Economics Major

amykins
Mon, 21 May 2007 11:30:56 +0000

I agree that students here (here being Chicago) are no smarter and no dumber than students at other top schools, but Sam, that’s not the point. The point is not that “we’re smarter than you,” the point is that “we’re nerdy and weird and we do things a little differently.” It is what it sounds like. Nobody would chastise a student from Brown, Reed, Carleton, Wesleyan, Swarthmore, Harvey Mudd, Bard, Sarah Lawrence, etc. etc. etc. for saying that they and their school are a little different from the norm… so why such a hard time accepting that Chicago students are different too?

Chicago tends to cater to a certain type of student, i.e. one that wants to work hard, doesn’t mind getting low(er) grades than his friends at peer schools, and wants to spend four weeks reading The Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals by Immanuel Kant. I bet you can make Harvard into Chicago, but you can’t make Chicago into Harvard. So it’s no surprise that students tend to choose Harvard over Chicago, but those that don’t certainly have their reasons.

To relate this to the OP about econ… I mean, both schools are top-notch for econ, but consider the school itself, not the major, especially for Chicago.