<p>NU and WashU - two of my favorite schools in the country. Both are fabulous, so I regard it as a win-win situation.
Some clear differences: Evanston/Chicago are considerably more desirable than St. Louis, which has much less to offer. WashU’s campus architecture is beautiful (although a few people seem not to like it), while NU’s is eclectic - which in NU’s case means a combination of nice churches and ugly science buildings, among others, so WashU wins on that front. NU is on beachfront property, and it’s pretty darn cool to be right on Lake Michigan. WashU is Div III in sports; NU is Div I, Big 10. It’s a lot of fun to be part of a conference like the Big 10. Both schools have Greek life, but the frats and sororities at NU are residential, while I don’t think they are at Wash U (they are more like clubs). (You can choose to avoid Greek life at both schools and be perfectly fine, but my impression is that it’s very good-natured and a lot of fun at NU.)
The academics at both schools are first rate, so you’re in good shape either way, but several friends of mine in academia (not affiliated with either school) think that NU’s academics might be marginally stronger in general.</p>