<p>Go to Chicago if you have the money. Why spend it on a house or something if you can get as close as possible to the very best in a field you are intersted in?</p>
<p>**Michigan vs. Chicago: 12 - 4 **</p>
<p>I’ve been going Michigan … Chicago … Michigan … Chicago all day. It’s just so … I can’t make a decision so soon based on printed stuff.</p>
<p>Elixirs</p>
<p>“Chicago econ has its own “school of thought”, but UM has its consumer economic index, etc.”</p>
<p>What does that mean exactly?</p>
<p>if you are 100% sure you want to econ, your parents are very wealthy, and you prefer the environment at uchicago, go to chicago</p>
<p>if any of the above don’t hold, especially if there is any chance at all of you deciding on engineering, go to michigan</p>
<p>the fact that there was even some chance of you getting finaid from chicago (the little in “little to no aid”) seems to imply that you’re parents probably aren’t part of the “very wealthy” category. $100k+ is a lot of money, especially if you plan on going to graduate school.</p>
<p>It especially doesn’t help you are putting this in the UM section. You have to know that there are pretty much UM people that are observing these thread every minute. There are so many people that post on the UM threads. Chicago has less people and there are fewer U of C people that go onto CC so obviously that you are going to have to have more people posting about UM.
However, I would say if you really want Econ, I would go to U of C because your chances of finding a secure job are better than UM.</p>
<p>My son had the same type of decision a couple years ago. When all was said and done, UC was about $12,000 more a year than UM. We told him that it was his decision, with the proviso that if he chose UM we would have much more financial flexibility to help with foreign study, unpaid internships in the summer, grad school etc. If he chose UC, we would cover UC, but could not afford anything else.</p>
<p>He chose UM and has been very happy in their honors math program focusing on theoretical math. In addition, he has decided to pick up a second concentration in actuarial math because he likes the subject and might want to work in the private sector for a bit before grad school. That is a good example of what the breadth of UM can bring - many more avenues of academic discovery which is important when you are trying to plan out your life at age 18.</p>
<p>Good luck - both great schools.</p>
<p>Furthermore, if you want to go to graduate school, a top notch student from Michigan can get into any top graduate program anywhere in the world. Save your money for later ab2013. Go to Michigan!</p>
<p>Chicago and Michigan are both excellent but very different. I obviously love Michigan, but I also really respect Chicago. Chicago was one of the 10 schools I was admitted into and, as a definite Econ major, quite possibly the hardest to turn down.</p>
<p>First, let us focus on similarities. </p>
<p>1) Chicago’s Economics department is awesome, arguably the best in the US. But Michigan’s Econ department, although not as amazing, is also excellent, ranked between #9 and #15 in the US. That’s at the same level as Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Penn, UCLA, Wisconsin and other top Economics departments. At the undergraduate level, there is very little that you can accomplish at Chicago that you cannot accomplish at Michigan. </p>
<p>2) Chicago and Michigan’s mathematics departments are roughly equal, with Chicago generally ranked between #5 and #7 and Michigan between #7 and #9. </p>
<p>3) Academe generally assigns both schools equal weight, with Chicago earning a peer assessment score of 4.6/5.0 in the latest USNWR and Michigan earning a peer assessment score of 4.4/5.0. </p>
<p>4) In terms of graduate school and professional placement, both schools do well, so there is no reason to worry about that.</p>
<p>But there are significant differences too. </p>
<p>1) Chicago is an academic think tank. With 5,000 undergrads and 10,000 graduate students, the campus is decidedly serious and lacks the spirit and liveliness that comes with a campus with a large undergraduate student population that overwhelms its graduate school elements. Some people don’t care for the “undergraduate” feel of a campus, but most students who actually experience it would have it no other way.</p>
<p>2) Suroundings. Michigan is located in a college town that caters almost entirely to the university. The residents of the city love the university and its students and tend to be well educated, intellectual and tolerant. The University of Chicago, is located in one of Chicago’s less pleasant neighborhoods. Although there are many people affiliated to the University in the neighboring areas, Hyde Park as a whole is not as nice as Ann Arbor. However, Chicago is an awesome city, so you can get away from time to time. </p>
<p>3) Cost. Chicago = $220,000, Michigan = $90,000. Unless your folks are worth millions of dollars, this is a no brainer. We are talking about $130,000. </p>
