U Chicago has two goals- give students the ability to think in the context of a broad liberal arts education for the first two years. Then specialize for the second two years and help students achieve outcomes (professions, higher Ed). They are very explicit and purposeful, and with my DCs there I think it’s the best of both worlds. One of the things the students love is they don’t push memorization of content on you, but ask you to think creatively- so in a recent STEM class the professor told the students not to answer if they already knew the answer- instead he wanted kids who did not know the answer to talk about how they would approach the problem and to hypothesize.
As a side note, my DC is getting asked to interview for internships at top firms even with a GPA lower that 3.7- people know Chicago curves to a B- average.

Anonymous wrote:Pre-med acceptance rates to medical school

Case - 64% https://case.edu/admission/academics/areas-study/pre-med
Chicago - between 79% and 88% https://admissionsight.com/pre-med-at-uchicago/#:~:text=On%20average%2C%20students%20of%20pre,of%20the%20previous%20few%20years.
Cornell - says they're 20-25% above national average (43%) https://scl.cornell.edu/sites/scl/files/documents/2020-21%20First-Year%20Pre-Med%20Guide-VD.pdf

UChicago and Swarthmore are notorious for gaming the system. I don't know about Chicago but Swarthmore keeps it's acceptance rate high by being one of the best gatekeepers to the med schools by refusing to write recommendations for weak students. They screen their own with an eye towards likely acceptances. This is how some schools can claim a high rate of success.

Pre-med acceptance rates to medical school

Case - 64% https://case.edu/admission/academics/areas-study/pre-med
Chicago - between 79% and 88% https://admissionsight.com/pre-med-at-uchicago/#:~:text=On%20average%2C%20students%20of%20pre,of%20the%20previous%20few%20years.
Cornell - says they're 20-25% above national average (43%) https://scl.cornell.edu/sites/scl/files/documents/2020-21%20First-Year%20Pre-Med%20Guide-VD.pdf

what others said....Cornell, Chicago difficult to get high gpas....don't know about Case

I don't understand how everyone considering Chicago isn't more concerned about crime there.

https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/hundreds-of-teenagers-flood-into-downtown-chicago-smashing-car-windows-and-prompting-police-response

And don't tell me this is "not that neighborhood." I know. Where U Chicago is is worse.

Where did your kid feel most comfortable? Which campus felt like somewhere they’d see themself happy for four years?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do not want to go to Chicago pre-med. Go to a slightly less rigorous school with easier grading..so med school application looks great. Do consult on this point with med school students.

Her medical school will likely be ruined if going to UChicago. GPA is the king for medical schools.

+1,000,000

If DC is fairly certain about Med School, go to a quality undergrad where GPA stress will not ruin everything. Between Case/Chicago/Cornell you have 3 excellent options. Go to where expected GPA will be the highest.

Anonymous wrote:You do not want to go to Chicago pre-med. Go to a slightly less rigorous school with easier grading..so med school application looks great. Do consult on this point with med school students.

Her medical school will likely be ruined if going to UChicago. GPA is the king for medical schools.

We were looking at Case this year. There is so much opportunity there

You do not want to go to Chicago pre-med. Go to a slightly less rigorous school with easier grading..so med school application looks great. Do consult on this point with med school students.

Anonymous wrote:What if she changes her mind on pre-med? Go with UChicago. It would be terrible to be stuck at Case.

What is wrong with you?

I went to Case and had a fantastic college experience. Met life-long friends who are all successful in interesting careers.

For her major, it would be terrible to be stuck at Chicago.

It's Cornell vs Case.
Cornell is not worth the full price, if the cost were a factor.

Anonymous wrote:What if she changes her mind on pre-med? Go with UChicago. It would be terrible to be stuck at Case.

What? Case is a great school to attend if the student changes their mind because students do not apply to specific majors at Case (other than nursing).

What if she changes her mind on pre-med? Go with UChicago. It would be terrible to be stuck at Case.

We understand we are one of the lucky ones that have won the admission lottery so no flame please. DC is interested in STEM and in with significant merit at Case. For the other two we will have to be full pay. There is not much different between Cornell and Case for the programs (bio, medicine) DC is interested in and off course UChicago has the cache. Us parents feel she will not miss anything if she goes to Case and it will give her the flexibility to do a lot more which the other two wont and in the process save a ton of money for the future. DC is leaning UChicago, we think mostly because of the ranking. We can do full pay at the other two but rather not. WWYD?