<p>Having visited both UChicago and Northwestern, I can tell you that Chicago definitely has more of an intellectual sort of academic environment (with its share of extracurriculars and minor D3 sports), whereas Northwestern is more pre-professional and well-rounded with Big Ten sports, extracurriculars, Greek life, etc. Both are really well respected academically, and both have access to hospitals for biomedical research and to Chicago for culture; however, Northwestern is in Evanston, a nice suburb, while Chicago is on the South Side in Hyde Park but near not so nice areas. Both are near the lakefront as well. In terms of students, I get the sense that both have school pride, but Chicago’s is based on the amount they study while Northwestern’s also takes into account other areas of student life. Based on your criteria, you sound like more of a Northwestern person, so if Harvard doesn’t work out (and let’s face it, it’s Harvard), that would probably be a good choice for you.</p>