<p>My friend believes that Northwestern is the best, and I believe that Wash U is the best. They are ranked the same in US News and World Report, but my friend still keeps fighting with me and says that Wash U is overrated, etc. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>Northwestern.</p>
<p>Wash U is overrated.</p>
<p>Wash U is by far better. It is an amazing institute. If anything, it is UNDERrated. Northwestern is overrated. Why would anyone go to a school with such a high crime rate and lousy relations with the neighboring city? Plus, the academics at Wash U are much better. Wash U is bound to crack the top 10 in US News and World Report.</p>
<p>Why do you say it is overrated? Do you know anything about the school?</p>
<p>Their admissions policy is soley based on boosting their USNWR rankings. The immense multitude of spam mail they send out, the yield-protecting waitlisting, etc all contribute to them essentially "gaming" USNEWS for a better rank.</p>
<p>The school is good, don't get me wrong. (Especially the med school.) But it is not as good as it is ranked in USNWR. Just look at its peer assessment score (4.1, or #24) with other comparably ranked schools. </p>
<p>Did I mention they spam like hell?
:p</p>
<p>Every school needs to advertise their school. Wash U has always been a good school, it just hasn't had the instant name recognition. I have heard nothing but good things from Wash U. My son is going there, and he is ecstatic. If the only bad part about Wash U is the low name recognition, they have every right to advertise like crazy. This means, if anything, that they are underrated.</p>
<p>One of my friends last year choose Wash U over Northwestern, even though her brother went to Northwestern.</p>
<p>Mendy,
Why do you believe that Wash U is the best? I hope you are not just basing it on US News ranking (you won't like them very much...US News dropped Wash U from 9th to 11th this year). I am just curious why Wash U students think it is the best.</p>
<p>Northwestern is better in most areas (business, communications, english, chemistry, engineering are the ones I know of), but if you want to go into med school or pursue a PhD in a biological science field then Washington is definitely the way to go. Washington is also strong in political science.</p>
<p>I believe Wash U is better because of its amazing academics, but more importantly, the amazing treatment of the students. My two friends go there and they say they are pampered to the point where it is almost unbelievable. Plus, students at Wash U are more laid back than at other competitive schools such as the ivies and Northwestern.</p>
<p>Part of the problem with the USNWR and most of the college "rating" industry, is that it fosters this mania to continually rate and rank everything related to college. As IF something so inherently subjective can be conclusively and indisputably ranked.</p>
<p>Believe what you will, but these two schools fall in the same general category of schools, that is, outstanding private midwestern research universities. Period. Why do you think anyone could possible determine which of the two is better "overall?" I know perhaps 50 people who have gone through some part of NU and perhaps 20 at Wash-U. They are both excellent schools. Are some departments better at one than the other? Of course. Research will tell you which. Is student life better at one versus the other? You can only answer that question with another question -- which aspects of student life are important for YOU? Northwestern has easier access to better nightlife (downtown Evanston; Chicago); Wash-U has a feeling that the administration takes care of the undergraduates (where many believe undergraduates are more of an afterthought at NU, with the primary focus going to some of their top graduate departments); frats and sports -- NU; cohesive student body because of centralized dorms and a diverse population that doesn't self-segregate -- many would choose Wash-U. My S recently chose Wash-U over NU and it was a very difficult choice (Wash-U made the choice much easier through merit money available through their much larger per capita endowment). However, even if money were not an issue, I think my S would have chosen Wash-U (but would have loved the opportunity to go to NU too). Does anybody really think that you can assess "which is the best overall school" because the high and mighty USNWR ranks schools 10, 15, or 25?</p>
<p>One last Wash-U comment. I smile everytime somebody takes issue with Wash-U's "ranking" based on some supposed scamming or manipulation of the USNWR. I think it's GREAT that the USNWR can be scammed. It points out just how limited it is. What kind of important system can be so easily manipulated? The USNWR is one piece of the puzzle. That's it. This need to view it as some sort of sacred hierarchy is understandable (because of the uncertainty of the whole college process), but so, so wrong. It's particularly ironic because from the 1960's through the early 1990's, Wash-U was consistently regarded as one of the finest "unknown" colleges in the country. Academics from around the country often sent their own children there. The alumni are often thought to be like brainwashed "moonies": I know of no other group of alums who are so uniformly positive about their entire experience and the way they were treated. In the last decade, Wash-U understandably got tired of their lack of recognition and probably hired expensive consultants to help address the problem. You can take issue if you want with their chosen methodology, but Wash-U is far from unknown anymore. It went from being almost completely unknown, to being known by most upper-tier students involved in the college search process. But what does any of this have to do with the quality of the school, their programs, their faculty, or anything else? What does their marketing blitz, or spamming, say about their quality at all? Nothing. If anything, they have more money than before, better facilities than before, and better students than before. All in the hands of a school with a demonstrated track record of being able to handle itself competently. Their meteoric rise in the USNWR has made them an easy target. So what? Personally, I would take greater comfort in Wash-U knowing what it is doing than in the USNWR knowing what it is doing.</p>
<p>Well said, dude.</p>
<p>Northwestern is better, and WashU is overrated. Just because some people choose WashU over Northwestern doesn't make it better.</p>
<p>Who said it made it better just because some people chose it over Northwestern???</p>
<p>A minor thing, but you don't use the word 'best' when comparing two things.</p>
<p>I believe NU and WUSTL are both of an equal quality, thus making it meaningless to argue which is better or worse.</p>
<p>Also, I think WU is underrated by people here at CC. The stats of WU matches those of the very-high-quality institutions.</p>
<p>Cheers and whistles for DudeDiligence's long post. Those who say that WashU is overrated are speaking from ignorance. The fact that they're annoying with their relentless mailings is beside the point.</p>
<p>I think Northwestern is underrated in CC, because most people I have met retard it as prestiege as UPENN and some of the ivies. While both universities are excellent, I think CHICAGO makes NU a little bit sweeter.</p>
<p>"Why would anyone go to a school with such a high crime rate and lousy relations with the neighboring city?"</p>
<p>This is pretty inaccurate. The crime rate around Northwestern isn't extremely high. It is definitely in one of the better parts of Evanston. It's a very busy area and a very safe one. As for the lousy relations, there is a hint of truth to this. But if you go beyond the politics, most residents like Northwestern and try to take advantage of some of the opportunities there. There is no stigma about being a NU student in Evanston. Northwestern is a HUGE part of Evanston.</p>
<p>I think NU is overrated...maybe it's more known here in the midwest. I think they're both great schools, but overall I think Wash U is better. I really don't like either school though.</p>
<p>I think the two are of similar quality. Needless to say, there are things that set the two apart.</p>
<p>Northwestern- Its close proximity to Chicago is an advantage. It also has one of the best (if not the best) programs in journalism in the country.</p>
<p>WUStL- WUStL is more "laidback," so to speak, than many other top universities...For example, it is a very good choice for merit scholarships, which have been used very effectively to increase WUStL's prestige. Its biology/pre-med programs rival JHU's at the undergraduate level. Its medical school competes with Harvard for the top spot. </p>
<p>I think it is pointless to argue the overall quality of the two. There are other factors that set the two apart, though- location, individual strengths of programs, social scene, graduate/job placement, etc...</p>