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<p>Absolutely true, since those two items are unmeasurable. (The education fields has been attempting to measure “quality” for decades, but all to no avail. And of course, future “prospects” is itself a nebulous term, and depends a lot on major. </p>
<p>The top few college student success stories of the past and current generation are college dropouts. So, the self-reported data would indicate, to become a billionaire, go to Harvard and then drop-out!</p>
<p>UChicago people can think they are better than Northwestern and other peers all they want. It’s not that long ago it was ranked like 15th. Let’s be honest, do they really think the UChicago today is that much “better” than it was even just 5 or 10 years ago? The only difference I see is the administration have been more obssessed with college rankings in recent years than before and more aggressive in playing the ranking game (meeting with the USN, bombarding people with way more junk mails than other peers, having an army of admission staff, etc).</p>
<p>Also, to say it’s simply better without any specification is misleading. While UChicago is pretty good at what they do, it’s not as comprehensive. There are no programs in engineering, journalism, education, music performance, or theater at UChicago while Northwestern is among the top in these areas.</p>
<p>answer to "best’ school in chicago area is “it depends on what you value”. There’s no straightforward answer.</p>
<p>^exactly. for example, Blackfinns in DC was packed with NU alums watching the NU vs Michigan game two days ago. we value that experience. OTOH, most of the uchicago folks are probably not into football and hence not missing anything.</p>
<p>Tought loss for the Wildcats there Sam! I was rooting for an upset. Soo close…</p>
<p>Even if it’s true that Chicago is #4 and NU is #12, they ARE on the “same level” by any sensible view of the big picture. They’re certainly close enough that personal fit should be the deciding factor for anybody choosing between them.</p>
<p>Look at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, 15-minute subway ride from downtown. Excellent financial aid. Strong science and engineering programs. Not glamorous, but academically much stronger than all the other Chicago-area colleges with exception of University of Chicago and Northwestern. Low profile school, but worth consideration.</p>
<p>Thanks goldenboy. We lost three games so far and they were all close. NU fans can’t have heart disease.</p>
<p>kwu and phuriku are both a little “off” socially based on their past posts, so really, their opinions aren’t worth taking all that seriously. As Hunt said, these two schools are on the same level by anyone looking at any kind of big picture, and so any choice between the two comes down to personal fit and preference. Of course, the same could be said for any top 20 or so schools. Normal people get that, people who are “off” are the ones who act as though minute distinctions are meaningful.</p>
<p>I was rooting for Ohio State to lose too this past weekend. Wish they had played a game. :-)</p>
<p>UW Madison is generally equal or better than UIUC in most areas and cheaper OOS, about same distance from Chicago, places very well in Chicago and is not located in a dull college town.</p>
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<p>Having an S applying to college this year from the left coast, I can attest to the fact the U Chicago is currently a marketing machine. S has received dozens of HUGE glossy brochures and two unsolicited t-shirts, though he has exactly zero interest in applying to U Chicago. Many of his friends plan to apply, not because they are interested but because all the marketing has convinced them that U Chicago really WANTS them. ;-D None of them have gotten ANY materials from Northwestern, which apparently gets all the applicants it needs without resorting to excessive junk mail.</p>
<p>All of this marketing no doubt makes U Chicago look more selective, but the reality is that in spite of their smaller size their stats are virtually identical to Northwestern, which rejects more students with perfect stats than are admitted to U Chicago each year.</p>
<p>momcares, I agree that UChicago has stepped up on their marketing effort in recent years, but that does not make the University any less quality than other elite universities such as Northwestern with less marketing effort, or vice versa. I understand NU is a quality university just like the University of Chicago has always been; but do you care to substantiate your last sentence, “…Northwestern, which rejects more students with perfect stats than are admitted to U Chicago each year.”</p>
<p>[University</a> Rankings (1910-present)](<a href=“http://unirank.blogspot.com/2012/06/1925-american-university-rankings-in.html]University”>University Rankings (1910-present))</p>
<p>Here are some relevant NU stats from 2015 {>25,000 students were rejected in 2016};</p>
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<p>Almost half of our applicants earned the equivalent of a 4.0 or higher grade point average.</p>
<p>Of our applicants reporting class rank, 71% were in the top decile.</p>
<p>Half of our applicants earned a 1420 (CR+M) or higher on the SAT (the equivalent of a 32 ACT).</p>
<p>Over 3,300 applicants with a 1500 SAT (CR+M) or higher (the equivalent of a 34 ACT) were not offered admission.</p>
<p>We denied more applicants this year than the total number of applicants we received two years ago.</p>
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<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/northwestern-university/1114541-nu-overall-acceptance-rate-18-down-27-just-2-years-ago.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/northwestern-university/1114541-nu-overall-acceptance-rate-18-down-27-just-2-years-ago.html</a></p>
<p>momcares, thanks for your clarification. I guess I have a different kind of mindset of having perfect stats, i.e. 1600 (CR + M), 2400 (CR+M+W) on SAT; 36 on ACT; 4.0 GPA unweighted.</p>
<p>theluckystar,</p>
<p>The marketing effort does not make the school any less quality; but some uchicago affiliate would come to CC to shoot down other schools and express their superiority complex, after their ranking shot up in the past few years. The ranking went up largely because its selectivity went up, which is the dividend of the intensive marketing effort.</p>
<p>momcares, your S got two unsolicited t-shirts? That’s more than junk mails; they are even more agressive than I thought.</p>
<p>Here on CC we always tell people that mailings don’t mean much–that they don’t really mean the school wants you, etc. But two T-shirts? That’s a different story.</p>
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<p>Thing is, though … let 'em. Someone who is seriously getting all worked up and excited that school A is 5 points higher than school B when both schools are considered top by any stretch of the imagination … let 'em have their fantasy that it matters in the real world. They’ll find out soon enough. It’s not part of our brand character at NU to be “hurt” or “offended” by them – just amused and dismissive.</p>
<p>Haven’t any of you guys heard about the merger. The new school will be called Northwestern University of Chicago. It’s plans to relocate to the campus of what is now the Lincoln Park Zoo. All students will be required to take the Core and attend Big 10 football games with copies of Plato’s Republic in hand. It will be ranked 8th in USNews and 25th in the USAToday Coaches Poll. </p>
<p>Former UChicago students will have to drink and former Northwestern students will have to think!</p>
<p>This reminds me of Columbia versus NYU in New York. Columbia has the Ivy pedigree while NYU is the arriviste. I grew up in NYC and back in the day, NYU had the reputation that if you could afford the tuition, you’re in. It has come a long way since then. I don’t know if Northwestern quite had that reputation, but when I was at UC in the 70s, Northwestern wasn’t in the conversation; that has changed. </p>
<p>Although Northwestern has the reputation over Chicago for performing arts and journalism, domt think the Chicago will hold you back. The list of notable Chicago alumni in entertainment, journalism, and literature is long and prestigious. Fun goes to die at Chicago but alums created Second City. There’s also Saul Bellow, Sara Paretsky, Marilu Henner, Philip Roth, and Philip Glass. </p>
<p>Incidentally, acceptance rate counts for 1.5 percent of US News ranking methodology.</p>