<p>I'm thinking of applying ED to Northwestern, but the acceptance rate for Uchicago is about 40% while NW is 30%. Since many say that Uchicago is the better place for economics, should I not do ED at Northwestern since it's binding? Or apply ED to NW and EA to UChicago? Thanks.</p>
<p>You should only apply ED to Northwestern if you are SURE you want to go there.</p>
<p>I agree with kenf: ED is a good option ONLY if NU is your definite top choice. Also, Chicago's acceptance rate is no longer 40%--last year, it was 28%, and it's likely to get lower b/c of the switch to the common app (I don't know if NU is still 30%)</p>
<p>Don't pick a school based on acceptance rates or what people say. NU and UChicago are two VERY different schools. Look more into both of them before you ED anywhere.</p>
<p>The acceptance rate at both schools is comparable (last year at NU, it was 26%) - and should be just about the last thing one relies on when deciding to apply ED.</p>
<p>The two schools have a very different "vibe" - and one should pick btwn the two where one thinks he/she best fits.</p>
<p>As for Econ - UC is 1a and NU is 1b (just below the top 5-6 Econ schools).</p>
<p>@ Silverzc413</p>
<p>Both schools have top economics programs. Pick the school that has the right SOCIAL fit for you. Do you want to live in an inner suburb or in the city?</p>
<p>^ More like North Side v. South Side. I'm a North Side guy myself. But then UC is the more intellectual of the two, Northwestern a little more preppy/pre-professional, so for me that would favor UC. Then again, for economics UC is pretty darned conservative, so that would favor Northwestern . . . These really aren't two peas in a pod at all.</p>
<p>The economics legacy of Chicago is conservative (Milton Friedman and all that jazz), but that doesn't mean that the economics department as a whole today is conservative and it also doesn't mean that political viewpoints interfere with classroom instruction.</p>
<p>Chicago is a cautiously liberal campus. A lot of registered Democrats and a lot of students who question what students at other schools hold protests over.</p>
<p>I would agree that both of these schools are package deals and that one can't isolate the quality of one department and cross his or her fingers that the rest of the school will be just as ideal as that one department. For Chicago, the economics major is particularly math-intensive, and all economics majors participate in a reading and writing-heavy Core Curriculum.</p>
<p>Oh, and there's this whole nonsense about being where fun comes to die or something ;-). Yes, Chicago kids do party and do socialize, but probably not on as grandiose a scale as other schools.</p>