Chicago in regards to prestige....

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

<p>So, just recently has Chicago become in the top 10 according to US news, and its seems to have been making an upward trend fairly quickly. However, if someone were to ask about which school is more prestigous, Chicago or Columbia, most people would say Columbia, even though they are the same rank. </p>

<p>Do you guys think that within a few years Chicago will cement itself as up there with the other elite privates or is it going to be like Northwestern, one of those schools that is pretty good, but definitely second tier to HYMPS, plus like Caltech, columbia, etc.</p>

2

<p>You are exhibiting an appalling east coast bias. The Univ. of Chicago has been esteemed as a first-tier university for generations. Laugh if you must, but many people in the midwest think one is speaking of the University of Missouri if you say something about Columbia. (That is only half in jest.) </p>

<p>While I knew people used the USNews rankings to get suggestions and information about colleges, it was not until I read cc that I realized many people take those rankings as the literal truth. The Univ. of Chicago was not founded this year, nor did it suddenly become a better university this year. The "prestige" factor depends on a lot of different things, including what field you earn a degree in, where you look for a job afterwards, and the level of educational sophistication of the people who are giving you their opinion.</p>

<p>True story: Just before the "new" USNWR rankings came out this year, I was having lunch with an old friend who was visiting from another state. This man has an undergrad degree from Stanford and a PhD from Yale. When I mentioned that Univ. of Chicago was not ranked in the "top ten national universities" he almost fell out of his chair. He simply could not believe anyone thought the Univ. of Chicago was second tier. He laughed for a long time.</p>

<p>Another true story: The son of a good friend (now a hs senior) has long spoken of Princeton as his first choice, but recently added Univ. of Chicago to his list as an after-thought. Last week he visited both, and to his surprise and his mother's, he preferred Univ. of Chicago over Princeton. It is now his first choice.</p>

<p>If you are interested, visit. If you like it, put all thoughts about "prestige" in the waste can.</p>

3

<p>Agreed. Although of course, one must allow for some practicalities, for example where you intend to ply your trade after graduation and "brand recognition" in that particular locale. So some groups of people, even countries or regions are biased so you may wanna consider that. </p>

<p>The place I live in recognizes Chicago as a second tier university after HYP, MIT/Cal, Stanford. This is largely based on selectivity and fame. So Chicago is on the level of Cornell/Berekely/Brown and so on. </p>

<p>But at the same time it connects with the whole "economics" thing so that's a plus in brand recognition at my place. </p>

<p>Personally, I placed more importance on whether I liked the school. Prestige was an afterthought. I didn't even know Chicago was that famous amongst my countrymen until ppl started congratulating me on getting accepted!</p>

4

<p>In terms of prestige (or just name recognition), Chicago has a sort of outside/inside track. If you mention University of Chicago to an everyday person, the school will very likely register as a state school, especially if you don't live in the midwest.</p>

<p>However, among people who are interested in college prestige, the school comes off very well. I'm convinced I got a summer job simply because my employer was in awe of my attending UChi. My best friend's mother, a professor at Columbia, hugged and kissed me when she learned I was attending what was in her opinion a fantastic school.</p>

<p>Any school that isn't in the Ivy League or isn't a sports giant (Stanford, Duke, etc.) has similar problems. My friends at Amherst, Williams, and Pomona don't feel the same sense of awe from other people as do my Harvard and Yale friends. The difference is also geographic-- I'm from the northeast, and a school like Rice, because it's in Texas, isn't seen as a good school.</p>

<p>At the same time, though, don't think that people being aware of your college's reputation is always a good thing. Harvard students speak of the "H-Bomb"-- how other people can get intimidated and scared of you once they learn that you went to Harvard, making for awkward interactions.</p>

5

<p>Oh, fear not Pulkit! Soon, Uchicago will be up on the US News list, yes!</p>

<p>See, they are making the prestige whore move just like WashU and Penn etc, soon they'll switch to the Common App, and their 'selectivity' will go down. Then, they'll play other yield games and such, so their coveted rank will slowly increase.</p>

<p>And as you insightfully point out, after US News deems them a decent college (because, after all, the authority is clear) it will finally be 'up there' with the 'elite privates'.</p>

<p>We can only pray that the rankings will deem Chicago on the same tier to HYMPS.</p>

6

<p>
[quote]
The place I live in recognizes Chicago as a second tier university after HYP, MIT/Cal, Stanford.

