athena98

I've got accepted into Northwestern and Duke university. Which one do I choose?
Which one is better in Engineering and Computer Science?

awolfatthedoor

How exactly have you been accepted to both already? Both Northwestern and Duke ED decisions come out Dec. 15.

goldenboy8784

Duke is better than Northwestern in Computer Science but in Engineering, NU has an edge unless its Biomedical we are talking about in which case Duke is far superior.

NRC Rankings Overview: Computer Sciences - Faculty - The Chronicle of Higher Education
R-Ranking
Duke: #14-27
Northwestern: #42-73

S-Ranking
Duke: #9-36
Northwestern: #26-69

Sam Lee

Northwestern is ranked higher than Duke is Electrical and Computer Engineering.

^If Duke is "far superior" in biomed engg, then Northwestern is far superior in all other engineering disciplines. You should not say NU just "has an edge" when the differences in all other engineering fields are BIGGER than the small difference in biomed engg.

Duke doesn't even have chemical engineering (yes, you read that right), applied math, industrial engineering & operation research, and material sciences while Northwestern is in the top-10 in all of them (in terms of the medians of the R and S-ranking ranges)

rjkofnovi

Northwestern is the SUPERIOR choice here for the OP in engineering.

blueiguana

The elephant in the room, while you proceed to argue which is superior, neither university has made ED offers. Until the OP returns to A) explain their exceptionally unique situation to be accepted to both already, and B) indicate which area of engineering they're interested in, it's a moot point.

zephyr15

putting aside the question of how OP has been accepted at this early date.

Both are excellent schools with excellent reputations. One could make a case for NU over Duke or could just as easily make a case for Duke over NU. To be 100% honest, the differences are not likely to be significant in any meaningful way.

My advice -- visit both and decide where you will feel most at home.

Brief anectdote -- My D who was applying to Eng. Schools, visited Duke and Northwestern on consecutive days with me. Honestly, I thought Duke was the possibly the most beautiful school I had ever seen -- after all the presentations from the University, she told me that she wasn't even going to apply, and suggested we leave the campus tour early. The next day she absolutely fell in love with Northwestern (she's currently studying Computer Sci there). I'm sure others could post with exactly the opposite (i.e. Love Duke, Northwestern -eh).

goldenboy8784

Sam, if the OP is even considering Duke, then he/she is interested in one of the 4 engineering disciplines that Duke actually offers presumably. What relevancy does Chemical Engineering or Industrial Engineering have? I'm assuming that the OP did his/her research.

NRC Rankings Overview: Electrical and Computer Engineering - Faculty - The Chronicle of Higher Education
NRC Rankings Overview: Mechanical Engineering - Faculty - The Chronicle of Higher Education

In other fields that Duke offers besides BME, NU seems to have the edge except in Mechanical in which its advantage is significant. I stand by the statement that NU's BME department is nowhere near as good as Duke's.

Best Biomedical and Bioengineering Programs | Top Engineering Schools | US News Best Graduate Schools

I'm not even sure what NU's Peer Assessment score is in BME since the free USNWR version doesn't drop down that far but its at least 0.6 lower if not more which indicates a significant difference.

Anyway USWNR ranks Northwestern #19 and Duke #28 overall for Engineering which is why I said NU has an "edge". I'm sorry if you disagree and want to squabble over minute differences.

par72

duke>>northwetern

Crimsonstained7

I'm assuming he's a troll. Like others have stated, no ED decisions have come out.

Juvenis

^recruited athlete, maybe? One of my friends already got accepted to Columbia for fencing, so maybe the OP has some similar situation?

CriesandWhispers

Guys it doesn't take a genius to deduce that OP is 14 years old (1998..) Just let him fantasize.

Crimsonstained7

I don't really pay attention to Usernames, but that's probably true. Maybe he's just bad at conveying what he wants to say (He would after all be 14) and he meant "Let's say in the future blah blah..."

blueiguana

Bingo, we have a winner. DOB March 17, 1998, age 14. Usually if these kids make an account to post something like this they have the sense to use another birthdate. I guess he didn't think it through that far. Good catch.

To the OP, there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with posing a question as...

I am considering both Duke and Northwestern for Computer Science and Engineering. What are some of the advantages of each? Which is stronger is each area?

People may ask you to be more specific, etc., but you get the idea. Generally people are more then happy to help. What people don't like is to be mislead...in any way. It derails the conversations/responses you receive towards verifying questionable information instead of answering your original question. This is understandable, but unnecessary if you are simply honest in the first place.

Best of luck to you.

beyphy

I knew someone who was accepted to UCLA at 15 (as a sophomore) it's not as uncommon as it might seem (especially among elite schools)