<p>My S has had the opportunity to study at both a top Ivy and Chicago. He reports that students are very smart at both places, but Chicago was different. At the Ivy students where more practical and approached courses as very smart and sophisticated students. At Chicago everything is much more theoretical and the students approach classes often as though they are members of the discipline. The atmosphere permeates the school at Chicago, while at the Ivy, talk centered around career and next steps in the process. </p>
<p>My guess is that students adapt to whatever culture exists at a school. Of course, these are overlapping distributions and nothing is completely one or the other.</p>