Anyone know anything about University of Chicago?

[Anonymous]

If you are worried Chicago is a reach, then Columbia would be unattainable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I loved Chicago. But the school is rather Jewish.

Get lost.

Signed, a Christian

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:17:57 again. I forgot to ask - how are his writing skills? As you can guess from the essays, Chicago does spend a lot of time evaluating those.

Excellent! (I think, but I'm biased, ha) This is part of the reason we think Chicago is less of a reach for him than other schools, a lot of focus on personality and essays. I'm pretty sure he heard about the school by reading a list of "25 Strangest College Application Questions" or something and noticed how many were from Chicago, then decided to look into the school from how much he liked the essays. I'm pretty sure he's already started drafting out some possible questions for the "Write your own question" question. So I think this will work mostly to his benefit.

Anonymous wrote:I loved Chicago. But the school is rather Jewish.

We are Jewish! This is a plus...I would love it if he could have a well attended hillel and at least the option of kosher food. If this is what's stopping people from attending Chicago, I'm glad.

Anonymous wrote:If you are worried Chicago is a reach, then Columbia would be unattainable.

Oh, we aren't worried about Columbia as a reach because his stats are out of range. He's towards the 75th percentile for reading and math, 25th percentile for writing, and his GPA is fine. Plus he's taking a ridiculous amount of AP classes (5 right now; he's taken 3 already and gotten 5s; he's signed up for 5 more next year), and doing great in them. I don't think they'll reject him for stats, they'll reject him because it's just so competitive these days. Everyone's applying and it's really a bit of a crap-shoot.

He has a big advantage at Chicago because most of the competition is busy applying REA and ED (he doesn't want to apply anywhere restrictive, so if he applies to Chicago it will definitely be early), there's a regional advantage from not being in the Midwest, and then there's just the stock advantage of applying early. That's what makes Chicago easier to get into for him, it has nothing to do with whether or not he's qualified.

[Anonymous]

He should definitely apply and visit. I did a grad degree at UofC and, like most grads, have a love/hate relationship with the place. Having now taught at a couple elite universities, UofC undergrads are my absolute favorite-so smart, so weird, so intellectual. Despite the fact that UofC students have gotten less distinctive in the past few decades, they are still more intellect-for-intellect's-sake and less pre-professional than students at similarly ranked schools.

Also, UofC has one of the top history departments in the country.

[Anonymous]

I think very highly of the University of Chicago and have known some students who attended as undergrads. But it is primarily known as a graduate school and has been (though this may be changing) a very intense place, which works for many but not all students. It is still, I believe, on the quarter system, which has some significant advantages but can be tough for kids who cannot keep up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe Columbia? An intellectual student body similar to U Chicago's. Good for both history and computer science through the engineering school. I'm pretty sure that kids are free to take classes between the college and the engineering school (SEAS) provided they've met the prerequisites for a given class. If he loves reading history tomes (and great for him!), then he won't be thrown, as some are, by Columbia's core curriculum which will have him reading Plato and Herodotus.

My personal opinion only -- Columbia and Chicago aren't quite as academically matched as some claim. Both have intensive, required, great-books curricula/core requirements that take up a huge part of the 4 years. But Chicago is on a trimester system (you might always lose time transferring in or out), so you get 3 sets of finals per year rather than two, and the environment at Chicago is exceptionally intense. Columbia comes off as much, much more cosmopolitan. A social and self-sufficient kid might feel more comfortable and do better at Columbia.

[Anonymous]

Chicago is a great school, and your son sounds like he might be the sort of student that thrives there. It is intense, but that can be rewarding for the right kind of student. I would apply and see how he feels after his campus visit. Usually a student can get a gut feeling about whether it's the right fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alum and alumni interviewer here. It's a great school, but they are very selective. I can't really compare it to others like MIT/CalTech but a history/comp sci major would probably love Chicago. Be aware, though, that the 'stereotype' of student Chicago is trying to attract has changed significantly over the past few years. It's no longer looking to be the place where fun comes to die.

What do his extra curriculars look like? Sports?

Really? He won't be happy to hear that. But, I think he'll be happy as long as the essays are still unusual. That was the first thing that attracted him (that and the architecture).

His extra-curricular are...weird. I have no idea if they'll help him or hurt him. He really likes computers. He built his own, taught himself several programming languages, programs massive and complex projects and games, participates in programming contests (And does well! Unfortunately I can't say more because you'll be able to cross reference who he is - but he managed to get >$1000 in prize money for his school). He also writes modifications for video games, some of which have been downloaded 10,000+ times (or so he tells me, I wouldn't actually know). He also was a CIT at his camp, tutors middle school kids after school, is in his school's environmental club, etc...you know the usual things that most kids have done. The only thing he really does on the history front is read history books, but he's read a LOT of history books. He'll devour 600+ page monsters written by university professors, aimed at...I don't even know, but not high schoolers, in a matter of weeks and come back for more. He also likes watching lectures on history and linguistisc that various colleges have posted on youtube, but I doubt either actually count as extra-curriculars. The problem is there just doesn't seem to be anything for a history-oriented kid to do besides learning history.

