<p>I'm from Illinois, and I don't want to go too far from home for college. I'm a very strong student (2360 SATs 4.0/4.0 unweighted) so I think I have a shot at all 3. I'm not really sure what I want to study, but probably history, political science, economics, or maybe math or biology. I know that's kinda broad. So, all around which of WUSTL, Chicago, and Northwestern is best academically?</p>
<p>They’re comparable, really. There’s not going to be an appreciable difference in academics, except in specific subject areas. (Chicago’s econ program is unsurpassed, and their math is also amazing. For the record.)</p>
<p>The important distinctions are fit–self-consciously intellectual (Chicago) versus more preprofessional (Northwestern, Wash U), urban (Chicago) versus suburban (NU), and so on. The cities–would you rather be in Chicago or St. Louis? What do you think about having a rigid core curriculum? Size–well, all three universities are around the same size, but the ratio of grad: undergrad students is larger at Chicago.</p>
<p>Honestly, though, if academics and location are the most important to you, then just apply to all three and decide when you see where you get in.</p>
<p>I can’t apply to all 3 - my parents are only letting me apply to 3 schools total, and I need at least one safety (prob. Illinois), so at most I can apply to two. I don’t really care about location as much as academic quality.</p>
<p>Three schools, really? In this admissions climate that’s ridiculous. (Any way you can come up with an admissions fee for the other school and just secretly apply on your own? 
I meant general location–you said you didn’t want to be too far from IL. The academic quality is about the same.</p>
<p>Financial aid is something else you might want to consider–how much can your parents afford to pay? Unfortunately Chicago does not have the greatest aid package: lots of loans. I’m not sure about Wash U or Northwestern.</p>
<p>
Thanks for reminding me. That’s another common misconception that I need to add to my list.</p>
<p>55.5% of seniors apply to 1-3 colleges. Only 21.9% apply to more than 5, and a mere 2.9% apply to more than 10.</p>
<p>As Haavain said, there are big differences between the three universities. Since you’re reasonably close to all of them, I recommend a visit. It should definitely help you make up your mind.</p>
<p>Basically, I agree with haavain, though I think that for a liberal arts major Chicago does get the edge for academics (particularly in the social sciences and math).</p>
<p>Three applications usually are not enough these days (for kids applying to highly selective schools). I think 6 or so is a good number. If the application fee is the issue, you can get waivers.</p>
<p>If you cannot get fee waivers and you cannot persuade your parents to increase that number, then apply to Illinois, plus Northwestern RD and Chicago EA. Chicago should notify you by January 2 so if it does not work out, you’d still have time in early January to apply to WUSTL RD.</p>
<p>This is assuming Illinois is a true admissions and financial safety for you.</p>
<p>wustl and chicago are comparable in terms of academics. uchicago is probably better for economics, wustl better for the sciences (ie biology and chemistry) northwestern has a strong liberal arts background, esp with journalism.</p>
<p>Could somebody please go into more detail about what is special about Northwestern and WashU? I recognize both as well-regarded, but I don’t know which each is specifically known for.</p>
<p>IthacaKid, I will tell you about Northwestern.</p>
<p>Outside of Arts and Sciences, NU also offers five top-rated undergraduate schools (Communication, Education, Engineering, Journalism, and Music) that offer a variety of interdisciplinary majors. It is a private university (8000 undergrads) in the Big Ten conference. Most of its departments and programs are ranked in the top 20 nationally. It borders Lake Michigan just north of Chicago. With the quarter system, it is easy to pursue a double major and graduate in four years.</p>
<p>This link explains its departmental rankings in more detail:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/northwestern-university/670748-fyi-department-rankings-special-programs.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/northwestern-university/670748-fyi-department-rankings-special-programs.html</a></p>
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<p>The BS in Journalism at Northwestern is not a liberal arts degree, it is professional training (although the program does require liberal arts courses.)</p>
<p>Here is a link to detailed department by department, area by area rankings. It is for graduate programs, and it is quite dated (1995). However, to my knowledge, no assessment this comprehensive has been done since (though the USN rankings may be useful as updates for many individual departments). </p>
<p>This, in part, is my objective basis for saying that Chicago gets something of an edge for academics in the liberal arts and sciences (not in professional fields such as engineering, journalism, architecture, etc. which Chicago alone among the three does not offer). For undergraduates, Chicago focuses on liberal education exclusively. </p>
<p>[NRC</a> Rankings](<a href=“http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jnewton/nrc_rankings/nrc1.html]NRC”>NRC Rankings)</p>
<p>Here are the academic assessments in 5 major liberal arts areas for these 3 schools:
Arts and Humanities</p>
<h1>8 Chicago</h1>
<h1>22 NU</h1>
<h1>34 WUSTL</h1>
<p>Social Sciences</p>
<h1>5 Chicago</h1>
<h1>13 NU</h1>
<h1>33 WUSTL</h1>
<p>Biological Sciences</p>
<h1>11 Chicago</h1>
<h1>13 WUSTL</h1>
<h1>18 NU</h1>
<p>Physical Sciences, Math</p>
