<p>From US News, Times, and of course, people who went there.</p>
<p>Duh.</p>
<p>Hehe just kidding. There are some other awesome schools in the Midwest, such as Northwestern, Notre Dame, and Rose-Hulman. It really depends a lot on fit. Chicago may be the best for liberal arts, but what about business? Engineering?</p>
<p>This is what I don't like about general rankings. It's really ironic how Caltech and Penn can be tied for 5th in the USNWR rankings, when they're really uncomparable in every way possible.</p>
<p>Psh, that's not saying much.</p>
<p>I meant "overall academic experience."</p>
<p>Saying that Chicago has the best overall academic experience in the midwest is like saying that The Godfather is the best American movie ever made-- just because people may agree with you doesn't make it objectively true (what about Citizen Kane? Casablanca? Gone with the Wind? The Graduate?) and doesn't make it true for you.</p>
<p>College, like movies, are all about taste, and nobody can really tell you what the "best" is-- rather, the most they could help you is to give you a handful of options that they believe could be the best academic schools in the midwest.</p>
<p>Schools with strong academics in the midwest include: Chicago, Northwestern, WashU, Notre Dame, Michigan, Illinois (more science/engineering I hear, but a lot of my U of C friends had a difficult time choosing U of C over the excellent and cheap education they would have gotten at U of I), Wisconsin, Carleton, Macalester, Oberlin, Kenyon, Grinnell, Beloit, Earlham, Knox</p>
<p>"what about Citizen Kane? Casablanca? Gone with the Wind? The Graduate?"</p>
<p>i'm pained that you didn't consider shawshank, pulp fiction or star wars.</p>
<p>^^^ star wars is better than every single movie she listed so it wouldn't have helped her make her point</p>
<p>After the abomination that is episode two, I can't really watch the series any more.</p>
<p>I do have a thing for Jabba the Hut, though.</p>
<p>point, jack. i guess star wars is the exception to the rule on the general absence of objective truth. </p>
<p>jabba... interesting choice. i suppose you really envied the position leia was in, then.</p>
<p>If it's the best, why do you need validation? Why post this thread?</p>
<p>the best in term of what? it's definitely not the most selective school in the midwest i can tell you that. northwestern and wustl are both more selective and possibly carleton.</p>
<p>
[quote]
the best in term of what? it's definitely not the most selective school in the midwest i can tell you that. northwestern and wustl are both more selective and possibly carleton.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Depends on what you mean by selective. If you mean having a higher admit rate, you're right. If you mean picking the best students, wrong.</p>
<p>Even if you go by the opinion that the best students are the ones with the highest SATs, you're still wrong. Last time I checked, UChicago had higher SATs than Northwestern, Notre Dame, and Carleton, and loses only to WUStL in that battle (and then, only slightly). Then again, that argument is flawed anyway.</p>
<p>I definitely don't agree with the opinion that UChicago is definitively the best in the midwest, but there's no reason to make quick, fallacious statements.</p>
<p>i was talking about overall selectivity i.e. sats + acceptance rate + top 10 of hs. 'selectivity rank' by usnwr shows chicago to be the lowest among the midwestern schools i mentioned. wustl (6), notre dame (15), northwestern (19), michigan (23), chicago (24) i understand that the ranking is not perfect but at least it's based on some solid stats than just your 'perceived selectivity.'</p>
<p>What I think phuriku is trying to say is that Chicago appeals to a narrower slice of students, and while these students may be similar in number chomping skills/standardized test-taking abilities/ intellectual horsepower/ whatever we argue the SAT score measures, it still doesn't account for the fact that the reasons that Chicago appeals to students differently from the ways that Northwestern, Michigan, and Notre Dame appeal to students. Chicago is much less sought-after among top-performing high school students than any of the other schools that were mentioned. That doesn't make Chicago a lesser school; it just makes it not the most selective school.</p>
<p>Again, remember I have been arguing that neither Chicago nor any other school can be called the best school in the midwest.</p>
<p>I love how my question was ignored...</p>
<p>I guess you're talking about this question:</p>
<p>
[quote]
If it's the best, why do you need validation? Why post this thread?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I guess the OP was trying to indicate Chicago's strength as a school and relay that information to prospective students. To me, Chicago is one of the top dogs, not a "hidden gem" school, but others may feel like it doesn't get the attention it deserves. Our 10,000 applicants per year are not enough.</p>
<p>I am not the OP and I do not agree with the claim, so I'm in no position to provide a rebuttal for you (in the way that this post is a rebuttal, hehe).</p>