Anonymous
01/16/2026 19:40
Subject: Thoughts on Northwestern?
Anonymous wrote:Prestige wise, is Northwestern considered equivalent to an ivy?
Yes. Similar to UPenn and Columbia (and higher prestige than Dartmouth, Brown and Cornell).
Anonymous
01/11/2026 13:51
Subject: Thoughts on Northwestern?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:As much as people knock it here, NW is probably the best school in the midwest, right?
Chicago has tried to do what they can marketing wise and has used ED2 well but NW does better in outcome based rankings, has more $$, and is in a better location.
There are some great universities along each coast, an Northwestern is arguably the best university in the vast expanse in between.
Universities along the coasts tend to be overrated. Northwestern, U of Chicago, Notre Dame, WashU, and Rice compete favorably with top coastal schools. There's a lot of overlap in the type of student that attends these schools and the Ivies and other top coastal schools. Average SAT scores at WashU and U of Chicago are the same as at Harvard and are higher than at Yale, Princeton, or Stanford. Rice and Stanford have the same average SAT score. By all means, choose a coastal school if you're drawn to the location, but don't overlook schools in "flyover country." You can meet brilliant students, get an outstanding education, and perhaps avoid some pretentiousness that draws certain people to certain schools.
Vanderbilt too.
Did you feel left out? Lol
Anonymous
01/11/2026 13:11
Subject: Re:Thoughts on Northwestern?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Any experience with NU for premed? I know quarters make it intense, but what about grade inflation/deflation/weed out in premed requirements, availability of research for undergrads, shadowing, etc? How would it compare to UChicago experience for premed?
Great premed advisory. Premed is hard everywhere no exception at NU.
It's noteworthy that Northwestern has a direct admit program (NUPSP) that takes about 10 kids each year from their premed. And Feinberg is a great medical school!! If that's what you look for, apply to NU!
Accepts at least 10, but up to 15 per year. Must have at least a 3.7 GPA. Strongly prefer those who have taken organic chemistry in sophomore year.
Anonymous
01/11/2026 12:53
Subject: Re:Thoughts on Northwestern?
Anonymous wrote:Any experience with NU for premed? I know quarters make it intense, but what about grade inflation/deflation/weed out in premed requirements, availability of research for undergrads, shadowing, etc? How would it compare to UChicago experience for premed?
Great premed advisory. Premed is hard everywhere no exception at NU.
It's noteworthy that Northwestern has a direct admit program (NUPSP) that takes about 10 kids each year from their premed. And Feinberg is a great medical school!! If that's what you look for, apply to NU!
Anonymous
01/11/2026 12:47
Subject: Thoughts on Northwestern?
Anonymous wrote:Prestige wise, is Northwestern considered equivalent to an ivy?
Good school. Less presence on east coast. More prestigeous in Midwest/Chicago area.
Anonymous
01/11/2026 12:42
Subject: Thoughts on Northwestern?
Anonymous wrote:Prestige wise, is Northwestern considered equivalent to an ivy?
Reasonable question. Certainly the professional graduate schools in business, law, and medicine enjoy equivalent prestige, although Harvard & Yale law schools are in a league of their own alongside Stanford law school.
Regarding undergraduate schools, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton have superior prestige to all schools other than Stanford, MIT, & Caltech. To some, Northwestern University is regarded the same as U Penn, Columbia, & Cornell, but above Dartmouth College and Brown University. Nevertheless, personal perceptions can & do vary. However, U Penn's Wharton School of Business enjoys greater prestige than NU & the non-HYP Ivy League schools.
Location on the East Coast gives all of the Ivy League schools a substantial boost over Northwestern & U Chicago.
Might be interesting to compare Northwestern & Ivy League school prestige by major area of study.
Certainly, Northwestern University's lakeside (Lake Michigan) locations (Evanston & Chicago) are more spectacular than any Ivy League school location.
Anonymous
01/11/2026 12:28
Subject: Thoughts on Northwestern?
Prestige wise, is Northwestern considered equivalent to an ivy?
Anonymous
01/11/2026 11:59
Subject: Thoughts on Northwestern?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:As much as people knock it here, NW is probably the best school in the midwest, right?
Chicago has tried to do what they can marketing wise and has used ED2 well but NW does better in outcome based rankings, has more $$, and is in a better location.
