Northwestern VS University of Chicago Please Help!

Colleges & Universities University of Chicago
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<p>Hey guys I really appreciate any input on this issue. Well my stats are not stellar but they are pretty good and with a good boost on the ACT (aiming for 31,32), I will have a decent shot at both Northwestern and the University of Chicago (my dream schools). However I am torn between these two schools. </p>

<p>I am applying to the Questbridge College Match program and will have to decide the ranking of the schools by October 12th. I know a little early but any input now will be appreciated. Which one should I rank first and which one should I rank second?</p>

<p>I am interested in majoring in economics and political science/international relations. In a college I am looking to work hard in terms of academics but also want a pretty good social life (ie parties, intramural, games, etc.)</p>

<p>Northwestern
Pros
Beautiful Campus</p>

<p>Excellent Economics program</p>

<p>Good Political Science program</p>

<p>Better Social Life (correct me if I am wrong)</p>

<p>Interested in the Kellogg undergraduate program</p>

<p>Division I sports (not that I care too much)</p>

<p>Chicago
Pros
Excellent Economics program (excellent teachers, nobel prize)</p>

<p>Good Political Science program??? (couldn’t find rankings for undergrad)</p>

<p>Core curriculum (don’t know if that is a plus or minus. I want to see if I like different subjects but I am pretty goal oriented)</p>

<p>Offers fun and unique activities (Scavenger Hunt, Intramural competitions b/w houses)</p>

<p>Unique learning environment </p>

<p>Want to get into Chicago Booth School of Business in the future (that might be a plus for Northwestern though)</p>

<p>Which one is harder to do well in? (hence As and Bs) Also which one has a better study abroad program. I am not sure if you can quantify this. Thank you for your input. It is greatly appreciated.</p>

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<p>Chicago is a world renowned university and it tends to cater to more “intellectual” students. Northwestern is more pre-professional. Chicago has an excellent Political Science program (at least at the grad level) and its economics dept is the best in the country (you can’t really compare it to Northwestern)</p>

3

<p>I would just point out that NU does not have a “better” social life in an absolute sense. I understand that NU has options inside and outside of the Greek system, but I found Chicago a vastly better social fit for me, Greek/non-Greek notwithstanding. That reason alone is why I don’t think I can answer this question for you-- only you know which school you may prefer.</p>

4

<p>NU is similar to Georgetown and Penn. The social life isn’t necessarily better at NU. The parties are definitely bigger and more numerous, but big frat parties and house parties aren’t everyone’s cup of tea(and can get extremely old after freshman year). Based on my visit to Chicago, the parties seem like they’d be more enjoyable over a four year period.</p>

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<p>boost boost rocket boost</p>

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<p>^^haha this is the weirdest poster ever</p>

7

<p>Typical UChicago response, hahaha.</p>

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<p>I will add that UChicago’s campus is also freakin gorgeous.</p>

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<p>I just think that your best bet would be to visit, or at least talk to some of the students, and feel for which crowd is the best fit for you. Parties are great and all, but they’re vastly less fun if you don’t like the people you’re partying with. Chicago has it’s fair share of parties, but I imagine they’re a good deal smaller than Northwestern’s. But I will reiterate, bigger parties=/=better social life.</p>

<p>And yes, Chicago’s campus is definitely freakin’ gorgeous =)</p>

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<p>ooooo lordofthespiderm gonna be squishy >:o(</p>

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<p>Haven’t been able to go on the internet in a while. Thank you so much for your responses. I am still unsure of my decision but these posts has definitely helped. To tell you the truth, University of Chicago had been my top choice, but then I visited both campuses and got to attend some informational sessions, I became extremely torn between both schools. I did not know if a better education at Chicago in terms of economics was more beneficial then a NU economics education coupled with some opportunities that NU offers such as the Kellogg Certificate undergrad program. What are your opinions on this issue? Are there programs that Chicago offers that are similar to the Kellogg program? </p>

<p>My plans for the future is to earn a great economics/political science degree, get a good job, then go for an mba.</p>

<p>I apologize in advance if these questions sound stupid or weird as noted above.</p>

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<p>Have you done an overnight at either? I really believe this is the best way to get a feel for the school as a whole - not in terms of names or programs or your future on paper, (because let’s be honest, at the level of Northwestern vs. UChicago you’re really splitting hairs) but in flow of life, character of students, environment and activity. You’ve got to live in this place for the next four years: make sure you take into consideration not only your far-distant future, but your more immediate one as well, because being happy at whatever college you choose during your time there is really the best way to further yourself in whatever career you choose. So hang out on campus if you can, interact with students in their natural habitat, eat dining hall food, listen to an acapella performance, watch whatever’s on tv in a dorm lounge, talk, play, joke. Try out life at these schools, see where you feel a better fit… coming out the other side, I promise you it matters a whole lot more than which program is more prestegious.</p>

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<p>^^ What I don’t hear in your answer is how you want to arrive at your education. Assume for the moment that a potential employer doesn’t see any the difference between a Chicago econ/poli sci degree and a Northwestern econ/poli sci degree, but he/she knows that both are schools of roughly equal prestige.</p>

