UChicago or Columbia?

[Anonymous]

There is a good chance she loves Chicago and will want to stay. If she doesn’t, then cross that bridge when you come to it. I wouldn’t think much about it now. Would instead focus on her having a great experience at Chicago. I have a kid there who absolutely loves it and says almost everyone she knows is vet happy there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she is this unhappy with her ED2 choice that she's planning to transfer before she even starts, she should absolutely not have committed to ED2.

She's not planning. Just considering since it's been her long-time dream. Trust me when I tell you that she loves UChicago - I would not have signed the ED2 agreement if I knew she didn't actually want to attend.

There is nothing wrong with that mentality. Columbia is her dream school, I don't see anything wrong with planning on transfer. At all.

I am assuming she will be transferring to General Studies, not Columbia College. The latter is not happening. The former is essentially a "guaranteed transfer" for herkindergarten caliber (guaranteed in substance not in form).

With that assumption, I would fully support her decision to transfer to Columbia. This is a solid plan, not a pipe dream. Ignore all the Chicago boosters. Cornell has a similar guranteed transfer (both in substance and in form), most transferees are extremely happy at Cornell. Similar at Columbia. Obama was a transfer also.

OP here. GS is for nontraditional students (veterans) and is not intended for more simple transfer students like my DD. And what do you mean "ignore all the Chicago boosters" - I think everyone supporting UChicago has reasoning. Making a plan to jump from one school into the next is not smart; we're just considering the possibility that UChicago isn't a great fit for DD, in which case she would want to transfer to Columbia.

No. Troll-like languages. Any reasoning is at kindergarten level.

"One is T6, another is T15 if not T18."
"location is about all I can come up with."
"Chicago is a better school."

There is no comparison between core curriculum at two schools.
There is no discussion on assess to world class faculty and research opportunities at Columbia.
There is no discusssion on career outcome between two schools.

The “T6” poster is an anti-Chicago troll who posts this regularly to try to bait Chicago haters or even mere Chicago skeptics to jump in. You just have to ignore that one.

Rest of the comments have been reasonable.

Sure, Jan.

location is about all I can come up with? Columbia has SEAS, Chicago does not have an engineering school. Columbia has a much greater presence in Wall Street, media, UN, tech. Columbia has a stronger premed advisory and a much larger premed population. And campus safety? Financial issues at Chicago? Weather?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she is this unhappy with her ED2 choice that she's planning to transfer before she even starts, she should absolutely not have committed to ED2.

She's not planning. Just considering since it's been her long-time dream. Trust me when I tell you that she loves UChicago - I would not have signed the ED2 agreement if I knew she didn't actually want to attend.

There is nothing wrong with that mentality. Columbia is her dream school, I don't see anything wrong with planning on transfer. At all.

I am assuming she will be transferring to General Studies, not Columbia College. The latter is not happening. The former is essentially a "guaranteed transfer" for herkindergarten caliber (guaranteed in substance not in form).

With that assumption, I would fully support her decision to transfer to Columbia. This is a solid plan, not a pipe dream. Ignore all the Chicago boosters. Cornell has a similar guranteed transfer (both in substance and in form), most transferees are extremely happy at Cornell. Similar at Columbia. Obama was a transfer also.

OP here. GS is for nontraditional students (veterans) and is not intended for more simple transfer students like my DD. And what do you mean "ignore all the Chicago boosters" - I think everyone supporting UChicago has reasoning. Making a plan to jump from one school into the next is not smart; we're just considering the possibility that UChicago isn't a great fit for DD, in which case she would want to transfer to Columbia.

No. Troll-like languages. Any reasoning is at kindergarten level.

"One is T6, another is T15 if not T18."
"location is about all I can come up with."
"Chicago is a better school."

There is no comparison between core curriculum at two schools.
There is no discussion on assess to world class faculty and research opportunities at Columbia.
There is no discusssion on career outcome between two schools.

UChicago has the same world-class faculty, research, and career outcomes. Core curriculum differs but it's just a person-to-person preference.

Go away, UChicago-hating she-troll.

What's Columbia? I never hear about it anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she is this unhappy with her ED2 choice that she's planning to transfer before she even starts, she should absolutely not have committed to ED2.