There are some great universities along each coast, an Northwestern is arguably the best university in the vast expanse in between.
Universities along the coasts tend to be overrated. Northwestern, U of Chicago, Notre Dame, WashU, and Rice compete favorably with top coastal schools. There's a lot of overlap in the type of student that attends these schools and the Ivies and other top coastal schools. Average SAT scores at WashU and U of Chicago are the same as at Harvard and are higher than at Yale, Princeton, or Stanford. Rice and Stanford have the same average SAT score. By all means, choose a coastal school if you're drawn to the location, but don't overlook schools in "flyover country." You can meet brilliant students, get an outstanding education, and perhaps avoid some pretentiousness that draws certain people to certain schools.
Vanderbilt too.
Anonymous
01/11/2026 09:58
Subject: Re:Thoughts on Northwestern?
Anonymous wrote:Any experience with NU for premed? I know quarters make it intense, but what about grade inflation/deflation/weed out in premed requirements, availability of research for undergrads, shadowing, etc? How would it compare to UChicago experience for premed?
Why not make a new thread instead of bumping this old one? It's annoying when other people see this and accidentally respond to posts from years ago as if the pp is still around. Your question about premed will get lost.
Anonymous
01/11/2026 08:51
Subject: Re:Thoughts on Northwestern?
Any experience with NU for premed? I know quarters make it intense, but what about grade inflation/deflation/weed out in premed requirements, availability of research for undergrads, shadowing, etc? How would it compare to UChicago experience for premed?
Anonymous
10/09/2023 15:04
Subject: Thoughts on Northwestern?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:As much as people knock it here, NW is probably the best school in the midwest, right?
Chicago has tried to do what they can marketing wise and has used ED2 well but NW does better in outcome based rankings, has more $$, and is in a better location.
There are some great universities along each coast, an Northwestern is arguably the best university in the vast expanse in between.
Universities along the coasts tend to be overrated. Northwestern, U of Chicago, Notre Dame, WashU, and Rice compete favorably with top coastal schools. There's a lot of overlap in the type of student that attends these schools and the Ivies and other top coastal schools. Average SAT scores at WashU and U of Chicago are the same as at Harvard and are higher than at Yale, Princeton, or Stanford. Rice and Stanford have the same average SAT score. By all means, choose a coastal school if you're drawn to the location, but don't overlook schools in "flyover country." You can meet brilliant students, get an outstanding education, and perhaps avoid some pretentiousness that draws certain people to certain schools.
+1
Anonymous
10/09/2023 15:03
Subject: Thoughts on Northwestern?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:As much as people knock it here, NW is probably the best school in the midwest, right?
Chicago has tried to do what they can marketing wise and has used ED2 well but NW does better in outcome based rankings, has more $$, and is in a better location.
There are some great universities along each coast, an Northwestern is arguably the best university in the vast expanse in between.
Universities along the coasts tend to be overrated. Northwestern, U of Chicago, Notre Dame, WashU, and Rice compete favorably with top coastal schools. There's a lot of overlap in the type of student that attends these schools and the Ivies and other top coastal schools. Average SAT scores at WashU and U of Chicago are the same as at Harvard and are higher than at Yale, Princeton, or Stanford. Rice and Stanford have the same average SAT score. By all means, choose a coastal school if you're drawn to the location, but don't overlook schools in "flyover country." You can meet brilliant students, get an outstanding education, and perhaps avoid some pretentiousness that draws certain people to certain schools.
Anonymous
10/06/2023 16:04
Subject: Re:Thoughts on Northwestern?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I’m sure everyone will disagree, but I have never really understood why Northwestern is ranked so highly. I know they have some good professional schools. However, for undergrad, I really don’t know many people who went there that did any better than they would have from any other school.
The number of Northwestern grads in show biz & journalism is amazing.
It’s super easy to double major. My kid went there for 2 of their less-notable majors, did well, & has had grad schools & employers swooning.
NWU journalism major outcome is very mediocre
https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?147767-Northwestern-University&fos_code=0904&fos_credential=3
Was talking about great Midwest schools in general, not specific for journalism of which I know very little about.
Need to compare it to other journalism programs. Journalism is not a high paying profession.
Strong results for economics--which is the most popular major at NU.