<p>I am thinking of applying this fall and would like to know how good the school is overall (academics,campus life,etc.) And what are the office of admissions looking for?</p>
<p>UC Riverside is no match for Chicago, but with NYU and Miami there may be some majors where it competes.</p>
<p>The OA is looking for the same things all OAs are looking for. There’s no secret decoder ring, except that Riverside would like to educate California residents, particularly those in its region, but it is also happy to take $50K each year from OOS students when it can get them.</p>
<p>What you’re looking for is fit, and yet you’ve told us nothing about yourself. Do you have an unwtd GPA, SATs/ACTs, state or residency? Are you full pay? Have you any thoughts on a major? Have you run the net price calculators for your three schools of interest? Talked to your parents about what they are willing to contribute?</p>
<p>“Good” is a relative term; I’m sure there are many students who are happy at each of these schools and who would be miserable at one or more of the others. </p>
<p>If you’re talking specifically about academics, no, the academics at UC Riverside are not going to compare to those at U of Chicago. They are very, very different schools.</p>
<p>Someone who can get into U Chicago is probably able to get into UCB or UCLA vs. UCR.</p>
<p>UC Riverside is a fine school; but UChicago is in a different league. The University of Chicago is often compared to Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, etc, as far as the caliber of their faculty and the quality of their academics are concerned.</p>
<p>Good luck with your college applications.</p>
<p>I don’t think Chicago is often compared to HYPSM. HYPSM+Caltech are often compared to themselves, and often to themselves alone. Chicago is often compared to Northwestern, the other Ivies, Duke, Notre Dame, Rice, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Michigan and other top Publics, such as Berkeley, Virginia, W&M and UNC. That being said, yes, Chicago is in a league above UC Riverside. But if you’ll graduate at the top of your class at UC Riverside, you’ll go places where top Chicago grads often go. </p>
<p>UChicago is several tiers above UCR. But I can’t imagine a student who would be happy at both. Chicago is much more competitive than UCR.</p>
<p>Top Chicago grads often move on to top graduate schools such as Harvard, Caltech, Stanford, Princeton, MIT and the like. Do you have any statistics that top students from UCR end up going? It’s nice to be encouraging to OP, but reality may be a little different. </p>
<p>For perspective, Chicago is a natl research university with a small undergraduate college considered in the top 20 of the nation. UCR is a national research uni with a much larger undergrad population in about the top 100 in the country.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>^^ Don’t say that E Dad, my D did not get in to either but was accepted by U of C… well she has graduated anyway. OTOH, she did not apply to UCR either.</p>
<p>With no offense, that’s anecdotal. I agree with Erin’s Dad that the chances are good if someone who is able to get into Chicago is probably able to get into UCB or UCLA or other UCs. </p>
<p>I think art’s daughter was first waitlisted at U of C.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That was unnecessary to say, because you can actually say for the same thing: Chances are good for Berkeley admits to get accepted to Chicago. Berkeley admits rate is 17% and less than 10% for the college of engineering. A lot of applicants with superb stats were being turned down to Berkeley this year. Anyways, the OP was comparing Chicago to Riverside not Berkeley.</p>
<p>2013 US News Rank
2 Harvard
5 Stanford, Chicago
12 Northwestern
20 Berkeley
32 NYU
47 UMiami
112 UC Riverside</p>
<p>Admit Rate<a href=“source%20=%20US%20News”>/u</a>
6% Harvard
6.6% Stanford
13.2% Chicago
15.3% Northwestern
18% Berkeley
35% NYU
39.7% UMiami
62.7% UC Riverside</p>
<p>75th Percentile SAT CR+M<a href=“source%20=%20stateuniversity.com”>/u</a>
1590 Harvard
1570 Chicago
1550 Stanford
1530 Northwestern
1490 Berkeley
1460 NYU
1400 UMiami
1170 UC Riverside</p>
<p>PhD Productivity Rank<a href=“source%20=%20Washington%20Monthly”>/u</a>
3 Chicago
8 Stanford
18 Berkeley
19 Harvard
23 Northwestern
42 NYU
59 UMiami
110 UC Riverside</p>
<p> Average Mid-Career Salary<a href=“source%20=%20payscale.com”>/u</a>
$119K Stanford, Harvard
$111K Berkeley
$95.8K NYU
$93.2K Northwestern
$92.7K Chicago
$83.1K UC Riverside
$78.7K UMiami</p>
<p>tk, your post doesn’t distinguish Chicago from Berkeley, does it?</p>
<p>^ I don’t know, does it? Why is that important? The OP wants to know how UC-Riverside stacks up against several other schools. S/he mentioned Chicago, Miami, and NYU. You and other posters tossed in a few others (which I included above).</p>
<p>Whether Chicago and Berkeley should be distinguished depends on your measurement criteria, circumstances, and goals. </p>
<p>Nice job</p>
<p>
@RML, the question is WHY the OP is comparing Chicago to UCR. They are not peer schools at all. The question in my mind is why would a student competitive for Chicago be looking at UCR and not UCB or UCLA?</p>
<p>
Bryson23’s test scores make him/her a realistic candidate for UCR but not NYU, Miami, or Chicago. I think the OP simply wanted to know how UCR stacks up against dream schools. </p>
<p>The UCs, like most big universities, are what one makes of them. Some students work hard, seek out opportunities, and do well. Other students hit the sink-or-swim environment and, well, sink. </p>
<p>Not everyone sinks at the UCs, from my observation of my immediate family and my kid’s friends, more males sink then females.</p>