<p>I recently visited Williams and people there talked about turning down Harvard to go to Williams. At Chicago, no one I talked to turned down better known schools. Is chicago a less prestigious school than williams and does chicago do worse for job placement in NY and throughout the east coast in banking/consulting?</p>
<p>UChicago is ranked as one of the top 10 universities in the world in every major global ranking. I assure you that it’s prestigious enough. I’m sure there are lots of individuals that turned down HYP and the other Ivies and MIT, Stanford, etc for UChicago.</p>
<p>Though, I know there are also a lot of kids that didn’t get into those schools. But that’s the norm at every elite school. You’ll find kids that were rejected by other elites.</p>
<p>I think that is because UChicago and Harvard are larger research institutions in an urban setting. There are fewer reasons to go to UChicago if one is admitted to Harvard. Some people prefer attending LAC in a rural setting.</p>
<p>Right. Honestly, as much as I love Chicago, I would have a hard time recommending that someone choose it over Harvard. (Although, honestly, I think people learn more at Chicago. It’s just that everything else at Harvard is a little spiffier.) Williams, on the other hand, is a different variety of experience. I would never choose that over Harvard OR Chicago, but some people would. If that’s how you learn best, you SHOULD choose Williams over Harvard.</p>
<p>As for prestige, I don’t think Williams has greater prestige than Chicago. It connotes some different things. Chicago stands for intellectualism, and logical rigor, and critical thinking. Williams stands for smart, well-rounded people being social in the middle of nowhere, like Dartmouth.</p>
<p>Do you go to Chicago JHS? Cause i’d choose Chicago over Harvard any day.</p>
<p>I think it’s just that you don’t know enough people at UChicago. I know a girl at South Campus who got full ride to both UChicago and Harvard. I know an international student who got accepted by both Stanford and UChicago. Guess which institution he picked? He’s a rising third year now, and has absolutely no regret.</p>
<p>My view: </p>
<p>Chicago is a top destination of those seeking the intellectual life.
Harvard is a top destination of those seeking power and fortune. </p>
<p>These are often two different objectives. For those seeking the intellectual life, Chicago is probably the better choice - My D wouldn’t even consider Harvard. For those seeking power and fortune, Harvard is probably the better choice. However, Chicago is not bad for those seeking power and fortune, and Harvard is not bad for those seeking the intellectual life. You can find plenty of people seeking both objectives at both places, but if you have the choice, figure out which better matches your own objective.</p>
<p>LACs, no matter how prestigious they may be considered to be in USA are hardly known internationally. So, if you think the opinions of global elites count, you should go for a school with well established international renown.</p>
<p>Hyeonjlee is correct.</p>
<p>Chicago’s prestige is frankly quite underestimated by the general public.</p>
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<p>I would take that statement more seriously if you were actually deciding between the two.</p>
<p>I got into UChicago. I didn’t even bother applying to Harvard. You can question my convictions all you want, but I assure you that I would choose UChicago over Harvard any day. I don’t see why that’s so hard to believe.</p>
<p>I’m not saying it’s hard to believe rather that it is pretty moot to make such statements when you’re not realistically considering the decision.</p>
<p>I agree with BiggOrange. Many students who apply to Chicago do not apply to HPY. The Ivy schools are not as appealing. Chicago has a shirt that says,“At Harvard, I’d have straight A’s.”</p>
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<p>I actually read a statement to that effect in Chicago’s most recent mailing.</p>
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Considering the average GPA at Chicago isn’t all that much lower than at Harvard, I have trouble believing it. Good grades require a lot of work at either university; Chicago students just tend to complain more.</p>
<p>I also have trouble believing that Chicago is all that much more intellectual than Harvard, especially considering that it produces almost exactly the same percentage of PhDs as Harvard, Princeton, and Yale.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1060688660-post6.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1060688660-post6.html</a></p>
<p>Chicago is great, but very, very few would turn down Harvard for it. As Maxxwell said, Harvard offers pretty much everything Chicago does plus some, whereas Williams is a whole different kettle of fish.</p>
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I wouldn’t disagree that many students attracted to UofC are not so inclined to apply to HYPS. However, I was merely saying his statement that he would choose UofC over Harvard was pretty moot because he wasn’t even considering both schools.</p>
<p>When it comes to the debate over whether students would choose UChicago over Harvard, keep in mind that many of these students are heavily influenced by their parents, who are footing the bill. Many, many parents would insist that a student choose Harvard over UChicago; I have seen the posts on CC over the years of students who wanted to go to UChicago and parents insisted on Ivies. Ivies are on the east coast and the name recognition is substantial for the general population – UChicago, not as much.</p>
<p>Just to clarify – I wouldn’t make my son choose an Ivy over UChicago, but others do.</p>
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<li><p>Of course I don’t go to Chicago, I just pay a lot of tuition there.</p></li>
<li><p>One of my Chicago students applied to Harvard, the other had no interest in Harvard.</p></li>
<li><p>The atmosphere at Chicago is much more intellectual than at Harvard. Chicago produces, proportionately, significantly more PhDs than Harvard. (Yale is closer.) But professor for professor and student for student, Harvard matches up with Chicago just fine, and there are plenty of people who go to Harvard for the education, not just the power trip. Harvard is also fabulously wealthy, attracts great students, and has far more student-friendly financial aid policies. Anyone who thinks that students choose Harvard over Chicago solely because of parental pressure is engaging in wishful thinking. That’s not much of a dis of Chicago, though.</p></li>
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<p>JHS – seriously, you think that parental pressure does not play a part in whether a student chooses Harvard over UChicago? or even applies to UChicago? I am not saying that it is the sole reason – just a factor. Some kids want UChicago, but mom and dad say no.</p>
<p>I have been on CC since 2004, and I know that each year there are multiple kids facing that exact pressure. </p>
<p>Parents who are full freight, asian, legacy and/or east coast residents definitely put pressure on their kids to attend an ivy over UChicago.</p>
<p>Or perhaps you are thinking that parental pressure doesn’t effect which school a student chooses – in which case, you are dead wrong. Parents pay the bill – just look at the hundreds of posts by kids who want to go somewhere that parents won’t pay for.</p>
<p>I am not saying it is right, but it happens. the HYP name carries more cachet than UChicago to the country club crowd.</p>
<p>^ I would be careful what generalizations you are making, specifically the one involving race.</p>