<p>What differentiates Chicago from other top universities? (2)</p>
<p>A Principled Approach to Curriculum & Instruction
Chicago does not offer up a Chinese Menu of “distribution requirements” or an anything-goes Open Curriculum. Every undergraduate experiences an integrated, 2 year Core curriculum that ensures broad exposure to “the best that has been thought and said” in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Biological and Physical Sciences. The emphasis is on discussion, not lectures, and on primary source materials, not textbooks. As another CC poster recently wrote, you don’t read “Karl Marx said …”, you read Karl-Bloody-Marx. Professors generally don’t stand at a lectern and hold forth for 50 minutes to students assembled in rank-and-file order. They sit with students at a round table and ask challenging Socratic questions based on a close reading of the text. They don’t hesitate to “call BS” when a student is showing off or running off-topic, rather than honestly attempting to address the question. Reading loads and writing assignments are demanding; professors don’t relax them to accomodate students’ extracurricular pursuits. </p>
<p>First-Rate Academic Facilities
It has been said that Chicago has the most beautiful urban campus in America ([Campus</a> Images | The University of Chicago](<a href=“http://www.uchicago.edu/about/campusimages.shtml]Campus”>http://www.uchicago.edu/about/campusimages.shtml)). That’s great (assuming you like Gothic architecture), and so is the quality of athletic facilities, as well as access to everything one of America’s most vibrant cities has to offer. Again, however, what really sets Chicago apart is the focus on academics. This can be seen in the physical connection of buildings around the old quadrangles, a design feature that represents the connections among academic disciplines. It can be seen in the historic demolition of the school’s original football stadium (Stagg Field) to make way for one of the world’s premier research libraries. At a time when many peer institutions are moving library books to remote warehouses, Chicago has invested in new, state of the art facilities that give it the country’s sole top academic research library system with its entire collection on campus ([Joe</a> and Rika Mansueto Library](<a href=“The Joe and Rika Mansueto Library - The Joe and Rika Mansueto Library - The University of Chicago Library”>http://mansueto.lib.uchicago.edu/)). This gives Chicago one more major advantage (along with top salaries) to continue attracting the best faculty.</p>
<p>Excellent Students Committed to Learning
A few other schools have lower admission rates. A few other schools get more applications; they may attract a more scintillating mix of extracurricular talents (athletes, “story kids”, celebrities, etc.) Yet Chicago is near the top in average GPA/rank and test scores of admitted students. Its quirky application essays are designed to discover students who, in addition to solid “stats”, bring imagination and a playful spirit to academic work. This spirit shows up not only in the classroom, or in after-class discussion, but in extracurricular traditions such as the annual Scav Hunt ([The</a> University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt](<a href=“http://scavhunt.uchicago.edu/lore.html]The”>http://scavhunt.uchicago.edu/lore.html)) or the [Famed</a> Latke-Hamantash Debate](<a href=“http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2011/11/09/famed-latke-hamantash-debate-return-nov-22]Famed”>Famed Latke-Hamantash Debate to return Nov. 22 | University of Chicago News). It shows up in the post-graduate choices students make. Chicago students have some of the highest rates of PhD completions, as well as high rates of participation in the Peace Corps and Teach for America. The University of Chicago has long been called “the teacher of teachers”. So, unlike other top schools that revel in the number of investment bankers or US Presidents they turn out, Chicago people take pride in the number of professors, college presidents, and Nobel laureates among the alumni ([List</a> of University of Chicago alumni - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_notable_University_of_Chicago_alumni]List”>List of University of Chicago alumni - Wikipedia)).</p>
<p>In my admittedly biased opinion, Chicago offers the best undergraduate liberal education in America, bar none. The magazine rankings are catching on to this. However, the features that really set it apart are beyond what the rankings can easily capture.</p>