U of MI Ann Arbor or University of Chicago?

College Search & Selection
1

Hello! I am having trouble deciding between attending U of Mi Ann Arbor or the University of Chicago. According to your experiences and opinions, which is better? I am really torn and I need advice from all sources. Please consider in your answer:

curriculum, quality of education, campus life, people and social atmosphere, what there is to do for fun, is uchicago worth the costs, is u chicago really that much better than u of mi, job prospects after graduation (I plan on a neuroscience or computer science major), and any other factors you can think of.

If you went to u of chicago please elaborate on your experiences and whether you enjoyed or regretted it. Thank you!

2

If you intend on majoring in Neuroscience and/or CS, then Michigan may actually be slightly better than Chicago.

How come Michigan is cheaper? Are you a resident of Michigan or did you just get a nice scholarship? Either way, Chicago and Michigan are peers, so if Michigan is significantly cheaper for you, and finances are a concern, I would definitely recommend Michigan.

Of course, if your parents can afford the different with relative ease, then I would go for fit. Although both universities are truly exceptional, they are very different. You should be able to decide which school is better for you on your own.

For example, Chicago is slightly more intellectual and intense academically, Michigan tends to be slightly more laid back. Michigan is larger and is probably more intellectually diverse than Chicago. At Chicago, most students major in the traditional disciplines. At Michigan, students also major in Music Performance, Visual Arts, Nursing, Kinesiology, Engineering, Business, Public Affairs, Education etc…

Socially, Michigan will have everything from the highly intellectual and serious types to the wilder party types. Many students love the arts will spend most of their free time engaging in some sort of intellectual activity, yet there is enough interest to fill a football stadium to capacity on any given Saturday and 15%-20% of the students belong to Fraternities/Sororities etc…Chicago will probably be less diverse in this respect as well.

It does not end there. Chicago only has 5,000 undergraduate students, compare to Michigan’s 28,000. Classes, particularly early on, are going to be smaller and more intimate. Michigan has the resources to handle its size well, but you will still have very large intro-level classes. Chicago is obviously located in one of America’s largest and nicest cities. Ann Arbor is your quintessential college town, quaint, pleasant and fun.

Like I said…two exceptional universities, but very different. It should not be all that different for you to choose. First establish whether or not you can afford Chicago. If you can, go for whichever school best fits you personally.

3

Very different atmospheres. Huge Big Ten school vs. smaller and more intellectual (and not sports-focused at all).
CS is different as well. UofC CS is definitely more on the theoretical/algorithm/math end of the spectrum (and very strong there) as well as small. UMich CS would be more industry/engineering-oriented and huge. So two different individuals may love one but hate the other but choose differently. You have to ask yourself which individual you are.

From an ROI perspective, unless the difference in costs is negligible, if UMich is cheaper, it will almost certainly make more financial sense (at least in CS). If the UofC costs twice as much as UMich, you pretty much can’t justify choosing the UofC over UMich on financial grounds.