<p>i’m coming down on my last week before deposits are due and i have absolutely no idea which one to choose. i’ve visited both twice and feel comfortable at both. any thoughts/suggestions? </p>
<p>and please don’t comment on the social scene. the kids at chicago party just as much as those at amherst; they’re just more subtle about it. lol. </p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>one thing to think about is if you want to have core requirements, uchicago has a ton and amherst has none</p>
<p>u. chicago was one of my choices last year. one of the major things that deterred me was the crime rate. just a block away from the main campus is a war zone. at amherst, i can walk around by myself at 4 in the morning. at u. chicago, i'd be afraid to walk around at 4 in the afternoon with friends. keep in mind that this is coming from a new yorker! an unsafe environment affects your mental health and in turn your academic and social experience.</p>
<p>if grad school is in your future, you'd be much better served at amherst. even though chicago is notorious for grade deflation and an excellent student body, ad coms care more about rankings and will not give any extra points to kids from chicago. at amherst you will get the same reputation minus the grade deflation. so unless you are masochistic, choose amherst.</p>
<p>third, and i cannot stress this enough, amherst is small. this means you will have greater access to professors for either extra help or research opportunities. the atmosphere is one where faculty and administrators care about their students. </p>
<p>we also have more money per student than basically any university. this serves students well when they want to initiate a project.</p>
<p>Absolutely Amherst - that was my DD's final choice. I have relatives in Chicago - many police officers, who when they heard my DD wanted to go there, said make sure you have our phone numbers on you at all times. There is a lot of crime there - it isn't safe. I said they had good security, and they just rolled their eyes. Then, another cousin who I stayed with when we went to the overnight, told me that she was worried, because the muggings of male students on campus were all over the news. That concerned me. My D also liked the dorms at Amherst better. Many of the dorms at Chicago are old and need lots of work - college students' messes and dirt did not enter into that perception. Although Amherst may have old dorms, they are well maintained. When we e-mailed the adcoms about whether or not there was a quiz bowl team, the response was, "No, but we have the $." They also added the e-mail to the person in charge of starting new activities. It turns out that someone else had the same idea, and they are resurrecting the team. We had to pay $30 to Chicago for the overnight - Amherst funded my D's trip to the overnight. When I appealed the FA at Chicago, we heard "no change." At Amherst, we heard we will do what we can. The Chicago FA counselor was bored and brusque when I talked to her. The President of Amherst called my DD personally. That kind of caring is hard to find, and it's those special touches that can make your 4 years worthwhile, or a battle to get what you need. Remember, the climate of a school comes from the administration down and the administration at Anherst really cares about the kids. When my D was at the overnight at Amherst, professors were eating in the dining hall along with the students, and very accessible. And a friend of ours who was in administration at UMass said that she couldn't turn down Amherst. It's terrific. And whatever cultural events go to Boston wind up in Amherst as well. It's the best of both worlds. I hope this helps. But I am prejudiced toward Amherst because of the treatment that we received. And if you are interested in interning in Washington or elsewhere, Amherst has the connections. As for study abroad, Amherst has many more and varied opportunities. Chicago's are limited, in many cases to classes run by their own professors in English thus obviating the opportunity for total immersion. Part of this is due to Chicago's quarter system - tough to go for one semester. Don't get me wrong. I think Chicago is an exceptional school, but the pluses at Amherst outweigh those at Chicago, in my humble opinion.</p>
<p>I know students at U/Chicago and I know profs at U/Chicago. The crime thing is being waaay overblown. 20 years ago, it was a different story.\ I'm also partial to Amherst and the whole Five College group. Chicago is a <em>terrific</em> city...NoHo is a terrific college town.</p>
<p>Imo, you can't go wrong, but there are factors of "fit" that will be unique to you.</p>
<p>My D is at Smith...which shows you what she/we think of LAC's like Amherst. However, U/Chicago is one of the most LAC-like colleges and has a well-deserved reputation for intellectual intensity that is almost certainly greater than that of Amherst, which tends to be a bit on the bright-but-casual side.</p>
<p>much belated thanks for all your thoughtful responses...</p>
<p>after hashing it all out, i went with my gut feeling and chose uchicago. the students seemed more intellectual there as a whole, and at the end, just a better for for my academic style. amherst has many great opportunities, but i think that chicago may serve my academic needs better, especially because amherst lacks one of the majors i am very interesting it and because chicago holds a dearth of internships. i definitely wish you guys (and your children or whatnot) the best of luck at amherst; you guys will truly get an exceptional education!</p>
<p>i'm confused. why would chicago having a "dearth" of internships be a plus?</p>
<p>haha, sorry, i wasn't thinking...should have stuck to simple words like "a lot." see how brilliant i am?</p>
<p>uhh the three people who are going to chicago this year were all rejected by amherst...btw, one girl who will be attending amherst is choosing over columbia college - and she's asian too!</p>
<p>"dearth" and "a lot" are antonyms. good day.</p>
<p>1) the three people from where were rejected by amherst and are going to chicago? i'm a little confused; i was clearly accepted by both schools but prefer chicago...</p>
<p>2) i realize that they're antonyms; that's precisely why i apologized for my stupid mistake. it was a mistake; i'm sorry if you think it necessitates a snide remark after someone else already pointed out my misuse of the word. good day to you too.</p>
<p>im talking about my school - 3 people who are going to chicago all applied to amherst but were rejected</p>
<p>yeah, our valedictorian was waitlisted at Amherst (as well as Dartmouth) and got into U Chicago, JHU, William and Mary, and is going to Lafayette.</p>
<p>The University of Chicago is a great research institution. I think you will be happy there.</p>
<p>I agree with your choice, twinkle, and gatsby... what is your point? Are you assuming that she is as superficial as your comments? I think you will be happy at UChi, twinkle, and best of luck.</p>
<p>Definitely best of luck! I have a son, a rising senior, whose first choice is Chicago because it has a major (actually a double major) that he literally could not get anywhere else. Right now he is attending the summer session at the school for four weeks in a biology research seminar. </p>
<p>He has not found "crime on campus" to be a particular problem, and enjoys the atmosphere of the city. You just have to use normal common sense as you would in any urban area. The only incident that he's heard about was a student who was packing up his car in the middle of the street at 3 am with the trunk open, engine running and his keys accesible!</p>
<p>By contrast, when visiting Northwestern, he personally disliked the feeling of isolation and how it is set apart from the city as a whole. He prefers a school where he has easy access to the benefits of the city. As you say, Chicago has a ton of intern possibilities. In fact, they have so many empty slots in the labs this summer that students have their choice of projects. So best of luck. </p>
<p>What some people can't seem to get through their heads is that there is no single right or wrong choice when you pick a school. What works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another. It is a matter of finding a right match. I have a doctorate in history and taught college a number of years ago in one of the Ivies and another time at a fairly nonselective LAC. I found happy and well-adjusted kids at both institutions who went on to do great things with their lives. I also found miserable kids who couldn't take advantage of the good things that were around them. So much of your experience is what you make of it, not being hung up on stereotypes and rankings. You can look at the guidebooks and listen to someone else's advice up to a point. Then you've got to forge ahead and make the best decision for who you are. It sounds as if you've done that!</p>