UMD Honors vs Northwestern

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NU will have a much stronger peer group on average and the degree will stand out in hiring pools. I think it would be foolish to turn down a T10 school for a T50 if it's affordable.

If it were UMD in-state/scholarship vs full-pay NU, I'd go with UMD. But if all financial considerations are equal, NU is the clear choice.

It’s the peer group, quality and access of professors, dedicated dollars per student, advising, class selection, student engagement, and eventually alumni engagement.

You won’t just be a number at Northwestern. Forgotten about after you enrolled.

Now, if your kid wanted to be premed, I would say go to Maryland and save the money for med school and try and get into Northwestern med school, which is fabulous

[Anonymous]

These schools are completely different in size, geographic location, weather, culture, etc. He should pick the one that's a better fit for him. He'll have a great education and job opportunities no matter where he goes, as he's clearly a smart, hardworking, motivated kid if he got into UMD Honors and NU. FWIW, I went to UMD Honors and they do a great job of making a big school feel small, but with all of the resources of a big school. I loved it there, but I know a big state school isn't for everyone (and neither is a small private school!).

[Anonymous]

As someone who hires, the NW kid has my attention a lot more than UMD. I don’t care one bit about honors college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is picking UMD over UVA because he is more drawn to what UMD can offer in terms of research opportunities, ability to balance his academics with other pursuits, more personal connections with professors, better living arrangements and internships prospects.

Picking UMD over UVA is nothing like picking UMD over Northwestern thou. It’s not like UVA is anything like Northwestern.

[Anonymous]

we just visited Northwestern with my junior DC. It was lovely and had a midwestern nice feel to it. I wouldn't pass up a chance to go

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone who hires, the NW kid has my attention a lot more than UMD. I don’t care one bit about honors college.

Or the weather LOL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone who hires, the NW kid has my attention a lot more than UMD. I don’t care one bit about honors college.

As someone who also hires, I don't care if it's NW, UMD, UMD Honors, Harvard, or Directional State School. I want to see good candidates who took advantage of opportunities to work with professors, participate in relevant activities outside the classroom, etc. I've hired great recent grads from no-name schools and great recent grads from top 10 (and have also had entry level folks from top 10 schools who ended up being a disappointment!). Also, once you're past your first job, no one cares what college you went to, unless you're in a field where prestige/rubbing elbows with the elites matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone who hires, the NW kid has my attention a lot more than UMD. I don’t care one bit about honors college.

As someone who also hires, I don't care if it's NW, UMD, UMD Honors, Harvard, or Directional State School. I want to see good candidates who took advantage of opportunities to work with professors, participate in relevant activities outside the classroom, etc. I've hired great recent grads from no-name schools and great recent grads from top 10 (and have also had entry level folks from top 10 schools who ended up being a disappointment!). Also, once you're past your first job, no one cares what college you went to, unless you're in a field where prestige/rubbing elbows with the elites matters.

This heavily depends on the kind of job you're hiring for. In finance, a Northwestern and Directional State School degree will absolutely NOT be perceived the same. Even a Northwestern and Harvard degree will be grouped differently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone who hires, the NW kid has my attention a lot more than UMD. I don’t care one bit about honors college.

As someone who also hires, I don't care if it's NW, UMD, UMD Honors, Harvard, or Directional State School. I want to see good candidates who took advantage of opportunities to work with professors, participate in relevant activities outside the classroom, etc. I've hired great recent grads from no-name schools and great recent grads from top 10 (and have also had entry level folks from top 10 schools who ended up being a disappointment!). Also, once you're past your first job, no one cares what college you went to, unless you're in a field where prestige/rubbing elbows with the elites matters.

This heavily depends on the kind of job you're hiring for. In finance, a Northwestern and Directional State School degree will absolutely NOT be perceived the same. Even a Northwestern and Harvard degree will be grouped differently.

Agree with this.

My Ivy sophomore (non-Econ/non-Business) came in last month and swooped up a PE internship for this summer, and HS classmates at flagships who've been looking since Sept are still struggling. Most are resolved to do a regular summer job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone who hires, the NW kid has my attention a lot more than UMD. I don’t care one bit about honors college.

