What's available at Chicago vs. colleges in general

unalove
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:03:02 +0000

I read your post as such.

Here’s what I can say:

My good friends from high school honestly scattered to the winds. Some go to top U’s (Stanford, Harvard, CalTech, CMU), some to top LAC’s (Vassar, Pomona, Carleton, Oberlin), one to a third tier public U, one to a community college. One of my friends transferred from ~#25 U to ~#50 U, another chose ~#50 over ~#15, another chose a school nobody’s ever heard of (including a lot of CC folks) over a ~#20 LAC. So I feel I might have a good vantage point.

When we all get together for dinner and talk about-- what else-- how amazing our respective colleges are, we all tell similar stories. All of my friends are smart people–really smart people-- but they are all smart in different ways and chose schools that highlight how they are smart. Because I’m a bit more of a serious student than a bunch of my friends, I decided to choose a school that caters to the serious student in me. And in the case of the community college friend, she has financial and family reasons for staying close to home.

I would also argue that depending on what you want, Chicago might not be the best school for you. If you are an aspiring sports journalist, you probably want a school with a great sports team and a good newspaper. If you want to go into pharmacy, you’re better off at UIC. If you want to double-major in education and English at a women’s college, you also won’t find that at Chicago.