<p>Haha I noticed that too newmassdad.</p>
<p>Oh wait, I think another Nobel Laureate sneezed on the quads when he was here for a conference! Let's collect his boogers and add him to the Nobel prize count!</p>
<p>I don't think most students take the whole Nobel Prize thing all that seriously for exactly this reason. It just doesn't seem to mean much to being a student here.</p>
<p>Its a great thing to tell people who have no idea about U of C though. Even though personally I know the truth and my best friend who attends UChicago tells me that most of the students dont really take that seriously just as unalove said</p>
<p>I believe Columbia, #2 in the US if I recall correctly, and Cambridge use the same criteria as U of C.</p>
<p>I suspect that U of C would still be in the top 5 in the world even if all schools used criteria (d) from NMD.</p>
<p>Just for the fun of it I checked the Cambridge website and they use the same "affiliated" reference as does Chicago. They claim one more "affiliate" winner than does Chicago.
[quote]
The University of Cambridge has more Nobel Prize winners than any other institution.</p>
<p>83 affiliates of the University of Cambridge have won the Nobel Prize since 1904.</p>
<p>Affiliates have won in every category, with 29 Nobel prizes in Physics, 23 in Medicine, 19 in Chemistry, seven in Economics, two in Literature and two in Peace.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>yeah cornell is def not # 10</p>
<p>Haha, I've noticed that U of C has a tendency to count everyone who has ever breathed near campus one of its nobel laureates. I don't think too many students there take it too seriously. Nevertheless, it's an easy way to quiet people that, when I say my top choice is U of C, ask me why I want to go to such an obscure school, and why I'm not applying to some schools with more prestige. -_-</p>
<p>Anyway, as for the ranking....I wouldn't pay attention to these things. No one should get sucked into this herd mentality. Obviously the Ivy Leagues are gonna dominate the list - those are the names people recognize, and those are the schools people are going to be interested in. No hatred against the Ivy League - those are still great schools - but a lot of high school graduates seem to think that those are the ONLY great schools, and their thinking and searching stops there.</p>
<p>Nah erikia27, there are few schools with true brand recognition. I went to UPenn for grad studies, and I was always surprised how, outside a few cities on the east coast, no one really knew what "Penn" was. Just like the nobel prize listing or us news ranking is an easy way to quiet people who don't know about U of C, saying "it's an ivy league" school is an easy way for Penn students to quiet their detractors. </p>
<p>Point is - maybe around 6-8 schools have true brand recognition. Beyond that, brand power drops off markedly.</p>
<p>Usually top ten school or over 80 Nobel Laureates usually makes people be quiet. But my school is only 4 years old and we have had 2 UChicago people so far and both students were very well known for their genius so most of my school knows about the University.</p>
<p>There's a saying I once heard:</p>
<p>"The high school valedictorian goes to Harvard. The kid the valedictorian was scared of goes to the University of Chicago."</p>
<p>That's obviously not exactly accurate, but it does poke fun of Chicago's obscurity relative to a school like Harvard, but the people who know Chicago know it's a magnificent school (and it really is!)</p>
<p>I would argue that schools like Swarthmore and Pomona have even more of a struggle in putting themselves out there, because they are so small and their names are not exactly memorable. At least we have the honor of having the country's third-largest city in the title of our name, we have world-class business school, law school, hospital, economics research, sociology, you name it prestige, and we pull visitors in to Hyde Park from all over the country and the world-- though they usually come to see the Robie House and the Museum of Science and Industry.</p>
<p>I think it worth pointing out that another factor that distinguishes UofC students from a lot of other high performing kids is that most UofC students don't actually care that much that people don't know UofC all that well, that a lot of folks, even in the city of Chicago, confuse it with University of Illinois Chicago, and that even more think it is a state supported public college. </p>
<p>In fact, I dare say that such tolerance is probably essential for happiness at UofC. In other words, I think many UofC undergrads don't care if the place is as well known as H or P.</p>
<p>Newmassdad: Definitely agreed. When I was at Penn, I was always surprised by how the UPenn bookstore sells these "Not Penn State" t-shirts, and kids actually wear them around campus. It seemed a little obnoxious to me, and hinted at some insecurity around the school. </p>
<p>The U of C kids who really enjoy their time at Chicago don't worry as much about brand recognition. Chicago is never going to have the type of appeal as a Harvard or Princeton.</p>
<p>In the world in which I live and work, the University of Chicago IS as well-known as Harvard or Princeton, or at least close. I recognize that that isn't true for your typical high school student, but then I don't have a lot of occasion to care what typical high school students think, unless I happen to know them. Honestly, the only things Chicago lacks are (a) a football team and tradition (I realize that it has a football tradition, but without a team that doesn't mean much), (b) the ooomph that comes from rejecting insanely qualified applicants whom no one ought to reject, and (c) repeated mentions on The Gilmore Girls and other pop-culture artifacts. Oh, and (d) a few billion dollars of endowment, and (e) some memorable songs. (Really. Chicago has suffered badly for never having had a Cole Porter pass through.)</p>
<p>I had to laugh a little at the notion that Swarthmore and Pomona have to struggle to get their names out there. They both have admission rates around 15%, and yields of admitted students of about 40%, which place them among the most selective instutitions in the country. Both have very high minority representation, decent international representation, and a range of test scores consistent with their reputations. How many more applications are they supposed to want to attract?</p>
<p>I have to agree with JHS. In the academic world where I lived for sometime, U of C grads (from the College) might have been the most respected and sought after students of any college. </p>
<p>A personal story: When I was a young first year PhD student and knew nothing about "school prestige" (I applied because of a single professor, I really didn't care where he worked), I was visiting some friends in Cambridge, MA. There was a party that had attendees from several of the area schools including Harvard. I heard a rather intense discussion going on in one of the rooms and found two Harvard students basically holding court with a group of students from the other schools. I listened a bit and then jumped in to challenge an assertion while providing an alternative based on the evidence as I knew it, just as I had done on countless informal occasion since arriving at the University. We had an exchange and I pressed my point. Finally, one of the Harvard grad students asked where I went to school. I told him the University of Chicago. His response greatly surprised me and was the first time I realized what The University meant in the academic world. He said, "I wish I would have known that, we know better than to argue with anyone from Chicago."</p>
<p>Cue7, my husband went to Penn and I worked in Philadelphia for seven years, and people were much more sensitive to the "Not Penn State" business than anyone we've met at Chicago is sensitive about being confused with UIC, etc. </p>
<p>Our friends and colleagues who know about good schools all hold Chicago in the highest esteem. S talked to a lot of profs about where he should attend given his unusual situation and graduate school goals, and they all thought Chicago was a stellar choice.</p>
<p>S is happy, too (if I haven't made that clear by now.) ;)</p>
<p>Edit: idad -- when S first visited campus, he spent an evening arguing political philosophy with his host and roommate. At one point, the roommate tossed S Machiavelli and said "Read this. It'll improve your arguments." I think that was a pivotal moment in S's decision-making process.</p>