<p>Maybe this has been said before, but I think choosing an undergraduate college based on brand recognition in a niche is misguided, for several reasons:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Your niche is not really a niche. Every college offers econ and poli sci; Chicago’s public policy major is somewhat more unusual but it’s not exceptional (as in, you could replicate most of the public policy major at another college if you took econ, sociology, and poli sci.) If you instead said you wanted to do biomedical engineering or Egyptology, this conversation would be different, but you’re not saying that.</p></li>
<li><p>Your niche could change. I came into college wanting to do religious studies (another area in which Chicago is particularly strong, but not my primary reason for choosing the school) with the hopes of going into academia, and n years later I’m in education management. This is not an unusual trajectory for any college student anywhere.</p></li>
<li><p>The college is not going to “give” you a job. You are going to “get” a job by using the resources around you wisely. These resources include but are not limited to your friends, alumni, the career office, your pluck and ingenuity, your research, your initiative, your friends, your friends, your friends. Did I mention that your friends from college will play a significant role in your personal and professional future. You bet I pay more attention when a friend or a friend of a friend asks me for a career-related favor. And a resume of somebody from a no-name school that comes recommended by a friend means a lot more to me-- an alum and generous donor-- than somebody with “UChicago” stamped on their resume.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>That said, I recommend you read both the University of Chicago Maroon and the Duke Chronicle on a semi-regular basis. I think the relative strengths and weaknesses of both schools will become clearer to you and more helpful as you think about what schools you’d like to attend.</p>