<p>Personally, regardless of all the arguements for or again, one fact alone should be enough to make your decision for you: Can you folks easily cover the $130,000 difference between Chicago and Michigan? If yes, go for whichever school you think would make you happier. If no, then you should obviously go to Michigan.</p>
<p>QwertyKey, I meant consumer sentiment index. My point was that there are notable things that come out of UM econ.</p>
<p>Without a doubt, Michigan’s Economics department is excellent. I can confidently say that it is one of the top 5 in the midwest and one of the top 15 in the US, on par with other Economics powerhouses such as Brown, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Minnesota, Penn, UCLA and Wisconsin-Madison.</p>
<p>Elixers, I meant what do you mean by Chicago has their own school of thought?</p>
<p><a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_school_(economics[/url])”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_school_(economics)</a></p>
<p>Use google.</p>
<p>To the OP:
I applied to both schools and turned down both to go to Penn. If my final choices were between Michigan and UChicago I probably would have gone to UM (OOS). Chicago’s great, but really isn’t for everybody. Don’t let the #1 econ department be the only selling point. Michigan’s econ is almost as good, and at the undergrad level, both are equal enough. Chicago might have some advantages if you know you want to go to graduate school for econ, but I doubt you know as a high school senior whether or not you really want to go for the PhD. The best selling points I can think of for Michigan are:
It offeres a better college experience, in the traditional sense. Most students (including myself) would be much happier in an environment like UM than UChicago.<br>
It arguably has better recruiting. If you decide after freshman year that econ isn’t for you and come to the conclusion that you just want a high paying job, you can do very well for yourself by getting into Ross or graduating from Engineering. My friend at Chicago has complained about the recruiting opportunities and feels that the lack of preprofessionalism on campus makes it a little tougher for those who don’t want to pursue graduate school.</p>
<p>I mean that Chicago is so influential in the field of economics that there is a whole “subset” of economic theory and approach that is named after it. I’m no economist so I can’t elaborate further, but if you do some googling you should find more info.</p>
<p>look up “Chicago school of economics” on wikipedia</p>
<p>^Still is the Chicago school of thought worth $140k? I mean, there’s always grad school, but then again this is a great opportunity. </p>
<p>Things are easier said than done. I’m still holding on to the reply to admission form. :(</p>
<p>ab2013, i’d say go with michigan. I also applied, and was accepted, to both places and decided to go with michigan. It came down to money, even though at first i really wanted to go to chicago. now, i’m so excited to start michigan and don’t worry about meeting only in state kids, at orientation i met a ton of out of state kids and once school starts in the fall, i can’t wait to meet international students. best of luck as you make your decision!</p>
<p>Congrats on your decision ab2013. Go Blue!</p>
<p>Definitely go to the cheaper one, you’ll regret going to an expensive one very, very soon…</p>
<p>^Why “very, very soon”?</p>
<p>^you realize that the extra costs are semi crippling. I am paying full tuition for a private college. Because of the huge costs, I have to work during all of my breaks. I would love to go on a nice trip during the winter or spring break, but can’t afford to. I would love to do research on campus where at most I’ll make enough cash to pay for my room and food, but can’t afford to. If I were going to college for free, or at least on a half scholarship, my parents would foot for me to do all of that stuff. Instead, I worked the last two winter breaks and have a boring job the last two summer breaks. Also, going instate can allow you to do a 5th year of school and still spend less than 4 years at a private. A 5th year allows you to get a second major or a masters. It also allows you to do some exploring your first two years and not be as rushed. I have to graduate a semester early to save cash. I have friends who went instate and don’t have to rush everything. I’m basically at the point now where I can’t drop any classes and have to plan everything out well in advance to make sure I get everything done on time.</p>
<p>It depends on what your parents attitude towards money is. My parents began saving money for my college education before I was even born and had 200k in the bank ready to go when college admissions rolled around. They told me that the money was for UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGE ONLY though, so it’s not like I would have the money in discretionary spending if I had chosen Michigan over some of the private schools I gotten into.</p>
<p>Instead of spending that extra cash of something superficial like a house down payment or a better car, why not spend it on a better education?</p>
<p>I would have gone to Chicago in the OP’s case, but Michigan is a fantastic school as well so he couldn’t have gone wrong either way.</p>