She's not planning. Just considering since it's been her long-time dream. Trust me when I tell you that she loves UChicago - I would not have signed the ED2 agreement if I knew she didn't actually want to attend.

There is nothing wrong with that mentality. Columbia is her dream school, I don't see anything wrong with planning on transfer. At all.

I am assuming she will be transferring to General Studies, not Columbia College. The latter is not happening. The former is essentially a "guaranteed transfer" for herkindergarten caliber (guaranteed in substance not in form).

With that assumption, I would fully support her decision to transfer to Columbia. This is a solid plan, not a pipe dream. Ignore all the Chicago boosters. Cornell has a similar guranteed transfer (both in substance and in form), most transferees are extremely happy at Cornell. Similar at Columbia. Obama was a transfer also.

OP here. GS is for nontraditional students (veterans) and is not intended for more simple transfer students like my DD. And what do you mean "ignore all the Chicago boosters" - I think everyone supporting UChicago has reasoning. Making a plan to jump from one school into the next is not smart; we're just considering the possibility that UChicago isn't a great fit for DD, in which case she would want to transfer to Columbia.

No. Troll-like languages. Any reasoning is at kindergarten level.

"One is T6, another is T15 if not T18."
"location is about all I can come up with."
"Chicago is a better school."

There is no comparison between core curriculum at two schools.
There is no discussion on assess to world class faculty and research opportunities at Columbia.
There is no discusssion on career outcome between two schools.

The “T6” poster is an anti-Chicago troll who posts this regularly to try to bait Chicago haters or even mere Chicago skeptics to jump in. You just have to ignore that one.

Rest of the comments have been reasonable.

Sure, Jan.

location is about all I can come up with? Columbia has SEAS, Chicago does not have an engineering school. Columbia has a much greater presence in Wall Street, media, UN, tech. Columbia has a stronger premed advisory and a much larger premed population. And campus safety? Financial issues at Chicago? Weather?

Most of the comments have been about it being way too early to think about transferring, and also about fit/vibe at each school. These are perfectly reasonable.

Why are you so triggered about this? It’s weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she is this unhappy with her ED2 choice that she's planning to transfer before she even starts, she should absolutely not have committed to ED2.

She's not planning. Just considering since it's been her long-time dream. Trust me when I tell you that she loves UChicago - I would not have signed the ED2 agreement if I knew she didn't actually want to attend.

There is nothing wrong with that mentality. Columbia is her dream school, I don't see anything wrong with planning on transfer. At all.

I am assuming she will be transferring to General Studies, not Columbia College. The latter is not happening. The former is essentially a "guaranteed transfer" for herkindergarten caliber (guaranteed in substance not in form).

With that assumption, I would fully support her decision to transfer to Columbia. This is a solid plan, not a pipe dream. Ignore all the Chicago boosters. Cornell has a similar guranteed transfer (both in substance and in form), most transferees are extremely happy at Cornell. Similar at Columbia. Obama was a transfer also.

OP here. GS is for nontraditional students (veterans) and is not intended for more simple transfer students like my DD. And what do you mean "ignore all the Chicago boosters" - I think everyone supporting UChicago has reasoning. Making a plan to jump from one school into the next is not smart; we're just considering the possibility that UChicago isn't a great fit for DD, in which case she would want to transfer to Columbia.

No. Troll-like languages. Any reasoning is at kindergarten level.

"One is T6, another is T15 if not T18."
"location is about all I can come up with."
"Chicago is a better school."

There is no comparison between core curriculum at two schools.
There is no discussion on assess to world class faculty and research opportunities at Columbia.
There is no discusssion on career outcome between two schools.

The “T6” poster is an anti-Chicago troll who posts this regularly to try to bait Chicago haters or even mere Chicago skeptics to jump in. You just have to ignore that one.

Rest of the comments have been reasonable.

Sure, Jan.

location is about all I can come up with? Columbia has SEAS, Chicago does not have an engineering school. Columbia has a much greater presence in Wall Street, media, UN, tech. Columbia has a stronger premed advisory and a much larger premed population. And campus safety? Financial issues at Chicago? Weather?

Are you serious??

