<p>University of Chicago vs. Northwestern University</p>
<p>1: Academics
2: Campus Life
3: Students</p>
<p>Well people are going 2 tell you that Northwestern is less “sketchy”</p>
<p>Coffee or tea?</p>
<p>These two schools are very, very different.<br>
Proximity to Chicago is similar.</p>
<p>UChicago has more Nobel Prize Winners and more Rhodes Scholars. It’s also more highly-ranked by U.S. News and Forbes and the National Research Council. UChicago is just a more intense academic environment. </p>
<p>This is becoming my favorite post, but I’m going to re-post this:</p>
<p>Rhodes Scholars Winners Since 2000 by School</p>
<p>Harvard 38
Yale 26
Stanford 18
West Point 17
UChicago 15
Princeton 15
Duke 13
Naval Academy 12
MIT 11
Columbia 7
Brown 7
Air Force Academy 5
Dartmouth 5
Cornell 3
Northwestern 3
Penn 2
Berkeley 2
Caltech 2</p>
<p>It’s true that there are all kinds of look/feel/style differences between the two colleges, and I used to find it hard to believe that the same student might apply to both. But there’s a huge risk of overvaluing the differences and not noticing the huge areas of similarity.</p>
<p>In her training program for her first post-college job, my UChicago grad kid was paired with a kid from Northwestern whom she had never met. Except he could have been her twin. They grew up in similar communities, had similar friends (including, as it turned out, a number of overlaps), did exactly the same things in high school and similar things in college, same college major, similar academic interests. And of course same post-college job, and they were applying to the same jobs a couple years later, too. </p>
<p>In other words, two peas in a pod. Both thought their college experience was great; neither had even really considered going to the other college. They were about 95% the same person, and the 5% difference – which was really nothing but personal style, and growing up in a suburb vs. a suburban area of a city – sent one to Northwestern and the other to Chicago, where they were equally happy. And you know what? If they had swapped places, they probably would both have been equally happy, too.</p>
<p>Now of course neither is perfectly representative of every student at his or her college, as if that were possible. The NWU guy is probably towards the more intellectual end of the NWU spectrum, and my kid was never concerned that fun was going to die any place she was. There are people at Chicago who might feel uncomfortable at Northwestern (although, honestly, some of them might feel uncomfortable anyplace they were, including Chicago), and certainly people at Northwestern who would be driven up a wall by the disdain for practicality at Chicago. But lots of people would do fine at either.</p>
<ol>
<li> NU has engineering</li>
<li> NU is in Big10</li>
<li> Agree 100% with JHS. </li>
</ol>
<p>I’d be happy with a kid at either or both.</p>
<p>Parties at UChicago are more chill (and hence better! :D). the frats at Northwestern are nicer but the brothers are also more irritating; most brothers at Chicago that I’ve met have only left positive impressions.</p>
<p>Maybe this joke will tell you the difference:</p>
<p>Q: How many Northwestern University students does it take to change a light bulb?
A: 3. One to hold the bulb in place while the other two drive down to Hyde Park and get help.</p>
<p>In all seriousness though, both are excellent institutions and I will reluctantly admit that Northwestern, as much as I bash it, offers a great education.</p>
<p>In terms of academics, both are top rate, but Chicago might have a more “intellectual” feel to it. Northwestern has a lot of pre-professional programs. It depends on what is more important to you.</p>
<p>Campus life, I have no clue, having never gone to any sort of social events at Northwestern. I can say that I do enjoy the campus life at Chicago though.</p>
<p>Here’s how I would describe it: Imagine a state school with really amazing academics and intelligent student body. That’s Northwestern.</p>
<p>Imagine a school with really amazing academics with that really smart kid from HS being everywhere. You know that kid. The one that reeks of knowing stuff and cares about his/her studies</p>
<p>I’m not saying one is better or trying to make one sound better with that description, but I think this is the best way to describe it.</p>