WashU vs. Northwestern vs Cal vs UCLA

reydel
Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:30:34 +0000

I have a freshman at WashU and he loves it. It is very flexible, easy to do multiple majors, great advising and a really happy place.

My current senior in high school is trying to decide between WashU, Northwestern, USC, UCLA and Chapman. He wants to blend technology and art so is looking at the flexibility of WashU, the radio, broadcasting, film program at Northwestern, all kinds of stuff at USC, and the film program at Chapman. He got into Berkeley too but isn’t sure that’s a fit. UCSD is on the back burner for now but may become more important after he visits the others since he got into an interdisciplinary program blending art and technology.

I feel your pain about deciding. My son seems to love a different school each day. So, go visit even if you have already seen the schools. Things feel different after you are admitted. Look closely at what you’ll actually study and see if there are big differences. Assess costs. Figure out what categories are important to you and give them values for each school. Try to make subjective feelings objective.

Good Luck.