Sullivan the better QB at IA scrimmage?

[CatManTrue]

Reality is that there are a lot of good schools and the differences are often not that great. But it is often program by program, I went through Engineering. At the time there was Cal Tech and MIT and after that a group of about 20 that were pretty much at the same level. All (or almost all) of the Engineering programs in the original BIG were in that top 20 group, including NU. The better fit was often more of the nuances of the individual programs rather than their ratings which were all about the same. At the time NU was a better fit as students got a little broader background. I was also from a smaller town and the smaller size fit me better, But the overall quality of the education is pretty similar. I can especially say that also because of my work with Engineers out of a lot of programs. I cannot speak for other schools at NU, but I can definitely say that unless those nuances are important to the individual in Engineering there is not really an advantage in going to NU over other BIG Engineering schools (at least in the original BIG)

Illinois and Purdue both had better Engineering programs than NU when I attended. But the NU degree overall carries more weight in some circles.

Now with ChatGPT to do our engineering for us, why not learn how to grow corn in Iowa? Based on “Interstellar” it’s a great idea

 

[curdog]

I appreciate your comments. I don't see anything where we really disagree.
I think "test optional" is completely asinine. Maybe we disagree about that.
My perception is that there is intense competition for the truly elite schools. I would put Northwestern in the lower tier of those schools.
Beyond that, it largely depends what program you are in, though UCLA and Michigan are still clearly "better" than Iowa or Clemson or whatever. You will find better students and better professors at the better schools, in general.

Its the value proposition that people are pushing back against. From that perspective, the elite schools are charging reasonable tuition, while most of the "good" schools are overpriced. "Why would I go to Boston College for $80k a year when I can go to Illinois for $35k (or whatever those numbers are).

Students who excel at "less than elite" universities will find fewer doors open to them. Its just something to overcome - plenty of people do it - and there is a growing awareness that those students tend to do very well in the real world.

This is exactly right. I have one daughter at the flagship state school (UGA) and a senior in high school who I hope will attend UGA (maybe Ga Tech if she got in). In no universe would we send her to Wake Forest or Vanderbilt (or NU for that matter) when we could send her to UGA for a fraction of the cost. We would make the sacrifice and send her to Harvard, Princeton Yale Stanford, but that’s about it.