Northwestern’s peer schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - you lost me at “lower ivies”. WTF??

Northwestern alum here and people at NU don’t talk or think like that so doesn’t sound like a good fit for you.

Seriously. Anybody that uses that term is dismal and went to some irrelevant state school if they graduated college at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the ones you listed are peer schools. Rice too, and Michigan. Same group of kids. Pointless to parse "reputational notches" as it's the same type of kid/school. Huge overlap with Tufts at our school: mainstream kids with a variety of interests. Tufts' location gives it a leg up (we're east coast).

Absolutely not - potentially unpopular opinion, but Northwestern, like Duke, does not need to rely on ED2. My opinion is that any school needing ED2 to gin up its selectivity is not truly selective. Northwestern is a peer of Duke, Cornell, and other similar schools that don't need ED2, which frankly just preys on applicants' vulnerability after ED1 to hover up smart, nervous kids. And I say that as someone whose kid is applying to a school with ED2 this upcoming cycle. But it is just facts that all these ED2 schools would be MUCH less selective in the RD round if ED2 didn't exist.

Absolutely agree! Hopkins and UChicago are a notch below Northwestern because of this, despite all 3 being in or close to T10 almost every year. Northwestern is a Duke and Ivy peer, a clear T10. Full stop. Anyone who spends time parsing the ivies is wasting time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Fiske Guide To Colleges lists Northwestern's overlap (NU applicants most often also apply to these schools) schools as:

Duke, Stanford, U Penn, Yale, U Michigan, Princeton, WashUStL, & Harvard.

But few admitted to Stanford, Harvard, or Princeton are going to select Northwestern. Might be the same for Yale as well.

My impression is that U Penn & Cornell are similar to Northwestern as is Duke. U Michigan is an excellent university, but NU is probably preferred by admits to both who are not Michigan residents (heavily discounted tuition for Michigan residents).

Also, one's intended major may alter the list of NU's peer schools.

In my view, only a handful of universities would be regarded as typically preferable to Northwestern University based on perceived prestige; these schools are Harvard, Stanford, MIT, CalTech, Princeton, Yale & the Wharton School at U Penn.

and yet, 80% choose Columbia, 67% pick ND, 65% pick Brown, half pick Dartmouth, 70% pick Penn (all Penn, not just Wharton), half pick cornell, about half pick Michigan. might be the same for Yale? yeah, 90% pick Yale.

I think ND, Dartmouth, Cornell, MI are peers

LOL ! Based on what source ? Parchment ? LOL !

[Anonymous]

This thread is now 4 pages talking about nothing but "peers" to a particular school. Can't make it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is now 4 pages talking about nothing but "peers" to a particular school. Can't make it up.

Great insight ! Maybe we should only discuss topics of interest to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Fiske Guide To Colleges lists Northwestern's overlap (NU applicants most often also apply to these schools) schools as:

Duke, Stanford, U Penn, Yale, U Michigan, Princeton, WashUStL, & Harvard.

But few admitted to Stanford, Harvard, or Princeton are going to select Northwestern. Might be the same for Yale as well.

My impression is that U Penn & Cornell are similar to Northwestern as is Duke. U Michigan is an excellent university, but NU is probably preferred by admits to both who are not Michigan residents (heavily discounted tuition for Michigan residents).

Also, one's intended major may alter the list of NU's peer schools.

In my view, only a handful of universities would be regarded as typically preferable to Northwestern University based on perceived prestige; these schools are Harvard, Stanford, MIT, CalTech, Princeton, Yale & the Wharton School at U Penn.

and yet, 80% choose Columbia, 67% pick ND, 65% pick Brown, half pick Dartmouth, 70% pick Penn (all Penn, not just Wharton), half pick cornell, about half pick Michigan. might be the same for Yale? yeah, 90% pick Yale.

I think ND, Dartmouth, Cornell, MI are peers

LOL ! Based on what source ? Parchment ? LOL !

+1. 67% pick Christopher Newport over Harvard according to Parchment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the ones you listed are peer schools. Rice too, and Michigan. Same group of kids. Pointless to parse "reputational notches" as it's the same type of kid/school. Huge overlap with Tufts at our school: mainstream kids with a variety of interests. Tufts' location gives it a leg up (we're east coast).

