Northwestern or Maryland?

[Oh2051]

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Sending out a poll. Your anonymous opinion matters to me. I've been trying to channel the psychic powers of the universe in order to make this decision, but to no avail.

These are both part-time, evening programs for working adults. And they seem to pretty much have an open admissions policy.

And also, I'm not necessarily looking to apply to "med school"--more likely some other professional school in health care (pharmacy, dentistry, etc.)

Your thoughts?


Northwestern SCS

pros:

• cost of living in Chicago is cheaper than DC area
• night courses are taught by regular daytime faculty
• campus is lovely
• Chicago generally seems to be a more hospitable place to live than DC
• perhaps a better brand-name recognition?

cons:

• tuition is more expensive in the long run (but perhaps the lower cost of living, i.e. living alone in a studio apt., would compensate)
• harsh weather
• relatively isolated in the midwest
• doesn't seem as interesting of a place to live as DC might be
• transcripts would say "School of Continuing Studies"

U of Maryland Science in the Evening

pros:

• cheaper (everyone taking the evening courses gets in-state tuition for some reason)
• on the coast . . . more easily accessible to friends and family in the northeast
• Smithsonian museums!
• transcripts would simply say "University of Maryland" . . . no indication that the courses were evening adult courses . . . perhaps a little sneaky on the part of the administration, but maybe it doesn't matter

cons:

• no summer classes, so I'd have to take regular daytime summer classes and pay full out-of-state tuition
• not all of the courses are taught by regular daytime faculty members (or so it appears)
• very little info on these forum pages . . . no one seems to be talking about the program . . . or have a missed something?
• campus not-so-lovely
• it would perhaps take longer to finish because of the summer thing
• outrageous cost of living--I don't know anyone in the area and renting a studio apt. at $900-1000 a month is a little out of my range. So, I'd be forced to room with strangers . . . by answering an ad on Craigslist, say . . . and I'm not sure I could handle that. I've had the luxury of living alone in a studio apartment for a while . . . it would be tough to go back to having roommates

Your vote is appreciated.