<p>I'd love to go to both University of Chicago and Northwestern...I have heard from so many people that they are "like day and night" but there seems to be a lot of overlap in terms of what they're about. Maybe you all can help me piece out the differences.</p>
<p>This was my criteria for colleges I applied to:</p>
<ol>
<li>Academically rigorous - students and professors who care, who are intellectually curious (good conversation in and out of the classroom)</li>
<li>Near a major city (<3 cities) </li>
<li>Very liberal/strong queer community (I'm gay and I really do like having gay friends - I learned early on that being gay is a different experience than being straight, and it's important for me to not just have straight friends...)</li>
<li>Good English and history departments and a good college paper (I'm looking to possibly be a journalist but not necessarily major in journalism, for various reasons) </li>
<li>A chill student body that's not party/sports obsessed (I prefer to hang out with a small group of people and just explore the city or get coffee or go sledding or whatever, and I can't stand watching sports - it's too vicarious!)</li>
</ol>
<p>Some people are telling me that I wouldn't fit in at Northwestern, pointing to the huge percentage of people who go Greek - this ISN'T because they think you have to be in a Greek organization to fit in, but more because the TYPE of people that go Greek are not the type I'd normally associate with (I sorta fundamentally disagree with the whole rushing process and someone who would be down with that is usually not the type that gets along with me). They say it's "too preppy" for me - not in a sense that everyone is rich (though I am sure there are a lot of rich people at any private school!), but in a sense that they care about superficial things like outward appearance/having the best coat or bag/they were popular in HS/they are snobby/whatever. And of course I don't really give a crap sports and things like that. And was always drawn to the "quirky" people in HS haha.</p>
<p>But at the same time Northwestern appeals to me because of the fact that it's a strong school for journalism - even if I'm not a journalism major, that probably means the student paper is a good place to get some experience and clips because it's run by people who know what they're doing and are serious about what they're doing. And, I don't know how much of what people say about Northwestern being a bad fit for me is true or just stereotypes.</p>
<p>Be honest...is there truth in any of that? If there are differences between UChicago and Northwestern, what are they? What are Northwestern's weaknesses as a school, as they might apply to me? What things would I really love abut Northwestern?</p>
<p>When I visited Northwestern, I realized that it’s actually quite far from the city, while UChicago is smack dab in the middle of it. UChicago is known as a place where fun goes to die, but then again the vibe when I was at Northwestern wasn’t too lively either. </p>
<p>Are you set on simply Northwestern? If you want to go into journalism perhaps you shouldn’t limit yourself to simply Chicago. Northwestern does have a huge emphasis on Greek life, which frankly, is not my style. </p>
<p>There both relatively known as nerdy schools, although UChicago is definitely the worst out of the two. No one at Northwestern seemed to really have wanted to go there in the first place, they just hadn’t gotten into the Ivies.</p>
<p>I think there are good and bad things about both locations, in terms of being smack dab in the city versus some distance away. I’m still not sure whether I’d want to live closer or further. </p>
<p>I don’t consider one school being more nerdy than the other “worse”. I love nerdy/awkward people and don’t have a problem with a school of full them haha. </p>
<p>I’m not set on Chicago per se, but Northwestern/UChicago are really good “reach/match” schools for me and they fit my criteria of being academically rigorous and near a major city. The Ivy reject discussion is stupid imho and I hope if anyone else responds they don’t latch onto that - I am not applying to any Ivies and I’m sure there are lots of other kids like me.</p>
<p>If you look through this forum you will find answers to all of your concerns. </p>
<p>Yes, there is a Greek life but it has little to no influence on the majority of students.</p>
<p>There is a very large gay population (?more than Greek pop?)</p>
<p>Very large theatre population - translates to large “quirky” population.</p>
<p>I’ve never noticed the whole “preppy” thing.</p>
<p>Yes, you’re outside of Chicago, but, depending on where in Chicago, it’s not that far. Evanston is a great college town, Chicago is less than one hour away via public transportation.</p>
<p>I have looked through the forums but I guess I’m just seeing disconnect.</p>
<p>Northwestern is every bit as quirky, not preppy, and intellectual as UChicago…if you don’t like sports or Greek life it’s no big deal, you will still love Northwestern…etc…yet the schools are still somehow totally different from each other?</p>
<p>And, are you really saying more than 30% of the students are gay? Haha. That seems like an exaggeration.</p>