[Anonymous]

All of the comments about the rankings are so silly - just a few years ago both schools were tied in the teens... There are a handful of schools where the reputation alone speaks for itself and any current ranking is irrelevant. As a Columbia alum, both Columbia and Chicago are among those schools.
Since you kid had her heart set on Columbia, I would encourage her to give Chicago a chance and not even think about transferring. Having such a mindset I think might impair her ability to truly appreciate the college experience Chicago offers.
You have trolls on this board who spew nonsense and noise so you have to not feed them...

[Anonymous]

This whole thread is a lesson on how not to go through the ED process. Your kid should not apply ED they are absolutely sure it is their first choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is a lesson on how not to go through the ED process. Your kid should not apply ED they are absolutely sure it is their first choice.

OP’s DD applied ED2 to Chicago, like many ED2 applicants. By ED2, this is clearly not her first choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of the comments about the rankings are so silly - just a few years ago both schools were tied in the teens... There are a handful of schools where the reputation alone speaks for itself and any current ranking is irrelevant. As a Columbia alum, both Columbia and Chicago are among those schools.
Since you kid had her heart set on Columbia, I would encourage her to give Chicago a chance and not even think about transferring. Having such a mindset I think might impair her ability to truly appreciate the college experience Chicago offers.
You have trolls on this board who spew nonsense and noise so you have to not feed them...

The only thing I would point out in contrast to this is because of the Core it is best to transfer to Columbia after one rather than two years if possible

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is so much misinformation spewed on DCUM it's crazy.

Columbia GS is for non traditional applicants. You can't apply if you haven't been away from college (i.e. not taking any classes) for at least a year.
Columbia College takes around a hundred transfers a year. (As does Chicago for what it's worth).


And what is up with the Chicago backers? It swear at this point there is at least one poster who has a Chicago alarm on their phone. If anyone posts ANYTHING about Chicago that is even neutral (not even negative) they're like: "Chicago troll! It's a troll! Crazy troll! She troll!" Give it a rest. We can talk about the university (and even share things that aren't ideal or complimentary) without it being trolling. And no, I am not a frequent Chicago poster. Just someone noticing this recent level of crazy.

This is a reaction to the insane Chicago bashing that's happened on here. Just move on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is so much misinformation spewed on DCUM it's crazy.

Columbia GS is for non traditional applicants. You can't apply if you haven't been away from college (i.e. not taking any classes) for at least a year.
Columbia College takes around a hundred transfers a year. (As does Chicago for what it's worth).


And what is up with the Chicago backers? It swear at this point there is at least one poster who has a Chicago alarm on their phone. If anyone posts ANYTHING about Chicago that is even neutral (not even negative) they're like: "Chicago troll! It's a troll! Crazy troll! She troll!" Give it a rest. We can talk about the university (and even share things that aren't ideal or complimentary) without it being trolling. And no, I am not a frequent Chicago poster. Just someone noticing this recent level of crazy.

The Chicago alarm mom could in fact be a Chicago hater, stirring the pot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which would you pick?

DD is headed to UChicago this fall (from NYC private) through the ED2 round. Deferred Columbia ED but decided to be risk-averse and not to wait it out - she is now considering transferring after 1 year. Obviously, this is just provisional, but would it be worth it to attend Columbia for 3 years? I'm not sure it would fulfill her like the typical 4-year students.

If she is headed to Uchicago - why even have this conversations? I feel like its hard enough for kids to adjust to college without additional questions of possibly transferring up front. Just my opinion!

[Anonymous]

My DC went to UChicago thinking it would be a great education but not fun. A month after orientation DC was incredibly happy. The work is hard there but the kids are really nice. Not a competitive culture socially so there wasn't any stress in that way. I would desist from speaking about transfer options until she settles in. You just don't know what's around the corner.

BTW, the kids met during area summer meets may not be her people. She really is best served giving it a chance. If it doesn't play out, she will know herself better and may be have a different school profile in mind then.

[Anonymous]

Unless afraid of rigor at Uchicago, you r better off there

[Anonymous]

There is a very good chance she won't want to transfer after she starts. Right now she is still getting over the disappointment of not getting into Columbia but that will fade.

Is your DD white or a minority? I can't speak to undergraduate experience but I had the choice between Chicago and Columbia law schools, and while I loved Chicago, looking back I think NYC would have been a much better place for me personally as an Asian. Midwesterners are very nice and friendly, but it is still very much a white culture, esp compared to east coast.