Anonymous wrote: I went to grad school with a couple of UC CS graduates and I was pretty impressed. I agree, you really can't go wrong with Chicago. I do disagree that MIT etc wouldn't be good with the non-tech majors. They wouldn't be as good as the STEM majors, but any school with kids that smart is going to be decent.

Both I and DH went to MIT actually, and we don't think he'd be happy with the humanities there. It just isn't pervasive enough for him; he loves casual conversation about history. Sure, there are some history buffs here and there, but most people were there cause they really liked math. We actually had one friend who got in with a higher verbal than math SAT (practically unheard of there) who majored in linguistics and she would sometimes say that she regretted not going to a school where humanities was more of a focus, even thought MIT's linguistics program is fantastic.

Interesting. I work with someone who just graduated there with a degree in CS and a philosophy minor (or concentration?) and she seemed happy with the quality. It's very possible that her expectations were very different from your son though. Best of luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are worried Chicago is a reach, then Columbia would be unattainable.

Not true. My family member just got into Columbia and was rejected by Chicago. Unattainable, you say? PS. He's going to Columbia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:17:57 again. I forgot to ask - how are his writing skills? As you can guess from the essays, Chicago does spend a lot of time evaluating those.

Excellent! (I think, but I'm biased, ha) This is part of the reason we think Chicago is less of a reach for him than other schools, a lot of focus on personality and essays. I'm pretty sure he heard about the school by reading a list of "25 Strangest College Application Questions" or something and noticed how many were from Chicago, then decided to look into the school from how much he liked the essays. I'm pretty sure he's already started drafting out some possible questions for the "Write your own question" question. So I think this will work mostly to his benefit.

Anonymous wrote:I loved Chicago. But the school is rather Jewish.

We are Jewish! This is a plus...I would love it if he could have a well attended hillel and at least the option of kosher food. If this is what's stopping people from attending Chicago, I'm glad.

Anonymous wrote:If you are worried Chicago is a reach, then Columbia would be unattainable.

Oh, we aren't worried about Columbia as a reach because his stats are out of range. He's towards the 75th percentile for reading and math, 25th percentile for writing, and his GPA is fine. Plus he's taking a ridiculous amount of AP classes (5 right now; he's taken 3 already and gotten 5s; he's signed up for 5 more next year), and doing great in them. I don't think they'll reject him for stats, they'll reject him because it's just so competitive these days. Everyone's applying and it's really a bit of a crap-shoot.

He has a big advantage at Chicago because most of the competition is busy applying REA and ED (he doesn't want to apply anywhere restrictive, so if he applies to Chicago it will definitely be early), there's a regional advantage from not being in the Midwest, and then there's just the stock advantage of applying early. That's what makes Chicago easier to get into for him, it has nothing to do with whether or not he's qualified.

Wait-that sounds like he won't have a shot at any of the above mentioned schools. What am I missing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS (Junior) is looking into colleges and really likes what he's reading about it. He's pretty introverted, intellectual (I guess? He genuinely enjoys his classes and thinks most of his non-APs were too easy; he wants a hard school) and nerdy and loves the atmosphere. But, I'm a little worried that something like this will happen to him http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-02-17/news/chi-university-of-chicago-student-20-found-dead-20140215_1_dorm-students-death-foul-odor, because it's totally like him to just lock himself in his room for a week without talking to anyone.

Also, he wants to go into Comp Sci, which Chicago isn't known for, but I asked a colleague and he literally said that you can't wrong with Chicago (their grad program is ranked #30ish by US News, can't be that bad). DS also wants to double major in history, so he's not too happy with schools like MIT, CalTech or Harvey Mudd which aren't good at all with non-techy things. Other schools that are good with both are too reach-y for him to really pin down (Chicago's early acceptance rate is 50% from our school and the average accepted SAT score is around 2150 - nothing like the other schools in USNews top 20), though we understand that Chicago is still going to be a reach. He thinks he has a reasonable chance though, especially since he fits the exact stereotype Chicago seems to be trying to attract (he's been complaining about generic essay questions since the second time he had to write about the theme of a passage).

So...general opinions? Anyone have an experience with the school? It doesn't really come up here often... It is as good as it looks for the introverted kid who's nerdy enough to like strange things like Lord of the Rings linguistics and gets excited over a robotic library?

