<p>In American colleges and universities, the approach to economics (and other liberal arts majors) is not to train you in job-specific skills. You would be learning how economic systems work. The objective is to develop knowledge, not practical applications. You would pick up career-specific skills and experience through internships and other work assignments, or in post-graduate training (for example in business school).</p>
<p>At Chicago, international students comprise about 10% of the undergraduate student body (a percentage that has been growing in recent years.) Internationals comprise about 15% of the total student body including graduate and professional schools.
([The</a> University of Chicago Magazine](<a href=“http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0701/features/translation.shtml]The”>The University of Chicago Magazine)).</p>
<p>By comparison, internationals account for about 6% of Northwestern undergraduates, about 7% of Duke undergraduates, and about 10% of Cornell undergraduates. My source for this information is the most recent Common Data Set document I could find for these 3 schools. </p>
<p>Of course, the enrolled percentages may or may not reflect the percentages in the applicant pools. At Chicago, internationals comprise about 15% of undergraduate applicants. I don’t know about applicants at the other 3. In general, Chicago has been slightly less selective than Duke, Northwestern, or Cornell, although in the past few years it has been getting more competitive.
(<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/687793-selectivity-ranking-national-us-lacs-combined-usnews-method.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/687793-selectivity-ranking-national-us-lacs-combined-usnews-method.html</a>).</p>
<p>Getting into any of these schools will be a challenge, so you may want to think soon about some less selective alternatives.</p>