UChicago 17' v. Georgetown SFS 16'

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

<p>Georgetown SFS 16' vs. UChicago 17'</p>

<p>Well... Got an email from Chicago a few days ago offering admission to the UChicago Class of 2017. I was thinking of going to the foreign service school of Georgetown University before, but Chicago really is too good a school to miss. So I am now considering the possibility of going to Chicago.</p>

<p>Academic Interests: Don't really know... Maybe something about Politics or economics. International relations is also very appealing to me, but not sure if I would major in it. Chicago's Econ faculty, which is probably unparalleled in the world. The SFS is also one of the best school for International Relations in the States. However, a friend of mine who studies at UChicago told me that the Professors in UChicago is not as accessible as those in Georgetown and the personal attention a student gets in UChicago is also less than that of Georgetown.</p>

<p>Future Career: Want to go to a top law school. Don't want to be a phd... IB or Consulting is also on the list</p>

<p>Life: I am an international student who's never been to the united states before, so I don't have any idea about a life there.Both DC and Chicago are wonderful cities. I personally like DC more for its climate, amazing museums and monuments. Chicago is also a nice city but I heard that the neighborhood around UChicago is not very safe and the weather in Chicago is terrible in the winters (correct me if I am wrong). Also, UChicago's infamous reputation of being a place" where fun comes to die" is quite a big cons on my list. Georgetown on an other hand is more balanced between life and study. </p>

<p>Here comes the BIG problem: Chicago's offer comes with a condition which requires me to take a gap year. My parents are quite against this whole "gap year" idea. They think taking a gap year is just a waste of time. I kinda want to take a gap year, but I haven't really given it much thought on this issue, don't really know what I would do in my gap year. So a gap year on one hand gives me an opportunity to explore the world and expands my horizon, the other hand postpones my learning for a meaningless year if it's improperly planned. Since I have to give Chicago my reply by Tuesday, I am unlikely to come up with any good gap year plan to convince my parents. Therefore, taking Chicago's offer would meet resistance from my parents. Even if I do come with a plan, I still do know what could I do and what should I do in a gap year in order to live the year to the fullest.</p>

<p>Conclusion</p>

<p>Georgetown,
Pros: Great International Relation faculty and programs, Location(DC), Nice climate, More Personal Attention, Better Life-Study balance than UChicago, Numerous Internship & Networking Opportunities in DC. A little cheaper than UChicago($61616 on my I-20)</p>

<p>Cons: GTown's reputation is not as good as UChicago's in China so my parents are more inclined to UChicago</p>

<p>UChicago,
Pros: AMAZING Econ Faculties! Great reputation (in China), a Target School for IBs and consulting firms?</p>

<p>Cons: No life, lacks personal attention, safety issues around the neighborhood, terrible weather, GPA deflation</p>

<p>Thanks for reading this post!</p>

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<p>If your goal is law school, choose Georgetown.</p>

<p>Only take a gap year if you have a really good gap year plan. My son was admitted to both ea, and both are top notch.</p>

3

<p>wait, why are you saying that UChicago has no life? and no personal attention? I think your assumptions are false. Regarding safety, its been discussed to death here on cc as well as those two other concerns.</p>

<p>Search here on UofC forum, you will find all your answers.</p>

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<p>If your goal is law school, kindly take a gap year to get your act together. Do not come to DC, if you want to be a lawyer. I live here. DC already has as many lawyers as Canada and many European countries.</p>

<p>Just what we need lawyers from China! BEAT IT!</p>

5

<p>In response to Blueash:</p>

<p>I don’t know if Georgetown has better law school placement than UChicago currently. In the past, that may have been the case, but UChicago seems to do quite well on the law school placement front.</p>

<p>As one example:</p>

<p><a href=“Welcome | Office of the University Printer”>Welcome | Office of the University Printer;

<p>As you can see on pages 143-145 of this PDF, Georgetown has 5 grads at Yale Law, and UChicago has 16. Also, as this thread indicates:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1332662-chicago-law-school-placement-jobs-dc.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1332662-chicago-law-school-placement-jobs-dc.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The current word is more and more UChicago undergrads are going to UChicago law (about 20-30 uchicago undergrads at the law school), and placement is generally getting to be quite formidable. </p>

<p>You can see Georgetown’s pre-law stats here:</p>

<p>[Pre-Law</a> Advising at Georgetown University](<a href=“Cawley Career Education Center | Georgetown University”>Cawley Career Education Center | Georgetown University)</p>

<p>At the same time, Georgetown is bigger than UChicago, and a large number of Gtown undergrads apply to law school, as seen here:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.lsac.org/LSACResources/Data/PDFs/top-240-feeder-schools.pdf[/url]”>http://www.lsac.org/LSACResources/Data/PDFs/top-240-feeder-schools.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Overall, about 500 Gtown grads apply to law school every year (although that number may trail off as law school becomes less popular). In comparison, about 220-250 UChicago grads apply to law school every year.</p>

