<p>I have to agree with JHS. In the academic world where I lived for sometime, U of C grads (from the College) might have been the most respected and sought after students of any college. </p>
<p>A personal story: When I was a young first year PhD student and knew nothing about “school prestige” (I applied because of a single professor, I really didn’t care where he worked), I was visiting some friends in Cambridge, MA. There was a party that had attendees from several of the area schools including Harvard. I heard a rather intense discussion going on in one of the rooms and found two Harvard students basically holding court with a group of students from the other schools. I listened a bit and then jumped in to challenge an assertion while providing an alternative based on the evidence as I knew it, just as I had done on countless informal occasion since arriving at the University. We had an exchange and I pressed my point. Finally, one of the Harvard grad students asked where I went to school. I told him the University of Chicago. His response greatly surprised me and was the first time I realized what The University meant in the academic world. He said, “I wish I would have known that, we know better than to argue with anyone from Chicago.”</p>