@schlegelkopf Congratulations to your daughter!
My daughter is currently a Second Year at UChicago. While we are American, we lived in Europe when she was born, and didn’t move to the States until she was almost 16. I understand your concerns with coming from there to Chicago, but I think your daughter should have an easy time with the transition. My daughter wanted a school in a large city because she feels more comfortable in them, especially because they have the amenities she grew up with, like public transportation. She and her friends use the CTA frequently to explore the different parts of Chicago. Because of an internship during her first year, she had to travel downtown alone a few times a week, and sometimes there were evening events that lasted several hours. While she usually took the bus there, she would Uber back to campus per our request. However, that says more about us being paranoid parents than it does about the safety of Chicago. 
Still, she knows that she needs to be aware of her surroundings when she is out and about, no matter where she is.
She had a bit of Imposter Syndrome rear its head when she was accepted EA, and it worsened once she met her classmates. However, as she met upperclassmen who, even four years in, also felt like they’d been mistakenly admitted and would be thrown out as soon as someone had the time to fill out the paperwork to have them escorted off the premises :)) , she relaxed and found her footing. By October, she was comfortable enough in her 4 classes and her internship to accept another job offered to her because she thought it would be an “interesting experience” to have. Her schedule exhausts me, isn’t for everyone, but she is having the time of her life.
Thankfully it’s not a cut-throat environment; in my daughter’s experience, the kids work collaboratively and are very supportive of each other. She can’t imagine being anywhere else.