Anonymous wrote:DC w 35 ACT applied ED to northwestern stem was rejected. Multiple EC including part time tech job past 3 years. It is not a shoo-in even for high stats kids who are unhooked.

You didn't say what DC's GPA was, which is telling.

Chicago is a great city with a fun, laid back vibe. The lake is a great asset.

DC w 35 ACT applied ED to northwestern stem was rejected. Multiple EC including part time tech job past 3 years. It is not a shoo-in even for high stats kids who are unhooked.

They have very different core course requirements. A student should care about this.

Anonymous wrote:What is the difference between the two in terms of "campus vibe" and the type of student that goes to each? I guess I'm looking at the culture piece of the equation, too.

Your kid should assess that. My take is it's one of the least conventional East Coast/Ivy Us vs. one of the more conventional/pre-professional selective Midwest Us. Neither is cutthroat. Brown is more do your own thing. Northwestern is hardworking, ambitious, but friendly and well-rounded. More interest in sports and frats at Northwestern. Suburban location (cf Bethesda). Brown is on the NE corridor which can be appealing if a student has friends at other Ivies along the route. Also has cross-registration with RISD.

Single choice early admission. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford use it. It doesn't bind the student wrt matriculation, but it does require them not to apply early (admission or decision) to any other private college in the US.

What does SCEA stand for?

What is the difference between the two in terms of "campus vibe" and the type of student that goes to each? I guess I'm looking at the culture piece of the equation, too.

I know such kids and it's not a slight on Brown. Brown is a sincere #2 choice for kids who, for example, SCEA Yale. Brown can be pretty confident that certain high stats kids will say yes if they get in RD. Northwestern, not so much. People are obsessed with the Ivies, so Northwestern faces the prospect of losing high stats kids to any one of them in the RD round. Brown shares in the Ivy prestige, so if they do a good job of recognizing fit (not so hard because it's a fairly distinctive school), it can be more confident about yield than Northwestern.

Brown is also a first choice for other high stats kids, but most of them will have applied ED.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Makes sense to think it through beforehand. If he wants Northwestern, odds are that applying ED is crucial.

Wouldn't this also be true of Brown if it turns out to be his first choice? Or does applying ED give one less of an advantage at Brown than it does at Northwestern?

Yes and yes. Brown ED vs RD rates = 21.9 vs 6.5
Northwestern ED vs RD rates = 25.7 vs. 7.2
Also, Northwestern (more than Brown) really doesn't want to be treated as a safety school -- so high stats kids in particular need to pledge their love early. By contrast, Brown expects to pick up high stats kids in the RD round (e.g. kids whose SCEA bid was unsuccessful and who would now be delighted with a "lesser" Ivy).

Utter nonsense.

FWIW, I visited Northwestern a couple of years ago with my then-future bio major DC. The thing I liked best about it from that perspective was how integrated the STEM facilities are. Huge building/complex, sounded like lots of cross-pollination. For a kid interested in STEM but not sure about what (sub)field, it looked like it could be an ideal environment.

A relative who works in the NU library (so on campus every weekday, interacting with students both as patrons and as employees) says that nerd culture is alive and well there and that there's a lot more diversity than you'd expect from a UMC suburban school with a highly visible Greek culture.

Both are great for different reasons. I'd lean Brown if pre-med.

Agree with PP to have your kid visit both.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd look at the differences in the curriculum (distribution requirements, different colleges at NW), more grad students at NW (although they both have med schools)-- Brown tries to be undergrad-focused.

For engineering I think NW probably has an edge, but not sure same is true for biological sciences (although a lot of those rankings are done based on grad students/research).

Especially since Brown does not have an engineering school.

OP, both ranked plenty high. I'd fly out to both and decide. The feel at the two schools is different.

Brown does have an engineering school.

Size is similar, and they're both in a city setting, so it makes sense to consider them both.

STEM is a broad brush, though - Brown is great in Computer Science, for example, but Northwestern has the edge in engineering.

As said above, Northwestern the last couple of years has become renowned for going in heavy on Early Decision applicants. They filled more than half their class with ED candidates in 2016 and I believe haven't released the stats yet this year - perhaps because they want to mask how heavily weighted their are toward ED applicants.

Not if you have to make a choice about where/whether to submit an ED application. Presumably OP's son will apply to other schools as well, but this is the decision he'll have to make first.

And, honestly, the two schools aren't that different on paper/from an educational perspective. Agree with the PP who said visiting would be the best way of deciding between the two.