<p>My son was accepted to Northwestern, Georgetown, Davidson, and Washington and Lee among others, but it is narrowed down to these. His intended major is Economics and/or political science or international Econ. He will certainly like to attend a top law school or grad school upon completion. Price is a consideration. W/L is the least expensive (15k), followed by Davidson (18k), NW (24k), then Gtown (28k). They are all great schools. I know NW has a great Econ program and Gtown has an International Econ program. If the goal is to get into a top law/grad school, is NW or Gtown an automatic? If so, which one? We like all four, so which gives him the greatest opportunities?</p>
<p>I would say Gtown and W&L since they are the closest/have the most connections with DC. I get the feeling that they are also slightly more prestigious than the other 2, if you are looking for that, but all very good schools. Not sure about the other 3 but W&L has a law school so your son may have more opportunities in undergrad to get a glimpse of the law school. It’s right on campus, secluded, but Lexington and W&L seems to be a very tightly knit community.</p>
<p>^Northwestern has the best rep in academics. The econ is top-notch. The College Fed Challenge team won the most number of national championships. But as far as getting into top law school goes, there’s probably no difference between NU and GW for someone with the same stats.</p>
<p>Your son can get into a top law or grad school from any of these schools. As you said, they are all great schools. The two universities probably have a greater variety of opportunities than the LACs due to their relative size, but the question is will each of them have sufficient opportunities for his interests. If the cost differences are significant for you, then I would not dismiss the LACs. Has your son visited all four? They are certainly different from each other and I would expect that he has some preferences. Good luck!</p>