Anonymous
Post 06/02/2022 15:41     Subject: UChicago Feedback
Anonymous wrote:I definitely don’t think of duke or Vanderbilt as being as academically well respected as Chicago.

I’m following this with some interest for my HSer. I have a few friends that went there in the 90s and liked it well enough, but two are the type that are so argumentative that it’s exhausting to converse with them and one switched majors to avoid the cut-throat premed students and the weed-out approach in the bio/chem courses. There’s a lot I’d like about the school but I’m a little cautious based on that small sample size.


Parent of Vandy freshman here from DMV. I don't disagree with the bolded at all, and in fact our son was able to choose from both of these schools and went with Vanderbilt although we all sensed that UC had the better national / international name recognition. We know UC is held in higher esteem than Vandy among academics.

For DS, the comparison of the likely student experience at the two schools was not a close call. Social, weather, food, camaraderie, campus activities, music, sports. Nashville vs. the south side of Chicago. The demeanor of the undergrads he met at both campuses.

I strongly suggest your teen go to UC when school is in full swing and spend a full day there.
Anonymous
Post 06/02/2022 15:28     Subject: UChicago Feedback
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Chicago is happy to be (among other things and not primarily) a back-up plan for Sidwell/NCS/StA students (and, I assume, those from similar prep schools in other major cities) who struck out @ HYPS. They know the kids can handle the workload, they’re likely to be full pay, and UofC is eager to become more socially elite.


Pretty much. Which isn't dismissive, it's a fine school—certainly superior to all the flagship public degree mills and far more campus brain power than say Vanderbilt—but anyone expecting it to be some lottery ticket or a mega status symbol like the Ivies, Stanford, and Wharton is a deluded imbecile. Nobody gives a darn about UChicago. It's hilarious how easy it is to rattle an average UChicago parent by pretending you've never heard of their kid's college. You can't imagine an Ivy, Stanford, even Duke or UVA mother getting rattled at such a thing, because they'd just confidently chuckle and move on. While many (most?) UChicago parents become unhinged because they're painfully insecure and status-obsessed strivers.


You're back! Was CC too quiet this holiday week?

I think we'd all enjoy your posts even more if you included a brief bio with each one, explaining how UChicago killed your pet kitten when you were young. Or whatever the underlying reason for your irrational hate for a fine and top school.
Anonymous
Post 06/02/2022 14:31     Subject: UChicago Feedback
Do people on this board understand that UChicago is ranked third in the country/fourth in the world (easy to check on Google) for producing Nobel prize laureates? As a recently retired HOS, I've always held it in the highest regard. The only drawback I used to joke is that their unofficial motto is: Where fun goes to die.

People here need to get over their very unhealthy Ivy fetish.
Anonymous
Post 06/02/2022 13:37     Subject: UChicago Feedback
Anonymous wrote:Did the voices in your head tell you to ask that?


Anonymous
Post 06/02/2022 13:31     Subject: UChicago Feedback
Did the voices in your head tell you to ask that?
Anonymous
Post 06/02/2022 13:13     Subject: UChicago Feedback
Are your degrees from a lower Ivy?
Anonymous
Post 06/02/2022 13:07     Subject: UChicago Feedback
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Chicago is happy to be (among other things and not primarily) a back-up plan for Sidwell/NCS/StA students (and, I assume, those from similar prep schools in other major cities) who struck out @ HYPS. They know the kids can handle the workload, they’re likely to be full pay, and UofC is eager to become more socially elite.


Pretty much. Which isn't dismissive, it's a fine school—certainly superior to all the flagship public degree mills and far more campus brain power than say Vanderbilt—but anyone expecting it to be some lottery ticket or a mega status symbol like the Ivies, Stanford, and Wharton is a deluded imbecile. Nobody gives a darn about UChicago. It's hilarious how easy it is to rattle an average UChicago parent by pretending you've never heard of their kid's college. You can't imagine an Ivy, Stanford, even Duke or UVA mother getting rattled at such a thing, because they'd just confidently chuckle and move on. While many (most?) UChicago parents become unhinged because they're painfully insecure and status-obsessed strivers.


