<p>I have been accepted to both the University of Chicago and the Dean's Scholars Honors Program at the University of Texas, a highly competitive program that admits 30 entering freshmen a year. Is it better, as an undergraduate planning to attend grad school, to attend a top ranked school like UChicago or instead pay a fourth as much and attend a school's honors program? I currently hold both choices equally in my mind, I can't decide! please help!</p>
<p>Go to Texas.</p>
<p>Texas
u'll get better grades, UofC is way too deflated</p>
<p>As far as getting into the graduate school of your choice goes, I would say either one of those two options will do the trick, assuming you get good grades in both.
When it comes down to it, I think the important question for you to ask yourself is simply how much does the price tag matter to you? If money is a serious issue, then go to Texas; if it isn't, go to Chicago. The atmosphere and student body of U Chicago is undoubtedly far more intellectual than Texas'.</p>
<p>I am also awaiting decisions from other top ranked schools such as Rice, Wash U, Northwestern, etc. so I would not like to get hung up on the advantages/disadvantages of UChicago in particular. I am more curious of the difference in the quality of education and grad school admission chances between the two.</p>
<p>Have you visited UChicago?? ... It's considerably different from the other schools you mentioned applying to.</p>
<p>My experience is that it's more stimulating to go somewhere you can be intellectually challenged. From a purely learning-perspective, it's not very beneficial to be at the top of your class - you'll inevitably be doing classes targeted at a lower level than you're capable of. This sounds excellent for your grades, but your class work may, instead of purely intellectual work, be a sort of "busy work" that might be beneath you, and that you might not enjoy doing whatsoever (because professors want to give work that everybody is capable of completing to some degree).</p>
<p>This is just my experience in going to a school with a slightly lower ranked program in my subject than I could have gone to. I don't regret the decision, because other factors were significant, but I do know that my (arrogant, if you like) disdain for certain aspects of the work I've had to do has hurt my grades. I do very well, but I think I would have done equally well in the more intellectual atmosphere of the better program, and learned more in the process.</p>
<p>It's also important to ask yourself what you look for in a college. While I'm not saying UChicago does not have fun activities, generally state schools such as Texas have great academic programs and a wider variety of intramurals and clubs (with literally tens of thousands of students etc). </p>
<p>This is an important factor in your education. If your happy, chances are you'll likely to succeed academically as well.</p>
<p>And to my knowledge, being in a school's honor program, especially one as selective as yours, will ensure that your academics will at least be comparable to the average student at UChicago</p>