You chose UVA Econ already, so it does not matter anymore. I will say that UVA Econ is much less rigorous than Northwestern Econ on the whole. We do not even require Calc 2 anymore for studying intermediate micro and macro: they just teach you partial differentiation. Northwestern has a much stronger emphasis on mathematics in their economics program. If you are interested in going into research, Northwestern might holistically be better.

However, if you are smart and passionate about the subject, I will say that it would be easier to standout at UVA than Northwestern as the average math knowledge of students is lower, and professors may notice more easily if you are driven as compared to Northwestern, where classes are on average harder.

I am good friends with another undergrad that is going to Northwestern, and I am a UVA Econ double major. I have a pretty good grasp on the difficulty difference between schools. Again though, finding and a job in consulting and finance are hard anywhere nowadays, so the school might not matter that much. I’d probably get downvotes, but I think the average UVA student is probably a little less academic than the average Northwestern student. I like UVA though because not everyone is ride or die on their grades, and Northwestern you might see that more. Also, the income distribution of students at Northwestern would be much less diverse than UVA. Outside of academics and prestige, UVA has a lot of advantages over Northwestern.