<p>I'm still debating on whether to put these two on my list. I'm just worried about the work load that people seem to associate with the higher tier schools.</p>
<p>Between these two...</p>
<p>Which...</p>
<p>*is more Liberal?</p>
<p>*gives more merit/need aid. would leave me in the least amount of debt?</p>
<p>*is better for communications, languages?</p>
<p>*has the better campus?</p>
<p>Both are very similar politically.</p>
<p>Neither gives merit aid. You’ll be relying entirely on your need numbers.</p>
<p>Doubt if you’ll find a great difference in the quality of their communications/language programs.</p>
<p>I know both have a very nice campus. But there is a huge difference walking off campus from NW compared to UC. When you walk off campus at UC, it is not a very nice part of the city. Off campus from NW is an upscale area.</p>
<p>Go ahead and add each to your list. Take a trip to Chicago and visit both.</p>
<p>U of Chicago is better overall. I personally like Northwestern though. I don’t know much about U Chicago, but Northwestern has a good campus. It is known for journalism and I would pick it if you would want that. I’m not sure about communications though, good luck! Hope someone else can help you better, :)</p>
<p>PS- Northwestern is my number one choice, but I want to do journalism.</p>
<p>^^UChicago for sure. it’s just better man, enough said. it’s more well know in the us and internationally. i’m not sure about nw but chicago is known for its amazing academics. also it’s in chicago one of the most amazing cities ever. and don’t believe that crap about the bad part of town. that’s just code for “theres alot of black people” so the buildings don’t look as nice, that’s where the history is. the only time i would pick nw over chicago would be if i wanted to go into business, since chicago isn’t know for sending kids to get their MBAs. i may be wrong about that though</p>
<p>I would pick NU. I just think the workload would be so intense at Chicago, whereas in NU it would still be difficult but not overwhelming which would give you time for extracurriculars. In terms of which campus is better, IMHO NU is one of the most beautiful college campuses. I just really like the ivy growing on buildings feel. Northwestern is also very famous for Communications/Journalism, since 20% of students major in communications at NU. Also the sports at NU are better than UChicago’s. ( I don’t care about sports though.) I would say that overall UChicago’s academics are better.</p>
<p>even if you were to argue that uchicago is not in a bad part of town, the campus is still nothing compared to NU in terms of beauty, things to do, etc. (making a “better” campus).</p>
<p>on the same token, going off-campus from NU into evanston does not guarantee that you are in an upscale area. there are a lot of rough parts of evanston, don’t be fooled. but the area that NU is in is a fantastic college town.</p>
<p>hopefully i can come off as unbiased because i am still in high school and don’t plan to apply to either university, and i have been to both of these campuses/areas many times.</p>
<p>Ha, I am interested in the same thing. How do the students differ?</p>
<p>Chicago doesn’t offer communication as a major. Northwestern’s communication school is pretty renowned.</p>
<p>I know many who have gone to both schools, including my niece. I have visited both campuses. I am aware of Goldman Sachs summer interships and the competition at both schools and how the applicants from both schools fared one year. </p>
<p>Bottom line is that the schools are comparable academically, but very different in social style and environment…</p>
<p>You must visit! NU is about a 35 minute train ride from UC. You knock them both out in one day or one weekend.</p>
<p>I would go to Chicago only for Economics. Other than that, Northwestern all the way!</p>
<p>Which of the two is stronger academically?</p>
<p>^ Chicago. No Doubt.</p>
<p>Northwestern is better for frat parties. Chicago is better for studyin’.</p>
<p>DunninLA there is no need for that mess, but i guess it’s easy to be a jerk when you hide behind a computer. Act like the adult you say you are.</p>
<p>UChicago gives two types of scholarships: either $10K or full tuition (around $38k). Also for National Merit they give $2k if you qualify for FA or $1k if you don’t. All of the above are per year. They have need based FA, but your definition and their definition of need may differ greatly.</p>
<p>It is very hard to say categorically which of two elite universities is stronger academically at the undergraduate level. Probably the best available department by department assessment was performed by the National Research Council in 1995. Its rankings were for graduate departments, but these may have some bearing on undergraduate academic quality. According to that study, by my count 17 of Chicago’s departments ranked in the top 10, and 4 of Northwestern’s did. Of course, the relative strengths of some departments may have changed since 1995; even then, one of Northwestern’s departments (Art History) was ranked slightly higher than Chicago’s. </p>
<p>The 2 schools have similarly impressive stats for average class size (small) and SAT scores (very high). </p>
<p>Northwestern has pre-professional programs in fields such as journalism and engineering. Chicago does not. At the undergraduate level it is strictly a liberal arts college; it has one of the highest percentages of any school for graduating students who go on to earn Ph.D.s in the arts and sciences. But both schools have performed well as “feeder schools” for placement into top professional schools. A few years ago, the Wall Street Journal ranked Chicago #14 and Northwestern #21 for placements into a set of 15 elite law, medical, and business schools. I don’t believe the study has been repeated.</p>
<p>The are two respected, prestigious schools. Go visit both.</p>
<p>Accounts of the difficulty of Chicago have been greatly exaggerated, as has been discussed many times on the Chicago board. It’s worth noting that both run on the quarter system, which means courses can run a bit quicker than on a semester system.</p>
<p>
Northwestern capped loans at $20K for every student, and families making under $55K usually don’t have any loans.</p>
<p>Chicago eliminated loans for those making under $60K and halved loans for students making $60-75K under the new Odyssey program.</p>
<p>Northwestern would probably be more likely to have a generous financial aid package, but it’s difficult to say for sure. Chicago has long had notoriously bad financial aid for a top university, but they are working to improve that.</p>
<p>I find the comments here about Chicago being academically superior to NW to be just a little over the top.</p>
<p>This would be the same as saying Yale is academically superior to Princeton. It’s a comparison that makes no sense.</p>
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DunninLA there is no need for that mess, but i guess it’s easy to be a jerk when you hide behind a computer. Act like the adult you say you are.
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<p>Someone’s angry.</p>
<p>I don’t see how this statement:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>logically flows with this statement:</p>
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"This would be the same as saying Yale is academically superior to Princeton. It’s a comparison that makes no sense. "
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<p>At least Uchicago is ranked higher than Northwestern so those who claim that it is academically superior actually would have evidence stating that. Your analogy is flawed because No one can actually say Yale is academically superior to Princeton because Yale isn’t ranked higher and it is too close of a call. Get it?</p>