<p>Overall, I think law school placement at both schools is probably comparable, although UChicago’s placement seems to be improving of late. (E.g. UChicago has considerably more students at Yale Law now - 16 - than it did just a few years ago, when it had maybe 8-10 at Yale.)</p>

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<p>These Universities are really very similar, especially because you have not been able to visit either, and reasonably do not seem to have developed a particular affinity for one over the other. I do not think that law school placement is a particular issue for you. It seems like the gap year is the only major component for you to consider, and if I were in China wanting to study US law, I would want to get to college in the US asap, and Georgetown is a great school. I think that a lot of times students have a tendency to over-estimate the differences in studying at top institutions, when they could just as easily succeed at both of them.</p>

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<p>If you wanted to do a PhD in Econ, I guess I would lean towards Chicago. However, for law school, Georgetown is every bit as good as Chicago, and maybe even a little better. Considering you got into the prestigious School of Foreign Services, and that attending Chicago would require you to take a gap year, I would go to Georgetown without much hesitation.</p>

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<p>I love UChicago and all of my kids will apply there. But Georgetown SFS is very strong for someone interested in politics and law school. Without a gap year plan, I would choose GU.</p>

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<p>I was in a similar position to you (admitted at both). Firstly, congratulations on the wonderful acceptances (regardless of the conditions). It seems like you are not 100% sure you wish to do IR. SFS actually seems a bit more flexible than most people would think, with one major even giving you the possibility of fulfilling pre-med requirements. You can also switch to the College if you feel too restricted by SFS. That said, Chicago has more resources devoted to other fields of study and gives you more flexibility to explore. Chicago can open many doors to the world of IR if you pursue them, but Georgetown would be much less likely to get you into NASA if you suddenly decide to become an astro physicist. I chose Chicago partly because I wanted that opportunity to explore the sciences (not physics, though, ironically) and pursue a minor in the film studies program, which just got a boost thanks to the new Fine Arts Center they just built (which I visited and was amazed by). I also thought that the Core would provide me with the skills and philosophical grounding necessary for any future endeavors, and I could always apply to the Masters program in SFS if I stuck to IR.*</p>

<p>Another deciding factor was the “culture” of the campuses. I had been to Georgetown and DC many times and stayed overnight at Chicago.*I felt that I fit in more with the crowd in Chicago. Both student bodies will have intellectuals, pre-professionals, jocks, etc., but at Chicago you’re more likely to spontaneously burst into discussions about Machiavelli while at Georgetown you’re more likely to run into hordes of people on their way to a basketball game. You can do both at either school, but the key phrase is MORE LIKELY. No environment is superior or inferior, just pick the one you would feel more comfortable in. Chicago itself is an amazing city, and I say this having visited DC many times. In terms of crime rate, I sat down to compare the daily reports of each school and you’d be surprised at how “dangerous” *Georgetown is if you consider Chicago dangerous. One thing that caught my eye was that there were MANY more reports of offices being broken into and drugs at Gtown…</p>

<p>Not enough personal attention? I talked to MANY students at Chicago and none felt that their professors were inaccessible. Of course there’s one or two prickly ones, but that happens in every school. Maybe your friend is in one of the most popular majors, which could mean more competitiom for attention. Chicago actually has a higher percentage of classes with less than 20 students than Gtown (not sure how it compares to SFS specifically though).*</p>

<p>I’d like to reiterate that I am just a committed student to Chicago’s class of 2016. I am yet to experience the school per se and obviously can’t talk about SFS that much either. What I know is based on campus visits, talks with students, carefully looking at the curriculums of both schools and messages with people in CC that do have more knowledge. Both are amazing, which is why I applied, but your post seems to indicate you are not dead set on IR and on that basis alone I would hesitate about Gtown. Gtown is not only good for IR, but Chicago has a better economics program and is also highly ranked in the Foreign Policy survey. Honestly, though, go with your gut. I knew it was Chicago the moment I stepped on campus. If you flip a coin you’ll know where to go (think about it).*</p>

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<p>I went to GU and am a practicing layer in DC. I also love UChicago and its culture. I think you will find lots of intellectuals at GU (especially those interested in politics and law). It is definitely not a state school caring mostly about sports. There are also many very bright foreign students who are embassy brats. They see the world from a different perspective and make things interesting both in and out of class. Crime near GU not bad (same with UChicago where crime over blown there too). Overall, if you do not mind waiting a year, then go to UChicago. But a year is a long time and to quote Richard Posner (famous UC professor), the costs of sitting out a year waiting at UC are not worth the slight marginal utility gained by the difference in educational quality between the two schools.</p>

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<p>Chicago is a far more prestigious school than Georgetown. They are not even comparable in my opinion; UChicago has stronger faculty across the board, an exponentially higher endowment, smarter students, a greater undergraduate focus, and higher selectivity than Georgetown.</p>

<p>Georgetown is comparable for just law school placement and investment banking/consulting recruitment, but if you care about the quality of the undergraduate education that you will receive, UChicago is far superior.</p>

