<p>This isn't meant to offend, I'm merely curious. Are a lot of NU students Uchicago rejects? Or do many people chose NU, perhaps sometimes even over Uchicago, for its own merit?</p>
<p>I think the two schools attract different types of kids, by and large. It’s nice that they are so convenient to one another–my son and his friend toured both on the same trip and they really were night and day. Both great schools, but completely different campus cultures.</p>
<p>[Northwestern:</a> UChicago Rejects?](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>Northwestern: UChicago Rejects? | HuffPost College)</p>
<p>Even as an extremist UChicago alum, I highly reject such an absurd proposition. It’s a mistake to even assume that NU students would have any desire at all to attend UChicago.</p>
<p>よく話した、フリク。</p>
<p>俺さえたまに極端主義者の演技をやめないとね。たまあに。</p>
<p>bahahhahaha</p>
<p>No idea what that was meant to say.</p>
<p>As a NU student, I looked at UChicago for about five seconds before deciding it wasn’t for me. They attract different types of people.</p>
<p>I was admitted to UChicago and NU back in 2011. Chose NU and never looked back! The two schools cater to different types of students.</p>
<p>As for undergraduate school, NU is preferred by many students and parents that I know. I spent eleven years in Hyde Park in Chicago, while my spouse was pursuing Ph.D in political science at UChicago. I too studied in there for two years. Back in those years, FYI, NU was higher ranked than UChicago. This recent rise in the U of Chicago ranking is owed a lot to Obama, I suppose, and also to its EA program. (NU should just switch its ED to EA to get into top 10) Anyhow, most of my and my spouse’s acquaintances who experienced UChicago tend not to encourage our/their kids to the UChicago despite its rigor and fame in academics. Quite a few kids, even though they got accepted to both, have chosen NU. My S, after touring the UChicago for an hour, had decided not to apply. He checked out the school including the lying-in hospital where he was born, the totlots, the neighborhood, etc, and said it was very grim… </p>
<p>We feel that UChicago is too dreary and offers not many traditional fun college experiences, while NU offers just as good academics plus the whole other package; the UChicago is rather a graduate focused school and can be thoroughly enjoyed, at undergrad level, when you are wililng to go “totally into” academics and little else…</p>
<p>
Oh, damn. I must have missed the recent change in US News methodology that included “Connection to the current US president” as a ranking criteria. Could you please link me to that article? Thanks!</p>
<p>
Why do you think most schools are on ED instead of EA? (Hint: it’s not because they’re being altruistic.) ED does wonders for a school’s yield, and as a result lowers acceptance rates. So, no, NU would not benefit from switching to EA - and even if they did, acceptance rate counts for a whopping 1.5% of the US News ranking criteria.</p>
<p>
Indeed, Chicago’s students’ idea of fun is probably different from NU’s. Not everyone enjoys “traditional” college fun, like heavy drinking and partying. That’s why the two schools are so different and why even Chicago students wouldn’t say NU is for Chicago rejects; they attract wholly different types of students. It is foolish, however, to assume that NU is “preferred by many” because of its “traditional fun college experiences,” when, you know, some people are different from other people.</p>
<p>NU and U of Chicago attract different sorts of kids. NU has an important rah, rah college element to it. While getting a superb undergrad education I enjoyed a fraternity, played NCAA Div 1 athletics plus enjoyed the northside of Chicago and Evanston.</p>
<p>Obviously, an undergrad can obtain a superb education at the U of Chicago but I believe it is correct to say – “The U of Chicago is where fun goes to die.” – somewhat true.</p>
<p>.02</p>
<p>David</p>
<p>When my daughter, who I am pretty sure could have gotten into either school early, was looking at NU, I asked a friend what he thought of Chicago vs NU. He was a respected academic with advanced degrees from Chicago, where he had also taught for a while, and Penn, among other places. His unhesitating and unvarnished advice was for my daughter to choose NU over Chicago. He felt they were academic equals with top tier students, but that NU was a happier, more well-rounded and balanced place.
Just one person’s advice, but it was from someone whose knowledge and insights I greatly respect.</p>
<p>I’ve always found questions such as “given the choice should I choose UC or NU” to be interesting.</p>
<p>First, both are excellent schools, there is no wrong choice. While the Gods at USNWR have decreed that UC has a higher ranking, no one has been able to explain to me what this difference in ranking means in any practical sense.</p>
<p>However, most would agree that there are significant differences in the atmosphere and educational philosphy. Differences that are so great that I for one have find it hard to understand why someone who has done the research would find it a difficult choice. While one could be a great fit at either school, I’m not sure that many would be a great fit at both.</p>
<p>So, unless one feels it necessary to do homage at the USNWR altar, I would recommend given this choice, to go to the school that is the better fit for the student.</p>
<p>Zephyr, USNWR means that by their convoluted percentage system of what’s important, UC’s better. Of course, it includes random things that don’t matter like Academic Reputation according to other presidents, provosts, and deans of admissions which accounts to 22.5%.</p>
<p>Crimsonstained</p>
<p>I suspect we’re largely in agreement on USNWR (though reading my prior post, I may have come off as being more down on it than I actually am). </p>
<p>Basically, if you look at the list, and you generally agree with the relative Ranking of the schools that you know well, you’ll probably also agree with the Rankings of the schools you don’t know at all. However, YMMV. So, this gives you an easy starting point for evaluating unknown schools (emphasis on starting point).</p>
<p>For example, Let’s say that I mostly agree with the Rankings for the top 25 schools, but I know nothing about Northwestern (what cave have I been living in!!!). I can see that NU is ranked #12, which puts it within a few spots of schools like Duke, JHU, Wash U. Fair enough. </p>
<p>Of course, if I disagree with the ranking for the schools I know, then the whole list is practically useless to me.</p>
<p>Just to add some humorous color to the monochromatic view of U Chicago as a place where fun has gone to die:</p>
<p>A UC student on our visit there, when asked about the frat scene, told us that at least she was able to have an interesting discussion of Kant with an inebriated frat member at a recent party, which she did not think was likely to occur at a typical State U frat party. It’s all relative.</p>
<p>As a recent admit at NU, I barely even considered applying to UChicago. They didn’t have any undergrad majors that suited me, and I live in the area. I swear that on a beautiful day, that campus has a way of seeming gloomy. NU has a great combination of Big 10 school spirit and Ivy League-level education. My friends that applied to UChicago were kind of split. Some really enjoyed the idea of going to a school that was reminiscent of Hogwarts and had a really academia-focused college experience. Others chose it simply for its place in the Top 5 of USNWR. I would say people interested in both should check the programs available at either school, and if they’re still split, they should try visiting both campuses.</p>
<p>I visited both…decided that UChicago was not my scene. I went to NU…boom, loved it. No, I did not end up applying to UChicago. NU is not a UC reject pile by any means, although yeah maybe some people would opt for NU after being rejected from UC?</p>