<p>So I’ve been accepted to these 3 schools and I am really confused as to where to go. I am seeking some advice and here’s what I know.</p>
<p>Brown: Open Curriculum
I get a lot of flexibility in my scheduling, small city, and overall athletic school spirit feel. Of all these 3, I believe it has the strongest undergraduate department?</p>
<p>UPenn: Cross-Departments or Not?
In Penn, I believe I can take courses outside the school I was accepted, College of Arts and Science. It has a city-campus and Philly is a metropolitan area with easy access to other cities like NYC, Newark, New Haven, Providence, DC, and Baltimore. It also has lot of school spirit and athletics.</p>
<p>UChicago: #1 Economics and Core
In Chicago, I get an intense, strict schedule with roughly 1/3 of my courses bound to the core. Chicago is stereotypically tagged as a school where fun comes to die and where students study all day all weeks. Nonetheless, it has #1 Economics, which I intend to pursue and Chicago is my favorite city in America.</p>
<p>So as you can see, I don’t know where to go.
My Interests:
I want to study Political Science and Economics. I like cities, but I also want to have the community feel (I think all 3 are fairly even in this respect right?). I like athletics feel, which Chicago is missing, but it’s not really a top concern for me. What do you guys think? Are my impressions a little bit wrong of these schools?</p>
<p>Which one has the strongest undergraduate program, criteria being determined by “ranking” and reputation?</p>
<p>All three offer terrific economics. The difference in the numbers of superstar faculty is unimportant to an undergrad.</p>
<p>You seem to be addressing the major differences in structure and location. Penn's proximity to Newark and Baltimore is not usually considered a strength, there is just not that much happening in those places.</p>
<p>If athletic school spirit is important to you, by reputation, this is quite low at Brown, and much higher at Penn. IDK about Chicago.</p>
<p>"Chicago is my favorite city in America" That sounds like an important consideration. Providence is a much smaller city than Chicago. If you are a die hard big city person, compared to Philadelphia or Chicago, Providence will feel like a small town.</p>
<p>tough choices. want do you want to do when you finish college? if you are sure you want to pursue a PhD in economics, Chicago has some advantages--top PhD programs care a lot about pedigree and Chicago will give you research experiences with very high profile faculty. that being said, you can still get into great graduate programs from the other two schools. also, Chicago has absolutely no athletic school spirit.</p>
<p>i disagree with the comment about athletic school spirit at brown compared to penn. penn has historically dominated ivy basketball so there is some extra attention here, but generally i think all ivies (except columbia which lags) are very similar in this respect. there are plenty of people cheering at games but it will never look anything like a state school packed to the rafters with students and townies alike.</p>
<p>What are the programs in econ in Brown like? I am more, though, interested in pursuing Poli Sci than Econ. Does anybody know if Brown is ranked among top 10 in these 2 programs? And I know I said Chicago is my favorite city, but I was there only for the weekend so I guess that takes away some of its credibility... </p>
<p>Out of all these schools, does Brown have the most undergraduate focus?</p>