<p>I have never known anyone who didn’t know Brown was an Ivy…</p>
<p>UPenn, on the other hand… 
NO ONE knows that’s an Ivy!</p>
<p>lol. and the age-old “UChicago? Is that a public school?”</p>
<p>:P</p>
<p>mediopollito-
are Brown and Cornell viewed equally in NC? Because in the greater NY metro area, most people (exclude Cornell alums) view Brown as much more prestigious, and educated folks know that it is much harder to get into. On a national basis for sure, and I think even in the NY metro area (at least among knowledgeable people), I don’t think that Cornell is viewed as clearly superior to, or more prestigious than, NU. (This comparison has been the subject of numerous CC threads over the years.) And where I live, NU is harder to get into than Cornell (though the difference is not as vast as that between NU and Brown, the latter being MUCH harder to get into than the former)</p>
<p>brebeuff-
Perception is, of course, a big part of prestige.
If your point is that a perception that Brown is academically superior to NU is unfounded, I would have to agree. They are roughly equal in academic quality, as I have indicated before. But employers, who tend to get more resumes than they even have time to read closely, look for an eye-catcher - the “wow” factor - when they sort through resumes, and in my experience with respect to undergrad degrees, Brown has traditionally been much more of an eye-catcher than NU (all other things being equal).</p>
<p>yes, of course Brown is much harder to get into, I know. but NU and Cornell are pretty much equally hard to get into.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t necessarily say Brown is <em>much</em> harder to get into than Cornell…</p>
<p>Brown has an acceptance rate around 13% while Cornell’s is around 21% I think.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure it was about 18% this year, although I bet Brown’s went down too. Regardless, those are both difficult percentages to beat. Either is often a crapshoot.</p>
<p>KevRus-
I was talking about my school district in the NY Metro area (a suburb which has long had one of Cornell is a cakewalk compared to Brown. Tons of kids get into the former, almost none into the latter.</p>
<p>WCASParent- you seem to be really stuck on what “people in the NY metro area think.” Why is what people in the NY metro area think any more important than what people elsewhere think? “What people in the NY metro area think” is the determiner of prestige in the NY metro area only, not prestige overall. Your particular experience is completely irrelevant to the student who seeks to live and work in other parts of the country. I assure you that in Chicago – no cow-town – and other major midwestern cities, NU will be > Brown. And in other parts of the country, still other schools will trump both.</p>
<p>^^Within the context in which I used that term, it was intended to communicate either that my greatest area of familiarity was with the NY metro area (hence my question to another poster from NC about perceptions in NC; I was acknowledging my lack of familiarity with NC) and/or that the NY metro area is probably the area which has more employers in the financial and legal sectors than other parts of the country (it just goes with being the largest metro area and the center of the country’s financial world).</p>
<p>With respect to the midwest, I have no doubt - and never disputed - that NU’s reputation and prestige match or exceed Brown’s.</p>
<p>As for other schools in other parts of the country, that simply played no part in my comments - e.g., I have no doubt that in California (and elsewhere, of course), Stanford is more prestigious than both schools. However, I do believe that in the legal and business communities in LA, Brown is still viewed as more prestigious than NU.</p>
<p>No slight to other parts of the country was intended, and my regrets if you perceived one.</p>
<p>Y’all are getting off track (definitely not a NYer as you can see, but did live there!) from the original posters questions. He/She didn’t ask about which was harder to get into. Here is how I understand it-All schools you listed are great. Here are some key points about some of them.</p>
<p>NU- Well respected, top 20 school in the midwest. Kids are odd at times but overall good mix of theatre kids and very competitive students, many from the midwest. Decent to large Asian population. Adminstration is not overly helpful and access to professors can be trying. Not the warmest admin or proofs in the world, but a rock-solid education</p>
<p>Brown. Ivy league in the N. East. Known to be quirkest of the ivies. More left-leaning grunchier granola feel to it (sorry but that’s how I see it) Not alot of rules or restrictions and students can make up their own curriculum. Tons of northeasterns attending so if you don’t like folks from that area, you will find it less appealing. I know nothing about the professors, but if you are an independent, “march to the beat of your own/different drum” this would be a great choice. And yes, it has prestige no matter where you live. </p>
<p>U of Chicago. Sorry but I find this school very serious, strident and some fellow students call it the place where fun goes to die. I would concur from time in Chicago. However if you are very cerebral and want to discuss pithy topics frequently this is the place to go. I don’t think it beats NU in your areas-its just different. Definitley visit it before deciding. More grade deflation than Chicago. Both NU and Chicago are on quarter systems not semesters and thus the pace is a bit overwhelming at times unless you like alot of variety in classes and taking tests more often than your semester-based friends.</p>
<p>UPenn- Forgot, was this on your list? Another Ivy that is very strong but competitive in business. Know folks who have attended or are attending. Some did well others hated it. Harder to get high grades pre-med I’d save this one for grad school, unless you get great financial aid and are fairly certain of a business degree. </p>
<p>Wash U- Very good midwestern school . I don’t know much about the undergrad programs other than, the general ambivance at Wash U seems more seriuos than NU. Wash U focuses more on SAT’s than anything so I think you would be with highly competitive students-but this is true of all of those on your list. </p>
<p>If you are seriously pre-med you will want to look into their advising programs and research opportunities. Since your possible majors are so diverse, it will be tough to make a decision on one major if you end up becoming, say, pre-law. Good Luck. Bloom where planted, and you will be fine.</p>
<p>You’ve gotten some good answers, but I think a great deal is going to depend on the track you think you will take. Pre-med is tough and competitive wherever you go, whether its Chicago, NU or Wash U. (I can’t speak about Brown since it was never on the radar).
