<p>I got admitted to UChicago EA and am considering applying to Northwestern and Wash U RD. Should I bother apply to either of these schools, or is UChicago better then both of them. My major is largely undecided, but I am definitely more interested in the realm of math and science over the realm of english and history. Based on education, reputation, social life, job prospects, etc, which is better.</p>
<p>Based on education, reputation, and job prospects, Chicago beats Northwestern and WashU by a significant margin, especially for math and science. For social life, I’m sure Northwestern can claim superiority, but not by as much as is often emphasized. </p>
<p>All in all, there’s really no reason to apply to NU or WashU if you already got into Chicago.</p>
<p>thanks. maybe i won’t apply elsewhere</p>
<p>If you want to go to those schools and would be happy at them, then you should apply; if not, then don’t.</p>
<p>I initially had all 3 schools on my list. I was admitted to Chicago and decided to remove Northwestern but keep WashU.</p>
<p>The reasons I kept WashU:
- WashU students seem happier
- WashU has a stronger pre med program
- WashU is in a nice part of St. Louis.
- I used to live in St. Louis and loved it.
- It’s warmer!</p>
<p>The reasons I removed Northwestern:
- My friend is applying there and was worried about my competition in the applicant pool. Basically a favor. Not the most convincing reason haha.
- It’s D1 while WashU and Chicago are D3. Most people would view this as a positive for NU, but I am a runner and would like to compete in college, which would be possible at WashU and Chicago but not at NU.</p>
<p>I found the US News interviews pretty interesting for UChicago. I haven’t watched the WashU or NU ones.
[University</a> of Chicago | Videos | Best College | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/university-of-chicago-1774/video]University”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/university-of-chicago-1774/video)
[Washington</a> University in St. Louis | Videos | Best College | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/washington-university-st-louis-2520/video]Washington”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/washington-university-st-louis-2520/video)
[Northwestern</a> University | Videos | Best College | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/northwestern-1739/video]Northwestern”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/northwestern-1739/video)</p>
<p>My impressions from watching the UChicago interviews on US News:
- John H. does not seem very happy with his college experience. He says he is “sacrificing” fun in college so he can have more “rewarding fun” as an adult. He is an econ major.
- Sean C. readily embraces and attempts to project the intellectual image of Chicago, but it seems very affected and artificial.
- Brian Y., Jake B., Rob C., and Brandon L. all seem to be enjoying their experiences very much.</p>
<p>Chicago does not have engineering. The other two do if you decide on an engineering major.</p>
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<p>not so fast. Why not apply anyway? You may get better financial package. Besides, I am always in favor of creating more options, not fewer. If you get accepted into either of these two schools, it allows you to have more thoughtful decision making process with more input and data.</p>
<p>I am saying this as a parent of a current U Chicago student who is deliriously happy at U Chicago.</p>
<p>There is a reason U of C makes its EA non-binding - to allows students like you to make the most informed decision possible. From an academic standpoint Northwestern in general is about its great grad schools. It does provide more of the “big ollege” experience than U of C. The joke about U of C was (is) that the most popular place on campus on a Saturday night is the Reg (library). U of C thrives on this quirkiness, but it is not for everyone. My impression of Wash U. is that it is much closer to U of C than Northwestern. So take advantage of what you have been given and apply to the other schools. You would not have asked the question without a nagging bit of interest in the other schools.</p>
<p>If you have the time, there’s no harm in applying to all three. Of the three, though, UChicago is the highest ranked (not that it means that much).</p>
<p>Apply to all three, unless you could easily see yourself turning down one for Chicago. You don’t know what kind of financial aid you’ll get (if applicable), and the exact type of college experience you’ll want in a few months could easily change enough to tip the balance.</p>
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<p>While Chicago can claim superiority in physics and math, its chemistry is ranked lower than Northwestern (which isn’t a bad thing since Northwestern is a powerhouse in chemistry these days). </p>
<p>I disagree with what you said about job prospect. For example, according to the web sites of the top-3 management consulting firms, NU seems to be more heavily recruited. I am sure Chicago is favored by some other top firms. The point is all three are peers after all; let’s not exaggerate the minor differences.</p>
<p>Don’t throw away your life by going to Northwestern! LOL!</p>
<p>It’s nice of people on the UChicago Forum to be so evenhanded about the other schools, but let us not also forget UChicago’s distinctive culture. It is a notch above those other schools academically and climbing faster than any other school in the country.</p>
<p>Northwestern has more undergraduates than UChicago so to really know the job recruiting situation, you would have to know how many people applied to a particular company from each school, not just how many work there, etc., etc.</p>
<p>Actually UChicago does surprisingly well business wise for a place that often forgets that the ‘real’ world (anything outside Hyde Park) exists. More billionaires than Northwestern, for instance:</p>
<p>[In</a> Pictures: Billionaire Universities - 6. University of Chicago - Forbes.com](<a href=“http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/11/harvard-stanford-columbia-business-billionaires-universities_slide_7.html]In”>In Pictures: Billionaire Universities)</p>
<p>The OP should absolutely apply to Wash U and NU, because, as others have said before, more options are better than fewer options (especially when financial aid can come into play).</p>
<p>Also, regarding all the talk about job prospects from these three schools, it’s probably quite comparable, and depends much more on an individual student’s performance rather than anything else. All these three schools are recognized as being tops in the midwest, and they are all probably a step behind places like Columbia, Duke, etc. in the traditional job recruitment game. </p>
<p>Go with the best fit and, if anything, cast your net wide for RD - apply to some of Chicago’s other peer schools with demonstrably better job placement if that concerns you (i.e. Yale, Stanford, etc.).</p>