Columbia or University of Chicago?

[jak321]

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Some students take too much pride in this (the intellectual atmosphere) and end up sounding like conceited d-bags

It’s hard to be intellectual without being snobbish.</p>

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This is so true. Just take a look at the Chicago forum on CC.
Thank you for being honest Calexico.

The sample is extremely tiny (barely 2-3 active 2017 EA admits) and so heavily skewed. Do you expect a forum, even one of UChicago, to exist without a locus of identity external to itself? Maybe you should try the UChicago Facebook group, where the most prominent discussions are about the greatest academics, the quickest way to become a polyglot, and favorite poets.</p>

<p>You may want to compare apples to apples and see how the analogous thread on the UChicago forum is doing.</p>

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Many who applied then were essentially “self-selected,” because the reputation of the school as an intellectual hothouse for nerds was unattractive to most college applicants

If that was the only reason for self-selection, I don’t see how it isn’t applicable today, and judging by how you derisively speak of UChicago’s intellectualism, you (and Gailforce for that matter) would agree.</p>

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What I have noticed – particularly on the Chicago forum – is how many Chicagoans seem to have become “prestige whores,” wondering anxiously when Chicago will supplant either H, Y, or P.

How many? 4? I’ve seen 2 threads talking about UChicago supplanting HYP, and most of the responses have been dismissive of the idea of a college supplanting another.</p>

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What they don’t realize is that to supplant H, Y, or P, Chicago has to defeat C (Columbia).

In what? Rankings? USNews and ARWU are the only rankings in which UChicago doesn’t outright beat Columbia (it’s tied with Columbia in one, and one rank behind Columbia in the other). In prestigious scholarships (even without correcting for Columbia’s larger student body)? In endowment per student? In student stats (SAT/GPA ranges, % of people in SAT/GPA ranges). UChicago is ahead in all these metrics…</p>

<p>I say UChicago is about equal to Columbia (and that is being generous to Columbia), but it’s really nothing worth mentioning. The impression that UChicago is “behind” Columbia is anachronistic, but also ridiculous, not least because the idea of a college being “supplanting” another is preposterous. </p>

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I also have a very close relative at Columbia. What I have noticed about the two student bodies circa 2013, is that Columbians are much more secure in their status as students at the intellectual Ivy

I would be surprised it it were the other way round. UChicago student aren’t known for believing that they are ivies (although even Columbia students seem to think they should be: [Ivy</a> League - WikiCU, the Columbia University wiki encyclopedia](<a href=“http://www.wikicu.com/Ivy_League]Ivy”>Ivy League - WikiCU, the Columbia University wiki encyclopedia) ; read Ivy “Should-Be’s”)</p>

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This is so true. Just take a look at the Chicago forum on CC.

This coming from the person who suggested Columbia over Chicago “in the blink of an eye”. </p>

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It seems as though today’s Chicagoans will not feel secure in the school’s rising status unless it officially dethrones one of the so-called Big Three.

I don’t think any Chicagoan is oblivious to the fact that Chicago is “rising”. “Rising” and beating HYP are two very different things. That we are “rising” is an inescapable fact. That we are beating out (or on par with) any of the big three, is disputable. S and M should be part of the big three though.</p>

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…Chicagoans recent obsession with rankings and with supplanting H, Y, or P seems to suggest a lack of comfort with what Chicago uniquely is. Back in my day, THAT is what we cared about: what was unique to our Chicago experience.

Something tells me that you did not altogether escape the sanctimoniousness that UChicago allegedly bestows upon it’s students.</p>

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And that kind of insecure arrogance is rampant on the Chicago forum. I hope the forum does not represent the school.

Finally, some acknowledgement of the fact that half a dozen kids may not be representative of a school.</p>

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you will note that Chicago has tried, apparently very successfully, to reshape its public image: it has abandoned full-blown quirkiness for mainstream appeal.

Run-off-the-mill essay prompts, scav, and <a href=“http://goat.uchicago.edu/[/url]”>http://goat.uchicago.edu/&lt;/a&gt;
Chicago is becoming less unique every day…</p>

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It is trying too hard just to be another “prestigious” school. That is very un-Chicagoan.

Chicago does have a reputation for being very unchicagoan…</p>

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however, the current crop of students make me sick to my stomach (this is a generalization based on what I have been witnessing on the Chicago forum).

Three posts in, Gailforce admits that his entire impression of UChicago is based on the terrible sample, that is a college confidential forum.</p>

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There is so much self-aggrandizement and arrogance evident on that forum that I find myself actively rooting against the university. I literally cringe when I read something vacuous and condescending posted by members of the Chicago forum, and I would advise anyone who is seriously considering attending Chicago to be absolutely certain that they will be able to tolerate the company of such individuals over the course of four years.

I’ve heard the UChicagoans tend to self-lacerate ([Think</a> we’ve got it bad? U. Chicago has it worse - The Daily Princetonian](<a href=“http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2000/03/07/399/]Think”>http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2000/03/07/399/))
I’ve heard people saying that UChicago did more of the telling than the selling and: “had these facts to offer, but didn’t seem too keen on promoting them” ([A</a> Windy City Welcome Weekend at Chicago Booth | MBA Over 30](<a href=“日本草莓视频-如何下载草莓视频-色版草莓视频-色草莓视频”>日本草莓视频-如何下载草莓视频-色版草莓视频-色草莓视频))
^ Caveat, that’s the B-School, but they should be (and have every right to be) the most snobbish of all of UChicago (top 3 B-School, but I digress).</p>

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@Calexico, which dorm are you in?

By what he’s said, I’m guessing BJ or Snitchcock…</p>

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I’ve heard nerdy, but I’ve never heard Chicago students mentioned as socially awkward. A Chicago student saying that makes it even more surprising.

From what I’ve heard, it’s more one part nerdy and two parts quirky than socially awkward. We’re probably more socially awkward than Columbia’s students in general, but you can definitely find your crowd here. Oh, and I hear that UChicago is shedding it’s quirkiness in favor of a more mainstream student body (or at least that’s what most people on this thread are saying).</p>