tigerton

The more I read about this University makes me want to apply along with the Ivy Leagues. There is no financial aid estimator, can anyone tell me how good it is?

HST

On purely academic criteria, it yields little or nothing to the Ivies. For social prestige and networking, though, it would be a least a step or two (perhaps several) behind. It really depends upon how you weight such factors.

silverturtle

How good what is?

hyeonjlee

this is a very narrow view. Yes, the gas attendant in a small central Wyoming town of 500 surely has no clue about about Chicago. Most "ordinary" middle class people may have a vague recognition of Darthmouth and Brown, while they have no idea about Chicago.

However, where it matters, U Chicago has a major fire power. S1 (freshman now) interned in Wall Street this summer. From CEO down to CFO, when they first introduced S2 as someone who is going to U Chicago in the fall, they all returned a (good natured) teasing remark of "Oh, where the fun comes to die. we need to show XXX some good time before the summer is over" One supervisor jokingly told him "Surely, you don't need further explanation for this, you are going to Chicago". Of course it's well known that Chicago has unparalleled reputation in Academia. So, lack of prestige in whose eyes should the kids be concerned about? (In my own field - high tech - we hardly hear about Chicago, because it's not an engineering school)

Another matter to consider, if you go into any international elite business, science, professional community, Chicago will have far more mileage than the likes of Cornell, Dartmouth, Brown, and U Penn. Along side HYPSM, Caltech, and Columbia, Chicago is known to be one of the top global institutions. Chicago's international reputation is far stronger than their domestic reputation. In a global work place, you need to think about this also. My relatives in different continents in opposite side have no idea about the likes of Brown, Duke, Dartmouth and Penn, but they know Chicago very well as a top elite institution with a global prestige.

siberian

I agree that at the other side of the world obviously Chicago means something awesome. Probably parallel with Harvard in overall prestige wise, but perhaps better than any other school. When young men go to college they open their textbook and learn Chicago School of something with undoubted admirations. At least in academia, the awesome perception is not different at this side of the world too.

meghnasridhar

I have a question similar to the OP's-- how good is UChicago's financial aid? Especially with reference to internationals?

GatitaZ

UChicago has a very decent oversea reputation as I agree with hyeonjlee ~My dad does not recognize Brown too well,but he definitely admires UofC.As for FA regarding internationals,this school only considers to offer need-based grant to international students when they apply under RD.I racall seeing stats that the number of intl students receiving FA from UofC falls between the bracket of 11~50...And I don't quite often hear people from my area getting FA from the school.I hope this helps at least a little bit.

HST

This is a bit much ("unparalleled reputation" in academica). I am affilated with UChicago and think very highly of it, but let's not go overboard here. I am also an international, and I can assure you that Chicago's reputation is very high in some parts of the world, and somewhat less so in others. And as good as Chicago is academically, I don't think that most in academia would consider it superior in this regard to places such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc.
It also bears consideration that most students will end up neither on Wall Street nor academia - but rather somewhere in between such places and "gas stations." In the majority of such places, I have little doubt that a Harvard or Yale degree would get you more mileage, at least at the beginning. This is not a trivial matter when one is looking for one's first job.
I realize that you are (justifiably) proud of your son for attending Chicago, but this place is one of a handful of great institutions in the United States. It has distinctive characteristics that command the respect and affection of many (myself included), but these characteristics are not valued as highly by everyone.
I was simply trying to point out the 'pluses and minuses' of the place. I personally don't think the minuses add up to all that much, but others might have a different perspective.

Cue7

Tigerton - define your terms. It's unhelpful when an applicant lumps all 8 ivy league schools together. Do you ask whether Chicago is comparable - overall (academics, networks, etc.) - to a Princeton or Yale? Probably not. Is Chicago comparable to a Penn or Cornell on this front overall? Sure. What schools are you comparing to Chicago specifically?

tigerton

I am comparing Chicago academically to HYP. Also financial aid compared to the top schools, such as Stanford or Princeton. Also comparing the reputation it has for graduate school. Such as a U of C graduate applying for Harvard Law School.

Cue7

Tigerton - I think academically, Chicago compares quite favorably to HYP. In terms of financial aid, networking, or general connections to avenues of power, it falls off the pace considerably when compared to HYP.

If your goal is to go into academia following undergrad, Chicago will serve you pretty much just as well as Harvard, Yale, etc. If goals include Harvard Law or Stanford med, HYP do a significantly better job than Chicago. Chicago would be closer to a Penn or Cornell on this front.

HonorsCentaur

i think you should stop worrying so much about rankings and name and more about where you will develop as a mature young adult

tigerton

Yeah >.<. I am a little insecure, so I want to see the opportunity. I will have trouble get into Chicago to be honest. If I got in I'd be ecstatic. I mostly just want to know about financial aid now. I'm sold on the academics.

Cue7

HonorsCentaur - in terms of "developing as a young adult" there's tremendous overlap between all the top schools. Nowadays, I think key differentiating factors between top schools are elements such as location, strength of particular departments and programs, etc. All of these schools don't differ drastically in how they prepare young adults - the OP could be fine in this regard at Chicago or Brown or Rice or Yale.

On the other hand, I do think there are significant differences in the factors I mentioned above between, say, Chicago and Yale. Rankings and name are awful barometers, but they can serve as a proxy to indicate gaps in opportunity. It's worthwhile for applicants to consider this.

mrstreak101

why are HYP the top 3? Columbia is also very good. And like any school, U of Chicago is known for what its good at and particularly economics and I believe physics. Prestige shouldn't matter to you, its all about the knowledge