University of Chicago

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UofC, along with Northwestern U, are the two "Ivies" of the Midwest. Extremely rigorous and intellectual in a big way, and reputed to be quirky, but I've heard rumors that this character has toned down significantly and that it is, for all intents and purposes, much more similar to its mainstream counterparts now. I believe it is also slightly more conservative than other elite schools. Life of the mind is the unofficial motto.

Neither a good nor bad thing necessarily, but it seems like its reputation for having gamed the rankings persists even among high school students. Still, can't complain about the #6 ranking on USNWR.

So you literally have no idea what you're talking about.

NP. They started taking the Common App a few years ago, and the applicant pool is much less self-selecting than it used to be. They still have the quirky essay prompts, but they’re no longer required. It used to be that you had to really understand the school and demonstrate to them that you’re a UChicago sort of student. Now I feel like they’ve positioned themselves as just another school.

- A UChicago alum

[Anonymous]

Old-line Chicagoan here. I think the long-standing general perception used to be that UChicago was a fantastic option for grad school, but Northwestern was the more prestigious (and frankly more fun) option for undergrad. Although I attended college on the east coast, I have many people in my extended family who attended both UChicago and Northwestern, and the running joke in my family is the UChicago alums wishing that they had gone to Northwestern instead. The deprecatory self-perception of UChicago has changed quite dramatically under the stewardship of Pres. Zimmer and VP Nondorf as one PP has noted, and UChicago now matriculates hordes of kids from the east coast prep schools by the boatload. It's really been one of the most drastic turnarounds in the history of higher education.

This is all to say that unlike most universities, it is virtually useless to ask pre-2010 alums about their experience of UChicago because it is functionally a totally different college now.

[Anonymous]

1995 College and 1999 school of public policy grad. It’s been a minute since I graduated undergrad and grad school, but if mid-career alums are a measure, I continue to be floored by the amazing things - professional and personal - that my U of C network is up to these days. So many motivated people doing so much to make this world a better place.

[Anonymous]

Kids call UChicago "the place where fun goes to die" and "ChiRaq". They say its for kids who didn't get into the Ivys and Stanford/MIT and have a chip on their shoulder to keep saying its on the same the level. Cross admits for Univ of Chicago vs. any Ivy or Stanford is woefully low.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Old-line Chicagoan here. I think the long-standing general perception used to be that UChicago was a fantastic option for grad school, but Northwestern was the more prestigious (and frankly more fun) option for undergrad. Although I attended college on the east coast, I have many people in my extended family who attended both UChicago and Northwestern, and the running joke in my family is the UChicago alums wishing that they had gone to Northwestern instead. The deprecatory self-perception of UChicago has changed quite dramatically under the stewardship of Pres. Zimmer and VP Nondorf as one PP has noted, and UChicago now matriculates hordes of kids from the east coast prep schools by the boatload. It's really been one of the most drastic turnarounds in the history of higher education.

This is all to say that unlike most universities, it is virtually useless to ask pre-2010 alums about their experience of UChicago because it is functionally a totally different college now.

What has changed exactly besides the east coast prep schoolers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids call UChicago "the place where fun goes to die" and "ChiRaq". They say its for kids who didn't get into the Ivys and Stanford/MIT and have a chip on their shoulder to keep saying its on the same the level. Cross admits for Univ of Chicago vs. any Ivy or Stanford is woefully low.

Love the ‘they say’ posters. Sounds like the orange dumbass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids call UChicago "the place where fun goes to die" and "ChiRaq". They say its for kids who didn't get into the Ivys and Stanford/MIT and have a chip on their shoulder to keep saying its on the same the level. Cross admits for Univ of Chicago vs. any Ivy or Stanford is woefully low.

Or the salary and ROI rankings for that matter.

Some parent just posted this on the college confidential forums yesterday and let the facts speak for themselves.

https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/t/low-graduate-roi-compared-to-peer-institutions/2804371/12

All of a sudden, the cantankerous Chicago boosters on CC went on radio silence.

[Anonymous]

My kids are a legacy at my Ivy (think HYP) and flat out decided they preferred the quirkiness and intellectual atmosphere at U Chicago and went ED. I am a very active alum for my college by the way, so I think they would have had a good chance of admission. I disagree with the pp about it being for kids who didn't get into the Ivys. My kids had the scores and top national achievements, but just loved U Chicago.

[Anonymous]

After Common App, all of the top 15 colleges are the same bucket of overachiever kids--however the Ivies will always retain an edge because they have so much tradition and history. Notre Dame has far more distinct traditions and history than Duke, Chicago and Stanford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids call UChicago "the place where fun goes to die" and "ChiRaq". They say its for kids who didn't get into the Ivys and Stanford/MIT and have a chip on their shoulder to keep saying its on the same the level. Cross admits for Univ of Chicago vs. any Ivy or Stanford is woefully low.

Or the salary and ROI rankings for that matter.

Some parent just posted this on the college confidential forums yesterday and let the facts speak for themselves.

https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/t/low-graduate-roi-compared-to-peer-institutions/2804371/12

All of a sudden, the cantankerous Chicago boosters on CC went on radio silence.

Being in flyover country hurts the high $ recruiting. If you're a prestigious NYC bank or Boston consulting firm, it's easier to recruit all the kids you need on the ACELA than popping over to Chicago to interview a few dozen Chicago and Northwestern kids. Same for West Coast tech -- if you're based in Seattle or California, you can find all the kids you need on the West and East coasts -- that stop over via O'Hare is an annoying time sink.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After Common App, all of the top 15 colleges are the same bucket of overachiever kids--however the Ivies will always retain an edge because they have so much tradition and history. Notre Dame has far more distinct traditions and history than Duke, Chicago and Stanford.

