U Chicago vs Georgetown

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UChicago, for all its warts, is a real university. GU is a school of foreign service and a business school with the liberal arts only hanging on as a vestigial appendage.

I’d skip both of these boring places & apply to Michigan, Northwestern, or Boston College.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you think ED to Chicago is so much easier than ED to Penn?

Seems comparable to me.

Because Chicago admits the bulk of its class ED and Penn doesn’t.

Penn's ED rate is 14.8%. I haven't seen the latest leaked ED stats from UChicago, though a few years ago it was something like 18%, so mid-teens seems likely, around the same as Penn.

In my opinion, the main difference would be that UChicago is looking for a certain type of applicant and the Uncommon Essay is very, very important. Either he is or isn't that type of applicant.

OP - yes that is the difference. Penn (and the other Ivies) are only going to take the hooked kids in the ED round. We've seen this play out at his school every year. Ivy ED is athletes, Questbridge, URM and a handful of kids with crazy hooks. DS knows 3 kids with INCREDIBLE stats AND fantastic ECs who were deferred from Ivies ED, and got into either the same Ivies or other ones RD. Chicago, on the other hand, will take the "right" kids in the ED round. It seems to be much more about fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UChicago, for all its warts, is a real university. GU is a school of foreign service and a business school with the liberal arts only hanging on as a vestigial appendage.

I’d skip both of these boring places & apply to Michigan, Northwestern, or Boston College.

I would possibly agree with you on Northwestern or maybe even Michigan--if someone wants that massive, have to take a bus to class campus feel. But Boston College? No. Obviously people who are looking at GU and Chicago are looking for prestige. BC would be the logical back up "reach school." But it's just not preferable for somebody who is looking for the best to GU or Chicago.

[Anonymous]

UChicago's ED admission rate according to some posters here on DCUM is something like 80%, so a much easier admit than Georgetown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to both (A long time ago) and have toured both recently. My kids went to a jesuit HS that feeds into GU.

a 1560 will likely get him into Georgetown (they love NY kids and test scores), and ED will get him into UChicago. Neither a sure thing, but both pretty likely. McDonough is less of a sure thing.

Econ is better at UChicago, there's no doubt. It's world class. It's a far more beautiful campus. But it's a much harder school too. It has more socio economic diversity than GU, which is stuck with an 80s era barbell curve. There are nerds, but not all nerds by a very long shot.

Chicago has a quasi-house system. The RAs have real budgets and the kids as a floor go to Cubs games, etc. It's a pretty good system that stretches for years. The food is good (GU is borderline bad). They have a great arts/theater/comedy culture that a lot of kids are involved in. But there will be issues flying in/out over Christmas at least once in his four years there. Chicago is a super fun town. The safety concerns are real but for NY kids, they get how to manage that.

GU is a train ride away, which is great. Mostly happy kids. Lots of internships. DC is less fun town (IMO), but a great starter city for post grad if he wants to do any kind of gov work.

My take: Chicago.

This is a good take.

I'd also add that your kid must be all-in for any school he applies ED. Don't apply ED to a school to "increase chances" but rather because he is sure he wants to attend if admitted.

[Anonymous]

If goal is to get into one:
ED1 Chicago and RD Georgetown is the best chance for that — by a long shot.

[Anonymous]

GU has D1 sports which may be something of interest to your kid. The basketball team has some good recruits and transfers and will be much better than in recent years.

Football plays in lower D1 so not playing for a championship…but at least they have football games.

[Anonymous]

Yeah sure, the unqualified “multitudes” are just dying to prove their intellectual mettle and kill a few weeks writing a detailed response to one of the UChicago essay prompts. Half of all teenagers composed a response to this one:

“How many piano tuners are there in Chicago? What is the total length of chalk used by UChicago professors in a year? How many pages of books are in the Regenstein Library? These questions are among a class of estimation problems named after University of Chicago physicist Enrico Fermi. Create your own Fermi estimation problem, give it your best answer, and show us how you got there.”

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If he loves both, he should try for the ED for Chicago, that will be a much easier admit than Georgetown (not that it will be easy). Georgetown's admit rate is extremely low for RE and RD. If it was on the Common App, it would be in the low single digits. I personally Chicago is just stutlifyingly boring with real nerdy strivers, where Georgetown has a greater variety of students and is a bit more grounded. (Yes, I have a kid at Georgetown, and didn't think any of this about Georgetown until I learned about it and experienced it). I have a nephew at Chicago and while I know it less well, I think my perception is pretty accurate.

I think your perception is extremely inaccurate.

OP - in what way is this inaccurate? Only thing I don't understand why she says the admit rate for GU is lower than UC?

DP here. Technically, the GU admit rate is higher because they only receive applications from students who really want to attend Georgetown, as they are not on the Common App. Students have to be very serious about applying or they just won't apply. This is the opposite of Chicago who invites multitudes more to apply, many many of them for free, and has an ED option, through which most of its students are admitted. It's true what the poster said, if GU was on the common app, its rate would drop by at least 50% if not more. And that doesn't even account for TO, which GU never moved to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah sure, the unqualified “multitudes” are just dying to prove their intellectual mettle and kill a few weeks writing a detailed response to one of the UChicago essay prompts. Half of all teenagers composed a response to this one:

“How many piano tuners are there in Chicago? What is the total length of chalk used by UChicago professors in a year? How many pages of books are in the Regenstein Library? These questions are among a class of estimation problems named after University of Chicago physicist Enrico Fermi. Create your own Fermi estimation problem, give it your best answer, and show us how you got there.”

