<p>I guess it's just me, then. I like that type of rigor in a school.</p>
<p>In all fairness, Harvard offers a wide range of interesting courses, often with outstanding professors. One can construct a sequence for oneself that approaches Chicago's core, if one so desires. Further, Harvard is a household name, whereas Chicago is not. In academe, business, and professional schools both are equally respected.</p>
<p>spudkid,</p>
<p>What makes one person uncomfortable feels right for someone else. I have incredibly stubborn kids who love to do things their own way but who will sometimes come and talk with me about what they want out of life. It would bother the heck out of me if the only thing I was there for was to sign the checks! Different folks...different strokes.</p>
<p>I was too tough on eatsleeprun and I'm glad she's getting this problem resolved.</p>
<hr>
<p>There's an interesting discussion about the relative merits of Chicago and Harvard going on over in the Harvard forum. Some of the responses may surprise you. See <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=129508&page=1&pp=20%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=129508&page=1&pp=20</a>. You'll need to scroll down the thread to get to the interesting part.</p>
<p>if you want a stronger academic education, go to chicago, but Harvard carries the name and the legacy of being a great school, which may mean more $$$, but it is truly how you feel</p>
<p>eatsleep: you think the people here are hostile? here's my advice, choose uchi over harvard. you can't get more hostile than that.</p>
<p>I love Chicago, but Harvard for a Biology major is hard to pass up, especially if you really want to be at the cutting edge. As many have suggested, Chicago is very serious and not much fun...but then again, neither is Harvard, so I would not really listen to that arguement. Cambridge is more pleasant than Hyde Park, but I prefer Chicago to Boston, and to get to downtown Chicago is not that difficult. You will find Chicago students slightly more intellectual and more down to Earth than Harvard students.</p>
<p>This is what turned me off Harvard: A family friend's son, a bio major there, criticized a professor there, and got into some controversy that snowballed. He ended up being forced to leave Harvard for a year, get a job without any recs from Harvard, then go back with recs from his employer, and repeat a year. After that, no professor would write recs for him for a job or for law school. He finally got accepted into Yale Law this year.</p>
<p>Alexandre, you certainly have a point. Harvard is ranked number one in the country in the areas of cellular and molecular biology. Chicago has many, many strong departments and programs but is slightly less strong in bio than certain other areas. At the same time, I agree with you about the students. My son attended Chicago over the summer and one of the things that attracted him to the school was the fact that the students, ra's etc. were so intellectual and yet down to earth. His experience at an Ivy the summer before was not as positive in that regard. </p>
<p>As far as Boston and Chicago go as cities, that's a tough one. I guess I'd flip a coin! But then I've always had a soft spot for New England.</p>
<p>Chicago is #1 in Evolutionary Biology, just thought I would throw that into the mix. My guess is, however, most of these type of rankings are for graduate programs. One can get an excellent undergrad biology education many places, including LAC's. In fact, Nobel winner Thomas R. Cech argues it may be better to study science at an LAC!</p>
<p>One cannot speak to any one incident of criticism, but in regards to critical questioning in general I like this entry from the the Faculty Handbook of 1999, citing the words of the Faculty Committee for a Year of Reflection: </p>
<p>"Chicago has developed a celebrated--some would say notorious--brand of academic civility. It is a place where one is always in principle allowed to pose the hardest question possible--of a student, a teacher, or a colleague--and feel entitled to expect gratitude rather than resentment for one's effort."</p>
<p>(As quoted in Levine: <a href="http://iotu.uchicago.edu/levine.html%5B/url%5D">http://iotu.uchicago.edu/levine.html</a>)</p>