Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Second DePaul. Also WashU, Pitt, Emory, Tufts, Boston College.

WashU and Tufts are about as tough admits as Northwestern. Second DePaul, Pitt, Emory, Boston College. Also Boston University and University of Portland if willing to go West Coast.

WashU and Tufts certainly are selective, but their acceptance rates at 13% and 15% respectively are quite lower than Northwestern’s 6.8%.

Yes but their admitted students stats are higher. The thing is now that students have so much data they can more carefully target their applications more to where their stats match. There are fewer students the higher you go up the stats ladder so it ends up slightly lessening the total number of applicants slightly among selective schools. So if OP says Northwestern is a stretch bc of stats, then WashU and Tufts are harder admits. If it's because it's a stretch for everyone due to single digit admits and OP falls within the top 50% percentile of Wash U and Tufts then maybe they are easier admits, but maybe not.

I don't know a single person who would consider WashU or Tufts harder to gain entrance into than Northwestern. I assume avg stats for Northwestern are pushed lower by athletes since it's a DI school. I added WashU and Tufts because they may offer similar environments to what OP is looking for and tend to be less selective in my experience. Both schools are great and I don't mean to offend.

You didn't offend--I don't have any personal attachment to either school. But I analyze higher ed data admissions data for part of my job and there is this trend among highly selective schools of schools with higher average stats ending up with higher acceptance rates because it's easy for students to see whether or not they will be accepted/rejected and not apply. Highly selective schools with wider bands encourage more applications. It's a relatively new (trending over the past decade) and interesting phenomenon. There are now many cases where a school with a higher acceptance rate is actually harder to get into than one with a lower acceptance rate because of the range of people who are applying. Athletes don't tend to move the margins much on the mean at any school.

Anonymous wrote:thanks for replies. Wants a campus feel but also proximity to a city. Won't consider any school in the District, though that is likely the type of campus/urban "feel" DC is looking for. Also wants mid-size undergrad population. Need less selective than Tufts or Brandeis. Does not want to go to a Catholic university, or any school with a particular religious bent.

Brandeis is far less selective than Tufts. Maybe would be a good fit?

University of Miami

American University

Brandies

--all suburban but sort of near a real city.

Temple
Old Dominion?
Pitt
Emerson in Boston
Boston U
Delaware is suburban but has a train line near it
IUPUI
Ohio State
U Dayton or U Cincinnati

There really are not a lot of schools that "feel" like Northwestern but are easier admits.

Northwestern has D1 sports and schools spirit. So on that front, the "top" schools that are comparable are Stanford, Vandy, Rice, USC and to a lesser extent, places like Michigan, Cal, UCLA and Wisconsin, but those state schools are obviously much larger.

From a size/setting standpoint, someone else already gave a good list, but places like Tufts and WashU are going to be roughly as hard to get in as Northwestern.

There just aren't a lot of suburbany midsized schools that are easier to get into.

Anonymous wrote:Bryn Mawr/Haverford

Those are tiny compared to Northwestern.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Second DePaul. Also WashU, Pitt, Emory, Tufts, Boston College.

WashU and Tufts are about as tough admits as Northwestern. Second DePaul, Pitt, Emory, Boston College. Also Boston University and University of Portland if willing to go West Coast.

WashU and Tufts certainly are selective, but their acceptance rates at 13% and 15% respectively are quite lower than Northwestern’s 6.8%.

Yes but their admitted students stats are higher. The thing is now that students have so much data they can more carefully target their applications more to where their stats match. There are fewer students the higher you go up the stats ladder so it ends up slightly lessening the total number of applicants slightly among selective schools. So if OP says Northwestern is a stretch bc of stats, then WashU and Tufts are harder admits. If it's because it's a stretch for everyone due to single digit admits and OP falls within the top 50% percentile of Wash U and Tufts then maybe they are easier admits, but maybe not.

I don't know a single person who would consider WashU or Tufts harder to gain entrance into than Northwestern. I assume avg stats for Northwestern are pushed lower by athletes since it's a DI school. I added WashU and Tufts because they may offer similar environments to what OP is looking for and tend to be less selective in my experience. Both schools are great and I don't mean to offend.

Pitt is urban.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Second DePaul. Also WashU, Pitt, Emory, Tufts, Boston College.

WashU and Tufts are about as tough admits as Northwestern. Second DePaul, Pitt, Emory, Boston College. Also Boston University and University of Portland if willing to go West Coast.

WashU and Tufts certainly are selective, but their acceptance rates at 13% and 15% respectively are quite lower than Northwestern’s 6.8%.

Yes but their admitted students stats are higher. The thing is now that students have so much data they can more carefully target their applications more to where their stats match. There are fewer students the higher you go up the stats ladder so it ends up slightly lessening the total number of applicants slightly among selective schools. So if OP says Northwestern is a stretch bc of stats, then WashU and Tufts are harder admits. If it's because it's a stretch for everyone due to single digit admits and OP falls within the top 50% percentile of Wash U and Tufts then maybe they are easier admits, but maybe not.

Fordham in New York

Bryn Mawr/Haverford

Anonymous wrote:thanks for replies. Wants a campus feel but also proximity to a city. Won't consider any school in the District, though that is likely the type of campus/urban "feel" DC is looking for. Also wants mid-size undergrad population. Need less selective than Tufts or Brandeis. Does not want to go to a Catholic university, or any school with a particular religious bent.

You're knocking out A LOT of good schools. I was going to agree with the Villanova suggestion until you said no Cathlic.

Syracuse? U of Rochester? Rutgers?

Lake Forest, Manhattanville

thanks for replies. Wants a campus feel but also proximity to a city. Won't consider any school in the District, though that is likely the type of campus/urban "feel" DC is looking for. Also wants mid-size undergrad population. Need less selective than Tufts or Brandeis. Does not want to go to a Catholic university, or any school with a particular religious bent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Loyola in Chicago
DePaul also in Chicago

+1 DePaul's location is pretty great.

op will have to clarify what she meant when she said same urban proximity as Northwestern- I took it to mean suburban/"on the edge of urban" but easy access to the big city, like Evanston. DePaul is straight up urban...love it there, but definitely right in the crazy busy hustle and bustle of the city of Chicago. so if kid wants serene more suburban campus like NU, probably not a match. Loyola is in city of Chicago but definitely in a quieter neighborhood, very peaceful campus right on the lake. More similar to Northwestern.

But maybe she meant just urban in general?