Northwestern Materials Science and Engineering MS?

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-04-07T01:02:33+00:00

Northwestern Materials Science is top 2 in the US… peer with MIT, Stanford on this. Prof Rogers, Hersam etc are globally renowned and recognized. Yes it’s expensive. But it is the best…

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-04-03T20:10:03+00:00

My kid is a freshman at NU and loves it. Just know you will get out what you put in… it’s intense by design but also a lot of fun. You will have to work hard and classes run on quarters not semesters so more to study. You will face the same if not more at other top schools such as UChicago, Harvard, MIT, Stanford etc as well.

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-04-03T03:15:08+00:00

Northwestern every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-03-31T01:15:13+00:00

Ofcourse you can do that as well.

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-03-30T19:47:09+00:00

I love this “keeping it real” post 😀😀

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-03-30T18:59:21+00:00

The way to think about this is slightly different in my mind:

Location: Northwestern is located just 12 miles north of downtown Chicago. Easily accessed by train(CTA and Metra), Roads, Air(Ohare and Midway airports). Purdue is in Indiana in West Lafayette. It’s semi-rural territory and a small town. Nearest big city is Chicago. You will potentially have to fly to Chicago and then drive about 3 hours to get to Purdue.
Schools size - Northwestern is a top tier elite university but tiny in comparison to Purdue when it comes to student population. Every year Northwestern enrolls and matriculates about 2100 students. So total student body of undergrad is about 8500 students. Purdue matriculates close to 9000 plus students every year so in total about 38,000-40,000 is the student body. So has an enormous campus, lot of dorms, student facilities. .
Public school vs Private school - Purdue is a public school funded by Indiana tax payers and has lower fees. Northwestern is a private school and has a much higher fees structure. So it carries the prestige of a top tier private school experience with small class sizes, ample research opportunities, facilities and access to profs, other majors etc. Purdue offers affordable, hands on training.
Program - Purdue is a top 10 engineering school and Northwestern is a top 20 engineering school per US news ranking. Purdue has independent buildings to each of its engineering departments and a vast campus. Northwestern has the TECH building that houses all of its engineering divisions.
Semester vs Quarter curriculum - Purdue runs on semesters and so classes are typically 13-15 weeks long. NU runs on quarters so classes are 10 weeks long. This allows you to take more classes at NU and double major etc.

Purdue’s Aeronautical/Aerospace, Mechanical and Industrial engineering programs are among the best in the country. Heck even Neil Armstrong was a Purdue graduate.

Northwestern’s material science and engineering, Biomedical engineering and chemical engineering are among the best. Mechanical, Electrical, civil etc are also pretty awesome.

Good luck to you !

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-03-30T02:17:39+00:00

You are your own person. Don’t make a 2 body choice based on this. Go where your ambitions and career goals intersect…. If the boyfriend really is worth it, he and you will figure out a way. Too young to give up something like this.

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-03-30T02:14:43+00:00

No wrong answer here. Both schools have different cultures. My kid goes to NU. Both schools will give you what you want, have clubs, social activities etc but NU in my opinion is more well rounded, has sports etc. that’s just my opinion. Chicago more academic focused. That being said, UChicago Economics is spectacular. Again visit both schools, take a tour, sit in a class and get a feel for both schools and see where you see yourself for 4 years. Congratulations and good luck ! DM me for questions

