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

[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

Jeal-tir

[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.

I haven't read all the comments above, but the answer that both hired senior staff whose job it is to market the h#ll out of these schools. They play every game they can (alumni! please five 5 cents so we can increase our percentage of alum who give back to the college!) to increase the number of applications just so they can reject them. They also send cutsy little mailers (Chicago with a kitten on the envelope?) to offer "free" submissions in order to get more applications. It's a racket to march up the USN&WR ratings. Google it and you will see.

[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.

This is so freakin' phony. Who "observed with increasing interest" of two universities? Only their booster would use this kind of phony language. These schools are just too eager.

[Anonymous]

They’re both like Vanderbilt tier, with even less name rec.

[Anonymous]

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.

This is so freakin' phony. Who "observed with increasing interest" of two universities? Only their booster would use this kind of phony language. These schools are just too eager.

DP but I don't see how this reads as phony. I've also "observed with increasing interest" Northeastern University's rapid rise in the rankings, as well as Notre Dame's steadily increasing endowment. I've also "observed with increasing interest" how other schools are on a downward momentum (will not name at risk of deeply offending many of the passionate parents on here). For those with a vested interest in the American university landscape, these "observations" shouldn't come as a surprise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They’re both like Vanderbilt tier, with even less name rec.

Are you in DMV? Would say both Northwestern and UChicago are widely considered a tier above Vanderbilt. Can't say much about name rec since I feel like most everyone I encounter know all three schools.

[Anonymous]

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.

This is so freakin' phony. Who "observed with increasing interest" of two universities? Only their booster would use this kind of phony language. These schools are just too eager.

Sorry you’re so angry. It’ll be okay.

[Anonymous]

DC will attend NU. Very excited to learn the school on this board. Due to Covid, we didn't visit the school. DC plays an instrument and is wondering if it is okay to carry the instrument around in winter. What about laptop and cell phone? Will the battery die in -20oC?

[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

Nah, it sounds racist as well.

[Anonymous]

“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“

Truth be told, you’re an idiot!

[Anonymous]

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.

I haven't read all the comments above, but the answer that both hired senior staff whose job it is to market the h#ll out of these schools. They play every game they can (alumni! please five 5 cents so we can increase our percentage of alum who give back to the college!) to increase the number of applications just so they can reject them. They also send cutsy little mailers (Chicago with a kitten on the envelope?) to offer "free" submissions in order to get more applications. It's a racket to march up the USN&WR ratings. Google it and you will see.

Only naifs like Bill & Melinda Gates or the president of Princeton fall for those kinds of marketing scams. Lured in by the waiver of application fees (and envelopes with kittens) and lacking awareness of other options, they’ve been duped into sending a kid to UChicago. It’s really exploitive and I think we should all agree, based in this outrageous behavior, that the children of DCUM must be protected from exposure to Chicagoland and its universities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC will attend NU. Very excited to learn the school on this board. Due to Covid, we didn't visit the school. DC plays an instrument and is wondering if it is okay to carry the instrument around in winter. What about laptop and cell phone? Will the battery die in -20oC?

Congrats! My DC started there last fall (on campus since January). NU has exceeded expectations in every way for DC, academically and socially. DC is beyond thrilled, and has been fine with the harsh winter (no problems with the cell phone). Last quarter ends mid-June, when it's beautiful outside and they are actually enjoying the campus lakefront beach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curious about the neighborhood. My impression of Chicago is that they have a high (violent) crime rate, but that may be distant from the U of Chicago campus.

It's the South Side, so it's not the safest part of town, but it's not as bad as other parts of the South Side either. Violent crime is down since I was there (https://safety-security.uchicago.edu/police/data_information/crime_trends/), and my impression from more recent grads is that neighborhood is safer than it was then. It's a city. You might get mugged, but you probably won't be.

Washington DC and Baltimore both have higher murder rates.

[Anonymous]

Boston has Harvard-MIT, San Francisco Bay Area has Stanford-Berkeley, Chicago has Northwestern-UChicago….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’re both like Vanderbilt tier, with even less name rec.

Are you in DMV? Would say both Northwestern and UChicago are widely considered a tier above Vanderbilt. Can't say much about name rec since I feel like most everyone I encounter know all three schools.

That's great people "know" all three schools. Does anyone really "care" about any of them? No, not unless you're a middle class striver and your teen is rejected from every Ivy, Duke, and Stanford. Only "then" do the Chicago colleges become the greatest places since sliced bread. Chicago is confused for a branch campus of Illinois, Northwestern is confused for a Boston commuter university. Vandy has more name rec, and truth be told, Vandy doesn't have much name rec. Who's Chicago's most famous recent alum? The racist young lady fired from Teen Vogue? Who's Northwestern's? The troubled loser 31-year-old son of Tom Hanks? Judd Apatow's daughter who dropped out after a year because she was so miserable there?