WashU vs. Caltech vs. Northwestern

Colleges and Universities A-Z Washington University in St. Louis
1

<p>NW vs. WashU vs. Caltech </p>

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<p>I plan to major in BME or Biology (whichever one seems more interesting) and do pre-med at the same time. </p>

<p>I would like a full college life experience, but have a high enough GPA to enter medical school. How is the workload of each school compared to the others? Is it easy to balance school work with social life (and do well)?</p>

<p>At Caltech and WashU, I would be swimming. At NW I would not.</p>

<p>As for financial terms, the university expense ends up around the same.</p>

<p>I am from Texas, so cold in St. Louis and Chicago is scary! But I think if I just buy a bigger jacket I'll be okay... maybe. </p>

<p>Which school would be the best fit for me? Thanks in advance!</p>

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<p>Caltech is the one I would probably go for. In BME its the best and BME is definitely most interesting too. Swimming would be awsome in Cali and its a great place to catch laker games</p>

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<p>Can people really get tickets for Laker games??</p>

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<p>USN Ranking:
1 Johns Hopkins University (Whiting) Baltimore, MD 4.7
2 Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA 4.6
University of California–San Diego (Jacobs) La Jolla, CA 4.6
4 Duke University Durham, NC 4.5
5 University of Washington Seattle, WA 4.3
6 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 4.2
7 Boston University Boston, MA 4.0
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 4.0
9 Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH 3.9
Rice University (Brown) Houston, TX 3.9
11 University of California–Berkeley Berkeley, CA 3.8
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI 3.8
13 Northwestern University (McCormick) Evanston, IL 3.7
Stanford University Stanford, CA 3.7
15 University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 3.6
University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA 3.6
17 Washington University in St. Louis (Sever) St. Louis, MO 3.5
18 Columbia University (Fu Foundation) New York, NY 3.4
University of Texas–Austin (Cockrell) Austin, TX 3.4
20 Purdue University–West Lafayette West Lafayette, IN 3.3
University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT 3.3
University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI 3.3
Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN 3.3
24 California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 3.2
25 Cornell University Ithaca, NY 3.1
University of Minnesota–Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN 3.1
27 Pennsylvania State University–University Park University Park, PA 3.0
Texas A&M University–College Station (Look) College Station, TX 3.0
University of California–Davis Davis, CA 3.0
University of Southern California (Viterbi) Los Angeles, CA 3.0
31 North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC 2.9
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY 2.9
33 Arizona State University (Fulton) Tempe, AZ 2.8
CUNY–City College (Grove) New York, NY 2.8
Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 2.8
Drexel University Philadelphia, PA 2.8
Marquette University Milwaukee, WI 2.8
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey–New Brunswick Piscataway, NJ 2.8
Yale University New Haven, CT 2.8
40 University of California–Irvine (Samueli) Irvine, CA 2.7
University of Iowa Iowa City, IA 2.7
University of Maryland–College Park (Clark) College Park, MD 2.7
University of Rochester Rochester, NY 2.7
44 Brown University Providence, RI 2.6
Clemson University Clemson, SC 2.6
SUNY–Stony Brook Stony Brook, NY 2.6
University of Alabama–Birmingham Birmingham, AL 2.6
University of California–Los Angeles (Samueli) Los Angeles, CA 2.6
University of Illinois–Chicago Chicago, IL 2.6
50 University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 2.5</p>

5

<p>You haven’t really told us enough about yourself to help us help you make this choice.</p>

<p>But with your meager clues — you want a complete college experience but don’t want to be overwhelmed by the cold — I think you should go with WashU. Winters are weird and changeable, but generally the worst weather is short-lived and somewhat mild compared to Chicagoland. </p>

<p>Of course if weather is your No. 1 priority, there could be no better choice than Caltech since CA is, quite frankly, heaven on earth climatewise. </p>

<p>Caltech is top-notch but a work hard, work hard kind of experience. I think that you will find an amazing and fulfilling BME and/or pre-med program at Washu and still have a ton of typical college fun. I know this sounds odd, but for a research university, it is a very nurturing place. If I was your mom, I’d tell you to go to Washu because I know you’d be happy there.</p>

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<p>Also advise you ignore those rankings, they are fairly meaningless for undergrads.</p>

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<p>^ Someone said Caltech was the best in BME? lol… Someone doesn’t know what they are they are saying…</p>

<p>for BME, I would go to Northwestern.</p>

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<p>Well, that same person said you could catch Laker games. Maybe if you have lots and lots of extra $$$$$, LOL. Again, I am sure the programs at all these schools are good for undergrads, because all these schools have rigorous academics and at the undergrad level, the vast majority of the coursework involves learning the basics. The real differentiation only comes with grad school. Make the decision based on how you think you will fit in at the different schools. One can only hope you will do more with your undergrad years than just study BME. Get involved, have fun.</p>

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<p>I interned last summer at JPL, and lived on Caltech’s campus during that time. I spent most every day in that pool, lapswimming. The freedom of being outdoors to swim was pretty amazing, so on that note I find the place very comforting.</p>

<p>Beyond that, I have to admit that I found the students odd and the school far too small for my tastes. But I’m at Columbia now, so I supposed I’m used to a higher density and a more liberal arts-focused student body. That said, you cannot go wrong getting a science education at Caltech. Just figure out what’s important to you.</p>

10

<p>I have a D at WashU and a nephew at NW (who was also accepted at CalTech). In the end, nephew decided that there just <strong>might</strong> be a possibility that he would <strong>not</strong> want to be a science major, so he ruled out CalTech. He thought the campus was beautiful, loved the cats in the dorms, etc., but just wasn’t absolutely sure he was 100% a “science guy”. MY BIL was also a little freaked out in the parent meetings when they would repeatedly say, “Did you tell you it is HARD here?”, “And, it is really HARD here”, “The classes are EXTREMELY HARD here”, etc. It was a repeatitive theme. When they brought the psychologist in to discuss the affects of attending such a HARD school, that about did it for him. </p>

<p>Nephew made a good choice as he switched from a science major to history at NW!</p>

<p>D is not a bio or BME major, but loves WashU. Classes are also difficult, but with hard work, she has done fine!</p>

11

<p>urichimaru,
I would agree with Midwest Parent. My daughter was sure she wanted to be a biochemical engineer and luckily chose WASH U. She completed the freshman year as a BME major, then realized that BME was not for her (not at all due to the quality of the BME education at WASH U–she thought this was superb). Becuase she was at WASH U, she was easily able to change her major to psychology and to complete the premed track. She is now a second year med student. If she had been at Caltech or Harvey Mudd or a similar college, I don’t believe this would have been possible…also, son was accepted this year at Northwestern and WASH U–he has decided to rule out Northwestern. The winters there apparently can be rather brutal, due to the cold winds coming off the lake. So, even though Northwestern is an excellent school and his best friend already attends there, son is probably going to choose WASH U. Hope this helps some!</p>

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<p>Thanks everyone! I really value everyone’s input; it’s choosing time!</p>