[/quote]

People in Narnia have heard of HYP, MIT, Stanford, et al??? ;)</p>

<p>
[quote]
if someone were to ask about which school is more prestigous, Chicago or Columbia, most people would say Columbia, even though they are the same rank.

[/quote]

Well, you're dealing with multiple factors there. Columbia has been around longer, is part of the Ivy League, and is numerically more selective. These give it brand appeal that Chicago lacks, especially since Chicago has a somewhat self-selecting applicant pool. It is interesting that you compare Columbia and Chicago because they are extremely similar in many ways. Big city, core curriculum, many Nobel Prizes (Columbia stole this crown from Chicago!), lopsided undergraduate:graduate ratio, strong in science and humanities, etc. </p>

<p>
[quote]
Do you guys think that within a few years Chicago will cement itself as up there with the other elite privates or is it going to be like Northwestern, one of those schools that is pretty good, but definitely second tier to HYMPS, plus like Caltech, columbia, etc.

[/quote]

No, simply because it is already up there. Trying to differentiate between the quality and prestige of Penn, Dartmouth, Brown, Chicago, Duke, Columbia, Caltech, and Cornell (and others) is an exercise in futility.</p>

7

<p>USNews rankings only give you a very rough idea of where the school falls in the grand scheme of things. UChicago did not suddenly become a top school this year. Also, if you consider only schools in the top 10 of USNews to be good schools, then you are limiting yourself and have an attitude that will probably hurt you in the long run. Personally I think that outside the East Coast, UChicago is just as if not more prestiegious than Columbia.</p>

8

<p>I think Chicago's prestige is less about the students it admits (as it seems to be for some other colleges) than for its idea of what "The University" should be. As presidential search committee has said (for those who have not seen it earlier), "As we traveled... we would ask for what the view form the outside was of The University, and we would hear... The University is the purist of universities, dedicated to research, creation of new knowledge, and education more than any other, that it is a kind of intellectual hothouse, that the value of ideas and the life of the mind mean more here than anywhere else."</p>

<p>See also: <a href="http://iotu.uchicago.edu/levine.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://iotu.uchicago.edu/levine.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

9

<p>In most cases, reputations are highly regional. I think that almost everyone in the country knows Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford. MIT comes close in name recogntion, with Cal Tech just a bit behind. But if you went outside the NE and asked people to name the eight Ivies, I'll bet most people could name no more than three. My gut (and it's just a guess, OK?) tells me that Vassar is better known around the country than Brown, and that most people would tell you that Penn is the state school of Pennsylvania.</p>

<p>Now, if you're talking about reputation among people who pay attention to school reputations, then I think you'll still get a regional bias but it will be far more informed. In the NE, where it is so often assumed that anything outside the NE is to be discounted as unworthy, the Ivies and the LAC Ivies reign supreme. Naturally, Columbia, Brown, and Dartmouth will be thought to be much better than Chicago, Northwestern, and Duke in the NE.</p>

<p>You know, my experience has been that, in most states, the flagship state university carries more "prestige" than just about anywhere outside of HYPSM.</p>

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<p>Let's face it, the man on the street equates Stanford with Northwestern, that is, private schools that somehow mange to field big time sports teams. The Ivy League means little more than a weak football conference where the rich kids go. U of C and UIC, aren't they the same school (if they have heard of them at all)? Harvard, Princeton, and Yale is where spoiled, not necessarily smart, old money son's and daughters go to school. Duke along with its neighbor North Carolina (not knowing which one or, if any of them, is a private school)has a great basketball program. The state U's are where the good teams are.</p>

