UChicago - Social life, Prestige, Academics, and Trends

Applying to College
1

Hi guys,
I was recently admitted to UChicago amongst some other schools, and I’m trying to get a better understanding of it.

In your eyes, what is the “prestige”, “respect”, whatever you want to call it, of UChicago? Specifically, compared with schools like Cornell, Duke, Northwestern, Brown, Dartmouth? While I know it’s academically extremely strong (especially for my intended major of Econ), it’s been slipping down to 12 this year in US News, and even lower in some other rankings like WSJ. I’m wondering if this reflects a general lower level of prestige and recognition compared to other peer schools listed above.

Secondly, are the stereotypes of UChicago as “where fun goes to die” true? My college counselor, who is pretty close with the university, said UChic has been trying to change this image over the past 5 years or so, and that it’s now not as “quirky, nerdy, depressing” (amongst the other usual adjectives).
Is the social scene at UChicago better than 5-10 years ago, and comparable to other elite institutions? Is partying, hooking up, etc. at least available to students (even if the majority of students don’t participate).

By the way, apparently the early acceptance rate (ED+ EA) was 5% this year (heard in a webinar) and the number of applications increased by 30%. What do you think is driving this?

2

Luke - congrats on your admission.

For those who need to know, Chicago will be known. In my opinion, some schools may not be known by the mainstream - a Rice, WUSTL, Emory, Bowdoin, etc. but obviously all schools punch well above its weight. A U Chicago, even on this website, has been confused with UIC - but so what? I go back to - for those who need to know - Chicago will be known. If you are concerned with it or any school, check career outcomes in your major. If you can’t find them, ask the school’s career center to provide. I provided a general link below- and it’s very impressive what they show - but ask for specifics.

I WOULD NOT worry about US News. They are selling magazines and they are not what determines what happens in the world.

I think Chicago is - different than say - a Dartmouth and nearby Northwestern - but certainly as prestigious if not more so.

Back to US News - they changed the criteria last year. And the schools are the schools - they didn’t change for US News.

So a Chicago is at 12, well ahead of Dartmouth - I don’t know the year b4. But Vandy is now 18, Emory and CMU 24 as is WUSTL - which suffered a large drop. Vandy literally panicked at their ranking - but guess what - Vandy is the same school it was.

Tufts dropped to 40, Wake 47, Northeastern 53, William & Mary 53, and I’m sure the school that’s most pleased - Tulane 73. And I’m guessing there are kids who don’t get into Tulane but get into Chicago!! On the LAC side, W&L fell ten spots but I’m guessing they’re the same excellent school.

So don’t worry about rank…Chicago is a top shelf school, pure and simple and your admission is an outstanding thing. They are different than Cornell, Duke, Northwestern, Brown, and Dartmouth - and that’s what you should focus on - which is the right school for you - not what does a random magazine say (and they say it because they changed their criteria, not because of what they believe).

As for where fun goes to die, i suggest you visit (if you haven’t), stop kids on campus and talk to them. If you can’t get to campus, as to speak to a student in your major or a campus ambassador. Or call a name from a club roster. Kids love to share their experiences!!

What do I think was driving the ED/EA acceptance rate - if it was that low? No idea - but not US News.

You are concerned with the wrong things. Figure out - a) Can I afford to attend and B) if so, is it the right choice for me - academically and socially?

Congrats on a great get and best of luck.

uchicago-career-outcomes.pdf

4 Likes
3

No idea what’s going on… Duke also up
By about that much, Colgate 24%.

4

There’s definitely stress on kids - it’s interesting because less kids are in college but these elite schools are filling more of the class from ED and really ratcheting up the ED messaging.

Maybe they’re sending out waivers?

We had no interest in Chicago but they sent us a waiver - if you file a FAFSA.

Anyway, I think Luke, if it’s the right school for him, needn’t worry.

He scored big!!!

5

In comparing the University of Chicago to other schools, consider its remarkable selectivity. WalletHub, for example, placed it fourth in the nation by selectivity.

6

I think in the real world, there are so many satisfied customers out there with actual outcomes from so many schools that you begin to realize that the top 100 or so are thoroughly fungible unless you’re looking to break into Wall Street or maybe the oil and gas industry where schools in a particular state or locality have a leg up. UChicago earns a lot of respect on this board because it’s a beacon of the liberal arts and sciences. It may have benefitted somewhat from the backlash over the testimony of Harvard, Penn and MIT’s presidents before a congressional hearing on antisemitism. Things blew up right as people were mailing their EA/ED applications.

2 Likes
7

Chicago’s reputation for top academics has not changed. The recent changes in rankings are resulting from formula changes (or new formula introductions) which reflect the idea that social mobility is important and so colleges should, among other things, be evaluated on the degree to which they lead to upward social mobility.

There are a few categories of schools that tend to benefit from this movement to include social mobility factors in rankings. Some of the beneficiaries are tech/engineering or business schools, which benefit from relatively high average financial outcome measures. Others are good quality publics, which in fact have the express purpose of providing upward social mobility for at least their in-state students by giving them the education and credentials they need to get good jobs at a very favorable cost. These sorts of colleges also tend to attract more students from lower economic status families looking for college to secure a financially-solid career, and so they also get better-looking entry distributions for social mobility ranking purposes.

Chicago, notably, is not any of those things. It is not very focused on tech, has very little engineering, and has no undergraduate business school or business majors. But it remains excellent for science and math, and humanities and social sciences. It continues to place very well in graduate programs, professional schools, and highly competitive employment positions.

But it is true that all that means Chicago is not as much of an engine for upward social mobility as some other colleges, and as a result it does not necessarily attract as many students/families looking for that effect. Indeed, to be very blunt about it, you can see Chicago as a place where a lot of upper middle class families send their kids to get the sort of education that will make sure their kids are also upper middle class lawyers, doctors, professors, business managers, and so on. Which doesn’t mean no one but upper middle class kids attends Chicago, it is just demonstrably more weighted toward such kids than some other well-known colleges. And so these new social mobility factors are not so good for Chicago.

As for vibe, I think it has always been somewhat overstated how distinct Chicago truly was from other colleges full of very smart and very ambitious people. But Chicago certainly embraced the idea of academic rigor as part of its core branding, and this served its graduates well because of course that is great branding.

I do think that is something Chicago is consciously changing a bit in order to be more competitive for top students, and I am not personally sure that is all for the good. But in any event, yes, I think the student population is shifting at least a bit in balance from the life of the mind types to more of the work-hard/play-hard/pre-professional types. But probably not as far as, say, a Duke or a Dartmouth.

1 Like
8

This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. If you’d like to reply, please flag the thread for moderator attention.