Actually, to get a real feel for both the U of C and Northwestern, I’d recommend waiting to visit until school is back in session. To cover both, you’d want to wait until October! Each school has its own personality that is much more evident with the undergraduate population on campus. Two of my kids went to the U of C and one of them has returned for law school, so we’ve spent 10 student years in HP thus far. My son lived off 53rd on S Harper back in 2004-2007, before 53rd became as commercially developed as it is now. My daughter lived closer to campus but is now in one of those high rise buildings on the lake. Neither had cars and walk/walked everywhere. Their favorite way to Midway was the 55 bus, and going to O’Hare they took the 6 bus downtown and then the blue line out to O’Hare. That trip takes upwards of 90 minutes via public transportation. In our family’s opinion, there are great things about both of those schools, but for 2 of my 3 kids, HP was an amazing place to go to school.