<p>Now think about how you are going to go about accomplishing that degree: at Chicago, you’ll be taking a lot of reading/writing intensive classes in the Core Curriculum, and friends have told me that the econ program here is particularly math-heavy and less application-based. (There is, though, the opportunity to take classes at the business school). If you choose the poli sci route all the way through, you’ll be taking classes in a department that’s most famous for political theory and political theorists. (And Mearsheimer). </p>

<p>I don’t know what your individual take on the academic and social experience would be like at Chicago, but I anticipate that if you were to attend, you’d run into a lot of students who take pride and pleasure in their schoolwork and who don’t invest a lot of time into partying, drinking, or social one-upmanship. You’d meet a lot of students for whom attending Chicago-- specifically Chicago-- is highly appealing, for its academic and intellectual reputation as much as anything else. </p>

<p>What I’m trying to point out is your desire for a “good job” is not sufficient for me to say Chicago is a great fit for you. If you were to say, “I want a good job, but I also want a thorough liberal arts education in which I will be taking courses on lots of things that will never appear in the professional world,” then I would say Chicago is a terrific fit. </p>

<p>It’s not that Chicago ISN’T a good school for pre-professionals (which is something I think a lot of CC posters tend to say), but rather that it’s for a certain type of pre-professional… one that, as my father would say, drinks the Chicago Kool-Aid.</p>

<p>Also, since you’re applying for QB, I would also consider looking into Notre Dame, as it’s probably the school I think of as “#3” when I think of midwestern elites (Chicago and Northwestern being tied for #1 ;-)). It might be a great academic/social fit for you-- you might want to check to see if it’s a religious fit. My understanding is that raging atheists and students who desire a solid LGBTQ presence need not apply, but further questions and clarifications are best left for ND students and parents.</p>

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<p>Chicago Economics > NU Economics+Kellogg undergrad certificate</p>

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<p>unalove,</p>

<p>The UofC culture is very different from Northwestern’s, with many fewer pre-profs in attendance. In addition, the faculty mindset is much less pre-prof. That said, of course many UofC undergrads head on to pre-prof programs at some point. That’s a normal path for grads of elite colleges.</p>

<p>If one looks at the programmatic offerings and academic organization of the two institutions, one can immediately see differences (engineering or not; music or not; etc.) that separate the two places. </p>

<p>If one looks at undergrad housing, one sees an even bigger difference. At NWU, greek houses are the most prominent, most convenient housing, right on the edge of the heart of campus. At UofC, no one would draw that conclusion, especially not after seeing the ratty frat houses on University Ave. </p>

<p>These two places are miles apart culturally, to the point I doubt that most kids would be happy at either (although others have strongly disagreed with me on this point). And I don’t speak from a distance. Dear spouse is a NWU alum. DD recently graduated from UofC. I went to UofC for grad school. </p>

<p>You really need to check these places out (indeed, that goes for any college you might attend). But the good news is that you don’t need to check them out before applying, although that does not hurt. You have plenty of time before you put that big check in the mail (outdated? OK, make that big e-transfer…) next spring.</p>

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<p>IMO anyone who would compare NWU to UofC shouldn’t go to UofC. You don’t compare MIT to ITT Tech or Columbia to SUNY. IT is unheard of! :/</p>

<p>U of C is obviously superior in the aspects of education and everything else.</p>

<p>I was a Questbridge Scholar, that is I was matched to U of C my first choice.</p>

<p>What you should do is some more research on the two and figure out why you like them, and why you want to attend either school.</p>

<p>Also I would say add to your list Columbia, just for kicks and Notre Dame.</p>

<p>Also if you don’t get Quest apply to both schools anyways and also WUSTL</p>

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<p>^ I do not know what kind of NWU you’re thinking of amanahill, but Northwestern is a very well-respected university as well. I love UChicago more than anything and will maintain its superiority to all else to my death, but I hope whomever reads what you’ve written here takes it with a very large grain of salt - or maybe the same crack you’re clearly on.</p>

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<p>As a U of C kid, the best way to respond to the question of how NU is:</p>

<p><em>sigh</em> Yeah, it’s a good school…</p>

<p>I know someone who went to Northwestern as a math grad student, and when he heard that I was a student at the University of Chicago, that was his exact response. We don’t like each other, but it’s unfair to dismiss the fact that NU and U of C are both very good schools.</p>

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<p>I would say post WWII to the early 1990s, no other department could match the U of C’s econ department for influence and innovative thinking- Coase, Miller, Becker, Lucas, Heckman, Fogel, the list goes on and on… but in terms of research today- the Northwestern economics department is quite on par with Chicago’s- evidenced by placements of new PhDs at the assistant professor level at top 30 econ depts- NU has had some incredible placements in recent years (as has, for example, NYU), so at the undergraduate level especially, any differences in department strength are quite moot- especially if one were to seek out the additional challenges of an honors curriculum…</p>

<p>on the job market- hiring managers would likely see a Chicago undergrad degree similar in prestige to Northwestern- both among the very best in the country, obviously.</p>

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<p>what about u of chicago vs northwestern for a premed/bio student, disregarding nu’s hpme program?</p>