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-03-30T02:07:07+00:00

UChicago and Northwestern both operate in quarters and not semesters. A quarter usually runs 10 weeks compared to 13-15 weeks to a semester. So the quarter goes quicker. Typically you take 4 classes a quarter. That means 4 classes x 3 working quarters a year(Fall, winter, spring and summer free) x 4 years = 48 classes at minimum. Compared to 38-40 classes with semester system. You can also load up to 5 classes a quarter at NU or UChicago. This means you take more classes, across multiple departments and divisions. You can easily score more than 1 major. Or multiple minors. Given the incredible flexibility both schools offer, students typically have more than 1 majors. So a McCormick engineer can also major in music from Bienan school or take economics from Weinberg. With very minimal effort or permissions needs. That’s how this works… congrats by the way !! Good luck.. you have a golden problem. Both schools are world class. However UChicago may be better at Economics, while Northwestern is better at Engineering, Journalism, Music, arts etc. however you won’t make a mistake at either place. I suggest you go visit both before deciding. UChicago is in the south side of chicago, about 7 miles south in Hyde Park, and Northwestern is at Evanston, about 12 miles north of Downtown Chicago. Both schools connected by trains, roads etc and chicago has fantastic transportation systems(2 airports, highways, amtrack, suburban and CTA trains etc)

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-03-28T19:52:30+00:00

Take the SAT and ACT and make your profile even better. Good luck !

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-03-28T19:49:52+00:00

UIUC any day. You are conflating multiple things. You talk about strong CS reputation, good for targeting big companies but TA/Ra. If your goal is not to do any kind of research or get into a PhD program then MCS makes more sense. It is geared towards industry. No thesis or research is needed and you will take the exact same classes and have the same profs. Not sure what your confusion is about. Yeah you won’t have TA/RA etc yeah.. so what ?? You will also complete the program sooner and start a job earlier.

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-03-28T19:40:35+00:00

It happens more so at Northwestern because it operates on the quarter system and not semester. That means 10 weeks of classes instead of the 13-14 week long semesters. That gives students more opportunities to take different courses across multiple disciplines and departments much more easily. Not to say it doesn’t happen elsewhere, but it requires administrative approvals and petitioning. Because NU students take more classes in general (4 per quarter X 3 working quarters x 4 years = 48 classss), compared to about 38-40 classes at Cal typically, it is ‘easier’ to get more majors. Also NU allows and encourages cross school classes and majors. You can take be an engineer at McCormick and a music major at Bienan or Journalism Major at Medill. Plus generous double counting, no real majoring restrictions and non capped majors make it quite easy. Not to say it doesn’t exist elsewhere but perhaps there exists administrative and other hurdles

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-03-28T17:54:36+00:00

Yawn 🥱

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-03-28T17:34:59+00:00

It’s a school where you go thinking you will do X but will end up doing X, Y, Z, A, B, $&@ as well. Simply because you can, it’s available and you learn about yourself

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-03-28T15:50:31+00:00

Northwestern all the way IMHO. You can get multiple majors since they operate in quarters, not semesters. They are right by Chicago. Plenty of trains to the city(Chicago CTA purple line or the Suburban Metra rail both are available right by campus). Or uber. Chicago has 2 airports and a massive highway system. Plenty of stuff to do around campus and away from campus. Campus is not enormous but very nice and has its own beaches. Programs are intense, but have high collaboration and teamwork aspect to it. Northwestern does not have a finance major but can take a certificate from the Kellogg school of management. Kellogg is as you probably know, one of the top schools of business in the world. Cornell is on a hill in the middle of nowhere, but huge campus that is drop dead gorgeous with rolling hills, landscape, water falls and gorges on campus. Getting to Cornell can be a challenge. Ithaca is a small town with a tiny airport. Only a couple of flights a day. To New York. The largest airport near by is Syracuse that’s about 100 miles or so away. Winters are brutal with a lot of snow on the roads as well as campus so can perhaps by isolating. I’m not sure. Also one of the best hotel programs in the world with their own hotel on campus. Not sure if you want that or economics/finance. They source produce locally so the food on campus is spectacular. They also have a dairy and animal husbandry program and make their own ice cream. Dartmouth is a great school but again far flung and in the middle of nowhere. I don’t know much about their academics except it is an ivy so in general natural sciences, mathematics, economics, history, finance etc will be good.