As someone who also hires, I don't care if it's NW, UMD, UMD Honors, Harvard, or Directional State School. I want to see good candidates who took advantage of opportunities to work with professors, participate in relevant activities outside the classroom, etc. I've hired great recent grads from no-name schools and great recent grads from top 10 (and have also had entry level folks from top 10 schools who ended up being a disappointment!). Also, once you're past your first job, no one cares what college you went to, unless you're in a field where prestige/rubbing elbows with the elites matters.

I don’t know exactly what a Directional State School is - sounds bad - but if you hire you know very well those resumes don’t even make it past HR to get on your desk when you are hiring for significant jobs. For engineering, UMD honors and Northwestern are a wash. Both very good, and hopefully the HR department knows that. But for everything else, Northwestern grads are going to get the first look and make it past all the gate checks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone who hires, the NW kid has my attention a lot more than UMD. I don’t care one bit about honors college.

As someone who also hires, I don't care if it's NW, UMD, UMD Honors, Harvard, or Directional State School. I want to see good candidates who took advantage of opportunities to work with professors, participate in relevant activities outside the classroom, etc. I've hired great recent grads from no-name schools and great recent grads from top 10 (and have also had entry level folks from top 10 schools who ended up being a disappointment!). Also, once you're past your first job, no one cares what college you went to, unless you're in a field where prestige/rubbing elbows with the elites matters.

This heavily depends on the kind of job you're hiring for. In finance, a Northwestern and Directional State School degree will absolutely NOT be perceived the same. Even a Northwestern and Harvard degree will be grouped differently.

Agree with this.

My Ivy sophomore (non-Econ/non-Business) came in last month and swooped up a PE internship for this summer, and HS classmates at flagships who've been looking since Sept are still struggling. Most are resolved to do a regular summer job.

Fancy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would think about where they want to settle after graduation. If they prefer working in Chicago vs in DMV.

UMD is a great school. My DC picked it over Michigan and GTech. No regrets. Great outcome!

This is a good point.

Northwestern has greatly increased in prestige in the last 2 decades. However, most schools have a regional flavor. If your kid wants DMV opportunities and is right there, can't beat that.

Plus there are times in life when being from a fancy school can make you "too fancy".

Top of the class from state schools can have great outcomes for grad school.

I am OOS but know one Banneker Key recent grad from my state. She went to UMD for journalism and is now with the NYT. Her internships during college & resume were quite strong. BTW, she picked it over Michigan because Michigan doesn't have a journalism school/official program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in at both and financial aid/scholarships make both very affordable for our family. He isn't sure what he wants to study, but he really likes the environment and campus at UMD. He's unsure whether Northwestern would be too much pressure.

I don't think that anyone has addressed what seems like the key point here. Your child is worried about whether there would be too much pressure at NW. To me, that is a red flag. I have a child at another T20, and there is definitely a lot of pressure there. The students who get into these highly competitive colleges tend to high stress uber achievers who work very hard. Some kids thrive in an environment like this, and some are crushed. I would take your student's concern seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in at both and financial aid/scholarships make both very affordable for our family. He isn't sure what he wants to study, but he really likes the environment and campus at UMD. He's unsure whether Northwestern would be too much pressure.

I don't think that anyone has addressed what seems like the key point here. Your child is worried about whether there would be too much pressure at NW. To me, that is a red flag. I have a child at another T20, and there is definitely a lot of pressure there. The students who get into these highly competitive colleges tend to high stress uber achievers who work very hard. Some kids thrive in an environment like this, and some are crushed. I would take your student's concern seriously.

Do you think this kid might have imposter syndrome if he's worrying about keeping up at NU? He got in after all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in at both and financial aid/scholarships make both very affordable for our family. He isn't sure what he wants to study, but he really likes the environment and campus at UMD. He's unsure whether Northwestern would be too much pressure.

I don't think that anyone has addressed what seems like the key point here. Your child is worried about whether there would be too much pressure at NW. To me, that is a red flag. I have a child at another T20, and there is definitely a lot of pressure there. The students who get into these highly competitive colleges tend to high stress uber achievers who work very hard. Some kids thrive in an environment like this, and some are crushed. I would take your student's concern seriously.

There are a lot of ways to make Northwestern very easy. Unless he’s a computer science or engineering major it’s not that difficult to get 4.0 as my kid has done.