I agree with you that these are academic peer schools but based on what you said about yourself and your interests, I think NU is the better fit. (And for full disclosure, I’m totally biased because I have family at NU and live in the area and adore Evanston ; )).
Our family member absolutely loves the quarter system because of ease of double majoring and minoring. It does move quickly but there is one less class/quarter than at a semester based schools.