Which is better for internships: University of Washington or Northwestern?

For internships alone, Northwestern usually gives students the easier overall path, especially if you want access to a dense employer market during the school year and strong national-name recruiting. Its location near Chicago matters a lot: students can reach major firms, hospitals, media companies, consulting offices, nonprofits, and startups without needing to relocate far from campus. Northwestern also has a very established alumni network and a campus culture where internships during the academic year are common, not just summer-only.

University of Washington makes a lot of sense for the student whose interests line up with Seattle’s economy, especially tech, engineering, public health, biotech, and research. Being in Seattle gives UW students strong proximity to major tech and healthcare employers, and the school’s scale means there are many labs, research groups, and industry-connected departments. For computer science, engineering, data, and some science fields, UW can be exceptionally well positioned because local employers know the school very well.

The tradeoff is that UW can feel more self-directed. It is a large public university, so students often need to be proactive about navigating recruiting, building relationships, and finding opportunities across a very big campus.

So if you mean strongest setup for tech, engineering, or Seattle-based industry connections, UW can be every bit as compelling and in some cases stronger.