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<p>^Please be aware that goldenboy8784 has a hatred for Georgetown that has been expressed in multiple ways that puts in to question his assessments as well as begs the question as to what it is all about (i.e. rejection). Also, he lists “women” as one of his primary interests and that Harvard law is his destination…please.</p>

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<p>The above <em>goldenboy</em>, who is more than 30 years my younger has summed it up about right in his first paragraph. I was born in DC, grew in up NW DC, and have lived in the DC area for in excess of 35 years. GU primarily draws its students from Virginia up to the New York/ New Jersey area. It is nothing more than a poorly-endowed regional university with a no-name faculty. For that reason, it draws many spoiled rich kids who are attracted to DC and its international flavor. Moreover, it should be noted that GU is a Jesuit/Catholic university. There is no way GU will award a bachelors degree to someone without compulsory Catholic-based “theology” & “philosophy.” </p>

<p>In addition, <em>goldenboy</em> neglected to mention that GU is extremely weak in the sciences and all quantitative disciplines, such as economics. If you are strong in math, it will be to your advantage to be at the U of C for economics. At GU you will be surrounded by quantitative/scientific dummies. As far as I know, the University of Hong Kong in China is a far better university than GU and a superior choice for the Chinese OP. How could someone would travel half way around the world to go to a mediocre place like Georgetown?</p>

<p>The Chinese OP with an interest in law should be aware that there is something known as US Immigration Law. The OP will find it extremely difficult to obtain company sponsorship to get a J1 visa to work in an entry level IB or consulting job. Thus, this particular OP’s issue of job placement has to do with UChicago having more clout in Hong Kong than a little-known university like GU.</p>

<p>A better idea than going to GU next fall would be to spend a productive gap year and talking the class of 2017 offer at the U. of C.</p>

14

<p>If you’re sure you want to go into international relations – which you don’t sound like you are-- Georgetown SFS is great. For banking, Chicago is awesome; one of the CAPS Career/Internship presentations talked about the numerous opportunities available for Chicago students, and the CCIB program might be something you want to look into.</p>

<p>I’m not sure about law school placement for either school, but I did meet a UChi senior during my visit who was attending Harvard Law next year. But I’m sure you’ll find similar cases at Georgetown. Chicago’s supposed disdain for pre-professionalism is famous, but I definitely got the sense that was changing during my visit, with all the Chicago Careers In programs. </p>

<p>I wouldn’t be worried about the “Where Fun Goes to Die” stereotype. Various panels at UChicago continously addressed this, and kept reassuring the students. I was also surprised to find they had frat parties at UChicago.</p>

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<p>Chicago is definitely not great for banking. It is a regular target (semi-target) school like Brown. It is the better option for banking in this particular scenario, but the OP should be under no delusions. Chicago is not a great banking school by any means.</p>

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<p>Happyman2 - what are your tiers of schools for placement at banks? I guess to me, I’d describe places like Harvard, Princeton, and Wharton as “insanely great” for post-grad banking options, and places like UChicago and Brown are great. Am I missing something?</p>

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<p>I guess I consider H,P,W to be great as opposed to ‘insanely great’. But it makes no sense to argue over semantics. I was just cautioning the OP, just adding a caveat that he would still have to work extraordinarily hard to land an IB job from Chicago. Students from H,P,W can maybe take things slightly more for granted than students from Chicago or Brown.</p>

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<p>Ah, yeah I guess our standards are just different. I still think the options for UChicago and Brown kids for finance are pretty good. As an example of this:</p>

<p>[Looking</a> ahead from inside the Ivy gates - The Brown Daily Herald - Serving the community daily since 1891](<a href=“http://www.browndailyherald.com/looking-ahead-from-inside-the-ivy-gates-1.2736195#.T6rF7FLtfWE]Looking”>http://www.browndailyherald.com/looking-ahead-from-inside-the-ivy-gates-1.2736195#.T6rF7FLtfWE)</p>

<p>Brown seemed to do really well in the finance sector. I’d imagine UChicago does similarly well. To me, these numbers look great.</p>

<p>I always shy away from having Harvard, Princeton etc. be the baseline standard for these sorts of discussions. These few schools, to me, provide insanely great opportunities. Just because other schools don’t match the opportunities does not mean they’re chopped liver by any means.</p>

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<p>Oh, I completely agree with that assessment. Chicago and Brown aren’t chopped liver by any means. I just think that there is a tier in between H,P,Y and Chicago, Brown etc. One that consists of Columbia, Dartmouth, Duke, Penn (CAS) etc. These schools have more solid reputations on wall street and tend to be more pre professional than Chicago and Brown. Therefore, even though the students are of a similar quality to those who go to Chicago and Brown, they have a better network to avail of.</p>

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<p>On the topic of Wall Street, business world, etc. I was wondering if there was any connection between UC undergrad and Booth alumni. Sometimes I hear all this talk about inferior networking/Wall Street presence and “non-existent” pre-professionalism and it almost makes me forget that one of the world’s most powerful business schools is also part of UChicago.</p>