Your last sentence gave you away. ND is not an Ivy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After Common App, all of the top 15 colleges are the same bucket of overachiever kids--however the Ivies will always retain an edge because they have so much tradition and history. Notre Dame has far more distinct traditions and history than Duke, Chicago and Stanford.

Your last sentence gave you away. ND is not an Ivy.

PP meant top 15 colleges

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids call UChicago "the place where fun goes to die" and "ChiRaq". They say its for kids who didn't get into the Ivys and Stanford/MIT and have a chip on their shoulder to keep saying its on the same the level. Cross admits for Univ of Chicago vs. any Ivy or Stanford is woefully low.

Or the salary and ROI rankings for that matter.

Some parent just posted this on the college confidential forums yesterday and let the facts speak for themselves.

https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/t/low-graduate-roi-compared-to-peer-institutions/2804371/12

All of a sudden, the cantankerous Chicago boosters on CC went on radio silence.

Being in flyover country hurts the high $ recruiting. If you're a prestigious NYC bank or Boston consulting firm, it's easier to recruit all the kids you need on the ACELA than popping over to Chicago to interview a few dozen Chicago and Northwestern kids. Same for West Coast tech -- if you're based in Seattle or California, you can find all the kids you need on the West and East coasts -- that stop over via O'Hare is an annoying time sink.

College ROI has been debated on other threads, and anyone who is paying attention knows that the numbers, and the rankings using them, are useless. ROI is based on graduate paychecks, but the paycheck data doesn’t take into account major mix (schools with more engineering, CS, and finance majors will rate higher), cost of living (schools with hordes of graduates in large coastal cities will rate higher), industries (consulting, investment banking, and tech will rate higher), and graduate school (humanities and social science degree graduates frequently make their big bucks after attending MBA, law, or PhD programs, which is not included).

HR rules, particularly at large companies, mostly ensure that peers with similar degrees doing similar work get paid nearly the same. So school doesn’t matter when comparing like jobs.

So where does school matter? The opportunities you get. Those opportunities could be a choice job, an awesome graduate school, or an interesting spouse. If you work hard and are lucky, you get them all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Old-line Chicagoan here. I think the long-standing general perception used to be that UChicago was a fantastic option for grad school, but Northwestern was the more prestigious (and frankly more fun) option for undergrad. Although I attended college on the east coast, I have many people in my extended family who attended both UChicago and Northwestern, and the running joke in my family is the UChicago alums wishing that they had gone to Northwestern instead. The deprecatory self-perception of UChicago has changed quite dramatically under the stewardship of Pres. Zimmer and VP Nondorf as one PP has noted, and UChicago now matriculates hordes of kids from the east coast prep schools by the boatload. It's really been one of the most drastic turnarounds in the history of higher education.

This is all to say that unlike most universities, it is virtually useless to ask pre-2010 alums about their experience of UChicago because it is functionally a totally different college now.

What has changed exactly besides the east coast prep schoolers?

In my opinion, I don't think one can over-estimate the impact of the Chicago Statement (2014?) and the national attention received in 2016 by the letter sent by the Dean of Students to the incoming freshman class of 2020 affirming the free speech principles in the Chicago Statement. UChicago's committment to free speech and exposing students to diverse and opposing viewpoints and ideas is a true distinctive among the elite schools. It has come under assault during the past year and fingers crossed it can hold now that Pres. Zimmer is leaving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids call UChicago "the place where fun goes to die" and "ChiRaq". They say its for kids who didn't get into the Ivys and Stanford/MIT and have a chip on their shoulder to keep saying its on the same the level. Cross admits for Univ of Chicago vs. any Ivy or Stanford is woefully low.

Or the salary and ROI rankings for that matter.

Some parent just posted this on the college confidential forums yesterday and let the facts speak for themselves.

https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/t/low-graduate-roi-compared-to-peer-institutions/2804371/12

All of a sudden, the cantankerous Chicago boosters on CC went on radio silence.

Being in flyover country hurts the high $ recruiting. If you're a prestigious NYC bank or Boston consulting firm, it's easier to recruit all the kids you need on the ACELA than popping over to Chicago to interview a few dozen Chicago and Northwestern kids. Same for West Coast tech -- if you're based in Seattle or California, you can find all the kids you need on the West and East coasts -- that stop over via O'Hare is an annoying time sink.

College ROI has been debated on other threads, and anyone who is paying attention knows that the numbers, and the rankings using them, are useless. ROI is based on graduate paychecks, but the paycheck data doesn’t take into account major mix (schools with more engineering, CS, and finance majors will rate higher), cost of living (schools with hordes of graduates in large coastal cities will rate higher), industries (consulting, investment banking, and tech will rate higher), and graduate school (humanities and social science degree graduates frequently make their big bucks after attending MBA, law, or PhD programs, which is not included).

HR rules, particularly at large companies, mostly ensure that peers with similar degrees doing similar work get paid nearly the same. So school doesn’t matter when comparing like jobs.

So where does school matter? The opportunities you get. Those opportunities could be a choice job, an awesome graduate school, or an interesting spouse. If you work hard and are lucky, you get them all.

But schools with a student body similar to UChicago have fared better in those rankings. For an institution of its size, caliber, and prestige it still feels out of place and doesn't do justice in rankings like WSJ and Forbes that look at student outcomes using these metrics.