<p>Well, the shock of acceptance has worn off a little, and I'm more down to earth now. I'm just so sick and tired of getting blank faces when I say I'm probably going to U of C. I feel so greedy, and so wrong for thinking this, but my ego just can't take smirks from other well-off asians who were accepted to an "Ivy League" (sadly, in my group of friends, we have a culture of 'friendly' comparison) especially since I came from a really run-down public school. It's not like we Chicagoans can say the Ivy bomb (even though I know for a fact, that UChicago beats Ivy league schools any day), and while it's not extremely harmful, it hurts pride a little especially when my parent's friend asked me what campus of UChicago I was going to (did I apply to a public university? lol). Wow, can't believe I'm ranting now... How are you guys handling this kind of thing?</p>
<p>On a happier note, and contrary to many other posts, I got a stable package from the fin-aid office at around 21k. It's doesn't meet my goal, but barely so... I guess the aid office isn't all cheap.</p>
<p>If it makes you feel a little better, I was having lunch not too long ago with a partner from a major, multibillion dollar NY investment firm. He was a valedictorian at Stanford and earned a Ph.D. from Oxford. When he learned I attended Chicago, he sat back and rather longingly said, "That is my only regret in life." I asked what he meant. He said, "I wished I had attended the University of Chicago." You will find plenty of people who know the University, and for what it stands.</p>
<p>I come from a school/town where absolutely no one has applied/attended Ivies except for grad school, but I would say just show those people that UChicago is #9 (tied with Columbia) on U.S. News and World Report's college rankings.</p>
<p>JM8879, where are you from? i run into the same thing. but then again, i am from west texas. i also bump into people who are genuinely proud of me because they actually know a thing or two about colleges. i just keep in mind that the people that can't distinguish between uchicago and an illinois state school are ignorant (when it comes to college info) people and you can't let ignorance hurt your pride.</p>
<p>Yeah. It's kinda tough I suppose if you want to be recognized for getting into a bigtime school. After a year of talking about this stuff, my overworked counselor still confuses UChicago with UIC, and keeps trying to convince me to go to Georgetown because "it's name will open doors". But it's worth it when a college-info educated person hears of your plans, and they do the "Ohhhhhhh" with a big eyebrow raise. I also hate (I live in northern IL)how the more ignorant people deduce that I am looking at prestigious colleges and immediately inquire about Northwestern too. I mean UChicago and Northwestern really don't have that much in common other than being in the same city and being good schools.</p>
<p>Forget about them. Sure, you won't be able to impress everyday people (I'm not being condescending, it's certainly a valid desire) but you will be able to impress people who matter. And you'll be really well-educated. Sounds like a decent trade-off to me. And you can always let people know about the US News ranking if you really feel the need. Best wishes!</p>
<p>I live 20 miles away from the school (how does that equal over an hour on the train- i'll never know) and had no clue it even existed before I started to research colleges. </p>
<p>I like that no one knows about the school because when they find out on their own after I don't mention how great it is- it makes me giggle. They call me up and go HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET IN THERE?</p>
<p>I know exactly what you mean! Although I am not attending Chicago based on prestige, I would at least like others to understand that it is a credible university. I can't tell you the number of blank faces (friends, relatives) I get when I mention the school. What makes it worse is when my mother then proceeds to point out how great the school is, at which point the listener has decided she is crazy/arrogant for bragging about a no-name school.</p>
<p>However, I am content to know that the people who actually matter (my future boss) know what the school is. Last summer I happened to meet a highly-respected lawyer in my city, and when he heard I was applying to UChicago he raised his eyebrows and said, "wow! you must be very smart! Do you get good grades?" </p>
<p>My top schools were Penn and Chicago--two amazing schools without the most recognizable names (Penn state?). First off, Chicago's name is only going to be more recognizable in the future, as they are switching to the common app, and have recently been ranked in the top 10 on many different charts...</p>
<p>Chicago's name is equally respected to ivies when it counts--applying to graduate schools and jobs--those guys know all about it. Plus, you can always go to an ivy league graduate school lol</p>
<p>Another thing, think about the colleges most newbies know of--Harvard Yale and Princeton, other than that trifecta, some people didn't even know what Stanford was for some time.</p>
<p>Chicago's name is spreading with its plaudits, and those who do know it, respect it.</p>
<p>I suggest talking to old people. I work at a museum, and whenever elderly strangers ask me where I'm going to college, they are absolutely blown away by the University of Chicago. It makes me so proud to tell people. Funny how the boy who got into Stanford EA and sits next to me in AP Gov. hasn't even heard of the place...</p>
<p>ahhhh stanford shamford who would want to go to school in california, where the weather's perfect year round, you can actually get As, and lead a somewhat normal existence when you could come to chicago and freeze your ass off six months out of the year and then commit academic suicide?????</p>
<p>If you are going to UChicago for prestige then don't go. It's just simply not that famous of a school, in intellectual circles it is but outside of that it is not. Like I said, even here in Chicago people don't know what it is. That may change in the coming years, however.</p>
<p>for god's sake, people complain the pretige of schools like colgate, bowdoin, middlebury.....etc and here you are talking about U of Chicago. It's U of Chicago!!!</p>
<p>What irritates me about these discussions is that people want the best of both worlds -- they complain that UoC doesn't have the best name recognition, but also that it's losing its soul, becoming more frattish, chasing after high rankings, and dropping the UnCommon App. It seems to me as though more prestige would also entail losing some of the college's character. </p>
<p>Compare it to an excellent, hometown diner. I don't know where you guys are from, but there are a few 'locals only' places where I live. It's great... but then it gets publicized a little too much, people start talking about it. And the quality of the place goes downhill.</p>
<p>That's what I fear. It's reflected in the Maroon -- that's where I first got this sense.</p>
<p>If this entire 'academic atmosphere' meme is true, I don't want it destroyed by prestige whores by the time I get there. I can go somewhere else (and better ranked) for that.</p>
<p>Rest assured that University of Chicago has a top-flight reputation among those who know about academics. My son has been accepted EA and he couldn't care less what the guy on the street thinks about it. Ours is an academic family, and while neither his dad nor I have attended U. Chicago, we are in awe of its status, as are all of our professor and professional friends.</p>
<p>When my uneducated family assumes he is headed for Northwestern when we mention Chicago, we take the opportunity to enlighten them.</p>
<p>To some extent, I don't share the fear of some of you that increasing its national exposure as a top undergraduate destination will somehow lessen U. Chicago's value. It all depends on how it is done.</p>