<p>I just came back from both admit student programs and cannot seem to make a great decision. My observation is that Northwestern seems a lot more pre-professional than U of C, which stresses research and intellectualism. Out of the two, I feel like I fit better at the U of C but I am concerned that my GPA will suffer there and be distracted by fulfilling the numerous CORE reqs. What are your opinions?</p>
<p>Here is some info about myself:
-I plan to be a biology major, but am open to explore
-Interested in conducting research as early as freshman year
-Many extracurricular interests outside of academics</p>
<p>Go where you will be happier. IF you’re unhappy, it will be harder to do well. UChicago is not any harder than any other school, they just like to give the impression that they are.</p>
<p>Would you chose to take many or most of the classes in U. of C’s core curriculum? If not, then you’d have more opportunity to build a more customized core of your own at NU. Also the core curriculum would very likely stand in way of doing any significant research early on.</p>
<p>Since many students often change their premed/bio major by sophomore year you should look at which school has the most options should that happen to you.</p>
<p>AMTC- You are right. Which school, in your opinion, would you say that is? </p>
<p>Lorem- UChicago’s core curriculum is mandatory for graduation. I can choose to take the mininum amount, but it is still significantly more than what Northwestern requires. I would have to wait until summer to do most of my research anyway.</p>
<p>Arbiter- I definitely get the impression that U of C is harder than Northwestern in terms of receiving higher grades. As of now, it is hard to say which school will make me happier. I know that Northwestern provides more of the “college experience” while UChicago lacks in that area.</p>
<p>I doubt your gpa will be any different at Chicago or Northwestern and don’t this should factor in to a decision. If you felt more sympatico with the U Chicago vibe I’m inclined to tell you to go with your gut and head south to Hyde Park. I also wouldn’t worry about the Core limiting research opportunities. I would worry if the Core is not something you’d enjoy. It’s simply too dominant a part of the academic experience at the school.</p>
<p>It’s a little arrogant to assume your GPA would be markedly higher at Northwestern. If the overall U Chicago vibe appeals to you more, there’s your answer.</p>
<p>I don’t think OP was implying that Northwestern was easier. But one does tend to pick classes in subjects one is better at, if one has more freedom to do so – and NU offers greater course selection flexibility.</p>
<p>do remember that grades in the sciences and engineering will be consistently lower at universities pretty much across the board and there’s a sizable engineering presence at nu with none at chicago. chicago carries a rep for low grades that’s may be historically, but is simply no longer, accurate.</p>
<p>again would argue premed gpa will differ little for any individual whether at nu or chicago and really shouldn’t factor into op’s decision.</p>
<p>You all make some very great points. I am not implying (or trying to be arrogant at all) that NU is easier than U of C. I was just trying to express that I hear a lot about terrible GPAs at U of C more than I do at Northwestern. After speaking to students of both schools recently (I mean the past few days), I was advised from students at U of C not to go pre-med there while students at NU suggested I go pre-med there. I guess it depends on who you talk to as well. What would you guys say has a better history with pre-meds? </p>
<p>I also wanted to make one thing clear. I, by no means, expect to have an easy time at either school. I just do not want my GPA holding me back for admission into medical schools.</p>
<p>Not true at all. Many people at the U of C (myself included) start heavy research in their first year, usually over the summer, but sometimes during the school year as well. The Core isn’t as restraining as it’s being portrayed - it’s just a few extra classes, and it’s usually easier to get good grades in these classes than in other strictly major courses. The Core is more of a fun, deeper-than-usual introduction to various branches of academics. Plus, you can’t become the pretentious ******* that all U of C-ers dream to be if you don’t know your Marx and Kant. (Kidding, of course.)</p>
<p>I think UChicago and NU are probably similar in difficulty. I would say Chicago is slightly harder since the students tend to spend more time in the library and even so, have slightly lower GPAs on average than NU. That’s just personal opinion, though. You’ve probably heard more about low GPAs at Chicago than at NU for the following reasons:</p>
<p>1) Chicago students like to complain about how hard the school is.</p>
<p>2) Some students think that since Chicago’s well-known for being rigorous, a 3.3 GPA at Chicago will be sufficient to get into the top law/med/business schools. Not always true, although I do often hear of people with pretty low GPAs (think 3.0, 3.1 range) getting into the lower Ivy Leagues for graduate school.</p>
<p>3) GPA is seen as less of a measure of intelligence at Chicago than at NU. It’s pretty taboo to equate intelligence with GPA at Chicago. Although somewhat taboo at NU as well, it seems much less acceptable at Chicago. Therefore, people sometimes talk about their low GPAs because they think they won’t be judged, whereas those with high GPAs usually keep their mouths shut.</p>
<p>If you were ranked in the top fifteen - even if you didn’t say anything, even if you yourself didn’t know your GPA - the top ten students would know your average to the hundredth, if not the thousandth, decimal place. And they would talk about it all the time.</p>
<p>This was incredibly annoying in high school. I don’t even know how they got the information, but they had it.</p>
<p>In fact, when I mentioned to one of my friends (who is matriculating this fall at UChicago) that it’s somewhat taboo to talk about your GPA here, she replied: “Really? That’s kind of weird. o__O”</p>
<p>Which just goes to show … something. Possibly that my high school was a huge pressure cooker.</p>
<p>People talk about their GPAs everywhere. It’s not a “taboo” here, it’s just not something you do in front of mixed company, and not necessarily commonly.</p>