What are the pros and cons of each of these schools: University of Chicago, Northwestern University, University of Michigan, Washington University in St. Louis?
How are the academics? Is the competitive environment overwhelming? How is the campus/dorms/food/etc? Social life? Spirit? Sports? Diversity? Overall, which one is best?
I was accepted to Wash U and U Chicago and the choice was not very difficult for me.
Wash U has incredible amenities (amazing dorms, beautiful campus, great food) and overall the campus has a great feel. If you’re looking to do engineering or pre med, it’s most certainly top tier. They also have a great business school. I’ve heard differing opinions on how cutthroat academics can be there, but I know some rankings have named it one of the most stressful colleges to go to (https://m.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2012/08/07/washington-university-named-countrys-most-stressful-college). That’s from 2012, and rankings as a whole are far from definitive. Wash U has a vibrant Greek life system, with no shortage of parties. They’re one of the more dominant D3 athletic programs with their fair share of national championships. Diversity is where I really fault Wash U. The median parent income there is $272,000 !!! That is the highest in the country by a lot ! It seems to me like the school is content to fill its classes with the children of the rich who don’t quite make it into the ivies. They have over 3 times as many students from the top 1% than from the entire bottom 60%!!! That being said, Wash U is still a top tier research university with a very bright and engaged student population. I was disappointed by their failure to build an economically diverse class and did not end up choosing Wash U, for this and a few more reasons. It’s still definitely worth a visit! The words of your tour guide, and, more importantly, the words of current students not involved in admissions would be far more valuable than what I have to say.
On your list I think U Chicago is a pretty clear number 1! (needless to say, I’m biased) The academics are top tier, with the worlds most influential economics department, great social sciences and humanities, and well renowned sciences too. It is widely considered one of the most difficult colleges. I had a current student at an admitted student overnight say to me “Don’t come here if you’re not ready to work your ass off pretty much every day for four years.” The consensus form current students that I’ve heard is that the academics are so hard that there’s a certain “we’re all in this together” mindset that encourages collaboration rather than cutthroat competition. But once again, I’m not a current student yet! Visit campus, talk to students !! This helped me a lot in seeing U Chicago as my clear number 1. I was looking for a college that would not only challenge me but would stimulate me intellectually and everything I heard from current students made me more and more confident that U Chicago had what I was looking for. I’m still not quite sure what I want to do, and I plan to take advantage of the Core to help me with this. That is what I’m most excited for: Getting to know a lot of things about a lot of different things. So if you haven’t known you’ve wanted to be a astrophysicist since you were 10, then U Chicago is a great place to figure out what you want to do.
Also, if you think you might want to do engineering, don’t come here!! (unless you’re looking to engineer some molecules)
The amenities are fine. The dorms are good enough and the food is above average for dining hall food (in my experience). The dorms and food aren’t a reason to go here, but they’re certainly not a reason to not go. The campus is freaking gorgeous. The pictures don’t do it justice and just being there has always instilled in me a sense of awe and excitement.
While perhaps outdated (because of the introduction of ED), the Upshot has U Chicago as one of the most economically diverse elite universities. Financial aid is excellent and was another big reason I chose U Chicago over Wash U. There are a million different RSOs (recognized student organizations) for every single diverse group you can think of. It’s certainly a diverse student population, but I know there was some unrest recently because a lot of urm students believe the administration does not do an adequate job creating a safe environment on campus (sparked by an offensive frat party theme). On paper it’s certainly a diverse school. Does the school do enough to accommodate these students? I’m sure the answer to that depends on who you ask.
And the school has sports.
If you want to go a big research university and get a big school college experience with some exciting football games go to Michigan.
And if you want to go to an elite school in Chicago that doesn’t have a personality go to Northwestern.
Lastly, I’ll reiterate that you should take 100% of the above with a grain of salt. I’m a U Chicago prematriculant and probably know more about college apps than actual college life. If you can, tour all of them, talk to students that aren’t working for admissions, ask them tough questions (maybe send your parents away), and figure out what’s best for you! There’s not just 1 school that you’ll be happy at because colleges are way more similar to each other than they are different. It’s ok to have a dream school but don’t get too smitten. If you have any other questions, hit me up. I hope some people with more knowledge than I will hit up this thread too.
@elmejor21 thank you so much for your detailed response! Just wondering but what were you stats to get into WashU & UChicago?
@joconer My whole thing is on the RD results page for class of 2021 on both threads. Briefly though, 34 ACT, 4.22 GPA (valedictorian), decent ECs, and some bomb essays.
