Dartmouth or UChicago?
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Anonymous
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Finalizing RD list for DC and we want to include only one of the two because the list already has a few elites. Could people talk about both, like pros and cons etc?
Intended major: Economics with a goal of working in business/wall street |
Anonymous
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Grad school- UChicago
Business/wall street- Dartmouth Both will get you to the other end as well, those are just the usual trajectories for students at these two They are extremely, extremely different culturally. Almost polar opposites. One is a world-class research U located in a major metropolitan area, the other is an undergrad focused Ivy in a rural backdrop. Dartmouth is pretty pre-professional whereas Chicago is intellectual. I think your child should readily identify what he or she prefers among them. |
Anonymous
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I agree with above UChicago has the stronger Econ department but Dartmouth will position you better for a business career out of undergrad.
Of course either will get you anywhere you want, these are top places. However they very different schools. I cant imagine of a person who could be equally happy at both. |
Anonymous
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Would they apply ED to UChicago? It's kind of a waste otherwise. They overenrolled their class this year by almost 150 students and took less than 2% of RD students, and they also reserve spots for the gap year z-list which will cut down the slots available.
Dartmouth would actually be attainable with its 9-10% acceptance rate. |
Anonymous
| ^^yes unless you are doing ED, Chicago will be practically not worth your time. The RD rate at Dartmouth is like 8-9%, it is much more attainable. Chicago apparently admits over 75% of the class early. Plus for a career on wall street Dartmouth undergrad makes more sense. |
Anonymous
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I can only speak to UChicago
Pro's: - The CORE reinforces graduation with a complete education. Academics are superb. - Friendly cooperative campus atmosphere both academically and socially. The rigor encourages kids to work together. All kids are welcome to parties and here is a great deal of inclusion, tolerance for all types. Kids are very interesting and like to do a lot of interesting things. - Small classes even as freshmen, professors who encourage active discourse and expect the kids in class. You will emarge a good writer. - Gorgeous, well maintained housng and good dining hall food. The campus is beautiful, green and suburban yet only 20 minutes from the city. Very outdoorsy lifestyle despite the reputation for cold. The last few winters have been very mild. Beach on campus. - One of the largest career counseling offices in the country. More research positions than there are kids (including plenty of economic research opportunities. A plentitude of internship opportunities and slots for on campus interviewing. - Playing sports is accessible to all interested - The city of Chicago...food, music, theater, museums, architecture...U Chicago students have free or discounted passes to most everything. Less focus on heavy drinking culture. There's a lot else to do. - The quarter system...conducive to making a quarter as relatively easy or challenging as desired. Double or even triple majorig is possible. - They are growing a small very focused AI and systems computer science department into a world class one with the addition of most of Berkeley's modern computing professors this year. This is a very important development. They are pushing interdepartmental research as disciplines like economics are increasingly big data driven. UChicago already has a tremendous amount of computing power via the national labs that they manage. - Hospital on campus (laugh but it comes in very handy) - Hyde Park is gentrifying at a fast pace. Presence of both UChicago police and city of chicago police makes it one of the safer campuses despite Chicago's reputation in the news. Con: - The sports aren't very good but then again I don't think anyone cares as they're having fun. - The rigor is tough, rewarding but tough. - Quarter system..very fast paced, so there is always an upcoming test. |
Anonymous
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Econ PhD track - Uchicago
Wall Street career - Dartmouth Most kids interested in a Wall Street career tend to be more on the pre-professional than the intellectual side so Dartmouth would also be a better cultural fit |
Anonymous
| Northwestern |
Anonymous
+1000 Don't waste your time applying to Chicago RD. They have multiple rounds of ED designed to drive down acceptance rate and to make themselves appear more selective. |
Anonymous
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Last year was the first year that UChicago had changed up from years of EA/RD only to multiple early options so there was an element of experimental about it.. I think it would be short sighted to assume the school will handle their admissions exactly the same without tweaks. Many posters have criticized the school for changing it up, ignoring the fact that other elite schools have limited student options for years. For our family, having multiple early options served us well. There's nothing pretty about RD in today's environment.
In terms of the pre-professional, the Wall Street interest in UChicago candidates has always been right up there with the most elite Ivies and now that is further bolstered by their increased reach to larger numbers of students bent on business/Wallstreet. Of importance is that it is easy to pick up internships locally right in the city. If your kid is not already hooked into Wallstreet via family connections, that will be a key resume builder. Also, keep in mind too that kids will experiment with direction once they hit college and expand their horizons. One of the attractions of UChicago is that their academic areas are strong across the board. Many of the brightest student minds on campuses across the nation are increasingly tempted by the tech and entrepreneurship directions. If you haven't visited both, I would recommend doing so. |
Anonymous
| Play or work? If he is extremely smart and has top-notch math skills, the argument could be made for UChicago. And I think a PP has made it well. Otherwise Dartmouth gets him where he wants to go with less effort. If he’s truly indifferent and they are both RD apps, then Dartmouth. UChicago app is pretty demanding and odds of RD admission were minuscule last year. |
Anonymous
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WS? Ugh
It’s one thing when people go to WS because they can’t think of anything better to do but it’s kind of gross to see teens planning for it and parents encouraging it. And this is coming from someone whose H worked on WS for a long time btw. It’s not a nice or pleasant industry. |
Anonymous
+1000 |
Anonymous
| Dartmouth is a far, far more enjoyable place to spend four years than Chicago. Your child will have a real life and a real college experience there. The alumni network for Dartmouth also is very real, and very strong. I would find it to be an easy choice. |
Anonymous
| UChicago in a heartbeat both for undergrad and business school. |