My cousin went 30 years ago and she used to use U of C as a proxy. For example, when asked where she went, if people responded “great school” it said something about them. If they instead asked why she attended, was she living in the area, it said something else.
I will be attending and seem to be getting a little of the same reaction although it seems to have gotten better. I get reactions from, people being impressed I got in (not sure what that says about me, oh well) to asking why I do not just go to my local state school since it will be cheaper.
A lot of ppl from my country thinks it is a mediocre state school. Many were very surprised when they learned my son chose this school over Cambridge in UK. But who cares.
I’ve gotten reactions ranging from: “Man, that out of state tuition” (to which I politely nod) to “Cool! I got rejected there!” (which is awkward, don’t ever do that) to “Are you upset about not getting into Harvard?” (I cry about it at least once a day).
But seriously, who cares? People in the CS world get impressed when they find out our intro to CS course is taught in Haskell, but most haven’t heard of the school.
I would not worry about name recognition for the school. Educated and influential people throughout the US, especially in the Northeast, are well aware of the UChicago name and reputation as are people who follow the college ranking publications. Also, the school has a stellar reputation among the top investment banking and consulting firms. I grew up in Rhode Island and went to Tufts in 1981. Back then, when I heard someone was going to UChicago I thought that peron must be a genius. As for the general public, they only tend to know universities with strong Division 1 sports programs.
Yeah I’ll be attending UChicago next year too. But I haven’t really experienced the sort of people who don’t know what UChicago is at my school. Maybe it’s because my school is super competitive, but pretty much everyone has the general reaction of “oh wow congratulations!”
@SaphireNY Oh no worries about asking. They said no, so I moved on haha. Probably for the best. I kinda realize in retrospect that I was one of those assholes whose main reason for wanting to go to Cornell was because it’s an Ivy League school. I feel horrible saying that I was one of them, but I was… Oh well, at this point I feel much happier going to UChicago than freezing through the winter at a school I don’t really have much of a desire to go to
@cornellapp2015 Sounds like you are going to the right place for you. You do realize Chicago is still pretty cold right?
It is interesting the difference among people from those that really do the impressed double take to the ones, that are like, hmm, guess a SUNY did not work out for you. Although even my mom asked if University of Rochester was a state school (and she went to a top 30 school, she knows Chicago of course).
I live in a backwater I know. Not to whine but it takes a little of the fun out. I feel like if I said Columbia (which they tied on US News and blah blah) everyone would instantly know. Yes I guess I want a little external validation, childish I know
Not in the least worried about my career (other than the famous grade deflation), I actually think by the time I graduate Chicago will have the name recognition, they are working on it. Although my cousin who went did. The HR department at a top place in her field on the east coast, when she checked in for the first time said, oh you are from UMichigan, she said no UChicago. To which the HR person said, it is all west of the mississipi.
Its just honestly when you are a graduating senior and you are attending Johns Hopkins or Columbia, everyone knows it and congratuates you on a job well done. When I say Chicago I almost feel like I have to pull up the web site for US News and say, yes it is really Number 4 (I know it is whiny, shallow and stupid to feel this way and the ratings are bogus). The funny part is I knew it was an ivy equivalent but I did not realize where it ranked until after I got in and accepted and my cousin pointed it out to me.
Is it this way only in my backwater? I am talking about reasonably educated people who apply to decent schools. One thing, it may be regional, Chicago is not the first place people apply from here, Columbia, Duke and Harvard are
Another observation: why my friends learned my S is going to UChicago, the next question would be “is he going to study Economics?” When the answer is “no” there was a long silence. People are to into the ranking thing.
“The HR department at a top place in her field on the east coast, when she checked in for the first time said, oh you are from UMichigan, she said no UChicago. To which the HR person said, it is all west of the mussisippi”
Neither Umich nor UChicago are west of the Mississippi. All that proves is that this HR person is a provincial idiot. Why, again, is it important that provincial idiots be impressed?
In this case because they were in charge of where she was initially placed in the company and who she was assigned to work with, who her assistant would be and who she would be sharing an office with and where that office was located. Plus she had certain timing and other requests because Chicago finishes so late so that person was in charge of presenting her requests to the higher ups. Bottom line, it was the person that coordinated the hiring and did ALL the logistics for the new people in her position and it was not someone she wanted to start a fight with by correcting her over geography although of course she did say Chicago. She did not get the feeling the same mistake would have been made as between Harvard and Yale both being north of Manhattan. I asked the same questions and she explained.
GMT, a logo is simply about money, I have no interest in displaying that. However, after working somewhat hard and achieving more than most of my peers, is it so terrible to get a little acknowledgement? The same acknowledgement one of my friends who is going to Columbia gets? I am sure once I am there I will be so thrilled I will not care. Its just right now I have to endure a million inquiries of “where are you going?” and getting the polite “oh how nice” response as though I said University of Maine or Rhode Island, wonderful schools I am sure but do not require a 2200 or better to attend.
As the poster in a Chicago v Columbia thread noted, one of the Chicago cons is “his parents’ friends think he is stupid” or something
I recently saw someone I hadn’t seen in a while. So I’m doing the usual run down of the kids and I get to my son who’s a second year at UChicago and she says, “Oh! He’s going to a music school!”. I just let it go. It’s not that I don’t have the energy to explain, it’s just at this point it really doesn’t matter any more. I see the education my son is getting and the brilliant friends he is making and I am content.
By the way if I had said Columbia this same friend may have said, “Oh! He’s going to the business college!”
But what you’re not getting is that it’s all regional. There are plenty of people in California who think all those little states in the northeast are interchangeable.
I’m sitting here in my daughter 's dorm at a top 10 LAC. She graduates tomorrow. Most “everyday” people don’t know this school unless they are in the Boston area or are education cognoscenti. Doesn’t matter. At all. The opinions of the masses are built on mountains of nothing.
Educated and successful people know UChicago very well. We live in Fairfield County, CT, an affluent area located just outside of NYC. People here know UChicago and are very impressed with high school students who get admitted there. Parents with smart kids looking at colleges pay close attention to college rankings and know UChicago is a top ranked school. They often consider it superior to the lower ranked Ivies. Many rank it ahead of Brown, Dartmouth and Cornell and think it is close to or equal to Columbia.
You’d be surprised how little the vast majority of people don’t know about “brand name” schools like Columbia, MIT, Stanford, Princeton, Yale, even (gasp) Harvard. There are a lot of things you could do to impress the average person off the street more effectively than beating the odds and getting into an uber-selective university.
The acknowledgement of your work is that you now get to go to UChicago which I personally believe is the greatest place on earth. But I’m biased.
