<p>Oh yeah, Chicago clings to an age-old reputation as being a place that basically sucks to be a student at, so therefore people believe it must be a good school."</p>
<p>Check out the Chicago forum at this site, see anyone clinging?</p>
<p>Of course the fact that alumni consist of the inventors of Improv, Second City, over the top politicians from both parties, the first female studio head in Hollywood, the discover of Lucy(ancient mom to all of us....even Northwestern students), and James Watson, that nerdy DNA guy only supports your argument that Chicago is an over rated school full of nerdy cheats hellbent of robbing Northwestern of it's rightful place in the USNews rankings.</p>
<p>And yes, 'where fun goes to die' could not possibly be seen as a sign that those nerds have a wicked sense of humor, oh no that would be impossible. It absolutely couldn't be possible that you and others who take that slogan at face value need a few lessons on wit and irony.(And I'm guessing fun as well) In fact, the way you prattle on about Chicago and WUSL cheating makes Northwestern seem populated by rather dull humor sponges obsessed with any perceived slight(real and imagined) against your school. For gods sake man, lighten up!</p>
<p>irony? haha, right, because uchicago has a burgeoning social scene that would ironically contrast with its reputation as the most boring place ever...</p>
<p>and why when i attack your school do you attack me? speaking of "lighten up," you were so offended and sensitive to hearing criticism of your school that you had to attack the person giving the criticism?</p>
<p>Yes Elsijfdl I'm in my forties. And believe it or not, since I can remember Chicago has always been considered a top notch school.(It's not the cheating upstart you pretend it is) Big time thought across many areas happened there, and is still happening. Happening in ways that even the intellectual establishment had to pay attention)Take a look at it's alumni list, they don't have to depend on old dead guys to be relevant. </p>
<p>Yes, I'm in my forties. Which means I know quite a number of professors and highly placed businessmen and women. Every single one of them considered my son's admission to Chicago a fantastic thing. Not, 'yeah, that's great'...but tears from some, and a recognition that my son had indeed done something admirable from all.</p>
<p>You sneer about Chicago and it's boring reputation, but what exactly are you basing that on? Certainly not on it's new athletic center, nor the new arts center they're building, or the fact that the library is going to knock the socks off of everything, nor the fact that someone saw fit to donate enough money to enable Chicago to give much needed money to students who previously could not afford to attend. Probably not on the fact that students can get up close and personal to amazing profs like the author of Freakonomics, and do research as undergrads that just doesn't happen at most other schools. Nope, you're basing your assertion that Chicago both clings to a tired reputation and at the same time is way overrated on the very tired assumption that Chicago kids are boring and nerds.</p>
<p>Now, we're supposed to take your word for it, the word of someone who does nothing but sneer at others and toss out unfounded smears.(And yes, elsijfdl I'm in my forties. Was that supposed to be a sneering put down? Try harder)</p>
<p>You say Chicago is boring. I see that my very social son has made a ton of social connections and plans already. I know that he found Chicago to be very droll and witty and can't wait to attend. I know that the friends he has that already attend Chicago were always popular and intelligent and for the life of me I can't imagine why I should believe YOU that Chicago is anything other than the great university that I've known about all my life.</p>
<p>Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Stanford
MIT
Upenn
Caltech
Brown
Dartmouth
Amherst</p>
<p>*columbia or cornell might be better then dartmouth, brown, and amherst, however, i personally would rather stay out of a busy city like new york and go to college in new england</p>
<p>And I'll still tell you to lighten up. You patrol these boards looking for any post that dares opine that another school is as good as Northwestern. Everything is a VS thread, everything posted are fighting words to you.(Like for instance, saying Northwestern is a fantastic school just different from insert any other name) If a school you dislike is ranked higher than yours they cheat, and are totally unworthy of any consideration. Anyone that likes another school you dislike is either a troll or a cheerleader.</p>
<p>You've taken your Northwestern pride over the top, you really do need to lighten up.</p>
