<p>Humm, I’m sorry to hear about your experience… when I visited in February it was totally the opposite - note, however, that several people have commented that the school tried to showcase itself as something that its not, because there is a push (by some) to get rid of Chicago’s nerdy aspect, a push which is receiving a lot of scrutiny, with reason - so I think that you shouldn’t base everything on your visit alone. </p>
<p>One of my bosses at work told me a story about when he visited Upenn before applying to college, and stated that he and the friend that had gone with him had 180 degree experiences, and came away with entirely opposite opinions of the school, so be careful on how you weigh this.</p>
<p>I must say that when I visited I saw what I expected: Bright kids learning for the heck of it, and there was plenty of intellectual discourse around. Sure, people would joke around, but there was always someone doing some hw, and more importantly, always someone beside them helping (something which, at a more professional, and more cut-throat campus like Stanford will be less commonplace). </p>
<p>Since you are into econ, I thought I should cite this. I sat in on Steve Levitt’s(surely u must’ve heard of him: “Freakonomics”) “Economics of Crime” class, and it was amazing. However, unlike the Harvard professors whom I had had last summer, he stayed after class and talked to all the students who wished to speak with him - mind you this man received the award for best economist under 40, is a major nobel contender (would increase the Chicago econ dept. nobel faculty number to 5 (or 6?), any speaking invitation for him will cost you 125k dollars, and he’s written a NYT best seller which is in its 11th edition. So, not even being a student, I did the same, and talked to the man for 20 mins. He had cited some examples about Brazil, and so I mentioned I was Brazilian, and then we talked some about that… the conclusion of the conversation? He said that I should come by when I returned as a student, and he could def. help me out with some research on my home country. </p>
<p>As you can see, the experiences will vary when you visit. Think of your own school… aren’t some days quite different than the others? or aren’t some people’s days quite different than another’s? </p>
<p>Having said that, I give you my sincerest congratulations on being accepted to these truly awesome institutions, and you should indeed be thankful for facing a choice which several thousand kids all over the world would give anything for… lastly, trust your heart. You know the schools by now probably better than any ranking, any parent, or any (biased) alum does… do what your heart tells you, because its the only guarantee that you’ll enjoy ur four years, since you won’t be there because someone told you to (USNWR, mom, dad, me), but because you wanted to go there yourself.</p>