Georgetown vs Northwestern (Pre-med)

eballen501
Thu, 14 Apr 2011 09:13:52 +0000

I cannot address pre-med aspects of your decision. But I can give my opinion on the quarter system and the “feel” of NU. Our oldest is a current junior in Weinberg and is having a stellar academic and social experience. His apartment mate is pre-med and he is CS major.

Quarter system has several benefits: First, you never have to stress about exams over breaks. Finals for fall quarter occur prior to winter break, finals for winter quarter occur prior to Spring break and spring finals obviously are over before summer break. Second, the quarter system allows a student to take more classes during the course of the year and if a particular class is not enjoyable, you will be moving on in 9 weeks. The quarters are intense, but our eldest prefers this system.

The feel of NU is very similar to GU. We just returned from an accepted student weekend at GU with our youngest son, knowing next to nothing about the school. Both my husband and I were very impressed and felt that GU had a similar academic seriousness among the students as NU and while NU does have frats, they don’t play much of a role in our son’s experience. GU does have more school spirit (I can say this as a graduate of NU myself) and the overall approach seems to be nurturing and focusing on the heart as well as the mind of the students, while NU tends to be more hands-off with the students and non-inclusive of parents in many ways.

Both settings are beautiful campuses amidst urban/suburban enclaves and close to the action of metropolitan areas. NU has far superior access to public transportation and therefore more linked to the city. So, while travel to and from Evanston is an issue for you to consider, the actual feel and setting of NU is quite similar to GU.

Congratulations on your acceptances and my advice would be to only focus on the academic (pre-med) aspect of your decision and hassle and cost of travel and/or tuition as your institutional environment will be similar whichever you choose.