<p>"eh, my only issue with Chicago is that they think they're better than everyone (ie schools that have big parties)."</p>
<p>I've heard there's some of this. (Can't say I've seen it with the kids we know there but I bet it goes hand in hand with the stories about THAT kid) I just think that Chicago, like every other school out there is bound to change with each new incoming class. From what I've seen(or what my son allows me to see:) )Chicago's new class is very goofy, fun and thrilled to be heading there.</p>
<p>Defending Chicago is a losing battle. Sometimes I'm just willing to throw up my hands and cede to posters who have never attended the school that we are lifeless, humorless, pathetic, socially unaware nerds whose sole delight is taking fun on a killing spree.</p>
<p>No matter to the admissions office, though. Dean of Admissions Ted O'Neill (who teaches classes too!) has referred to the school's theme song as "Requiem for Fun."</p>
<p>Most students don't really think that much about WFCTD being any sort of truth-- these are kids who find going to parties and discussing Plato equally fun, and the two often happen at the same time. I'm sure it's enough to make our poster friends up in Evanston cry.</p>
<p>Ok as an applicant from 2006 who's part of the class of 2011, let me voice my opinion.</p>
<p>Class of 2011 is full of a bunch of fun, cool kids. Check out the facebook group for our class. We're talking about different types of liquor, hookah, sports, what have you. It's pretty normal. And yet we're all smart and witty and in general have a respect for one another. I haven't seen anyone bash Northwestern or say we're better than an Ivy except out of a jest. Maybe those stereotypes hold true with the upperclassmen (a couple of whom seemed like jerks- but by far the majority seemed like cool down to earth kids).</p>
<p>I don't have any worries about not having fun or anyone being overly pretentious. Hell, I don't even know if I even spell pretentious. I don't know what information you're going off of other than the wind coming out of your anus.</p>
<p>"Class of 2011 is full of a bunch of fun, cool kids. Check out the facebook group for our class. We're talking about different types of liquor, hookah, sports, what have you. It's pretty normal. And yet we're all smart and witty and in general have a respect for one another."</p>
<p>Wow. Just wow. Come on man, facebook is facebook. Talking about partying doesn't mean you'll make Chicago a party school. And how can you tell someone is smart and witty over facebook? You are already stating that Class of 2011 is cool and fun and smart BEFORE EVEN GETTING TO COLLEGE. </p>
<p>I mean, I just dislike that Chicago kids think they are intellectual whereas other schools that have big party scenes aren't, and are thus worse academically. You'll see many posts on CC where people say "Well, Chicago is very intellectual" as if that actually means something.</p>
<p>The best schools I think in no particular order:
Princeton, Duke, Dartmouth, Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore, Virginia, Wake Forest, and MIT. </p>
<p>You need a good mix. </p>
<p>Duke and Wake have the best fusion of Academics/Athletics/Social Life (plus I go to Wake and it is the perfect school for me, and this is supposed to be "in your opinion" ;) )</p>
<p>The best two Ivies as well as MIT, which is not technicaly Ivy League, but at least on the same level.</p>
<p>LAC's and UG-orientated schools are my favorites, so they have to be represented.</p>
<p>And finally, the finest public institution will be recognized.</p>
<p>Unconventional? Odd? Disturbing?
Possibly, but it is better than the usual HYPSM etc.</p>
<p>Yeah I would agree with all you guys about facebook not really counting, but then you have to take into consideration that I've met these kids at the accepted students weekend and met up with the ones in my area. But for an outsider it's not a bad thing to look at.</p>
<p>"I mean, I just dislike that Chicago kids think they are intellectual whereas other schools that have big party scenes aren't, and are thus worse academically. You'll see many posts on CC where people say "Well, Chicago is very intellectual" as if that actually means something."</p>
<p>Agreed. Go read some past threads, it's almost unfair to see how Chicago posters on CC will claim to be "intellectual as opposed to other schools" as their justification for seeing themselves superior to every peer school of theirs. I've read a few Chicago posts about NWU that basically said "you're just a big ten school, but we're intelligent."</p>
<p>I don't get that logic. Maybe they never learned logic in school, who knows.</p>