All are top-notch schools. One thing about UMich is that OOS tuition rivals that of private schools. Something to consider when you are thinking about your prospective major. We know kids who have opted for this because the engineering or nursing or business program is top-notch, but if you are pursuing liberal arts then I’m not sure that UMichigan is a better place than your other choices.
My kid is starting at UChicago this fall and my spouse and I are alums of some of their graduate schools so we are biased. We’ve never visited WUSTL but have been on the NU campus many times and know the place pretty well. My daughter applied to both but pulled her NU application before knowing whether she was admitted just due to the fact that she was accepted EDII at UChicago. The two are very different, although both are excellent academically and in terms of reputation. The kids who are attracted to UChicago really do love this “Life of the Mind” stuff. It’s not just a marketing pitch - it’s real. They tend to be really into their course work and what they are learning, and they discuss and debate what they are learning outside the classroom as much as within. Another difference, which has already been mentioned, is that NU has degree programs that UChicago simply doesn’t offer (journalism, music, performing arts, engineering, etc.), so if you are interested in anything other than a liberal arts experience, you will probably not want to consider UChicago. Finally, UChicago has the (in)famous Core Sequence which distinguishes it even among the liberal arts colleges.
You should visit all the schools on your list so you can get to know these differences yourself and figure out which one seems right for you.
Building on some of what elmejor21 has said one of the things I would argue that UChicago does better than anyone is to place you in an diverse urban environment that is physically safe. For someone like me, who has lived outside the city for a while now, it is striking to walk around Hyde Park and to see how so many racial, cultural, and economic groups mingle, if not in harmony, at least in a state where these factors are not the focus of their existence. In other words, people of all types go about their business and pretty much get along. I have always noted–to myself, to friends, and I believe even on this board–that Hyde Park is a neighborhood that functions as I wish all neighborhoods did. I say that Hyde Park is an urban neighborhood that works. I admit I see things through slightly rose colored glasses, but nothing I’ve seen or experienced during the 4+ years I’ve been going to Hyde Park has changed this view. Oh, and last time I was there (for the graduation convocation), I noticed that they are starting to do soil stability testing in Jackson Park (off Stony Brook) for the Obama library. So there’s that.
Best of luck to you joconer in the journey you are starting. All the schools you mentioned are excellent.
FYI, physics is considered top-10 but not chemistry or biology. As for “most influential economics department”, perhaps it is by certain measure. But per this site, UChicago is not really a top-5 program for aspiring PhDs:
https://www.econjobrumors.com/topic/whats-going-on-with-uchicago/page/4 The mentoring is poor compared to other top programs and one has to wonder about the quality of teaching. UChicago is a top school but it is not as great across the board as you might think.
I notice this sort of passive aggressive attack on Northwestern among certain UChicago folks all the time. It’s just unnecessary.
@IWannaHelp- seriously- you are basing your own “passive aggressive” attack based on some dated obscure site comments!!
One of my son’s deciding factors was the mentoring and career development programs alongside the many attributes discussed above.
Yikes NU with no personality? That’s silly. As mentioned above, the student body is more diverse in its interests than Chicago. With music, theater and journalism majors in the mix, NU’s “feel” is different and, if you ask me, more interesting. I was an econ/poli sci major at NU years ago and learned so much from my music and theater major friends. It’s really great to meet people who are outstanding students as well as stars when it comes to the arts. And they were so much FUN to be around! Add athletics to the picture and I think NU has the whole package.
Certainly, my classes were “intellectual” and the kids I met were very bright. Class size could be a little bigger at the start (my biggest class was around 150 kids) but my classes junior and senior year were no bigger than 40 and many were under 15.
While I love Chicago’s campus, it always feels a little closed in. Our S19 didn’t like it because he felt like he couldn’t just take off to go for a run and worried it would be unsafe. At NU, you can run along the lake all of the way down to Chicago or north to take in the beautiful suburbs. And NU has beaches that, believe it or not, students take advantage of in the spring. Some springs are very warm and school doesn’t let out until June.
I like (and value) everything you’ve mentioned about Northwestern, but, FWIW, my D19 runs along the lake near Hyde Park w/o feeling unsafe and her class sizes at UChicago first year were more like yours (and mine, elsewhere) during junior/senior year. She has really enjoyed the student arts programs/performances she’s attended at UChicago and was attracted by the fact that there were lower barriers to entry in sports/arts at UChicago and more flexibility. She didn’t feel that she had to give up long-standing interests/pleasures if she didn’t want to major in arts or compete in NCAA-level sports.