What school does your DS go to that you can say that Chicago's EA rate is 50%? Their overall acceptance rate this year was NINE percent. EA rate would have to be hire, of course, but not significantly so -- 20%-ish? I just don't believe your stats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS (Junior) is looking into colleges and really likes what he's reading about it. He's pretty introverted, intellectual (I guess? He genuinely enjoys his classes and thinks most of his non-APs were too easy; he wants a hard school) and nerdy and loves the atmosphere. But, I'm a little worried that something like this will happen to him http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-02-17/news/chi-university-of-chicago-student-20-found-dead-20140215_1_dorm-students-death-foul-odor, because it's totally like him to just lock himself in his room for a week without talking to anyone.

Also, he wants to go into Comp Sci, which Chicago isn't known for, but I asked a colleague and he literally said that you can't wrong with Chicago (their grad program is ranked #30ish by US News, can't be that bad). DS also wants to double major in history, so he's not too happy with schools like MIT, CalTech or Harvey Mudd which aren't good at all with non-techy things. Other schools that are good with both are too reach-y for him to really pin down (Chicago's early acceptance rate is 50% from our school and the average accepted SAT score is around 2150 - nothing like the other schools in USNews top 20), though we understand that Chicago is still going to be a reach. He thinks he has a reasonable chance though, especially since he fits the exact stereotype Chicago seems to be trying to attract (he's been complaining about generic essay questions since the second time he had to write about the theme of a passage).

So...general opinions? Anyone have an experience with the school? It doesn't really come up here often... It is as good as it looks for the introverted kid who's nerdy enough to like strange things like Lord of the Rings linguistics and gets excited over a robotic library?

What school does your DS go to that you can say that Chicago's EA rate is 50%? Their overall acceptance rate this year was NINE percent. EA rate would have to be hire, of course, but not significantly so -- 20%-ish? I just don't believe your stats.

Sorry, HIGHER, not hire. Yeesh.

[Anonymous]

Outstanding undergrad, I'm wondering if some of these reports are a bit dated? 20 years ago the school was filled with awkward, self-selecting nerds. Now it's very similar to its peers, such as Columbia. Admissions rates have plummeted, so for the people saying that it would be easier to get into than Columbia, it's not. It's also not "where fun comes to die." I get the feeling that most people posting on this forum aren't actually familiar with many of the schools they post about. Go check it out and talk to alums. It certainly has a stellar reputation in Washington, D.C. (and at the White House right now).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS (Junior) is looking into colleges and really likes what he's reading about it. He's pretty introverted, intellectual (I guess? He genuinely enjoys his classes and thinks most of his non-APs were too easy; he wants a hard school) and nerdy and loves the atmosphere. But, I'm a little worried that something like this will happen to him http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-02-17/news/chi-university-of-chicago-student-20-found-dead-20140215_1_dorm-students-death-foul-odor, because it's totally like him to just lock himself in his room for a week without talking to anyone.

Also, he wants to go into Comp Sci, which Chicago isn't known for, but I asked a colleague and he literally said that you can't wrong with Chicago (their grad program is ranked #30ish by US News, can't be that bad). DS also wants to double major in history, so he's not too happy with schools like MIT, CalTech or Harvey Mudd which aren't good at all with non-techy things. Other schools that are good with both are too reach-y for him to really pin down (Chicago's early acceptance rate is 50% from our school and the average accepted SAT score is around 2150 - nothing like the other schools in USNews top 20), though we understand that Chicago is still going to be a reach. He thinks he has a reasonable chance though, especially since he fits the exact stereotype Chicago seems to be trying to attract (he's been complaining about generic essay questions since the second time he had to write about the theme of a passage).

So...general opinions? Anyone have an experience with the school? It doesn't really come up here often... It is as good as it looks for the introverted kid who's nerdy enough to like strange things like Lord of the Rings linguistics and gets excited over a robotic library?

What school does your DS go to that you can say that Chicago's EA rate is 50%? Their overall acceptance rate this year was NINE percent. EA rate would have to be hire, of course, but not significantly so -- 20%-ish? I just don't believe your stats.

Well, maybe only 2 people applied and one got in....

[Anonymous]

U. of Chicago is the home of the "Chicago School" of economics. This is a school of thought most famously promulgated by Milton Friedman, who espoused a purely lassez-faire approach to economic policy that approached social darwinism, and has been a favorite touchstone of oligarchs everywhere.

The dictatorship of the bloody-handed murderer Augusto Pinochet in Chile explicitly looked to the Chicago School for its economic policies, regardless of the human and social costs that followed.