<p>All i want to know is: UChicago or Penn CAS?</p>
<p>I appreciate all opinions! Thanks! :)</p>
<p>uhhh…Penn</p>
<p>SamuelClemens, are you on the waitlist?</p>
<p>Yes! And I want your spot.</p>
<p>But seriously, unless you have a personal connection with Chicago, I’d go to Penn.</p>
<p>SamuelClemens - how come? I’m just curious as to why you think this.</p>
<p>azn4eyes - I attended Chicago for undergrad and Penn for grad school. It really really depends on what you want. Penn will provide you with a more traditional college experience, complete with a much bigger frat scene, more robust sports culture, and the school has a strong pre-professional bent, so you’ll be well prepared on that front after graduation.</p>
<p>At the same time, the U of C provides a really wonderful experience as well, but it won’t be as traditional. Academics and learning for learning’s sake are more prized at Chicago, and the environment will be much more… charged intellectually. If you’re thirsting for more of that “epiphany” kinda moment from college, I think Chicago provides that in spades. Also, it’s more rigorous and you’ll probably work harder on academic pursuits. Finally, I think Chicago provides a more intimate college enviroment, with Penn being so much bigger and students get defined more by their affiliations rather than their own identities. In other words, you still have “the athletes,” the people who are part of “those secret societies or frats,” or the like at Penn. At chicago, there just isn’t as much of that.</p>
<p>In terms of location, I prefer Chicago to Philly, but that’s just me. I loved how Hyde Park kinda had this general scholarly feel, and the city of Chicago had a big-city but friendly feel. Philly is just, well, grittier… There is a faster pace to it, and people tend to be more brusque. </p>
<p>In terms of reputation or “prestige,” as I traditionally say, this should be the least of your concerns. When dealing with similar schools, “fit” should be the primary concern - and that extends beyond philosophy of the school to the location to the curriculum and vibe. I don’t think there’s a discernible difference in these two schools’ reputations or clout. They’re both great schools, and what matters more is your happiness and performance at either place, rather than any boost these schools will give you by virtue of your mere attendance. </p>
<p>This is a great choice, and the schools really are quite different. Good Luck!</p>
<p>Oh well, I really can’t back this up with a straight face. Don’t take my words seriously as my wait list situation is a conflict of interest. It depends on his major, whether he wants the Core or not, and what type of intellectual he is. Just please don’t go to Chicago unless you’re sure, some of us don’t have as good alternatives…or do go, your choice…</p>
<p>haha good luck to you samuelclemens! I do feel bad for some of the kids I interview now for Chicago. As recently as 3-4 years back, they woulda pretty much been shoo-ins at the school. Now it’s just a much tougher process.</p>
<p>Thanks! Yeah, haha, if only I was born a few years ago…</p>
<p>Thank you all for your input, I will take all of your comments into consideration when I go to visit both colleges next week.</p>
<p>Keep on posting, I’d love to hear more of your opinions! :)</p>
<p>I posted this on the Penn forum too…</p>
<p>I was trying to think of ways to portray the vastly different feels of the schools, and I think this image will present the dichotomy pretty well:</p>
<p>At Chicago, you’re going to be absolutely surrounded by bookstores. Along with the official U of C bookstore, you have the seminary Co-op, which is like a huge labrynth chamber filled with stacks and stacks of books, you’re also gonna have Powell’s bookstores, 57th Street books, and one other bookstore that I’m forgetting. This is all within about a 3 block radius. Used bookstores, specialty bookstores, large bookstores, there are TONS ALL OVER Hyde Park. You’ll also have a bunch of coffeeshops and local restaurants where kids often go to, well, read. In between all these bookstores, you have the Regenstein Library, which, through a recent addition, will soon become one of top 5 largest libraries on the planet (I forget what the exact statistic is, but you get the picture).</p>
<p>At Penn, in a similar 3 block radius, you’ll have the massive Penn bookstore, which is big and shiny and nice and with a lot of floor space devoted to selling Penn paraphenalia, a GAP, a chipotle (that just opened I heard), a huge new and shiny Wharton building that looks kinda like the deathstar from Star Wars, a really nice new gym, some well-frequented frats, a starbucks, a CVS, and a specialty chocolate store (that I also believe just opened), a chilis is close by, there is a big mexican restaurant and an irish pub too. Oh, there is also a place, Abner’s, that does great cheesesteaks. All of these places are within 5-7 minutes walking of one another. The main undergrad library (Van Pelt) is close by as well, but to be blunt, it pales in comparison to the behemoth that is the Regenstein library at Chicago.</p>
<p>That’s not to say Chicago doesn’t have stuff like this too. The U of C recently opened a really nice, shiny new gym, there are clothing stores and a movie theater in Hyde Park, a Walgreens in the neighborhood, and a bunch of bars now on 55th street. During peak hours, the Chicago gym will be packed with kids industriously working out, frat row will be busy on bar nights, and Chicago kids will get deep dish pizza just as enthusiastically as Penn kids will go to Abners for cheesesteaks. (If you want great deep dish pizza, it’s available right in the neighborhood, but it’s about a 15 minute walk away or so.) Chicago also has more green space all around campus, so you’ll see kids tossing frisbees, playing full-field pickup soccer, or engaging in intramural sports right near the heart of campus. At all times, though, Academics (reading, studying, learning) still just has a more central place - both figuratively and literally - at the U of C. The very heart of campus is what I described above. The center of Penn’s campus (although it’s a little harder to define) has all the diversity I described above, all within 5 minutes of one another.</p>
<p>Does this sorta begin to illustrate the differences between the two schools? ;-)</p>
<p>when I jokingly summarized what I read about UChicago as below based on the number of grad students vs. undergrad, my son, who will be a freshman this fall, got really miffed, and thought that was not funny :-)</p>
<p>“An adult community (grad school) with an affiliated pre school (undergrad)”</p>
<p>I like it very much that the frat scene does not dominate U Chicago, and there is plenty of adult supervision ;-). I did my Ph.D. work at a large university with an incredibly busy Greek scene, and I did not come away with very positive memory of that - it looked like the frat culture is an opposite of serious intellectual pursuit. Of course, I am totally guilty of being biased, and it may be largely due to the overall atmosphere of the school itself too. I am sure there are a lot of positive aspects of the Greek life too.</p>