@exacademic I agree with the barriers to entry. Good point. I still feel like NU’s campus is more green (if that’s important to a student). I will say, though, that I’m still friends with some pretty famous people! The journalism school and theater school graduated many kids in my year who you would know.
We just toured Chicago and drove out from the western suburbs. Drove through Garfield Park on the way in and it spooked S19. One other thing we felt was missing was a town. S19 looking for a college town with restaurants and hang out places. We couldn’t even figure out where to get lunch on Chicago’s campus. The strip of fast food restaurants were six/seven blocks away and not all that interesting. We ended up at a little cafe near the Booth building. It was lovely but tucked away all by itself. 
You’re right about “tucked away!” I live in a major city but really envy my D’s access to cafes. At UChicago, there are a number of good ones, but they all seem to be hidden in buildings devoted to other things. So, from the outside, it’s kind of hard to “read” what’s available. I’m guessing you found Plein Air (the cafe next to the Seminary Co-op bookstore). That’s my fave (now that Fabiana’s has moved to 53rd, closer to the lake), but D also makes the rounds between Harper, Hallowed Grounds, Grounds of Being, Cobb, and Logan, with the occasional trip to Dollop (located on the ground floor of her dorm). And her regular stops don’t exhaust all the available options, which are generally located in classroom buildings, churches, libraries, museums, and other arts/cultural spaces. These cafes are cheaper (except Dollop), tastier, have longer hours (in some cases), and are generally better places to read/work than the local Starbucks.
Movies are kind of a similar situation. No cineplex, but with docfilms on campus there’s always something different to watch. And IIRC, it’s $5 a show or $30/quarter for unlimited admissions (with programming seven nights a week and lots of double features).
Hyde Park restaurants and food trucks serve D well enough when she just wants a break from cafeteria food, but if she wants a night out or a foodie adventure, she heads into the city (which, frankly, is what’d she’d do if she lived in Evanston as well). She really like Blind Faith, but that would be more a visiting-relatives-take-you-out venue for her (cf The Promontory in HP) than a going-out-with-friends place.
For all those who weren’t a fan of my “NU has no personality” comment, I didn’t really mean anything by it. I think it’s just fun to have a little in town rivalary. I don’t know enough about NU to offer anything substanative, so I went for a slight jab instead. I think OP is smart enough to not base his/her college decision off of that.
I’ve told this story before, but I’ll tell it again. In her first job after college, my daughter met a guy who could have been her twin. They had never met before, but they grew up about three miles apart and turned out to have dozens of acquaintances in common, They both spent the summer before their high school senior year in the same ultra-competitive governor’s school, but in different sub-programs. They were both English majors with very similar interests in 20th Century modernism. They were both more or less hipsters. They both were excellent students at top-quality public high schools, he suburban and she urban, although most of her college attitudes were formed at the very academic private school she attended through 10th grade. Chicago was very popular there.
He went to Northwestern, and never considered applying to Chicago because he had heard it was no fun and full of weirdos. She went to Chicago, and never considered applying to Northwestern because she thought it was unintellectual, fratty, and not especially prestigious. (In her defense, when she was a high school senior a cousin who was then a senior at Northwestern told her that choosing Northwestern was the worst decision the cousin had ever made, and that my daughter should by no means apply there. The cousin said if she had to do it over again, she would only apply to Chicago.)
Anyway, both of them loved their respective college experiences, and never imagined that they might have loved the college they didn’t apply to half as much. But if somehow they had switched places, I doubt either would have been unhappy.
I know several people who have had great experiences at WashU, too. Some good friends have a child who graduated from WashU a few years ago and another child who is a fourth year at Chicago, and both children have had great college experiences. The WashU kid was definitely more social (but also strong academically, and is entering medical school this fall); the Chicago kid more analytical and intellectual and math-y. It was easy for each to find his or her “people” at their respective colleges, but also plenty easy to find other people just like their sibling.
Enjoyed all of the comments. Our student looked at Chicago, Northwestern and Wash U and decided on the latter. Absolutely loves it there. I grew up in Evanston so am pretty knowledgeable of that area. JHS is spot on – each school has its own vibe that will either appeal or dissuade potential students. Student loves St. Louis and has really embraced the city and its neighborhoods (like Chicago). Wash U recognizes that it needs to improve the economic diversity of the school and is taking steps to do so. It will take time, but I think they are moving in the right direction. Best of luck to you all.
Putting in a plug for Blaze Pizza in Evanston. Great pizza. Of course, HP has Giordano’s.