<p>I made a choice between Chicago and a school with a similar culture to Stanford, Duke. I had a lot of the same concerns as you. I went for an overnight visit to Chicago, and fell in love immediately. It was very comfortable and laid-back (at least in comparison to the East coast) yet people were still serious about their studies. Intellectualism (also nerdiness, but they tend to go hand in hand) was rampant, but people talked about normal stuff as well. Sports culture was toned down. </p>
<p>One thing that was a pleasant surprise was that I actually had way more fun at Chicago than Duke, which is supposedly a party school. I think the place you’re going to have the most fun at is the place with the people you like the best. During admit weekend I didn’t meet any self-absorbed people (although there were a lot of socially awkward people there). I know this sounds really cheesy but look at the facebook pages for each class of 2013. I just checked out Stanford’s, and I was shocked at the number of exclamation marks. Chicago’s, on the other hand, is pretty unabashedly nerdy, with such topics as “How sexy is the course guide?” and people discussing how much they love Russian literature.</p>
<p>As far as opportunities go, I had this same debate in my head about Duke, which is far better for my career plans and interests (pre-med, biology, primatology!, neuroscience) and has this program, funded by Melinda Gates, which gives you money to do anything you want for a summer. I already regret missing out on those resources, but I’ve been told that you do the best at the place you feel the happiest at, and I firmly believe this. </p>
<p>I don’t think you have to worry about the school not being liberal. Even the econ department is not what is once was (case in point: Austan Goolsbee, economic adviser to our current President). </p>
<p>You can check out this page, which has links on the side to other pages about environmental studies, environmental initiatives, etc.:
[University</a> of Chicago College Admissions | Environmental Studies](<a href=“http://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/academics/majorsminors/enviro.shtml]University”>http://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/academics/majorsminors/enviro.shtml)</p>