<p>My take on Chicago, based on readings and visiting: I don’t think Chicago has ever been “cut-throat” and “intensely competitive” and it still isn’t. Indeed, there is a very strong element of shared intellectual endeavor which encourages students and faculty to formulate, share, and scrutinize ideas they have. But “ideas” are the currency on campus and there is a respect for pure intellectualism that is stronger than many places.</p>
<p>I think a few decades ago this played out to mean a serious, humorless, and even somewhat prickly approach to school and life was in order. That reputation lingers. However it is my sense that this is no longer true and that, instead, they have found a warmer and more inviting approach in fostering a sense of play in their intellectualism and in cultivating a certain sly, self-deprecating attitude about themselves. The “where fun comes to die” slogan, invented by their students, is an example of this: it is meant to be an ironic self-criticism by people who are actually having fun that they know not everyone would share. You’ll see the tone in their promotional literature, too. This also seems to be coupled with much more effort to build community among and provide non-academic support to its undergraduates. So, for most of its students, Chicago is an engaging and exciting place, not a dreary one.</p>
<p>However, if you visit NU, you can certainly visit Chicago, too, if for no other reason than to be able to see two contrasting approaches to higher education, albeit both at a high level. As has already been mentioned, at the open, suburban NU campus you’ll find more of concern that the connection between education and practice, school and world, be strong and visible to the student. Hence the strong departments in engineering, journalism, music, and drama. At Chicago, you’ll find a more compact, urban campus where there is less need to connect ideas with immediate application. They have no engineering school there and, as far as I can tell, are proud of it. You can also ponder what it would be like if the schools had actually merged as they had discussed earlier in their histories.</p>
<p>I’d certainly recommend you mine the CC forums for the schools in which your D is interested to get an enhanced sense of what the experiences to be had at them.</p>