I’m going into senior year of high school and will apply to engineering schools soon. I would like to apply early decision to either Northwestern or WashU in St. Louis and I really like both schools, but I can’t decide. I would have a better chance of getting in to WashU, but Northwestern is ranked higher for engineering. I realize that it’s important to go to the place with the best fit too, not just the place with the best ranking. I need to take into consideration the chances I have of getting in since I only have one early decision to use, but I also want to go to the place with the best program. It’s also nice that WashU doesn’t require two SAT 2s like Northwestern since I only did well on one of the two that I took. Can anyone compare and contrast the two schools and give opinions? Thanks!
Colgate has transfer agreement with WashU. might want to look in that. It’s 3-2
Lots of schools have 3-2 engineering programs, but (1) you have to pay for 5 years, and (2) most students don’t end up doing it after all – they don’t want to leave the schools they have already spent 3 years at. Don’t go down the 3-2 path.
Sorry if this isn’t helpful, but if you are really having trouble deciding between two schools, I think you should apply regular decision to both. This would allow you more time to explore both schools and make the best decision. Applying early decision to one of them to give you a better chance of admission isn’t a good reason for applying early decision. But that’s my personal opinion. Good luck 
Which engineering?
What are your stats? Include both SAT 2 scores.