<p>What’s your opinion? Do you consider the University of Chicago to be of equal quality to the Ivies, or do you have different view?</p>
<p>i’ve always seen these questions like is dan rather better than peter jennings. people’s opinions are different on that, and it’s pretty subjective. and what subjects are we judging them on? if someone asks which one is better, do we mean as a person, or as a newscaster? one person may be more fit to watch dan rather, while one may be more comfortable getting his news from peter jennings. but that all depends on the type of person you are, and the traits you are judging a news anchor for overall quality. in my view, i believe in the end all people are equal, and all colleges are equal. but it all depends on the person, one college may fit you better than another. but for me, yes, i think i’d have just as good a time at chicago as an ivy league. the attributes i’m judging this by are academics, location, and current student opinions.</p>
<p>Yes, yes it is.</p>
<p>Chicago is better than most Ivy League schools. But, that doesnt matter if you personally like specific Ivy league schools better than U of Chicago.</p>
<p>Chicago is equal to most Ivy League in terms of academic quality and in terms of reputation in professional and academic circles. You cannot go wrong with Chicago…provided you like the university’s personal style. Some people love it…others hate it.</p>
<p>Equal quality in terms of what?</p>
<p>UChicago is in the ugliest neighborhood it could possibly be in. Well, not quite, but it’s close. Keep that in mind when deciding.</p>
<p>True, but Columbia, Penn and Yale aren’t in much better neighborhoods.</p>
<p>Equal quality in terms of students, academics, prestige, reputation, resources, research etc…</p>
<p>Agreed, New Haven blows.</p>
<p>Well, I must admit I never heard of UChig until I came to this board. To most people, I don’t think it has nearly as much impact as an Ivy name would have…but it seems to be a good school…I think its 45% admit rate really hurts the overall reputation though. That’s easier than many state schools even.</p>
<p>Golubb, % accepted has nothing to do with quality. There is no correlation whatsoever. If there were, universities like the University of the Ozarks, Livingstone College or Lane College would all be better than Dartmouth, Penn or Cornell. Colleges like Wilberforce University, Alcorn State University, Albany State University, Tougaloo College and Concordia University would all be considered equal to Duke, Cal-Berkeley and Johns Hopkins.</p>
<p>A university’s quality is only measured by its faculty, endowment, curriculum, ties to industry, connections to graduate programs and by the general quality of its student body. By general, I mean ball park, not exact. Whether the average student enrolling into a university graduated with a 3.9 GPA and 1400 on her/his SAT or a 3.8 GPA and a 1300 on her/his SAT is insignificant. Such small discrepencies do not matter in the large scheme of things.</p>
<p>This said, only 5 universities in the US enjoy an advantage over Chicago. We all know which 5 they are. After those 5, you have 10-12 universities that make the next cut, and Chicago, along with 5 of the Lower Ivies, all share that common space.</p>
<p>Schools like Chicago, Johns Hopkins and Michigan typically have acceptance rates in the 40%-55% range, but few people in the know would fail to include them in their list of the top 10 or 15 universities.</p>
<p>Admitedly, people with little education are not familiar with the University of Chicago. But in academic and professional circles, Chicago is very highly regarded.</p>
<p>Alexandre –</p>
<p>You hit the nail on the head. First, because the name brand of the “University of Chicago” in non-academic circles is not as strong as the name brand of Harvard, Yale, or Princeton, The University of Chicago tend to get fewer applicants in any given year. </p>
<p>Second, my guess is that because of their name brand, the Ivies get a fairly large number of “what the hell” applications from students who have absolutely no shot of getting in – students with 2.9 gpas and 1100 sat scores. I would be that The University of Chicago gets a great deal less of these types of applications.</p>
<p>Third, it takes a special breed of person to be drawn to The University of Chicago. I have never known a graduate from The University of Chicago describe their undergraduate experience as “fun”. While I think that the old adage that The University of Chicago is where, “the fun goes to die” is a bit over-stated, the academic pressures placed on the undergraduates population at The University of Chicago (whether it is self-induced or institutional) is undeniable. Given these pressures and the fact that you have an academic institution of comparable academic reputation less than 30 miles away and in a much more livable area, you can see why The University of Chicago’s acceptance rate is relatively high when comparing it to schools of similar academic reputation.</p>
<p>“Second, my guess is that because of their name brand, the Ivies get a fairly large number of “what the hell” applications from students who have absolutely no shot of getting in – students with 2.9 gpas and 1100 sat scores. I would be that The University of Chicago gets a great deal less of these types of applications.”</p>
<p>You’re right there. After all, Chicago has it’s “uncommon” essay questions, which the average “Let me just try applying here” student is not going to waste his/her time answering.</p>
<p>i think chicago is kinda like a caltech, a very good school but the name popularity isnt as up there with the general public. i personally never heard of chicago until i got interested in college admissions and CC. =</p>
<p>Chicago applicants do tend to self-select. With the common app, it’s easy to apply to 10-15 highly selective schools with nothing more than a checkbook. But, Chicago’s uncommon app takes work. Ya gotta really want to go there to complete the process.</p>
<p>Just a question, what are UChicago’s strong departments? Science? Liberal arts?</p>
<p>Econ is one (the “Chicago school” of economics, but it is decidely un-Keynesian (sp?).</p>
<p>Ha ha, they HATE Keynesians (sp?) at Chicago! I wonder if Milton Friedman has anything to do with it? ;)</p>
<p>Don’t forget UChicago’s science programs. Physics is definitely one of the top, if not the top, programs in the world. Several high-profile experiments/discoveries have been made at UChicago, most notably the very first nuclear reaction.</p>