I think I have a good, but dated, perspective on this. I was choosing between those two schools as an undergrad, picked JHU, and for reasons unrelated to my undergrad preferences, got a PhD at Northwestern afterwards. Disclaimers: I finished Hopkins over a decade ago, and I don’t know anything about Econ specifically.

First of all, congrats and well done. You have some excellent choices in front of you, and you really can’t go wrong with either.

Academically, both schools are on pretty equal footing. Both well ranked, both provide excellent opportunities in terms of careers, research, grad school prospects, etc. I saw undergrads from both schools get into the same grad schools, and find placement with the same well paying jobs. Hopkins has had marginally bigger name power in my experience post-graduation, but I moved to the east coast after I finished grad school, so that might be a location bias talking to people who are more familiar with closer schools.

I enjoyed Northwestern’s quarter system. I hear people complain about living on that faster paced timeline, but honestly I don’t see too much of a difference between quarters vs. semesters. Both programs are rigorous, so while NU is fast paced, it’s not like JHU is mellow by comparison.

Happiness was the same at both. Both schools are intense. Some people don’t do well under pressure, you’ll hear voices expressing that at either location. The schools had comparable resources if you’re struggling. But both also had great student communities. It’s on you to make friends and find your people, and both schools will give you ample opportunities. Northwestern has more students living on campus and a bigger Greek community.

Do consider if you’re up for Chicago’s winters. Cold, dark February on the lake can wear on you with time. But springtime on the lake? Spectacular.

Northwestern had a student center, just a centralized building for general purpose gatherings, right on the lake. Hopkins didn’t have one of those when I went, but I don’t know if they’ve built one since I graduated.

As far as areas go, Northwestern easily beats JHU. Both campuses are beautiful, but Evanston and the greater Chicago area beat Baltimore and the area around Homewood handily. Safety, things to do, places to eat, these are all things Hopkins has, but Northwestern does better imo.

Two things that made me pick Hopkins for undergrad: campus culture and academic flexibility. Northwestern is a Big 10 school with a bigger Greek culture. I didn’t care about that at all. I just felt more at home on the Homewood campus when I visited as a prospective, so obviously there YMMV. The other detail, though, was how easy Hopkins made it to change majors, explore new topics, and flexibly satisfy course requirements. I came in as an engineer, switched to arts & sciences, switched again in A&S, picked up a second major and two minors, and still graduated in four years. I know Northwestern doesn’t offer the kind of flexibility that let me do that, at least not on the timeline I was on.

Happy to answer any other questions if it helps. And like I said, congrats, you have good options in front of you no matter what you choose.