<p>^^ Well, for our son, we all agreed he would most likely work to his highest potential, and would be happiest overall, if he were surrounded in college by kids like him. He always, since the first grade, performed best in classes with other smart kids. They pushed each other and more importantly understood each other. During the college hunt, prestige was secondary…getting the best education he could while being surrounded by kids like him was paramount.</p>
<p>I don’t see anything wrong with seeking out the opportunity to be in class with, and to live and eat and party with, people like you. Believe me son’s four years at a highly ranked CS school were NOT the highlight of his life…it hasn’t been downhill since then, quite the opposite. Temple no doubt has the computer science major… I speak only for my son, but I wager there are a lot like him (especially on this site!). CS at Temple might have been a fine experience but my hunch is it would have been an entirely different animal than the program he experienced at CMU. And I doubt he’d be where he is today seven years out of school had he gone to Temple. Sure, this person could do fine at Temple. And I’m sure there are some fine instructors there. But my point earlier…she (in the OP)has whatever it takes to get into UChicago…prestige aside, there are many top students who would jump on the opportunity to be surrounded by an entire community of bright people like herself.</p>