<p>WUSTL vs UChicago</p>
<p>I want to tap into your collective brainpower to compare WUSTL and UChicago.</p>
<p>This seems like an impossible task to me since the only thing they both have in common is a great education - and a similar price tag.</p>
<p>I am posting to both school's threads in hopes of finding objective and subjective qualities to compare.</p>
<p>Well, you didn’t really give much to work with here, but I’ll give my impressions.</p>
<p>Undergraduate education:</p>
<p>This is pretty much entirely based on what you like. Uchicago is strong in mathematics and several social sciences (e.g. Econ), while wustl is strong in engineering and the natural sciences. Can’t say much about the relative workloads other than uchicago is where fun goes to die! (A joke, obviously)</p>
<p>Post- graduation:</p>
<p>As it is located in a larger city, and has a slightly better reputation (subjective, obviously), uchicago tends to have a few more businesses recruit there. If you’re looking for further education - again it depends on which area of study you like.</p>
<p>Surrounding area:</p>
<p>It seems to be the consensus that Chicago is a better city, with more things to do than St. Louis. That being said, wustl is located in a better part of the metro area than is uchicago. Additionally, St. Louis weather is better than Chicago weather.</p>
<p>Student life:</p>
<p>Wustl has the advantage when it comes to the quality of the dorms and the quality of the food. Athletics are fairly even - both teams are usually top 25 in every sport (except football). In terms of extracurriculars, I have no clue, but I expect that there is no large difference in quantity nor quality.</p>
<p>If you want to have a life, come to WashU. UChicago is where fun goes to die</p>
<p>@RyanMK Yeah, ask an open ended question and you never know what you may discover! A little more to go on is that I am bio major and likely pre-med. I am also an athlete (club). Thanks for your insights! </p>
<p>@Isaiahe13 I know! I keep hearing this and it is starting to concern me! hahaha</p>
<p>Well, in light of your intended area of study, I would probably say that washu would provide a better education, and likely better opportunities after undergraduate schooling. Additionally, I’d like to think our club sports are better than UChicago’s, especially soccer (Although admittedly, I am a bit biased, hahaha). I wouldn’t put much stock into that saying though - although there’s likely an element of truth to it, any top college is going to be stressful in its own right.</p>
<p>I got into both and chose WashU. Don’t ask me why. It was a good choice though. Wash U is the right school for practically everyone. Other places seem to be more hit or miss.</p>
<p>I realize this wasn’t helpful but oh well. I’ve enjoyed my years here.</p>
<p>@RyanMK OK thanks. I do hear that pre-med and medical school programs are awesome. I am so excited to visit to so I can see first hand if WUSTL is for me.</p>
<p>@Marcdvl You say don’t ask you why. Yet I have to ask you why. PM me if you want.</p>
<p>My son considered UChicago as well but loved WashU. Both are amazing schools. Try to visit the campus and see for yourself. We know lots of kids that have been very happy at washu and have gone on to great med schools. Great undergrad research, ability to double major, bio engineering field, beautiful compact campus, dorms, great food, happy students and athletics were positives for my son.</p>
<p>When I visited colleges my jr year of high school I had listed 8-10 criteria to rate each college. I gave a rating of 1-3 for each criteria. I may have weighted the criteria also. </p>
<p>The point is you need to decide the criteria that are most important to you. We don’t know what they are and no one can tell you what is important to you. </p>
<p>Some examples of what was on my list - a major with neuroscience, challenging academics, ethnically diverse student body, my kind of people (I am not into sports), nice living conditions, good food. </p>
<p>My decision was easy because my overall feeling while visiting was that I liked WashU the most and my ratings showed the same. </p>
<p>It could be just the opposite for someone who has different interest and different criteria good luck.</p>
<p>The whole “where fun goes to die” thing with UChicago might have something to do with the fact they are one of the few schools still on the quarter system, instead of semesters. So it seems like there is always a quiz, test, paper, whatever all the time. There are a couple of advantages to the quarter system. You get to take more courses and more variety in your four years, and there is more of a chance to study abroad for pre-meds. That can be tough at a semester college, but with the quarter system and the way it times out, there can be a chance to study abroad without screwing everything else up, including taking the MCAT at the normal time.</p>
<p>My D visited both and strongly considered WUSTL, not UC so much. Went elsewhere due mostly to the tie break of a full tuition scholarship, but otherwise she would have ended up at WUSTL. It does really seem to have that balance between academics, social life, amenities, etc.</p>
<p>What my daughter found most compelling in her visit to WUSTL was that everyone seemed super kind, friendly and supportive of one another. There are a lot of schools that have similar academics - for her it came down to the community.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for all the advice. WUSTL sounds amazing and I am looking forward to my upcoming visit.</p>
<p>Also, thanks to those who sent me PM’s but unfortunately I am unable to respond due to my junior member status.</p>
<p>I will keep you all informed of my choice.</p>