<p>I just came back from both admit student programs and cannot seem to make a decision. My observation is that Northwestern seems a lot more pre-professional than U of C, which stresses research and intellectualism. Out of the two, I feel like I fit better at the U of C but I am concerned that my GPA will suffer there and be distracted by fulfilling the numerous CORE reqs. What are your opinions?</p>
<p>Here is some info about myself:
-PRE MED INTENTIONS
-I plan to be a biology major, but am open to explore
-Interested in conducting research as early as freshman year
-Many extracurricular interests outside of academics</p>
<p>Both are obviously excellent schools. However, what type of medicine do you plan on going into (i.e., clinical, surgery, pediatrics, etc.)? You should check out the US News rankings for grad schools for your specific interest within medicine. As both are private institutions, you’ll have pretty similar research opportunities at both schools, especially for med-related fields.</p>
<p>I have yet to decide which field I want to get into. I may want to get into oncology, which has been an interest of mine for awhile now but I still don’t know enough to be sure. </p>
<p>kao you say that uchicago parties are more welcoming but what about the courseload? Is that manageable?</p>
<p>For the parties, I think you meant to ask the person above my first post. :)</p>
<p>The reason I inquired about your med interests are for research opportunities. If UChicago has a better oncology med program (hypothetically, not actually sure), then the research at UC in both the med department and engineering department will have a larger focus on oncology-related projects. Just something to think about.</p>
<p>Chicago and Northwestern are both excellent universities with great undergraduate programs. They have fairly different vibes.</p>
<p>If you feel more comfortable at Chicago, but are tempted to go to Northwestern because you are afraid your GPA will suffer at Chicago . . . then you really ought to go to Northwestern because you are a Northwestern kind of person. Seriously. Worrying about your GPA more than the academic environment, worrying that the Core may “distract” you – that is not how University of Chicago students think.</p>
<p>As for Kaonyputput’s suggestion: You don’t even know whether you can pass Organic Chemistry, so I wouldn’t be picking your medical specialty yet, much less worrying about whether the research opportunities in that specialty are better at one school vs. the other. And I can promise that the research in the engineering department at Chicago will not have a larger focus on any medical subspecialty than at Northwestern, because to date there ISN’T any engineering department at Chicago, and they are years away from having any kind of undergraduate bioengineering program.</p>
<p>Course load is manageable; you just have to be smart about it. Don’t bite off more than you can chew (sometime all too common for UChicago students xD). Pre-med is going to be hard work no matter where you go, and Northwestern is not going to be any easier than UChicago or so my pre-med friends there say.</p>
<p>Furthermore, you may be seeing the Core in the wrong light. Rather than ‘distracting’ you from your professional pursuits, the Core is supposed to educate you in fundamentals of any pursuit. Learning to reason and argue is valuable not just in some abstract civic sense but also in practice as a student, doctor, or researcher.</p>
<p>But anyways, congrats on getting into two very fine schools, and best of luck with your decision!</p>
<p>I was recently deciding between UC and NU as well and decided on NU. </p>
<p>It mainly came down to fit. UC attracts a certain type of student. Although I kind of fit into the typical UC student image, I was only a semi-fit. </p>
<p>Overall, I think the general consensus is that NU is more fun (although do not discount that UC has been constantly changing in the past few years so the old stereotype “Where the Fun Goes to Die” may not be as true anymore). </p>
<p>I know both schools offer countless extracurricular opportunities. Honestly both schools are great and you can’t go wrong one way or the other. My decision was quite easy since I fit (I’m a big sports fan and I like having a sense of school spirit; also in terms of the Midwest for recruiting since I’m going into finance it’ll be easier in my opinion to land a job coming out of NU; I grew up a little outside a bigger city much like Evanston is in relation to Chicago) and because NU offered me a substantially better financial aid package. </p>
<p>UC is great though. I enjoyed the quirky nature of their communication with students. The students are very intellectual and there are great opportunities there as well. I just didn’t feel that I would completely fit there. Ultimately, I think you should lay out a pro and con list for both and then have a friend ask you a bunch of questions and finally which one you like better and without thinking answer the question. That will be the one.</p>
<p>HastyCentaur, that was an informative posting and I agree with many of your points.
However, in terms of careers in finance, I think that the UChicago “brand name” is just as heavily sought after (if not more) by major NYC/Chicago firms.</p>
<p>Especially with the new CCIB program that the College now offers through Booth, the undergrad opportunities at UChicago will only get stronger.</p>
<p>The lower floor for a lot of IB’s seems to be around a 3.7 to 3.8 GPA. If you can graduate from either NU or UChicago with a GPA in that neighborhood, your chances are looking good.</p>
<p>apollo- I do not think that NU will be significantly easier than U of C. For example, the orgo and bio series at NU has been known to be extremely challenging for many students. Thus, I do not think that there is a huge difference in difficulty.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your replies guys this is really helping me out! I have talked to students and visited both places. It still is really tough since I love the quirky nature of UC and I feel like I would prefer more of the full college experience that NU offers with greek life, D1 sports, diversified people, etc.</p>
<p>Hey ILoveUofC, yes I’ve heard about the CCIB program but the “UChicago” brand name is associated more with the academic side of econ. From what I’ve heard from those I’ve outreached to, they tell me the same thing. If you intend on staying strictly academic for Economics, by all means go to UC. After all, there is a reason why the Chicago School of Thought is named after UC. However, in terms of job placement, NU tends to have more opportunities. I’ve been talking with both UC and NU seniors and one NU senior who will be working in NY next year told me that when it was about midway through recruiting season, NU had over 600 postings whereas her best friend at UC told her there were about 65 at UC. </p>
<p>Also, NU has a program affiliated with the Kellogg school for undergraduates. If you’re ambitious you can always fulfill the rigorous pre-reqs and go through the certificate program. Job placement out of MMSS and the certificate program is fantastic.</p>
<p>It seems that UC tends to still have that nerdy stereotype association more than NU. NU students are seen as more “normal.” Then again, UC is constantly changing and I’m sure these old rooted beliefs are being eliminated.</p>
<p>In terms of placement, UC and NU offer great opportunities. However, I would argue that UC and NU are not heavily sought after for NY firms; most graduates from both schools stay in the Midwest and both schools tend to dominate the jobs in the Midwest whereas the upper Iveys and Duke tend to dominate NY. That isn’t to say it isn’t possible to go to NY though (I’ve talked to two NU seniors headed to NY next year).</p>
<p>I honestly don’t think you can go wrong either way!</p>