I just realized I don't want to go to my school.

[aristotle1990]

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I see. You are practical and prestige-oriented. You would attend schools based on “worth” and “reputation,” and you would pursue only majors that you can work off of for a high starting salary.

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<p>Let me make something clear: I would, more than anything else, love to be a college professor with a low salary (in fact, it’s my dream career). I don’t want to be an investment banker or work in a financial firm. Money is not immensely valuable to me. But principle and the concept of worth are. I don’t want to be in debt or waste money. Wasting money, or spending it profligately, is something I don’t understand.</p>

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I find it confusing that you say you want an intense academic environment with people who love school, but also view school entirely as an investment (in terms of remuneration).

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<p>What is not an investment? I’m discussing school as an investment (one that requires both time and money) that pays off monetarily and socially and personally and spiritually. UChicago and Harvard pay off very similarly with respect to the last two categories, but not necessarily to the first or the second (although this point is certainly debatable).</p>

<p>Also, prestige is not worthless. Prestige pays off monetarily and socially. If people think highly of you, they’re more likely to defer to your authority or give you a job. Since UChicago and Harvard are equal in all but prestige, why not go to the school whose prestige is higher? A degree from Harvard is, for the unintelligent, a facade of intelligence, and, for the intelligent, an immediate marker of intelligence that might otherwise take days to build up (time that often is not had).</p>

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Two questions. Are you Asian? And, why did you take Latin?

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<p>I’m white. (What was the point of that question?) I took Latin because it was an investment whose return was not monetary. Investment is a funny word for something like this, but I want to be precise, because this is a difficult subject. Of course studying Latin is an investment. Monetarily it may not be very profitable, but personally it is.</p>

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Since prestige is so nebulous and variable, it’s nearly impossible to predict how much the prestige alone would be “worth” in a very strict financial sense. You do seem to understand that what you’re investing in is not only a salary rise, but also a social, emotional, intellectual experience.

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<p>Exactly. That’s what I’m trying to communicate. But prestige is not valuable solely in monetary terms - it has many other benefits, as I said above.</p>

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If you would major in CS at UChicago, you <em>are</em> aware it leans very heavily to the theoretical side, yes? For some, that is perfect; for many, it can be one of the inner circles of hell. If you are serious about CS, there are many fine schools from which to choose. MIT, Stanford (which meet your “prestige” criteria, I assume), Caltech (but the CS there also tends to the theoretical), CMU, etc.</p>

<p>If the schools you listed were the only ones on your list, you were woefully ill-advised (or stubbornly refused to listen to more informed opinions).

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<p>When I applied to schools I wasn’t sure that I wanted to major in CS - I’m not sure now. But my choice of major is not especially important to me. I agree, though, that I should’ve applied to more schools. I’m well aware of Chicago’s theoretical computer science department, but that’s not really something that turns me off.</p>