<p>Chicago is renowned for its program in Economics but I've heard that Williams has a really strong economics department as well and I like the close-knit community that it offers. Any insights into this guys? thanks!</p>
<p>come on guys, you must have something to say about this!</p>
<p>Personally I feel that the Chicago program is VERY overrated, especially for undergraduate education. The idea that Chicago has a strong Econs program stems from the many Nobel laureates that they have, or have had among their faculty... What is less often noted is that many of these faculty were actually recruited after winning their prizes, or after writing the papers that would eventually win them these prizes. Furthermore, as an undergrad, you will hardly have a chance to interact with these esteemed researchers, who, as a side note, might not be good teachers at all.</p>
<p>That said, Chicago is by no means a shoddy school to read Economics, but as an undergrad, Williams is to me, the hands-down choice.</p>
<p>Ps. my best friend is heading to Chicago (yes, econs major), while i'm planning on majoring in econs at Bills. We'll see how things go :)</p>
<p>Pps. Welcome to the prospective Class of 2011! I was accepted to the Class of 2009 but had to defer admission to complete military service. And finally, its time for the people i'll be going to school with to apply :) Just PM me if you think I can be of any help. Go Williams! :D</p>
<p>Wow! sixsixty, sounds like you're really enthusiastic about attending Williams! Which country are you from? I didn't know that Williams would actually let you defer for two years... Anyway, I hope I'll get to meet you at Williams although chances are not that big right now since I'm still being waitlisted... Wish me luck! & thanks for the reply btw!! =)</p>
<p>Not to discourage anybody from choosing Williams, but the U of C's econ. department is not over-rated. I can't speak for Williams, but I can offer a kind response to sixsixty:</p>
<p>a)The real reason that the University of Chicago's economics program is held in such high esteem is that it is more rigorously quantitative than most other programs. The nobel laureates are talked about a lot, but where it really matters (people hiring at big firms, graduate schools), people recognize that the U of C program, regardless of who won what award, prepares students well.</p>
<p>b)There is a lot of interaction with esteemed researches. Besides the fact that many of them teach classes (Fogel and Becker, two nobel laureates, teach classes available to upper level undergrads), it's not hard to approach a faculty member with a research idea/offer to assist in research.</p>
<p>Finally, yes, many U of C nobel laureates in econ are only tied loosely to the U of C, but there is a core group that Chicago really deserves credit for, and those economists really define the quantitative approach to economics.</p>
<p>There is a reason that Chicago has a school of economic thought named after it. It is GOOD.</p>
<p>I also remember reading, though I could be wrong, that chicago students can enroll in many grad classes. Besides, who wouldn't want to be taught by the man who wrote Freakenomics.</p>
<p>You couldn't really go wrong either way obviously, but Chicago is the better choice for Economics.</p>
<p>Chicago Econ....enough said</p>
<p>yeah, if you're really into monetarism and neoclassical price theory.</p>
<p>Chicago...</p>
<p>to echo sixsixty... UChicago's econ department is pretty damn conservative as well, another thing to keep in mind.</p>