Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chicago boosters are so insecure that one 8-page long thread simply calling out its boosterism disappeared all of a sudden from DCUM... I wonder why?

UChicago is definitely tops at having the most insecure alums on DCUM, followed closely by Northwestern, JHU, and Duke, based on recent posts I've seen on this forum.

I've not met any insecure Ivy or stanford/mit alums or parents on this forum, which by itself speaks volumes.

Columbia alums are the most insecure

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chicago boosters are so insecure that one 8-page long thread simply calling out its boosterism disappeared all of a sudden from DCUM... I wonder why?

UChicago is definitely tops at having the most insecure alums on DCUM, followed closely by Northwestern, JHU, and Duke, based on recent posts I've seen on this forum.

I've not met any insecure Ivy or stanford/mit alums or parents on this forum, which by itself speaks volumes.

I think the real phenomenon is people like yourself who derail threads that are about a specific school with your own vitriol, and then somehow convince yourself that it's "boosters" who are causing a ruckus? Very strange behavior.

PP I went to Harvard and not certain if I am being called an insecure Chicago booster? I think I am a secure Chicago booster

Anonymous wrote:Chicago boosters are so insecure that one 8-page long thread simply calling out its boosterism disappeared all of a sudden from DCUM... I wonder why?

UChicago is definitely tops at having the most insecure alums on DCUM, followed closely by Northwestern, JHU, and Duke, based on recent posts I've seen on this forum.

I've not met any insecure Ivy or stanford/mit alums or parents on this forum, which by itself speaks volumes.

By the way, I just posted, and I am sure that what my family loves about U Chicago is what others could not tolerate. It's about fit at the end of the day.

Chicago boosters are so insecure that one 8-page long thread simply calling out its boosterism disappeared all of a sudden from DCUM... I wonder why?

DC at U Chicago here. Let me try to answer your original question.

The first years just took their first quarter midterms, and are bemoaning calculus at various levels and inquiry based learning (proofs) across the board. Chicago is unique in that college level calculus and three humanities sequences reading primary sources are required of ALL undergraduates. You cannot place out of math here, just place into higher levels of math. The philosophy of the school is that the college sits across all disciplines and you cannot graduate without learning significant ways of thinking in all areas. The kids are reporting 27 out of 40, 10 out of 40 on the midterms... by contrast I went to Harvard and did not have to take a single math course to get a summa degree in economics at graduation.

My DC also loves that the Chicago Principles exist and are supported by President ZImmer and Alivisatos, which support vigorous debate and free speech on campus. So loud external agitators can't shut down debate the way they can at other schools. I heard about grad students at Chicago agitating to get a professor who had beliefs they disliked fired, and the President shut that down asap by citing the principles and telling the grad students they were free to go elsewhere. This was something my DC wanted - his point "how can I study philosophy effectively if I am going to be told what to think"? David Axelrod founded the Institute of Politics at Chicago and "gasp" it is bipartisan and even invites conservative speakers!

Finally, at Chicago a kid needs to be a self starter and confident- there are hundreds of clubs, Greek Life, house events, and a career track you are introduced to immediately and most kids join multiple things. This is while you are thrown into the quarter system- add drop is by week three, then midterms are week 4-5, so there is no grace period. Midterms are occuring concurrent with Family Weekend, so kids are trying to see their families and still needing to submit papers by midnight Friday, Saturday, Monday... . But point of pride they are getting it done.

This is a snapshot, but hope it helps. It's the right fit for our family. I don't want to convince anyone of anything, just share what was important to us. Good luck to your daughter.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it so hard for uchicago affiliates to plainly accept the fact that they are not hypsm level? Or even below columbia, caltech, and penn? Isn't a T10/ivy plus school already good enough? What more are you asking? It's certainly as good as, or even surpassed duke and definitely more so than NU and JHU. I don't understand where all this insecurity comes from to be honest.

Worse than UChicago are the shit hoe NW alums/boosters.

Where are these NW boosters you speak of?

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1002895.page see this

I don't see how there are any "shit hoe" boosters on that thread. If anything, it got derailed by "shit hoe" haters who seem to have a chip on their shoulder about Northwestern. Sort of like this thread?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it so hard for uchicago affiliates to plainly accept the fact that they are not hypsm level? Or even below columbia, caltech, and penn? Isn't a T10/ivy plus school already good enough? What more are you asking? It's certainly as good as, or even surpassed duke and definitely more so than NU and JHU. I don't understand where all this insecurity comes from to be honest.

Worse than UChicago are the shit hoe NW alums/boosters.

Where are these NW boosters you speak of?

Mostly Berwyn.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it so hard for uchicago affiliates to plainly accept the fact that they are not hypsm level? Or even below columbia, caltech, and penn? Isn't a T10/ivy plus school already good enough? What more are you asking? It's certainly as good as, or even surpassed duke and definitely more so than NU and JHU. I don't understand where all this insecurity comes from to be honest.

Worse than UChicago are the shit hoe NW alums/boosters.

Where are these NW boosters you speak of?

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1002895.page see this

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm no Chicago booster but Parchment "data" is junk. For one, all of these hypothetical cross-admits are most certainly 99 to 100%, not 62 to 71%:

Harvard vs Chicago (71% picks Harvard)
MIT vs Chicago (76% picks MIT)
Yale vs Chicago (75% picks Yale)
Stanford vs Chicago (68% picks Stanford)
Princeton vs Chicago (62% picks Princeton)

I think you're right in the sense that no one would pick Chicago over any of those schools unless there Chicago offered full ride.

Those schools have massive endowments and offer very generous financial aid. Chicago can't really compete with them, and not even with schools like Columbia or Penn that non-Chicago affiliates see as its "peers". Chicago is also known for raising family contributions after the freshman year, a practice seldom done by other elite schools and shows, to an extent, how strained their finances are.

At best it wins cross-admits over lower ivies and Duke within the Ivy Plus grouping.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it so hard for uchicago affiliates to plainly accept the fact that they are not hypsm level? Or even below columbia, caltech, and penn? Isn't a T10/ivy plus school already good enough? What more are you asking? It's certainly as good as, or even surpassed duke and definitely more so than NU and JHU. I don't understand where all this insecurity comes from to be honest.

Worse than UChicago are the shit hoe NW alums/boosters.

Where are these NW boosters you speak of?

Wow. Op here. I did not expect this thread to go this way!

Thanks to the alumni and parents of students who responded.

Also appreciate those that said that they didn’t particularly like the city of Chicago - we will pay attention to see if the city would be good for her.

Those that discussed the ranking or prestige of the school - I am sure it’s an important factor to many. For my DD, I am fairly sure it has no bearing if the student body is made up of smart and dedicated kids. Plus, I am sure she will go to grad school (as will many kids). So why is the “prestige” of the undergrad school even relevant?

Again thanks to all. And good luck to everyone who is in the middle of the application process or starting the search. Wishing us all sanity.

Anonymous wrote:Why is it so hard for uchicago affiliates to plainly accept the fact that they are not hypsm level? Or even below columbia, caltech, and penn? Isn't a T10/ivy plus school already good enough? What more are you asking? It's certainly as good as, or even surpassed duke and definitely more so than NU and JHU. I don't understand where all this insecurity comes from to be honest.

Worse than UChicago are the shit hoe NW alums/boosters.

Anonymous wrote:As a big 3 parent, I would say that the kind of kids who ended up being accepted by Chicago from DD's school are not usually "hooked" like the Ivies admits do. Like a PP said, it does reflect different educational philosophies.

1. Ivy League schools do NOT have uniform educational philosophies so your argument is specious.
2. Not sure of your definition of "hooked". Legacy?