<p>Is there a rough estimate of the pct of gays at NU since the subject WAS broached above? Students - what is your gut feel , your ‘gaydar’, if you will - gays prevalent, avg, hardly any? Princeton Reviews guidebook does not have NU in the top 20 GBLT friendly or unfriendly schools if this means anything at all.</p>
<p>I’m think crmichi may want to take another (or maybe his first?) trip to Chicago. U Chicago is nowhere near the “smack dab middle” of the city. As any one who’s visited knows, it is pure south side and city attractions are not exactly next door. The Loop is the nearest major neighborhood outside Hyde Park, but most places you’d want to hang out in (bars, restaurants, clubs, Wrigley ) are in the near north/north/northwest of the city, actually closer to Northwestern which borders Chicago on that side. Public transportation from Hyde Park can be problematic as well with no local El access. Buses locally, especially late at night, are sometimes not a great option, safety-wise. At Northwestern, on the other hand, the El, Metra and free inter-campus buses to the med/law school campus near the Water Tower make for easy access pretty much everywhere in the city.</p>
<p>Academic quality and rigor will be a wash at the two schools but U Chicago does live up to its reputation as first and foremost an intellectual campus. Northwestern will be much less niche. Lots of intellectuals there as well most certainly, but plenty of forever video gaming engineers, hunky jocks, save the world journalists, artsy thespians, classical musicians, grunge band musicians, god fearing christians, god denying atheists, etc, etc. i.e. forget trying to type this campus. Where whould you best fit in? Columbia.</p>
<p>Bala, good point. Though UChicago is more of a city campus, NU’s proximity to better public transport might actually make the city more accessible…depending on how adventurous/good with buses you are, that is :).</p>
<p>For me, location is somewhat of a non-point - both are in close proximity to Chicago and are different distances from different attractions…I have no problem with taking the El or figuring out buses, or whatever.</p>
<p>Really I’m just trying to get a handle on what makes NU different than UChicago in terms of campus vibe/culture…radically different, as many would say. Yet, students claim a lot of the things said about NU (preppy, Greek, not intellectual, etc.) are just stereotypes? Then, are the two schools really more similar than people would like to admit? Or what?</p>
<p>Edit: Thanks Bala, just saw your edit. So, NU is more of a mixmash of people, and UChicago is more niche (on the intellectual side). </p>
<p>Haha, Columbia, yeah, I’d be down for that, but I don’t think I’d get in. I go to a decent public school and the Ivies only tend to skim the top 10 people off. We have better luck here with good but not Ivy designated schools…maybe 'cause we’re East coast and we bring a bit of geographic diversity to places like WUStL, UChicago, NU, Stanford, etc. Who knows.</p>
<p>Academics: UChicago is more liberal arts oriented. Northwestern has liberal arts + communications, education, engineering, journalism and music. In a way, Northwestern is more flexible with interdisciplinarity and offers majors in almost every subject.</p>
<p>Location: I think Northwestern wins in terms of accessibility to Chicago. You can walk to a station/bus stop and take the train or intercampus shuttle to downtown Chicago. I’m sure UChicago has its own service, but it’s surrounded by sketchy neighborhoods. Plus, Northwestern has its own lakefront in a moderately wealthy region (North Shore).</p>
<p>They’re really, really different schools. Unless one of your criteria is Chicago I don’t really see how both could be a good fit for you. NU is rah rah Big Ten, parties, greek, pre-professional. Chicago is full on academic intellectualism.</p>
<p>“Big Ten, parties, greek, pre-professional” - sounds terrible. But of the couple NU students who responded, they said this was not true?</p>
<p>“Northwestern has liberal arts + communications, education, engineering, journalism and music.” - I like this, especially the journalism part. Then again, I also like the liberal arts orientation at UChicago (also important for journalists!). </p>
<p>“You can walk to a station/bus stop and take the train or intercampus shuttle to downtown Chicago. I’m sure UChicago has its own service, but it’s surrounded by sketchy neighborhoods.” - UChicago does have proximity to bus lines and Metra, though not the El, which is unfortunate. However, this does not phase me. I’m simply not particularly afraid of the supposed “sketchyness” of taking a real bus through some real neighborhoods I’m more afraid of jocks! Does that make any sense whatsoever? Well, no, but it’s true!</p>
<p>Northwestern is closer to the Harvard/Yale smart socialite atmosphere, and UChicago is closer to Reed/Swarthmore quirkiness. Most schools these days are pre-professional in that they’re heavily invested in making sure their students to get into top consulting firms and top employers with the realization that the academic market is flooded with PhDs who are jobless. Who can afford not to get a high (or at least decent)-paying job after 4 years of expensive schooling?</p>
