<p>ahhh can anyone give me some advice? i haven't sent in my deposit yet</p>
<p>i'm planning on majoring in econ</p>
<p>i'm leaning towards columbia/williams because the stories i've heard about how difficult uchicago is are pretty intimidating and because it's a little too far for me (i live in NY)</p>
<p>I can only speak on behalf of Chicago here, but I encourage you to do a search or look at my (or corranged's) posting histories to see what we think about how intimidating this school is.</p>
<p>You have a lot of fantastic schools to choose from, and I don't think that there's a "wrong" choice. Some people will probably point you towards Chicago because they associate us with econ, but I would say that first, your major is likely to change, and second, you have to accept Chicago as a package deal. You can't just carve out the economics department and pretend you attend another school.</p>
<p>The work is hard, but it's what one should expect, meaning that it's hard, but it's within reason. (A statistic to back me up: students are asked, when they fill out course evals that get posted online, whether the grading of the course was fair and the demands of the course reasonable. Students RARELY say no). </p>
<p>You will probably be working pretty hard, but you'll have time for a social life. There's a huge difference between working hard and not having time for other things and working hard and having time for other things. Also, the earlier you can dispose of the notion that you have to get all A's, or tie your self-esteem to grades, the better off you'll be, because some of them probably won't be as high as you'd like them to be.</p>
<p>A lot of people (including myself) shuttle back and forth between Chicago and the east coast, so visiting home for a weekend is feasible. Once you're at college, you won't WANT to go home, and my friend whose house is closer to campus than his dorm (his dad works here) doesn't see his parents more than I do.</p>
<p>congrats these are great choices! columbia's core is by no means easy either and my two cents is that if you are really keen on econ, you'll kick yourself if you're reading works by chicago profs in your classes at any of those other fine institutions. myerson, who won the nobel prize this year, was teaching Chicago undergrads at the time. in terms of distance, if you are able to fly and you're near NYC, weekends home are easy with flights every 30 min from daybreak to late at night. good luck with your decision!</p>
<p>I don't think Georgetown is in the same class as your other choices. If you live in NY and Chicago is too far than I would opt for Columbia. Do not fear the core at any place, there are so many options it is not as constricting or as difficult as people make it seem. As for any one school being harder than the other....haha...my friend you aren't talking party school central with your choices. So I would actually just get used to the idea that you are going to get your brains blown out anywhere you go, but hey that's what college is all about. My choice here----as much as I love Chicago. I have to say Columbia.</p>
<p>Dropping Georgetown is seconded unless you are adamant about working in politics and hence would be aided by the perpetual internship opportunities over four years. Generally, a very weak economics department in an institution whose status as a prominent school is in decline. </p>
<p>Williams has the best economics department as far as LACs go hands down, but of course you have to live in the mountains, which in my book is a pretty big negative. </p>
<p>Columbia and UChicago for undergraduate economics will pretty much offer you the same fare. I would more so decide on other factors.</p>
<p>do NOT drop georgetown just because of the reasons provided above. esp if you were accepted into McDonough School of Business, and not just the college. georegtown’s econ/business might not be ranked as high as chicago and columbia but that is mostly just because of a lack of funding in previous years. recently, they were heavily endowed by a middle eastern prince (an alumni) so funding is no longer a problem. they even have a brand new business building. its awesome. also, georgetown’s undergrad business program had the highest average starting salary for last year’s graduates. and in terms of job placement, its right up there with columbia and uchicago (maybe even better than chicago). thats because alot of wall street companies have an office in DC and they love to recruit from georgetown. thats my 2cents. you have some great choices. good luck deciding!</p>
<p>LOL, I think OP ended up joining Williams 2 years ago.</p>