Emory vs. Michigan vs. Northwestern

Alexandre
Sat, 29 Apr 2017 00:45:51 +0000

"even then Michigan’s grad programs barely, if at all, compare.

That is a pretty big statement VANDEMORY1342. Michigan barely compares to Northwestern at the graduate level? What program are you referring to?

Engineering:
Michigan #5 (4.3 reputation rating)
Northwestern #19 (3.9 reputation rating)

Law:
Michigan #8 (4.45/5.0 reputation rating)
Northwestern #10 (4.25/5.0 reputation rating)

Medicine:
Michigan #9 (4.4 reputation rating)
Northwestern #17 (4.15 reputation rating)

Business:
Northwestern #4 (4.5 reputation rating)
Michigan #11 (4.3 reputation rating)

Biology:
Michigan #19 (4.1 rating)
Northwestern #26 (3.9 rating)

Chemistry:
Northwestern #6 (4.6 rating)
Michigan #15 (4.2 rating)

Computer Science:
Michigan #13 (4.1 rating)
Northwestern #34 (3.3 rating)

Earth Science:
Michigan #8 (4.2 rating)
Northwestern #34 (3.3 rating)

Economics:
Northwestern #7 (4.9 rating)
Michigan #12 (4.4 rating)

English:
Michigan #8 (4.6 rating)
Northwestern #18 (4.2 rating)

History:
Michigan #6 (4.6 rating)
Northwestern #11 (4.4 rating)

Mathematics:
Michigan #9 (4.5 rating)
Northwestern #17 (4.0 rating)

Physics:
Michigan #11 (4.3 rating)
Northwestern #26 (3.7 rating)

Political Science:
Michigan #4 (4.7 rating)
Northwestern #23 (3.7 rating)

Phycology:
Michigan #3 (4.7 rating)
Northwestern #17 (4.2 rating)

Sociology:
Michigan #1 (4.7 rating)
Northwestern #10 (4.3 rating)

Michigan and Northwestern both have strong graduate programs. They are roughly equal in the professional fields, but in the traditional disciplines, Michigan is more consistent.

“And we can agree to disagree but Emory is still a cut above IMHO. US News agrees with me (at least for now).”

If you are referring to academic reputation/prestige, Michigan and Northwestern have identical reputation ratings and both are slightly higher than Emory according to the US News Peer Assessment Score.

University of Michigan 4.4/5.0
Northwestern University 4.3/5.0
Emory University 4.0/5.0

Admittedly, the US News methodology, suits private universities better, and Emory and Northwestern have decided to report their data differently than Michigan, which gives them a decided advantage, but that does not make them better or more prestigious. According to the overall US News ranking, Chicago is #3 and Brown is #14. Do you really think Chicago is a notch or two above Brown? Or more prestigious for that matter.

In short, I would not get to bogged down with the rankings. Emory, Michigan and Northwestern are all excellent universities. I do not think any of those universities can make a strong case for being better or more prestigious than the other two.