Personally, I don’t like the setting of UChicago. The neighborhood around it is a bit depressed and run down, whereas NU campus on the lake is beautiful and in a really nice area. And NU is part of the big ten, with the football team in a bowl game this year, so there’s some nice school spirit if you are into that sort of thing.
haha - I also heard that phrase the U Chicago is where fun goes to die. </p>
<p>BTW- quarter system makes for a good spring break. New term starts when you get back, so you can have a really carefree downtime when you are on break.</p>
<p>Post #20 makes an excellent point. The average joe thinks that Stanford, MIT, and Vanderbilt are also part of the Ivy League. The average joe doesn’t really know what the Ivy League entails.</p>
<p>BTW. Northwestern is #12 in USNWR. Brown is #16. Northwestern is #29 in the Academic Ranking of World Universities. Brown is #69.</p>
<p>So it appears that perhaps Northwestern is more prestigious. It certainly has a wider global reach.</p>
<p>Let’s end this discussion though. UChicago is #8 in USNWR and #7 in ARWU.</p>
<p>You know what to do.</p>
<p>jk…i’m not that pretentious. but UChicago is my dream school though. but do that feels right for you. according to what i’ve read, i’d have to agree. UofC may not be the right fit for you.</p>
<p>The schools you listed can be grouped into the following categories:</p>
<p>good social life:
Northwestern
Penn
Dartmouth</p>
<p>bohemian:
Brown</p>
<p>studious:
Chicago</p>
<p>?
WashU</p>
<p>I’ve heard mixed reviews about whether washu is fun or not. I’m tempted to group it with chicago under “studious” but i’ll let someone else answer.</p>
<p>Keep in mind the definition of “good social life” is different at Dartmouth than it is at Northwestern/Penn.</p>
<p>WCASParent: The “NYC metro” area is not a tell-all of university prestige in America. Moreover, I am very skeptical when someone says they know which schools the entire professional community in NYC, let alone the entire east coast, value the most. NU’s significantly better professional graduate programs, while not having any direct standing on the undergraduate degree, definitely add to the allure and name-recognition of the university. I would say that NU and Brown are on equal footing academically and in terms of name-recognition, <em>for the people that matter</em>. Of course the average joe is going to have some wildly ridiculous idea of which school is better, but in terms of potential employers, I think both schools would be relatively equal. </p>
<p>Now on to UChicago. Full disclosure: UChicago had been my first choice for a while, and fortunately I will be attending in the fall. While I initially loved Chicago for its philosophy on education, intellectualism, bla bla bla, I, like the OP, grew weary of the “fun comes to die” mantra and the grade deflation. I plan to attend a professional grad school in either business or law, and Chicago’s grade deflation was worrisome. But when I visited UChicago, their sales pitches worked. Grad schools realize the rigor involved at Chicago, and at least take it into account when seeing your gpa. Theres plenty of resources available to students planning to enter the professional fields. When I was at Chicago, I sat in on a talk by the Career Planning Services, and they gave some settling statistics: UChicago graduates who applied to law schools averaged 3 acceptances; something like 70% of UChicago graduates who applied to biz school were accepted to one of their top three choices; and similar statistics for med school. Careerism is not dead in Chicago, and a widening pool and increasing popularity will only normalize the school even further in relation with professional school career prospects. </p>
<p>In terms of the social life, like I said, I was weary of it. I love discussing Kant and Plato as much as the next guy, but I’m also a big partier in the conventional college sense, and definitely dont want an antisocial school. People should understand that Chicago, while no state university, is a school with 5000+ students, so you are bound to find the niche you are looking for. There are certainly loads of the geeky type (some sort of elvish scrawl written on far too many dorms when I visited), which is fun and great if you are into that. But there is also plenty of conventional college fun to be had. And there is not really some broad, overlying characteristic that defines Chicago students, other than the engaging intellectualism. Its a pretty diverse school, and having spent a couple days on campus, I can tell you that whatever youre looking for, whether it be college partying or not, there is fun to be had at Chicago.</p>
<p>Anyways, the OP has made his/her decision by now, so I’m just trying to share my two cents, and hopefully shed some negative light about UChicago. Pretty good social life to be had there.</p>
<p>I hope it is a good experience for you but a more traditional college social life there is bleak at best. I know two family friends currently enrolled and NU would be like a state U party school in comparison. The ivy league, Duke, or Stanford are all far more social as well. U of C is only matched by Swarthmore, MIT, and Cal Tech for lack of a social atmosphere.</p>
<p>Granted, NU is going to have a more widespread college social experience. I readily admit that. But I think the difference between NU and Chicago is that Chicago’s partying is going to be localized. Whereas at NU maybe 60-70% of the student body will go to bars and frat parties frequently on the weekends, at Chicago it might be more like 30-50%. Is it nonexistent at Chicago? No. Are more kids partying at other schools like NU? Yes. I’ve spent a couple nights at UChicago, and there were a couple frat parties to enjoy, with plenty of booze and music and debauchery, with plenty of other kids there. I am fairly confident that I will be able to have a good time at Chicago and party it up. </p>
<p>Remember, NU is going to also have more partying than Columbia, which is not to say that the Columbia college-social life is anticlimactic. Plenty of partying to do there also, just not as widespread across the student body.</p>
<p>You seem very happy with your choice and that’s all that matters. Good partying after all like all things is in the eyes of the beholder. You sound like a serious student and should fit in well. My daughter on the other hand while a fine student was very concerned about the quality of the social life and chose NU. As I said we have know other friends children at U of C and when my daughter visited she found it to be 95% academic 5% social activities. NU while serious if far more balanced because of D1 sports and being in the Big Ten. Go with your gut and you should do well.</p>