Wow, this is a ridiculous conversation. I have two Ivy degrees and have always thought of U Chicago as a really intellectual school where serious students go. Do not think of it as "less than" an Ivy.
Anonymous
Post 06/02/2022 12:41     Subject: UChicago Feedback
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I definitely don’t think of duke or Vanderbilt as being as academically well respected as Chicago.

I’m following this with some interest for my HSer. I have a few friends that went there in the 90s and liked it well enough, but two are the type that are so argumentative that it’s exhausting to converse with them and one switched majors to avoid the cut-throat premed students and the weed-out approach in the bio/chem courses. There’s a lot I’d like about the school but I’m a little cautious based on that small sample size.


If you're some clean cut rich private school kid from a 'Big 3' with UChicago, Duke or Vandy on your resume, there is literally zero difference in how you're perceived. That is the real world, not to be confused with message boards full of weirdos who study US News and pre-college forum idiosyncrasies for years on end.


NP, FWIW based on my UMC FCPS kid, after running NPC on each school, UC looks like might be the only one to provide some merit other than 1% that received by Vandy or Duke.
Anonymous
Post 06/02/2022 12:29     Subject: UChicago Feedback
Anonymous wrote:I definitely don’t think of duke or Vanderbilt as being as academically well respected as Chicago.

I’m following this with some interest for my HSer. I have a few friends that went there in the 90s and liked it well enough, but two are the type that are so argumentative that it’s exhausting to converse with them and one switched majors to avoid the cut-throat premed students and the weed-out approach in the bio/chem courses. There’s a lot I’d like about the school but I’m a little cautious based on that small sample size.


If you're some clean cut rich private school kid from a 'Big 3' with UChicago, Duke or Vandy on your resume, there is literally zero difference in how you're perceived. That is the real world, not to be confused with message boards full of weirdos who study US News and pre-college forum idiosyncrasies for years on end.
Anonymous
Post 06/02/2022 12:08     Subject: UChicago Feedback
I definitely don’t think of duke or Vanderbilt as being as academically well respected as Chicago.

I’m following this with some interest for my HSer. I have a few friends that went there in the 90s and liked it well enough, but two are the type that are so argumentative that it’s exhausting to converse with them and one switched majors to avoid the cut-throat premed students and the weed-out approach in the bio/chem courses. There’s a lot I’d like about the school but I’m a little cautious based on that small sample size.
Anonymous
Post 06/02/2022 12:07     Subject: UChicago Feedback
Most rich kids prefer Vandy, Duke or USC over dodging bullets in blizzards for four years in south side Chicago.
Anonymous
Post 06/02/2022 11:23     Subject: UChicago Feedback
They started sending brochures to someone I know is a GED material. They sent during the junior year - and 2 years thereafter. During that time, the kid dropped out of HS, got a GED and was attending a local community college. UChicago is desperate for anyone breathing and can pay.
Anonymous
Post 06/02/2022 11:14     Subject: UChicago Feedback
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:According to another thread, Sidwell and NCS/STA are harder than Chicago and the average student there isn't as smart as these two high schools. LOLOLOLOLOL. You heard that right.


I can’t comment about whether the kids are prepared or not but the cathedral schools are sending a LOT of kids there this year, especially for how big those two schools are.


STA is sending 10 boys to Chicago out of 70 total.
Anonymous
Post 06/02/2022 11:07     Subject: UChicago Feedback
Now your not even trying - surely you can troll harder than that . . . .
Anonymous
Post 06/02/2022 10:47     Subject: UChicago Feedback
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:According to another thread, Sidwell and NCS/STA are harder than Chicago and the average student there isn't as smart as these two high schools. LOLOLOLOLOL. You heard that right.


I can’t comment about whether the kids are prepared or not but the cathedral schools are sending a LOT of kids there this year, especially for how big those two schools are.


Right -- because they couldn't get into the Ivy League.



More specifically, couldn't get into Cornell or Duke. No chance at HYPS. Again, which isn't a bad thing, these are all highly selective colleges, but it's foolish to pretend it's a peer to the Ivies, any Ivy. Having said that, attending one of the better colleges in the Middle West is admirable and exposes your coastal teen to a slice of the nation they'll likely never spend time in otherwise. It's coined flyover country for a reason and having a handle on why that is will be an asset on corporate ladder or politics.