programming )</p>