<p>NU is big on school pride but it comes in many different forms. Some are hardcore sports fans who really know what’s going on play by play in the game. Some go to the games and have no idea what’s going on but are there anyway just to cheer on the school and show off their pride in going to Northwestern. Others skip the games altogether but wear their purple in style and head to town to hit up classy bars/shopping, etc. (that’s no less of a way to show off school pride). Btw, where else can you see manly dudes wearing purple gloves and/or purple sweatpants? That’s right, nowhere! (ok maybe Amherst or Williams…).</p>
<p>As for partying, what’s wrong with that? If you hate it, you can certainly stay in and you will have PLENTY of work to accompany you (and people will respect your decision to stay in). However, most people here end up going out at least once or twice a week. Parties are pretty tame though and typically end early (like 2 as opposed to 5 in a state school).</p>
<p>Fraternities/sororities are basically socialite clubs (ever watch Social Network?), much like other clubs that do a lot of stuff together. I know people in business or academic groups that might as well be in fraternities because they do much of the same bonding, networking, etc. Fraternities/sororities are basically just really intense clubs that are great for lifelong friends and NETWORKING. If you get stuck in the middle of nowhere and need to be rescued, just call your brothers and they will go out of their way to rescue you. They collectively have extensive contacts and some have really wealthy parents who will welcome you into their homes in Geneva or some faraway land you just happen to be in. Like in the real world, looks do matter, but it’s not like you have to be super hot to be in the best ones. As for the anti-superficiality argument, not one person in this world doesn’t care about looks-- we all strive to beautify ourselves in some way or another. We care about the looks of our potential partners too-- honestly, would you rather think about Ozzy Osbourne or James Franco?</p>
<p>^Right, unfortunately I don’t have the financial means to do that right now…Hopefully I will get to visit but it’s possible I won’t.</p>
<p>Thanks brebeuff. I don’t hate partying, it’s just I would rather be doing other things 1-2 times a week, such as going to a concert or some other event or show in the city, then wandering around until 1 or 2, versus being in someone’s living room in Evanston. </p>
<p>“Like in the real world, looks do matter”
I just find this argument silly. The rushing process at frats/sororities is far more superficial than anything else in the real world…both when it comes to looks and assessments of your personality. Job interviews are based more on intelligence and demonstrated experience and reliability with a little bit of looks and sparkling personality thrown in whereas rushing is more about impressing people with your looks and sparkling personality with a little bit/no emphasis on the other things. Picking a partner is based more on long-term assessments of their personalities (in my experience) rather than a 30 minute crash course. </p>
<p>"honestly, would you rather think about Ozzy Osbourne or James Franco? "</p>
<p>Who’s James Franco? LOL.</p>
<p>From your description is sounds like perhaps I am more UChicago…but it would be interesting to hear more people’s opinions too.</p>
<p>“Most schools these days are pre-professional in that they’re heavily invested in making sure their students to get into top consulting firms and top employers with the realization that the academic market is flooded with PhDs who are jobless.”</p>
<p>Well said. E.g., the majority of bio PhDs work in the biotech industry; there are relatively few bio PhD positions available in academia.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think brebeuff and others made good points about there being nothing wrong with a pre-professional slant. I agree with this - the more practical side of Northwestern appeals to me.</p>
<p>And thanks Roderick. That was a good summary of the differences. </p>
<p>My dd and I visited both, and she summed up the difference like this. Northwestern is very proud of and focused on the famous people who went there, U of C is very focused on and impressed by the intelligence of the people who go there. NW guides and adcoms brag about David Schwimmer, UofC adcoms brag about the core and the intellectual community, the guides brag about their scavenger hunt team. Both are great schools in/near a great city. We met very out gay kids at both, who had good reports of their communities.</p>
) are in the near north/north/northwest of the city, actually closer to Northwestern which borders Chicago on that side. Public transportation from Hyde Park can be problematic as well with no local El access. Buses locally, especially late at night, are sometimes not a great option, safety-wise. At Northwestern, on the other hand, the El, Metra and free inter-campus buses to the med/law school campus near the Water Tower make for easy access pretty much everywhere in the city.</p>
I’m more afraid of jocks! Does that make any sense whatsoever? Well, no, but it’s true!</p>