11

<p>"But if you went outside the NE and asked people to name the eight Ivies, I'll bet most people could name no more than three."</p>

<p>Tarhunt's gut instinct is quite correct, IMO. Even many long-time university professors who were educated at top publics cannot name the Ivy League members. Furthermore, they couldn't care less.</p>

<p>"You know, my experience has been that, in most states, the flagship state university carries more "prestige" than just about anywhere outside of HYPSM."</p>

<p>This also resonates with my own experience, but I find it a bit unsettling, since much of this "prestige" centers on the reputation of the sports teams, rather than objective analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of various academic programs.</p>

12

<p>Sorry, cross-posted with Idad. I see we agree that sports programs buy name recognition. Yuck. (Maybe we don't agree on the editorial "yuck".)</p>

13

<p>At the undergrad level, with the exception of a few I-Banking jobs, it means relatively little where one goes to school. So perhaps the man on the street isn't so far off after all.</p>

14

<p>Forget about reputations, find a school you like, work hard, learn something, and contribute to society. A spiffy degree from a well-known school is fine and dandy, but your work ethic, personality, and intelligence will have a far more important impact on your future. Just 'cause you went to Harvard doesn't mean that you can come to work late, play World of Warcraft all day, and then leave early and expect to get paid for it-unless you're a freakin genius and the work you do is incredibly amazing and world renowned, then completely disregard my opinions and do whatever you want.</p>

15

<p>No one is doubting the classic argument that it matter more what you do in college rather than what college you go to. However, given that you are constant, and you will try your hardest wherever you are, then some schools will give you a bit more of an edge and and will open a few more doors than some others will. so, given that, prestige can matter. so, between berkeley and chicago for ugrad, which is more prestigious in opening more doors for graduate school? that is what ultimately important for academic success</p>

<p>i already know that chicago is better for ugrad experiencce, which means that it concerentrates more on its ugrads than berkeley. this is good becacuse it makes my ugrad career nice and cushiony, tehy have lots of money to fund ugrad research, and lots of nice places to study, and many good places to study. also, smaller student to faculty ratio...so, from those perpsectives </p>

<p>I already know Chicago is better, the only thing I don't know is if it has more prestige in respect to opening doors in the future, thats why I'm asking about prestige in the first place</p>

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<p>Both will open any door one wishes to pass through, as long as one does well at either.</p>

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<p>I just read this in a recent "In These Times" article and thought I would share it with the readers of this thread:

[quote]
There’s a case to be made that the single most intellectually and politically influential neighborhood in the United States is Chicago’s Hyde Park. Integrated, affluent and quiet, the 1.6 square-mile enclave on the city’s south side is like a tiny company town, where the company happens to be the august, gothic, eminently serious University of Chicago. Students at the U. of C. sell T-shirts that read “Where Fun Goes To Die,” and the same could be said of the neighborhood, which until very recently had a bookstore-to-bar ratio of 5:2.

[/quote]

<a href="http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2897/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2897/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>tennis dude - you are brilliant:</p>

<p><a href="http://news.google.com/news?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&client=firefox-a&tab=wn&q=%22university+of+chicago%22+%22uncommon+application%22&btnG=Search+News%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://news.google.com/news?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&client=firefox-a&tab=wn&q=%22university+of+chicago%22+%22uncommon+application%22&btnG=Search+News&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

19

<p>I can't tell if that's sarcasm, but I read some of those links, and this is bull sh.it. Dropping the favorite books etc question? I <em>loved</em> that question, it was the essay that really showed Chicago a distinctive side of me.</p>

20

<p>oh, and to the op:</p>

<p>However, given that you are constant, and you will try your hardest wherever you are, then some schools will give you a bit more of an edge and and will open a few more doors than some others will. so, given that, prestige can matter. so, between berkeley and chicago for ugrad, which is more prestigious in opening more doors for graduate school? that is what ultimately important for academic success</p>

<p>your first statement is wrong, as are all the statements that follow from it.</p>