Is UChicago, Duke, Northwester, UPenn and Cornell roughly the same level of quality in these subjects:
Economics
Physics
Computer Science
Engineering
If not, what would be the better school in those subjects.
If so, what would be the best schools for:
Dorms
Campus
Social Life
Location
High Salaries after graduation
Research/Internship opportunities
Safety
Facilities
There is no engineering at U of Chicago.
For a field as vast as engineering, you have to narrow it down. Are you talking about EE, Mechanical, Civil or Chemical Engineering? One school may have overall lower “ranking” than another school but its particular apartment my reign supreme. For example, Cornell may have a “lower” ranking among all of your schools according to USNWR (take that ranking with a bucket of salt). But its CS department is one of the best in the nation and on par with CMU, MIT or Stanford.
For Engineering, I am talking about mechanical and aeronautical/aerospace engineering
@85bears46 actually, they do have a molecular engineering program.
IMO:
When somebody says they are interested in “engineering”, “molecular engineering” is never what they have in mind.
Because “molecular engineering” is not a traditional branch of engineering at all. They may have just made up the name, themselves.
Just as “financial engineering” isn’t what most people mean when they talk about “engineering”…
@monydad Actually if you look at the program it’s more like chemical/biological engineering with an emphasis on the molecular level.
What about Physics, Economics and Computer Science? Are they all roughly the same?
All the schools you listed are great, you can use the USNWR for ranking the individual areas, obviously UChicago will be tops in economics. As far as the social aspects go UChicago will have more academically inclined students vs the larger Universities listed like Northwestern and Duke, which have Division 1 sports and probably more of a party scene.
All those schools are going to have top students in all the majors listed, with the exception that UChicago doesn’t have an engineering school. Also, the comp. sci. major there is very theoretical and math-y, perhaps being more geared toward eventual graduate studies as opposed to a programming career out of college. However, that might be changing a bit.
You should visit all the schools you have listed if you are interested in attending. At that level of selectivity, it’s going to come down to a good overall fit, rather than this or that particular major (unless you really have your heart set on engineering). Also, keep in mind that they are all highly selective so be sure to have a Plan B and C.
If you go to csrankings.org and look at the kind of papers that UChicago CS profs are publishing, it is not at all restricted to Theory. The data seems to suggest that only Razborov, Drucker. Mulmuley and Babai (4/36) have research interests in theory.
Economics: Chicago > Penn > Duke ~ Cornell
Physics: Cornell~ Chicago > Penn > Duke
CS: Cornell > Penn > Duke >~ Chicago
Engineering: Cornell > Penn >~ Duke > Chicago
(by >~ i mean marginally better, by ~ more or less equally good, > meaningfully better)
Chicago shouldn’t probably even be compared for engineering since it doesn’t really offer engineering except for the molecular engineering program I think.
In terms of overall undergraduate standing, i think most would put Penn, Chicago and prob. Duke too a notch above Cornell.
That said, when choosing for undergrad at this level, fit is more important than small differences in strength.
If you consult rankings, make sure you know what you’re reading: most rankings of majors rank the grad programs, not the undergrad programs.
So be careful. Read the methodology page.
I would say that – and this might save you some time – aside from UChicago’s very limited Engineering offerings, these schools are all top-notch and will be just fine at teaching you in the areas you mentioned.
Like @Penn95 said – and especially when the schools are in the same ballpark in terms of quality, as these schools are – it’s more important to choose based on fit: environment, social vibe, dorms and food, curricular requirements, make sure they offer your major, etc. And cost, of course.
So if these schools are more or less the same in those subjects ( not counting uchicago in engineering), how would you all rank them for
Dorms
Campus
Location
Safety
Unless someone actually went to all four schools this is a difficult comparison and probably the least useful. Having said that as far as safety goes you can compare the stats for each on the Dept of Education website.