<p>Education: Northwestern would generally be considered to have better academics than WUSTL, but just by a bit. In Engineering, for graduate at least, USNWR ranks NU 20, and WUSTL 48, which some would say isn’t a big difference and doesn’t apply to undergrad. Still something to think about.</p>
<p>Research: “Research grant funding awarded to Northwestern University totals more than a half billion dollars for the second year in a row. Northwestern’s research award funding for fiscal year 2011 (FY2011) was $511.7 million; this is an 8 percent decrease from last year’s $556.4 million.” from [Research</a> Funding Tops Half Billion Dollars: Northwestern University News](<a href=“http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2011/10/research-funding-2011.html]Research”>Research Funding Tops Half Billion Dollars: Northwestern University News)</p>
<p>“In all, Washington University received a total of $437 million in 2010 from all federal sources.” from [Federal</a> research funding to Washington University provides economic boost to region | Newsroom | Washington University in St. Louis](<a href=“http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/22330.aspx]Federal”>Federal research funding to Washington University provides economic boost to region - The Source - Washington University in St. Louis)</p>
<p>So research grants are a little more at NU.</p>
<p>Post-graduation: I’d say this is pretty equal; both are academically renowned.</p>
<p>Social Life: Can’t speak for WUSTL, but from what I’ve heard about NU, pretty much everyone is friendly, kind of quirky, obviously intelligent. Frats are pretty popular, but not like southern frats. They are much less crazy from what I’ve heard.</p>
<p>Housing: Again, can’t speak for WUSTL, but there are tons of different people at NU, especially on South Campus. Theater, journalism, music, liberal arts, sciences, etc. all mingle and there are some pretty good housing options at NU.</p>
<p>I’m going 750 miles to NU from my house, so I’m not the best person to give this advice, but… You really will like being kind of close to home. If you or your parents aren’t going to continually visit each other and not let the other be independent, then being close just affords you a home cooked meal, and other amenities if you need it. If you think you, or your parents, might be too attached you can solve it. But I wouldn’t worry about how far away it is unless that’s a major factor.</p>