What’s in the water in Chicagoland? (Univ. of Chicago & Northwestern)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My favorite public figure by far, Gwynne Shotwell, is a double Northwestern alum. Terrific alumni all around!

My favorite is Daryl Morey

[Anonymous]

Honestly, wrt UoC I think the appeal is its focus on challenging academics and wrt Northwestern, it’s that the kids aren’t a-holes or grinds or chronically depressed. And both of these lures are implicit critiques of the Ivies. Both schools also benefit from the fact that Chicago is fun but manageable and gives you an urban experience if you want it, yet each campuses is a relatively self-contained enclave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve observed with increasing interest that the two main universities in the Chicago area, Northwestern and Univ. of Chicago have exploded both in popularity and general awareness but also seem to be climbing the rankings steadily. What are these colleges doing right? Niece is interested in both and a ton of her friends have either or both of those two schools on their wish-lists.

Nobody cares about either undergraduate college in real life, it’s just US News obsessed middle class strivers spamming message boards. And truth be told both campuses are not really in Chicago; NU is in a boring northern suburb and UC is 30 minutes south of downtown surrounded by a war zone.

This just sounds bitter and jealous

And not even true. U of C is a 10 minute drive from the Loop. With uber, the whole city is very close.

And "war zone?" Please. North of U of C is Bronzeville, a vibrant historically interesting neighborhood on the climb. South is Woodlawn/South Short, also historically black neighborhoods with increasingly interesting commercial outlets. There is violent crime on the south side, but I really hate the (often racist) hyperbole.

[Anonymous]

Be warned, OP, there are one or two DCUM people who post vitriol about Chicago/U of C/Northwestern every time they're mentioned. And then they call anyone else a "booster," harp on U of C's aggressive marketing, and derail any thread on the topic. See: this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve observed with increasing interest that the two main universities in the Chicago area, Northwestern and Univ. of Chicago have exploded both in popularity and general awareness but also seem to be climbing the rankings steadily. What are these colleges doing right? Niece is interested in both and a ton of her friends have either or both of those two schools on their wish-lists.

Nobody cares about either undergraduate college in real life, it’s just US News obsessed middle class strivers spamming message boards. And truth be told both campuses are not really in Chicago; NU is in a boring northern suburb and UC is 30 minutes south of downtown surrounded by a war zone.

This just sounds bitter and jealous

And not even true. U of C is a 10 minute drive from the Loop. With uber, the whole city is very close.

And "war zone?" Please. North of U of C is Bronzeville, a vibrant historically interesting neighborhood on the climb. South is Woodlawn/South Short, also historically black neighborhoods with increasingly interesting commercial outlets. There is violent crime on the south side, but I really hate the (often racist) hyperbole.

Totally agree that describing the South side as a war zone is racist hyperbole.

But it’s more like a 20 minute drive from campus to the Loop. DD routinely took buses/the L/Ubers to various places in the City and never had any problem either wrt safety or accessibility. She definitely experienced living in Chicago and Hyde Park was her neighborhood (not a suburb or a different city).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, wrt UoC I think the appeal is its focus on challenging academics and wrt Northwestern, it’s that the kids aren’t a-holes or grinds or chronically depressed. And both of these lures are implicit critiques of the Ivies. Both schools also benefit from the fact that Chicago is fun but manageable and gives you an urban experience if you want it, yet each campuses is a relatively self-contained enclave.

+1. In an era where outright elitism of the WASPy variety is slowly coming out of fashion/increasingly considered gauche, these schools are a compelling alternative while still being “elite” and prestigious.

[Anonymous]

UChicago as an institution has many achievements (and the marketing department to boot) but is grossly overhyped generally, and its alumni tend to be terribly insecure about their place in the world. I've had good experiences with Northwestern alumni.

[Anonymous]

El train, not L

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:El train, not L

They changed it
https://www.transitchicago.com/howto/riding-the-train/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UChicago as an institution has many achievements (and the marketing department to boot) but is grossly overhyped generally, and its alumni tend to be terribly insecure about their place in the world. I've had good experiences with Northwestern alumni.

They were just being polite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, wrt UoC I think the appeal is its focus on challenging academics and wrt Northwestern, it’s that the kids aren’t a-holes or grinds or chronically depressed. And both of these lures are implicit critiques of the Ivies. Both schools also benefit from the fact that Chicago is fun but manageable and gives you an urban experience if you want it, yet each campuses is a relatively self-contained enclave.

+1. In an era where outright elitism of the WASPy variety is slowly coming out of fashion/increasingly considered gauche, these schools are a compelling alternative while still being “elite” and prestigious.

+2. The general public still considers HYP to be the best schools, though Stanford has broken into this "holy trinity" in recent years due to the rise of Silicon Valley.

When it comes to Chicago, it's undeniable that the university as a whole is better than Princeton. A school with no professional grad schools shouldn't even be compared to a university like Chicago, which is one of the most comprehensive academic powerhouses out there. Yet no one has heard of Chicago and people still think that Princeton law school is #3 in the nation.

I hope there comes a time where the WASP elitism subsides to such a degree that the general public would assess these universities by their contributions to intellectual knowledge and positive impacts to humanity, not by how WASPy it is. Chicago never got a fair shot at this game because of its geographical location and not being a member of a certain athletic league. But from this forum it's obvious that this isn't going to happen any time soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UChicago as an institution has many achievements (and the marketing department to boot) but is grossly overhyped generally, and its alumni tend to be terribly insecure about their place in the world. I've had good experiences with Northwestern alumni.

They were just being polite.

Pardon? You think trolling anonymous internet boards aggressively touting the school and spamming DCUM with ranking lists that favor UCHicago is "being polite"? You think loudly proclaiming that "UChicago is the new Harvard" and insulting anyone who might disagree with you is polite behavior?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UChicago as an institution has many achievements (and the marketing department to boot) but is grossly overhyped generally, and its alumni tend to be terribly insecure about their place in the world. I've had good experiences with Northwestern alumni.

They were just being polite.

Pardon? You think trolling anonymous internet boards aggressively touting the school and spamming DCUM with ranking lists that favor UCHicago is "being polite"? You think loudly proclaiming that "UChicago is the new Harvard" and insulting anyone who might disagree with you is polite behavior?

They = Northwestern alumni.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve observed with increasing interest that the two main universities in the Chicago area, Northwestern and Univ. of Chicago have exploded both in popularity and general awareness but also seem to be climbing the rankings steadily. What are these colleges doing right? Niece is interested in both and a ton of her friends have either or both of those two schools on their wish-lists.

It's been like this for decades. You're just caring now because it indirectly affects you

[Anonymous]

UChicago alums are some of the most insecure and exhibit troll-like behavior. Hard pass