UChicago remains an outlier

hebegebe
Fri, 04 Aug 2023 14:33:11 +0000

bluebayou:

Do you have any data on mean GPA to support your pov that Chicago is more demanding than the IvyPlus group? I realize it’s a closely-held secret, but a few years ago, ~60% of students reportedly made Dean’s List which was a 3.25+.

In my family, we have an A/B comparison between Harvard and UChicago.

Harvard CAN BE demanding, and offers some classes that are known to be some of the hardest undergraduate classes anywhere, such as Math 55 and Physics 16. But these are all optional, and it’s quite easy to get through Harvard and get a high GPA with very little effort. Now, most Harvard students do choose to challenge themselves in their areas of interest, and take it easy elsewhere.

On the other hand, UChicago IS demanding. There is really no way to hide from the extensive core, and a comparison of curriculums revealed that UChicago often covers as much in a quarter as Harvard covers in a semester.