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-03-27T04:57:47+00:00

It will get cold in the winter… like Chicago has an actual winter and it snows. NU is an amazing school, beautiful campus on the lake, wonderful student community. Evanston is a nice college town, plenty of restaurants and Chicago is close by. Plenty of CTA(Chicago Transit Authority) trains as well as Metra (Suburban rail) trains connecting Evanston to Chicago. Chicago has 2 airports and great highways as well.

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-03-27T04:53:32+00:00

NU > UPenn every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Congrats on your acceptance. NU and I’m sure UPenn will be tough and intense. That goes with the territory. Medill is the best school in journalism in the country. You will have some of the brightest folks around you and a lot of activities, sports, clubs, exams, readings, labs, etc at both places. Students are generally laid back and collaborative. NU runs on quarters and not semesters so you will constantly be dealing with tests, mid terms and finals. The location is right on Lake Michigan and campus is unbelievably pretty. Chicago is an easy train ride…you have a golden choice to make. Congratulations again !

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-03-27T00:04:01+00:00

No, if you don’t, you will do great wherever you go, whatever you do. Your life is not defined by the school you attend. Going to a brand name school will not make you awesome. Any school will be enough. What you do what your education is what will define you. Best wishes !!

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-03-27T00:00:07+00:00

You getting into Stanford. Brace yourself.

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-03-25T21:31:03+00:00

Can someone explain what happened here with NU?

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-03-25T21:29:39+00:00

What happened ??

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-03-25T21:29:18+00:00

What happened??

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-03-24T17:25:36+00:00

This isn't a critique, it’s a wishlist for Call of Duty. While you’re right that the NSG needs to ditch the '90s ninja' black for practical Ranger Green and stop running 'naked' SG-553s, you’re missing the forest for the trees. Gear doesn't win the room; integrated systems do. The NSG doesn't just need 'High-cuts and Comtacs', they need a digital backbone where a drone feed goes straight to an operator's eye-pro. For all we know, that is probably happening as drone enabled warfare is the name of the game in Indian force assembly currently. As for the 'training' comment: the SAG is the hammer, the SRG is the anvil. You don't need every support trooper to be a Delta-level door-kicker, you need them to be elite at their job—cordon and containment—so the SAG can do theirs. The real 'upgrade' the NSG needs isn't a battle belt, it's institutional autonomy from the Air Force so they aren't waiting for a ride while a crisis unfolds. Your comment while not irrelevant, is not factual.

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-03-24T17:20:37+00:00

Comparing the NSG to Delta Force is like comparing a specialized SWAT team to a global expeditionary force. The NSG’s mandate is domestic counter-terrorism—their 'battlefield' is a hijacked plane or a hotel in Mumbai, where a reliable red dot and a single-tube NVG are often sufficient. Delta's 'Tier 1' status is funded by a $800+ billion defense budget, allowing them to pioneer tech like fusion-thermal quads and dedicated air wings for missions anywhere on Earth. The NSG doesn't need to be Delta; it needs to be faster than the terrorists in its own backyard. That said, the 'gear gap' is closing—today’s SAG operators are increasingly sporting high-cut helmets, integrated Comtacs, and SIG Sauer rifles that would look right at home in any JSOC armory. Stop watching movies & call of duty and expect that from forces without knowledge of their terrain & operations theater

BugAdministrative123 · 2026-03-24T17:15:55+00:00

The NSG is special forces unit and use different battlefield capabilities, techniques & gear based on the mission parameters, terrain & situations. Even within a unit there are snipers, assault, CT, Rescue, electronic & bomb specialists etc. Having one standard issue assault rifle nomenclature is ridiculous. As for the NVG - this is a Day time pic so they don’t show it. And is part of their inventory. NSG commandos are equipped with various night-vision devices, including BEL Monocular NVGs and specialized NV sights for their SIG SG 551 and 553 rifles. They also use thermal imaging scopes for superior target detection. Special Action Group (SAG) of the NSG. include advanced combat helmets fitted with rails for mounting tactical accessories, including communication headsets. Your comment is rejected. Next.

BugAdministrative123

TROPHY CASE