Absolutely not - potentially unpopular opinion, but Northwestern, like Duke, does not need to rely on ED2. My opinion is that any school needing ED2 to gin up its selectivity is not truly selective. Northwestern is a peer of Duke, Cornell, and other similar schools that don't need ED2, which frankly just preys on applicants' vulnerability after ED1 to hover up smart, nervous kids. And I say that as someone whose kid is applying to a school with ED2 this upcoming cycle. But it is just facts that all these ED2 schools would be MUCH less selective in the RD round if ED2 didn't exist.

Absolutely agree! Hopkins and UChicago are a notch below Northwestern because of this, despite all 3 being in or close to T10 almost every year. Northwestern is a Duke and Ivy peer, a clear T10. Full stop. Anyone who spends time parsing the ivies is wasting time.

Anyone who spends time assessing schools based on ED practices rather than academics is wasting time.

[Anonymous]

Pick a school that has the program/major/classes you want.

NU is a fabulous school in a fabulous location. Agree with PP that people there are not snobby like they are on east coast. Well rounded, nice, smart people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the ones you listed are peer schools. Rice too, and Michigan. Same group of kids. Pointless to parse "reputational notches" as it's the same type of kid/school. Huge overlap with Tufts at our school: mainstream kids with a variety of interests. Tufts' location gives it a leg up (we're east coast).

Absolutely not - potentially unpopular opinion, but Northwestern, like Duke, does not need to rely on ED2. My opinion is that any school needing ED2 to gin up its selectivity is not truly selective. Northwestern is a peer of Duke, Cornell, and other similar schools that don't need ED2, which frankly just preys on applicants' vulnerability after ED1 to hover up smart, nervous kids. And I say that as someone whose kid is applying to a school with ED2 this upcoming cycle. But it is just facts that all these ED2 schools would be MUCH less selective in the RD round if ED2 didn't exist.

Absolutely agree! Hopkins and UChicago are a notch below Northwestern because of this, despite all 3 being in or close to T10 almost every year. Northwestern is a Duke and Ivy peer, a clear T10. Full stop. Anyone who spends time parsing the ivies is wasting time.

Anyone who spends time assessing schools based on ED practices rather than academics is wasting time.

Maybe, but the viewpoints shared regarding ED practices are interesting and do affect admissions rates and yield rates of schools which can affect ratings & rankings of schools. While I agree that academics are most important, application strategies are also important to a lesser degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pick a school that has the program/major/classes you want.

NU is a fabulous school in a fabulous location. Agree with PP that people there are not snobby like they are on east coast. Well rounded, nice, smart people.

Accurate comment. Nicely stated.

[Anonymous]

Peer of ND and Cornell

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is now 4 pages talking about nothing but "peers" to a particular school. Can't make it up.

Great insight ! Maybe we should only discuss topics of interest to you.

This is funny, gets a worthwhile point across and is not even mean. Nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - we aren’t looking at Michigan, UCLA, or any state schools, just fyi. So very grateful if the responses keep that in mind and it doesn’t go off the rails like many DCUM threads can do.

This mentality in itself is what makes threads go off the rails, it comes off as cringe and elitist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - we aren’t looking at Michigan, UCLA, or any state schools, just fyi. So very grateful if the responses keep that in mind and it doesn’t go off the rails like many DCUM threads can do.

This mentality in itself is what makes threads go off the rails, it comes off as cringe and elitist

+1. It also comes off as ignorant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP again. I think Michigan is most similar to Northwestern for many disciplines.

But if you look at benchmarks between Northwestern and Michigan, you will see overlaps, many of which you already have on your list and some that people here have recommended. So maybe studying those overlaps will be useful.

https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/dfr/2023/ReportHTML.aspx?unitId=170976

I think Midwestern institutions tend to be a bit less snobby in character. You might factor that in. I've never met a snobby Northwestern graduate.

OP specifically said no state schools like Michigan.

Are you allergic to state schools as well? Reread, the point is to take two strong Midwest institutions and look at the overlap in their perceived competitors. You can just look at the overlapping private schools. Where you will find some schools that people have already recommended.