Anonymous wrote:I don’t know about NU kids spending weekend at the library but my son is at U Chicago and he definitely explore the city on weekends.

It depends more on majors than schools.
You can cruise on weekends with easy majors.
A lot of rich White kids have easy majors at Northwestern like journalism, communications, psychology, theater etc.

I don’t know about NU kids spending weekend at the library but my son is at U Chicago and he definitely explore the city on weekends.

This thread is hilarious. OP — sure, your kid should go with fit. But please do not let these WashU and Vandy strivers tell you that their school is in the same league as NU. It’s not. NU is an Ivy Plus school who’s peers are Duke, Chicago, Penn, Columbia, etc. A T10 school. Northwestern has a t14 law school and an M7 business school. It is an MBB powerhouse and has a high IB success rate.

Vanderbilt and especially WashU have none of those things, they would have zero national relevance without the US News rankings. I know 3 kids going to WashU, 3 Northwestern rejects.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poets&Quants' Top Ten B-Schools of 2023:

https://poetsandquantsforundergrads.com/rankings/poetsquants-best-undergraduate-business-schools-of-2023/

Why would the ranking of undergraduate school rankings be important when OP's kid doesn't want to study business, and at least one school on the list (NU) doesn't have an undergraduate business school?

Vandy doesn’t have an undergrad school of business

They have an equivalent they just call it something else.

No, they really don’t.

- Vandy parent

Anonymous wrote:Putting fit aside northwestern. Best econ program and most prestigious by a decent amount

Northwestern is going to be more like U Chicago, every weekend in the library.

I considered all three back in the day, as do many kids who want outstanding academics but not the East Coast. Chose NU, absolutely loved my time there. Vandy’s a great school but was too Southern/traditional for my liking, socially. WUSTL is a terrific school, too if someone wants a smaller setting than Chicagoland.

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Anonymous wrote:Reading through threads like these reminds me of how uninformed and/or uneducated people on DCUM can be.

OP, it would be a rare student who chooses WUSTL over either Vanderbilt or Northwestern. Between Vandy and NU the edge goes to Northwestern, particularly for the fields you listed.

That said, there are nebulous tertiary factors to consider, such as “fit”, weather, and the ability to see oneself thrive in an environment for four years.

For the record, I am unaffiliated with all three schools, though I have close friends who attended Vanderbilt.

You are entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts.

Not PP, but I know 4 kids at WUSTL in the last 5 years. 3 of them ED1 at NU and didn't get it---it was their dream school. Just a few data points. Really they are all great schools.
But I doubt you will find many kids at NU who "wanted WUSTL" but didn't get in.

There will always be some anecdotal evidence. Not saying that Vandy or WashU is for everyone, certainly not, but I believe its in the same league as NU.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading through threads like these reminds me of how uninformed and/or uneducated people on DCUM can be.

OP, it would be a rare student who chooses WUSTL over either Vanderbilt or Northwestern. Between Vandy and NU the edge goes to Northwestern, particularly for the fields you listed.

That said, there are nebulous tertiary factors to consider, such as “fit”, weather, and the ability to see oneself thrive in an environment for four years.

For the record, I am unaffiliated with all three schools, though I have close friends who attended Vanderbilt.

You are entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts.

Not PP, but I know 4 kids at WUSTL in the last 5 years. 3 of them ED1 at NU and didn't get it---it was their dream school. Just a few data points. Really they are all great schools.
But I doubt you will find many kids at NU who "wanted WUSTL" but didn't get in.

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Anonymous wrote:Why is this thread swimming with WashU grads? So bizarre. Northwestern is the clear choice by a country mile.

More like Northwestern boosters

Not really. Overall Northwestern is the highest ranked school and has been for years. Their Econ program is tops for undergrad and their CS program is at/above the Vandy and WashU.

With that, they are all excellent schools, so it would come down to fit as well as thinking where do you want to end up after college. Many NU students remain in Chicago area after college, if you'd rather that than St Louis or Nashville, that could be a reason to pick NU

Keep saying it and maybe it will come true.

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Anonymous wrote:What's really "bizarre" is the number of Northwestern promoters (or maybe it's the same few people posting over and over again) talking about how prestigious Northwestern is and bashing the other schools. Insecure much? I guess its understandable given that their neighboring college (UChicago) overshadows them esp in economics.

Not bizarre. Northwestern has always been a stronger school than the other two, people are simply repeating what they know and hear

+1000

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is this thread swimming with WashU grads? So bizarre. Northwestern is the clear choice by a country mile.

More like Northwestern boosters

Not really. Overall Northwestern is the highest ranked school and has been for years. Their Econ program is tops for undergrad and their CS program is at/above the Vandy and WashU.

With that, they are all excellent schools, so it would come down to fit as well as thinking where do you want to end up after college. Many NU students remain in Chicago area after college, if you'd rather that than St Louis or Nashville, that could be a reason to pick NU

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading through threads like these reminds me of how uninformed and/or uneducated people on DCUM can be.

OP, it would be a rare student who chooses WUSTL over either Vanderbilt or Northwestern. Between Vandy and NU the edge goes to Northwestern, particularly for the fields you listed.

That said, there are nebulous tertiary factors to consider, such as “fit”, weather, and the ability to see oneself thrive in an environment for four years.

For the record, I am unaffiliated with all three schools, though I have close friends who attended Vanderbilt.

You are entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts.

Not an opinion. WUSTL loses cross-admits to both schools.

Not according to Parchment

Gosh, the WashU booster(s) really are out in full force today.

I'm convinced it's just one obsessive parent or grad.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading through threads like these reminds me of how uninformed and/or uneducated people on DCUM can be.

OP, it would be a rare student who chooses WUSTL over either Vanderbilt or Northwestern. Between Vandy and NU the edge goes to Northwestern, particularly for the fields you listed.

That said, there are nebulous tertiary factors to consider, such as “fit”, weather, and the ability to see oneself thrive in an environment for four years.

For the record, I am unaffiliated with all three schools, though I have close friends who attended Vanderbilt.

You are entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts.

Not an opinion. WUSTL loses cross-admits to both schools.

Anonymous wrote:Reading through threads like these reminds me of how uninformed and/or uneducated people on DCUM can be.

OP, it would be a rare student who chooses WUSTL over either Vanderbilt or Northwestern. Between Vandy and NU the edge goes to Northwestern, particularly for the fields you listed.

That said, there are nebulous tertiary factors to consider, such as “fit”, weather, and the ability to see oneself thrive in an environment for four years.

For the record, I am unaffiliated with all three schools, though I have close friends who attended Vanderbilt.

You are entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts.