<p>I know many of you may be surprised by this thread, as I've heard that Northwestern and Chicago are very different. However, I'm looking at both schools, and I was wondering if someone could inform me on their differences. I want to choose the school that's right for me, but I've been looking around and all I see is that they're different, but not how. Can anyone help me out? :D</p>
<p>Chicago is hardcore intellectual. In a "I live, eat, sleep, and breathe academics" kind of way. The student body tends to be quirky and in love with knowledge. </p>
<p>Northwestern is intelligent school, yes, but it's a lot more balanced. A Northwestern student typically has lots of interests in addition to his studies - sports, parties, etc. It also has a slightly preppier feel.</p>
<p>Then there's also the scenery.</p>
<p>UC is located in a Hyde Park. It's a relatively low-income part of Chicago, but not necessarily dangerous. It actually has a really nice college town vibe - lots of coffee shops, pizzerias, and eclectic shops around campus. </p>
<p>Northwestern isn't actually in Chicago, but rather, Evanston (a northern suburb). From the impressions I've gotten from Evanston, there's not as much of a college town feel in the immediate area, but the city is only a short train ride away. NU is also right on Lake Michigan - beautiful!</p>
<p>the previous posts pretty much sum it up, there are a lot of threads on this that go into alot of specifics about the differences, i'll search for them and link them later when i have time.</p>
<p>the main way you decide if you would like chicago or northwestern:</p>
<p>if you like to carry on conversations about academics outside of the classroom, feel like you are self-improving when you are learning, desire knowledge for knowledge's sake, etc. than chicago is more your fit. More uchicago students get PhDs than northwestern students</p>
<p>if you are serious about academics but do so mainly to eventually excel in some other area (business, law, engineering, etc.) and also like to balance academics with going out on weekends, forgetting about school when you're outside of the classroom, etc. northwestern is the better place for you. like world changer said northwestern is also slightly preppier and the students are more outgoing.</p>
<p>of course you find both types of students at both schools, but that is the overall gist of it</p>
<p>you should really visit both schools to get an idea of exactly what the difference really is.</p>
<p>and world changer is a little incorrect. in my opinion, evanston has a much more "college town-y" feel than hyde park, i would call evanston the "cambridge of the midwest" seeing as that it is similar to cambridge in a lot of ways (restaurants, shops, tree-lined streets, etc.) and also right outside a major city (cambridge = boston, evanston = chicago).</p>
<p>and fyi it is faster and easier to get to the parts of chicago that people like to go to (lincoln park, wrigleyville, etc) from northwestern than uchicago, even though chicago is "in" the city. the loop might be slightly faster to get to from uchicago than northwestern.</p>
<p>I visited both schools last year, and the differences were pretty clear.</p>
<p>If you are truly an intellectual type who is excited about learning, University of Chicago is a better fit. Although they are both good schools, UChicago definitely has a more scholarly and intellectual atmosphere, and probably a more scholarly student body. Northwestern is more of a pre-professional atmosphere, with undergraduate majors in things like engineering and many programs that lead into their many graduate schools.</p>
<p>Northwestern has more school spirit, much better athletics, and more of a college town. This means, however, that it is further from the center of Chicago and all that the city has to offer.</p>
<p>In general, Northwestern is well known for some of its humanities departments like drama and English. UChicago would be a better fit for someone who wants to major in economics or one of the hard sciences, such as physics.</p>
<p>I think these noted differences are pretty accurate. You'll run into some pre-professionals at Chicago (I have to be honest, though-- not that many), and some cool, crazy kids at NU, but I think NU as a school is more straightforward, more of everything to everyone, while Chicago caters to specific kinds of kids.</p>
<p>I would disagree that NU is "humanities" while Chicago is "econ/physics." Chicago offers wonderful programs in everything from linguistics to biology to English (yay English majors!) to math to psych; NU offers great econ, journalism, engineering, drama, etc. both schools are strong across the boards and you won't find any "bad" majors.</p>
<p>Chicago kids love Chicago; NU students love NU. Both are wonderful schools; both are difficult to get into; both are highly esteemed on these boards and in real life (with NU edging out Chicago on the east coast, at least in my experience).</p>
<p>I could imagine somebody both into Chicago and NU. NU does have the advantage in cross-admits, though, because I think it appeals to more students than Chicago does.</p>
<p>I'm a current Chicago student, if you have any further questions, PM me.</p>
<p>let me share my experiences</p>
<p>I got into both schools, and didn't research either one out. I applied EA to Chicago and got deferred !!!!! I was shocked! In the end, I got into Chicago RD and in at Northwestern RD. I would have gone to Northwestern over Chicago. I visited Chicago and the surrounding area was like a ghetto. Chicago doesn't have much over Northwestern to warrant a student having to fear everyday they walk outside of the Chicago campus. Evanston is beautiful and edges out Hyde Park any day of the week.</p>
<p>Just a note about safety and Hyde Park--</p>
<p>Like any city, the neighborhood varies from block to block. A few blocks south and a few blocks west of campus might be what one would consider the "hood," but there's nothing down there for university students. If one were to explore the areas north and east of the quads, where there are shops, student and faculty apartments, and the residences of the likes of Barack Obama and Carol Moseley Braun, you'll find beautiful homes, tree-lined streets, and bookstores and coffee shops. Most visitors, I find, are pleasantly surprised that Hyde Park has so many offerings right where it is.</p>
<p>hows the premed at both these schools</p>
<p>Wow guys...thanks so much for the clear and quick responses! I've read what everyone's said so far, and I feel I'd find myself at Northwestern more. I'm studious in some ways (guess you have to be if you want to apply to HYPS :D) but I'm not really an intellectual. Outside the classroom, I'm a goof and I like to joke around with friends and have a good time. I don't know if Chicago would be the right place for me.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I do like urban settings, though I don't mind a surburban environment either. How bad is Hyde Park compared to inner-city Baltimore? I know Johns Hopkins is a turn off because of that issue. Also, I want to pursue biology or engineering as a major, and biotechnology/bioengineering as a career path...which school offers better opportunites? I know NU has that accelerated medical program, but I know it's really competitive, and I don't think I'd want to spend both undergrad and grad school at the same university.</p>
<p>Hyde Park actually isn't too urban, but it is in a low-income area. I wouldn't say that the campus is unsafe though. If you use common sense, you'll be fine. </p>
<p>I will agree with elsijfdl that Evanston is a good location for college students, and it is a fairly large town, but most students prefer to venture into the city for entertainment. </p>
<p>Seriously, just visit. You'd get great opportunities from either. I'd personally prefer Northwestern, but I could be biased (I grew up in the northern suburbs, and was actually born in Evanston).</p>
<p>I want to visit...I was supposed to, but my trip got cancelled because of scheduling problems. It'd be a pretty far distance, and I don't think I have time, seeing as I'm working 40 hour weeks over the summer. Perhaps when school starts, I dunno. Maybe I should apply to both, and visit after the results are in?</p>
<p>Actually, Hyde Park isn't a "low-income" neighborhood either - it's Washington Park to the west and south of campus (the part that was mentioned by Unalove as the "hood") that I would consider more "low-income". Hyde Park, the neighborhood, actually extends to the north and east of the U of C and is the place that's filled with all those pizzerias, bookstores, shops, etc. that give it that great college town feel. </p>
<p>All of which is not to say that Hyde Park doesn't have it's share of street crime - it is an urban neighborhood, and you have to be aware and careful in order to avoid trouble, but it is characterized more by the faculty families that live nearby (who, sadly, do have lower incomes than they should!) than by low-income housing projects.</p>
<p>True, true, and true. I haven't explored Baltimore, but from what I've heard about JHU, the Homewood/Baltimore relation is similar to Chicago's Hyde Park/ South Side Chicago relation. It's definitely similar in many ways to Penn's University City/ West Philly relationship.</p>
<p>Actually one of the people who was working on relationships between Hyde Park and the South Side was Michelle Obama... I wonder what she's up to now ;-)</p>
<p>Back to the OP's questions about bioengineering... I'm inclined to say that UChicago has nothing related to engineering, but I'm not sure that's entirely true. A Big Deal on campus is biophysics and nanotechnology, and our Center for Integrative Sciences.</p>
<p>This press release is from a few years ago, but may be helpful:
<a href="http://phoenix.uchicago.edu/teachers/gordon.asp%5B/url%5D">http://phoenix.uchicago.edu/teachers/gordon.asp</a></p>
<p>Cool stuff.</p>
<p>In terms of pre-med, Chicago is great. I will say, though, that it's a lot, considering that Chicago has a compulsory core curriculum to begin with, and that balancing core and pre-med (a difficult program anywhere) might be too overwhelming for some. I have no exact numbers as far as placement goes, but with the hospitals right on campus and a lot of my friends now in top med schools and biology PhD programs, I think you're taken care of.</p>
<p>RememberMe-- Definitely visit campus. I don't want to sell you something that you won't like. A lot of people create all sorts of imagery when they are thinking about certain colleges (I know I did!) and Chicago might reject or confirm them. One of my friends, when she visited, was amazed at how normal everybody was.</p>
<p>Husband called me when visiting UC with our daughter in May. One thing he noticed right away was that no one seemed to be wearing UC T=shirts, hats, etc. He did see one T-shirt finally. On the front it said, "University of Chicago." On the back, it said, "Where fun goes to die." They are indeed proud of being a very serious academic school. </p>
<p>Hubby and I went to Northwestern and loved it. Good diversity. Beautiful campus. Exciting and challenging courses. Good thing it wasn't as hard to get in as it is today.</p>
<p>Yeah, our school pride is pretty perverse (when you don't have a big sports scene and you're not in the ivy league, what do you have to cheer for?). Your husband and daughter got the joke. There are other funny/off-color t-shirts wandering around.</p>
<p>from the OP:
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I want to pursue biology or engineering as a major, and biotechnology/bioengineering as a career path...which school offers better opportunites?
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</p>
<p>You do know there is NO engineering at Univ. of Chicago, right?</p>
<p>sadly...I did not =[ </p>
<p>I'm quite ignorant right now...that's why I'm doing research and posting on forums haha</p>
<p>that's funny though; I didn't know Chicago had such a notoriously academic image...makes me think twice about going there. I probably wouldn't do so well......</p>
<p>In one aspect, I see it as a great way to work with other peers at my level. But, I would probably die without fun, and I'm not sure if Chicago's social environment is fit for me.</p>
<p>You'll be able to find parties, no doubt, and you'll have fun. You just might not like the nerdy-ish buzz that surrounds everything.</p>
<p>This is why you'll really need to visit to see if you jibe with the vibes.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Northwestern isn't actually in Chicago, but rather, Evanston (a northern suburb). From the impressions I've gotten from Evanston, there's not as much of a college town feel in the immediate area, but the city is only a short train ride away. NU is also right on Lake Michigan - beautiful!
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<p>
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I will agree with elsijfdl that Evanston is a good location for college students, and it is a fairly large town, but most students prefer to venture into the city for entertainment.
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<p>Evanston isn’t the typical suburb and isn’t exactly a “town” – with a pretty significant downtown business district (with a few “skyscrapers”) and a pop. of about 75,000, Evanston is actually a small city.</p>
<p>While Evanston has its fair share of the typical businesses/eateries which cater to students, due to its pop. base, Evanston also has some things that one doesn’t find in a typical “college town”, including some really fab restaurants.</p>