<p>I’m going to be a senior next year and after visiting a couple of colleges I still don’t know where to apply early decision/action. It has come down to Northwestern’s school of engineering and Stanford’s school of engineering. When I visited Northwestern I really enjoyed it but would getting an engineering degree from there make me a good candidate in the engineering job market? (Not sure in which specific field I want to major in yet)</p>
<p>I heard from quite a few here that all that matters is the ABET accreditation. Some majors require this accreditation more than others (ESPECIALLY civil). All schools that have this accreditation will have roughly the same programs, since they have to teach the same classes.</p>
<p>Both of these schools are ABET accredited. If you like Northwestern, then go for it! Don’t go to Stanford JUST because it’s prestigious… if you hate it there, you will be miserable.</p>
<p>Both are great schools. Your sitting on a win-win.</p>
<p>Are you sure that four explanations are enough? Just kidding. Rest assured that it’s not necessary to apply Early Action. And as far as I’ve seen, very few students should consider binding Early Decision. Keep exploring your options. DS’s priorities continued to evolve throughout fall of his senior year. </p>
<p>Now is a good time to be researching your options. It sounds like you have some nice Reaches on the list. (NW and Stanford are reaches for all). Now think more about matches and safeties.</p>
<p>Go with Northwestern if you like it more you will have no issues getting a job if you do well there.</p>
<p>PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE heed colorado_moms advice. </p>
<p>Northwestern and Stanford are very tough admits. By that I mean you can be 100% qualified and not get in. Stanford received nearly 40,000 applications last year for just over 2000 slots. Probably at least 30,000 were qualified to matriculate there. They reject hordes of valedictorians and students with 2400 SATs. </p>
<p>There’s nothing wrong with applying to those schools. They’re both great. Just know you could be PERFECT on paper and still get rejected. That won’t leave you many options if you apply only to those two.</p>
<p>If you are not sure which school is your first choice, or you want to be able to compare financial aid offers, do not apply early decision where you agree to attend if admitted and the financial aid is sufficient (you would have to make the decision quickly, rather than waiting to see other offers). You can apply early action if you want to be able to compare financial aid offers.</p>
<p>Stanford early action is restricted in that you agree not to apply anywhere else early decision, and not to apply to other private schools in the US early action.</p>
<p>If you are undecided on major, check each school to see how difficult it is to change major.</p>
<p>Obviously, you need safety schools in your application list, since both schools you name are reach for everyone. But if you have a realistic chance at them, you may want to look at the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-18.html#post15895768[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-18.html#post15895768</a> for safeties.</p>
<p>Don’t forget the financial side. You might discover that these two are going to leave you with major debt. Expand your options to other schools which might be more financially accessible to your family. The most important thing for an engineering program is ABET accreditation. The next is the employer network that exists. Northwestern and Stanford are excellent for that but so are many other schools. Finally, once your ideas about a major are more clear, you might look into schools which meet the above criteria but have a specific strength in the major you are pursuing.</p>
<p>OP - There’s a lot of collective knowledge here if you want ideas for other schools and merir scholarships. </p>
<p>For example, DS a few years ago found that stellar stats yielded him a huge scholarship at Case (making it on par with state flagship). Also full tuition scholarship at Northeastern based on NMF. And half tuition scholarship at Olin.</p>
<p>What is your family income bracket? Stanford has excellent financial package for low income family.</p>
<p>Thank you to everyone who commented, you guys are great. And it’s a family of four and the total annual income is about 45,000. Also would it help me that I’m a first generation Mexican-American?</p>
<p>Run net price calculators on each school to see what kind of financial aid estimate each school will give.</p>
<p>But also look here for more schools to add to your list:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-18.html#post15895768[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-18.html#post15895768</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-2.html#post15889078[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-2.html#post15889078</a></p>
<p>In this case, income is low enough that it wouldmake sense to chase need-base Financial Aid at schools that provide “full need”. Run some net price calculators to get a feel for that. </p>
<p>Perhaps Questbridge makes sense too - can anybody here give more help/links on that?</p>
<p>“And as far as I’ve seen, very few students should consider binding Early Decision.”</p>
<p>Right, only those who have a by-far number one choice, where the only question is: Can I afford it? You get a financial aid offer, and it’s take-it-or-leave-it, no chance to compare to other offers.</p>
<p>Technically it’s not really even take it or leave it. There are ways to weasel out, sometimes. It’s supposed to be take it, period, if you get it. You’d ideally have your finances figured out prior to applying ED.</p>
<p>“It’s supposed to be take it, period, if you get it.”</p>
<p>No, here’s the rule:
</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf</a></p>
<p>So if the offer is not enough to support attendance, you tell them thanks but no thanks, and apply elsewhere RD.</p>
<p>“You’d ideally have your finances figured out prior to applying ED.”</p>
<p>Ideally, but the net price calculators are not exact.</p>
<p>My bad. </p>
<p>On a related note, Stanford does not have ED, but rather an odd variant of EA, it’s restricted. If you choose EA at Stanford, you can’t EA or ED to any other private institutions. There are a few caveats.</p>
<p>What it means is that a student cannot ED Northwestern and EA Stanford.</p>
<p>Stanford has changed from ED to SCEA. For income below $65k, you are likely to get a full ride.</p>