UChicago vs. Stanford (URGENT)

themaaricle
Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:14:26 +0000

Okay. So I know I need to commit today…and although I am leaning towards Stanford, there are certain things about UChicago that I really don’t want to give up. Officially committing to Stanford scares me…I want to be absolutely sure that I’m making the right choice before I commit.

I visited Admit Weekend at Stanford, and it really was an amazing experience. I did visit Chicago as well, but I did not stay overnight at the dorms (which I regret)…so my basis for comparison between the two isn’t exactly fair.

What drew me to UChicago is the core curriculum that it offers (partly because it’ll help me expand my horizons and therefore aid me in deciding what to major in, but also because it’s just very cool), and I really like it’s unique–and pretty nerdy!–student body. I think I would fit in great there, and I love their academic philosophy. At the same time, however, I’m not sure that the academic intensity of the school, plus the grade deflation, would be best for someone like me, who is considering doing pre-med/pre-law.

From what I’ve gathered of Stanford, it’s a very welcoming and collaborative place, and there are a lot of great interdisciplinary opportunities for someone like me, who is interested in many different areas of study. I like how the atmosphere differs from many of the Ivy League schools. I also LOVE the study abroad opportunities (Oxford)! What I’m worried about, however, is fit–although I like the lack of a cut-throat atmosphere, I worry that maybe there isn’t an emphasis on intellectualism (vs. “work hard, play hard,” pre-professionalism) at the school? Or maybe that I won’t be able to find people like me (aka: cool nerds, obviously :P) at Stanford?

Am I over-thinking this? I also know that it’s likely that I’ll find many different types of people wherever I go (I DID meet some amazing people at Stanford’s Admit weekend, but I also met some that I definitely wouldn’t hang out with…but then again, I didn’t even interact with anyone when I visited Chicago so I don’t know to what degree the intellectualism is even present there), but I was wondering if there was a pre-dominant attitude in any way, academically or socially.

I’m leaning towards Stanford because of it’s location (I feel like it’s just the right amount of distance from home–I live in southern California), and the fact that it would be better for me if I wanted to do pre-med/pre-law (inflation vs. deflation). They also have great research opportunities, and are great for interdisciplinary studies. I know there is the SLE option at Stanford as well, which is kind of the equivalent of a UChicago-esque dorm/house and curriculum at Stanford ([Structured Liberal Education | Structured Liberal Education](http://www.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/cgi-bin/sle/)).

I seemed set on Stanford yesterday, but then I keep thinking of the seemingly unique/quirky/somewhat hipster student body of UChicago, and I’m finding it difficult to let go. I also know that going to UChicago would be a risk, in terms of it being father away from home and because it’s located in a city, and that kind of makes it exciting to me. But I also know that it will be difficult to turn down Stanford as well.

Help :(