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If he loves both, he should try for the ED for Chicago, that will be a much easier admit than Georgetown (not that it will be easy). Georgetown's admit rate is extremely low for RE and RD. If it was on the Common App, it would be in the low single digits. I personally Chicago is just stutlifyingly boring with real nerdy strivers, where Georgetown has a greater variety of students and is a bit more grounded. (Yes, I have a kid at Georgetown, and didn't think any of this about Georgetown until I learned about it and experienced it). I have a nephew at Chicago and while I know it less well, I think my perception is pretty accurate.

I think your perception is extremely inaccurate.

OP - in what way is this inaccurate? Only thing I don't understand why she says the admit rate for GU is lower than UC?

DP here. Technically, the GU admit rate is higher because they only receive applications from students who really want to attend Georgetown, as they are not on the Common App. Students have to be very serious about applying or they just won't apply. This is the opposite of Chicago who invites multitudes more to apply, many many of them for free, and has an ED option, through which most of its students are admitted. It's true what the poster said, if GU was on the common app, its rate would drop by at least 50% if not more. And that doesn't even account for TO, which GU never moved to.

I love that question! Much better than the standard “What aspects of your upbringing will you share with your peers at X school”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UChicago, for all its warts, is a real university. GU is a school of foreign service and a business school with the liberal arts only hanging on as a vestigial appendage.

I’d skip both of these boring places & apply to Michigan, Northwestern, or Boston College.

I would possibly agree with you on Northwestern or maybe even Michigan--if someone wants that massive, have to take a bus to class campus feel. But Boston College? No. Obviously people who are looking at GU and Chicago are looking for prestige. BC would be the logical back up "reach school." But it's just not preferable for somebody who is looking for the best to GU or Chicago.

Don’t know where you get your information, but I went to Michigan and never once “had to take a bus to class.” Everything was in short walking distance when I lived on and off campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UChicago, for all its warts, is a real university. GU is a school of foreign service and a business school with the liberal arts only hanging on as a vestigial appendage.

I’d skip both of these boring places & apply to Michigan, Northwestern, or Boston College.

I would possibly agree with you on Northwestern or maybe even Michigan--if someone wants that massive, have to take a bus to class campus feel. But Boston College? No. Obviously people who are looking at GU and Chicago are looking for prestige. BC would be the logical back up "reach school." But it's just not preferable for somebody who is looking for the best to GU or Chicago.

Don’t know where you get your information, but I went to Michigan and never once “had to take a bus to class.” Everything was in short walking distance when I lived on and off campus.

They think everyone has classes in Engineering or Music. lol

[Anonymous]

The point being that applying to Chicago is its own intense process. You can’t recycle the essay you copied and pasted for every other school. They are looking for an intellectual fit, so there’s actual substance to what they ask applicants to write. Therefore it’s absurd to complain that “everyone” applies. The vast majority of students aren’t interested in writing a response to this type of prompt. Kids who are intrigued should consider applying!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah sure, the unqualified “multitudes” are just dying to prove their intellectual mettle and kill a few weeks writing a detailed response to one of the UChicago essay prompts. Half of all teenagers composed a response to this one:

“How many piano tuners are there in Chicago? What is the total length of chalk used by UChicago professors in a year? How many pages of books are in the Regenstein Library? These questions are among a class of estimation problems named after University of Chicago physicist Enrico Fermi. Create your own Fermi estimation problem, give it your best answer, and show us how you got there.”

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If he loves both, he should try for the ED for Chicago, that will be a much easier admit than Georgetown (not that it will be easy). Georgetown's admit rate is extremely low for RE and RD. If it was on the Common App, it would be in the low single digits. I personally Chicago is just stutlifyingly boring with real nerdy strivers, where Georgetown has a greater variety of students and is a bit more grounded. (Yes, I have a kid at Georgetown, and didn't think any of this about Georgetown until I learned about it and experienced it). I have a nephew at Chicago and while I know it less well, I think my perception is pretty accurate.

I think your perception is extremely inaccurate.

OP - in what way is this inaccurate? Only thing I don't understand why she says the admit rate for GU is lower than UC?

DP here. Technically, the GU admit rate is higher because they only receive applications from students who really want to attend Georgetown, as they are not on the Common App. Students have to be very serious about applying or they just won't apply. This is the opposite of Chicago who invites multitudes more to apply, many many of them for free, and has an ED option, through which most of its students are admitted. It's true what the poster said, if GU was on the common app, its rate would drop by at least 50% if not more. And that doesn't even account for TO, which GU never moved to.

I love that question! Much better than the standard “What aspects of your upbringing will you share with your peers at X school”

[Anonymous]

Google Georgetown Hot Mess on Instagram and then ED to Chicago.

[Anonymous]

Chicago for econ. no question

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They both need money. Badly.

I agree. If full pay, you're in the driver's seat with those stats. Both schools are under financial strains, and rich kids that are paying the full nut are part of the solution. Sad but true.

Where did you learn this information?