Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Violent crime is fun and laid back, yes.

A college student at Northwestern is very unlikely to be spending time in the Chicago neighborhoods where violent crime is an issue, unless he or she grew up (or has relatives living) there.

Many Northwestern kids move to downtown Chicago their junior and senior year and commute to Evanston on days they have class.

and? Downtown Chicago is extremely safe and pleasant. A Northwestern kid would have absolutely no reason to go into the areas where crime is centered (west side and south side)

Anonymous wrote:

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.

DC had taken all the difficult classes offered by school and has weighted GPA of 3.7 w APs of 4s and 5s.

Anonymous wrote:

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).

Do you have any proof that it's EASIER to get into ED? No. Do you have any proof the stats they admit ED are lower than RD? No.

The % are meaningless because the volume who apply RD is much great, so of course the % of those admitted will be low.

What I have is college counselors telling me that an HYPS-competitive kid is likely to be accepted ED at Northwestern and almost certain to be rejected or waitlisted RD at Northwestern. I've seen similar claims on college confidential and anecdotal support IRL. If this is true, then I'd expect *higher* stats from ED admits -- not lower?

In general, as applicant pools get larger, ED/EA seems to become more important. Strategies differ (and which is right for any given applicant depends, in part, on finances). But if you want to maximize your kid's chances of getting into a highly selective school, it's important to put in at least one early application. It also helps to know which schools value what (and when and where they look for it).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Violent crime is fun and laid back, yes.

A college student at Northwestern is very unlikely to be spending time in the Chicago neighborhoods where violent crime is an issue, unless he or she grew up (or has relatives living) there.

Many Northwestern kids move to downtown Chicago their junior and senior year and commute to Evanston on days they have class.

1. Not true at all.
2. Downtown Chicago is not a hotbed of violent crime.
3. Violent crimes in Chicago do happen (like in DC) but tend to be in certain neighborhoods on the south side (like DC).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Violent crime is fun and laid back, yes.

A college student at Northwestern is very unlikely to be spending time in the Chicago neighborhoods where violent crime is an issue, unless he or she grew up (or has relatives living) there.

Many Northwestern kids move to downtown Chicago their junior and senior year and commute to Evanston on days they have class.

Good for them. Downtown Chicago is a place filled with great food, amazing museums, beautiful architecture, and lots to do. I would think that Chicago is a selling point for Northwestern, at least vis a vis Providence (which is also a nice, but smaller, city).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Violent crime is fun and laid back, yes.

A college student at Northwestern is very unlikely to be spending time in the Chicago neighborhoods where violent crime is an issue, unless he or she grew up (or has relatives living) there.

Many Northwestern kids move to downtown Chicago their junior and senior year and commute to Evanston on days they have class.

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).

Do you have any proof that it's EASIER to get into ED? No. Do you have any proof the stats they admit ED are lower than RD? No.

The % are meaningless because the volume who apply RD is much great, so of course the % of those admitted will be low.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Violent crime is fun and laid back , yes.

This is a total non issue. Gang ridden parts of Chicago are (much) further away from Northwestern than Bethesda is from Anacostia.

Ya. That's like saying you wouldn't send your kid to GWU or Gtown bc of the crime in Anacostia. Or you wouldn't send your kid to ucla bc of Watts.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Except also on a massive lake.

Anonymous wrote:

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

Violent crime is fun and laid back , yes.

This is a total non issue. Gang ridden parts of Chicago are (much) further away from Northwestern than Bethesda is from Anacostia.

Anonymous wrote:What does SCEA stand for?

Single Choice Early Action

Anonymous wrote:

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

Violent crime is fun and laid back, yes.

A college student at Northwestern is very unlikely to be spending time in the Chicago neighborhoods where violent crime is an issue, unless he or she grew up (or has relatives living) there.

Anonymous wrote:

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

YES. This is so important, and frankly not talked often enough. My DC who is engineering focused is purposely steering clear of certain schools because of this.

Matters for some kids, not for others. Northwestern's distribution requirements are broad enough that if your DC would naturally take courses in a variety of departments, they're no big deal. They are similar to what I encountered in college and I can think of only 2 courses I took that I wouldn't have had there been no requirements at all. Brown has no core or distribution requirements (just a writing requirement which, coincidentally, accounts for one of the two courses I took only because I had to).

But, yeah, requirements are always worth looking at. I'm always surprised when kids end up at a school like UChicago without understanding what a significant part of their education will be devoted to the Core.

For a potential bio major, I'd also recommend looking at departmental course offerings and prerequisites (and the extent to which they can be satisfied by AP or IB, if relevant). Biology is increasingly interdisciplinary and different schools have different expectations about what background knowledge students need in chem, physics, and quantitative methods to do college-level biology.

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

YES. This is so important, and frankly not talked often enough. My DC who is engineering focused is purposely steering clear of certain schools because of this.

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

Violent crime is fun and laid back , yes.