<h1>7 Chicago</h1>
<h1>25 NU</h1>
<h1>42 WUSTL</h1>
<p>Chicago truly is the best of the three, particularly considering your interests. I would highly recommend applying EA to maximize your admissions chances.</p>
<p>Thanks tenisghs, that thread clarified a lot for me.</p>
<p>Here are recent US News rankings of Chicago’s graduate departments and professional schools:
Humanities & Social Sciences
Economics 1st (tie)
English 7th
History 5h (tie)
Poli Sci 11th (tie)
Psychology 23rd (tie)
Sociology 5th (tie)
(other traditionally strong departments at Chicago, unranked by USN, include anthropology, linguistics and languages, East Asian and other area studies)</p>
<p>Math & Sciences
Bio Sci 18th (tie)
Chemistry 12th (tie)
Comp Sci 39th (tie)
Earth Sci 15h (tie)
Math 6th (tie)
Physics 8th (tie)</p>
<p>Professional Schools
Business: 5th (tie)
Law: 6th (tie)
Medicine: 13th (research) 45th (primary care, tie)</p>
<p>While UChicago has stronger graduate programs than Northwestern, UChicago is not for everyone. This is where school visits are crucial. Northwestern (Evanston) and UChicago (Hyde Park) are located on opposite sides of the city. Evanston is more of an upscale, relatively safe suburban community on the north side whereas Hyde Park is an inclusive community on the south side. Once you leave Hyde Park, the surrounding neighborhoods become very shady. You also have to ask yourself what type of extracurricular activities you want to engage in. NU has a stronger arts/theater/sports/Greek life than UChicago.</p>
<p>based purely on academics, chicago is the strongest. NU isn’t all that shabby either - great MECN dept with strong sciences. no disrespect to wustl, but it lags the furthest although it’s strengths seem to lie in biological sciences and pre-med. </p>
<p>each school offers a different twist on student life etc. so i’d recommend visiting each.</p>
<p>Agree with the above two posts. These schools will each offer strong academic programs in ALL areas of the poster’s interest. </p>
<p>I’d also agree that you focus a good deal more on the significant differences in campus atmosphere that exists from the point of view of location/setting and the general tenor of the campus and student body.</p>
<p>And I don’t understand why your parents would object to your applying to 4 schools. The work is yours to do, the cost is minimal.</p>
<p>Here are recent US News rankings of WUSTL’s graduate departments and professional schools:</p>
<p>Humanities & Social Sciences
Economics 28th (tie)
English 29th (tie)
History 28th (tie)
Poli Sci 13th (tie)
Psychology 13rd (tie)
Sociology n/a</p>
<p>Math & Sciences
Bio Sci 7
Chemistry 43rd (tie)
Comp Sci 39th (tie)
Earth Sci 25h (tie)
Math 40h (tie)
Physics 48th (tie)</p>
<p>Professional Schools
Business: 22nd (tie)
Law: 19th (tie)
Medicine: 3rd (research, tie) 26th (primary care, tie)</p>
<p>It appears that WUSTL’s greatest strength in these areas, compared to the other two, is in biology and medicine.</p>
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<p>I should have clarified. I meant that for a kid like the OP who’s shooting for T10 schools, applying to only three is ridiculous. I’m well aware that plenty of kids only apply to 1-3 schools–I envy them immensely. :P</p>
<p>Why is Michigan left out of this discussion? According to the NRC list provided above, Michigan holds its own very nicely:</p>
<p>Arts and Humanities</p>
<h1>8 Chicago</h1>
<h1>12 Michigan-Ann Arbor</h1>
<h1>22 NU</h1>
<h1>34 WUSTL</h1>
<p>Engineering:</p>
<h1>8 Michigan-Ann Arbor</h1>
<h1>13 Northwestern</h1>
<h1>47 WUSTL</h1>
<p>N/A Chicago (they do not have an Engineering school)</p>
<p>Social Sciences</p>
<h1>3 Michigan-Ann Arbor</h1>
<h1>5 Chicago</h1>
<h1>13 NU</h1>
<h1>33 WUSTL</h1>
<p>Biological Sciences</p>
<h1>11 Chicago</h1>
<h1>13 WUSTL</h1>
<h1>17 Michigan-Ann Arbor</h1>
<h1>18 NU</h1>
<p>Physical Sciences, Math</p>
<h1>7 Chicago</h1>
<h1>24 Michigan-Ann Arbor</h1>
<h1>25 NU</h1>
<h1>42 WUSTL</h1>
<p>In the five majors that the OP mentioned, Michigan again holds its own:</p>
<p>Biology:</p>
<h1>7 WUSTL</h1>
<h1>15 Michigan-Ann Arbor</h1>
<h1>18 Chicago</h1>
<h1>29 Northwestern</h1>
<p>Economics:</p>
<h1>1 Chicago</h1>
<h1>8 Northwestern</h1>
<h1>12 Michigan-Ann Arbor</h1>
<h1>28 WUSTL</h1>
<p>History:</p>
<h1>5 Chicago</h1>
<h1>7 Michigan-Ann Arbor</h1>
<h1>14 Northwestern</h1>
<h1>28 WUSTL</h1>
<p>Mathematics:</p>
<h1>6 Chicago</h1>
<h1>9 Michigan-Ann Arbor</h1>
<h1>18 Northwestern</h1>
<h1>40 WUSTL</h1>
<p>Political Science:</p>
<h1>4 Michigan-Ann Arbor</h1>
<h1>11 Chicago</h1>
<h1>13 WUSTL</h1>
<h1>21 Northwestern</h1>
<p>Also, given ChetMan’s stats, if he applies to Michigan early (before mid October), there is a reasonable chance he would get a hefty merit scholarship. </p>
<p>Finally, Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan provide a very pleasant and fun college environment and experience. </p>
<p>If ChetMan were to apply to just thee universities, I would definitely add Michigan to the short list.</p>
<p>No question, Michigan is one of the best public universities in America, and one of the tippy top research unis (public OR private). The problem for the OP is, if he’s going to adhere to the 3 school limit (or even do a dance with the EA timing to make it 4), which school does it replace? As an OOS applicant it will not be a safety (though with his high stats it may be a more predictable “match” than the others, just because publics tend to be more numbers-driven). How would it fare for financial aid prospects compared to the three private schools? </p>
<p>It appears the RD application deadline for UM is in February. This would give a little more breathing room to apply later, if the OP gets bad news from an EA/ED application.</p>