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I'm still contemplating on whether or not I should apply Early Decision to Northwestern. I had visited a couple of times, and I absolutely love the campus and location. I also visited UMich, and liked it, but did not like the location/campus as much as NU's (what could beat Chicago?)...

But in terms of workload, and social scene... which school do you think will be a better place for that? I know UMich has an awesome social scene. What about Northwestern? I'm afraid that if I go to (IF I even get accepted) a high-caliber school, I'll have trouble following along in classes because my classmates will all be so smart... So I'm afraid if I get accepted to NU, and I end up going, I"ll have a lot of trouble following along. Also, I read a couple reviews at studentsreview... and the majority of them seem to say Northwestern is VERY demanding, with kids who barely ever leave their dorm rooms, or regret not going to a state school.

Even at PrincetonReview.com, the "students" portion of the Northwestern review says that 1/3 of the students never leave their dorm rooms, the other third are out of their dorm rooms doing some kind of extracurricular activity, and the last third regrets going to NU instead of a state school where their friends are all having fun and liking it...

I'm not sure what to do. Any of your kids attend either school, and how do they like it? What do you think of each school?

By Alexandre (Alexandre) on Monday, September 20, 2004 - 03:54 pm: Edit

If you don't like academic intensity, forget about both Michigan and Northwestern. If you want to graduate with a 3.3+ GPA from either school, you are going to have to study a lot. And for your information, students at Michigan have similar academic abilities and credentials to the students at Northwestern.

However, students at both schools also have a great time. I have many friends who went to Northwestern and they loved it. I chose Michigan over Northwestern myself and would do so again if I had to do it all over again.

And to answer your question...you cannot beat Chicago...but Ann Arbor is just as awesome, in a different way.

So, bottom, line, you really need to know what you want and go for it.

By Stuckat410 (Stuckat410) on Monday, September 20, 2004 - 04:11 pm: Edit

I know it will be intense...
but I'm completely up for it. I'm just wondering which one was more intense...

anyhow, thanks alexandre

btw, i'll be an undecided major at the literature/scinece schools at both colleges if i were to atttend.

By Alexandre (Alexandre) on Tuesday, September 21, 2004 - 03:24 am: Edit

Undecided does not hurt or help your chances. So you are ok.

I do not doubt that you are up for the challenge. Anybody who can create a 54-week year can pretty much accomplish anything! hehe Just kidding.

I think one of the reason you heard some negative comments about Northwestern (and Michigan if you dig a little) reguarding its workload is because 30-40% of their students intend to go to Medical or Law school. Last year, 1,700 of Michigan's 4,500 graduating students applied to Law and Medical school. A quarter of them enrolled in top 20 Medical and Law school. All those students aim for 3.7 GPAs. As such, those students almost never leave their books. But if you are intending on going pre-law or pre-med, you will probably not have a life, no matter which college you attend. Otherwise, you should be fine.