Northwestern is the most nationally recognized/prestigious of those three largely because the Chicago/Midwest has been a power center in the US for a long time compared to the South.

Vanderbilt/WashU's rise is more attributable to US News rankings. They were always strong regional schools but not as nationally recognized as Northwestern.

All three are outstanding universities.

WashUStL has a nice campus in a nice part of St. Louis, but St. Louis is not a nice city overall.

Vanderbilt has a nice campus also, but it is divided by the hospital. Nashville is a fun city.

Northwestern's setting on the shore of Lake Michigan is beautiful & relaxing. Evanston is a nice city and Chicago is an amazing world-class city.(Northwestern also has a Chicago campus in a very upscale location (Lakeshore Drive) for the medical school and its law school.

The students at Northwestern seem a bit more driven, but it may appear that way due to the intensity of the quarter system for academics.

Really comes down to personal preference. WashUStL & Vanderbilt do give merit scholarship awards; Northwestern doesn't have to so NU awards just no-loans, need-based financial aid.

Weather is another aspect to consider. Vanderbilt has the most moderate weather among the three schools.

Northwestern is the most prestigious, followed by Vanderbilt, then Wash UStL.

Personal preference. Visit all three.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Econ major definitely Northwestern, not even a comparison.

No, but econ majors at Wash. U. do fine. Wash. U. has a lovely, kind, well-published economics department, and the students are really into the science of economics, not just going through the motions to get to Wall Street.

LMAO. What kind of benevolent fluff-piece pinkwashing propaganda is this?

Someone who wandered into majoring in economics and had a Fed member and a future Nobel Prize winner as professors, in small, pleasant, interesting classes.

The economics majors who wanted to go to grad school got in wherever they wanted to get in.

NP. Love it!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Econ major definitely Northwestern, not even a comparison.

No, but econ majors at Wash. U. do fine. Wash. U. has a lovely, kind, well-published economics department, and the students are really into the science of economics, not just going through the motions to get to Wall Street.

LMAO. What kind of benevolent fluff-piece pinkwashing propaganda is this?

Someone who wandered into majoring in economics and had a Fed member and a future Nobel Prize winner as professors, in small, pleasant, interesting classes.

The economics majors who wanted to go to grad school got in wherever they wanted to get in.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Econ major definitely Northwestern, not even a comparison.

No, but econ majors at Wash. U. do fine. Wash. U. has a lovely, kind, well-published economics department, and the students are really into the science of economics, not just going through the motions to get to Wall Street.

LMAO. What kind of benevolent fluff-piece pinkwashing propaganda is this?

Anonymous wrote:For Econ major definitely Northwestern, not even a comparison.

No, but econ majors at Wash. U. do fine. Wash. U. has a lovely, kind, well-published economics department, and the students are really into the science of economics, not just going through the motions to get to Wall Street.

Anonymous wrote:What if the comparison is Washu (full tuition), Northwestern or Vandy ?

Wash. U.

It has a great campus, a great reputation at grad schools and happy and kind professors.

Vanderbilt has a better party scene, but Wash. U. has parties, too.

Northwestern is a bit higher-ranked, but it also has a lot more bureaucracy and grouchiness.

Well, this is the exact college choice I faced as a midwestern HS senior in 1991. Chose Northwestern. It was definitely the best choice of those three. In retrospect actually wish I'd gone to a SLAC but I didn't know about them back then.

For Econ major definitely Northwestern, not even a comparison.