UChicago vs. Penn?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
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<p>Hello, everyone. I've been creating a lot of threads lately, and for that I apologize. It's really crunch time, now, though, and all of my decision letters have come in except one. That from the University of Pennsylvania. UChicago is the best school I've gotten into so far, and aside from being the best, also appeals to me the most personality-wise; it seems nerdy, quirky, rigorous, and evenly balanced. The more I examine UChicago, the more I fall in love.</p>

<p>However, I am waiting on Penn's decision letter, and it's frustrating me a bit. They've told me that decisions will be reached by at least 5:00 PM Friday. That's tomorrow evening, but I'm getting a little antsy, especially since my Chicago acceptance letter must be postmarked by June 1st (for housing). Penn was the school that started the windstorm of transfer applications for me in the first place, but looking at my situation now I realize that the two factors I was heavily considering-- location and prestige-- are no longer as important to me as a really intense, well-rounded education (and a quality program in mathematics). In my other thread, someone told me that MIT ranked Chicago's math program in the top six in the nation. That's the kind of quality I'm really looking forward to. Also, I hear that the type of student at Chicago is more likely to be a "nerd" (i.e. intellectually curious) than the type of student at Penn, simply due to Penn's business school and reputation. I have no idea if that kind of statement is true or not, but it titillates me.</p>

<p>So, I'd like to post something like this in the Penn forum also, but I'd love to hear what everyone thinks. Obviously, most of you are probably loyal to Chicago (hey, I'm even feeling loyal to Chicago), but I have a feeling you'll be fair enough to give me a rundown, tell me what you know about the two schools and what the differences are. I've been stressing myself over Penn's decision for months, and it feels weird now to not really care-- I have no idea what I'll do if I'm accepted, however unlikely that is. I don't want to make a decision I'll regret for the rest of my life. Sadly, in all my excitement over the Ivies, I don't know that much about Penn compared to a school like Chicago.</p>

<p>PS: Do I need to send in any forms to accept my financial aid at Chicago? I don't believe they've provided any-- once I've confirmed my attendance, is that enough to let them know I'll be more than grateful for their aid?</p>

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<p>If you want a well-rounded education with a great math department, Chicago should be your #1 choice. Penn doesn't really compare. Also, even in the area of prestige, I think having a math degree from Chicago is considerably more prestigious than any non-business degree from Penn. The rumors you've heard about the students at Penn and Chicago is roughly accurate. Since both schools are reasonably large, you'll find a diverse range of students at either school, but for the most part, the typical student at Chicago is intellectual and the typical student at Penn, though intelligent, is not.</p>

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<p>Every few months I wind up writing a long Chicago-vs.-Penn post. I don't have time for that now. As phuriku says, they're both great universities, with diverse student bodies. On general prestige and location, I would think it's pretty much a toss-up. Their general prestige is pretty equivalent, Penn is better situated in a somewhat less interesting (but more student-friendly) city, Chicago is a lot prettier. If you had a strong preference for being on the East Coast or in the Midwest, that would pretty much determine the outcome of any prestige/location comparison.</p>

<p>Phuriku is probably right about the math departments, but I know people in math at Penn and it's not exactly a backwater. You wouldn't run out of things to learn in three years there. You would feel more outside the mainstream at Penn than at Chicago, but you would still have plenty of peers. Penn's relative lack of requirements would give you more electives to play with, too.</p>

<p>Penn is almost twice the size of Chicago, and it has tons of students who would fit in perfectly well at Chicago. On the other hand, it also has more tons of students who would NOT be happy at Chicago. The prevailing spirit there is pre-professional and anti-intellectual. (Plenty of very smart people are anti-intellectual. But not many of them wind up at Chicago, and if they do they feel marginalized. Intellectual kids at Penn similarly feel marginalized, albeit with less justification because they have plenty of like-minded friends to whine about their classmates with.) Fraternities and sororities are important to social life; parties are generally heartier; more people care a lot more about sports. Ostentatious displays of wealth are pretty common. (There are probably some of those at Chicago, too, but not so I've ever noticed or heard anyone discuss. Among the many kids I know somewhat at Penn, rich and poor, bemusement at ODWs is a constant theme, and one certainly notices the difference in dressing standards vs. Chicago walking around the Penn campus.)</p>

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<p>Oatmelia,</p>

<pre><code> Did you visit UChi? IMO Chicago is rising in all the things
</code></pre>

<p>that matter, I don't have an opinion about Penn. Your aid
question...what does it say in your paperwork? If it doesn't,
then I would ask the fin aid dept.</p>

<pre><code> More importantly, are you a SOX fan or Cubs fan?
</code></pre>

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<p>I really hate to sound like I'm ratting on other schools (in particular because I have a lot of reasons to like Penn, and I KNOW it's a great school), but I've spent enough time on campus to know that it wouldn't be the ideal school for me, for reasons JHS more or less explained.</p>

<p>If I were a Penn student, I'm sure I would have found a way to, as the immortal Tim Gunn would say, "Make it work," but I think I would have had to do a little bit more active searching for ways to make it work than I would have had to do at Chicago. It's a fair game, though, because if you're looking to party hard 4 nights a week at Chicago, you'll also have to "make it work." The intellectual can thrive at Penn and the partier can thrive at Chicago; I just think it's a matter of whether you work with or against the school's most simple stereotypes.</p>

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<p>In all fairness, think about what they have in common, though:</p>

<p>Both get confused with their "state" counterpart. I even know folks in Chicago that can't tell the difference between UofC and UIC...
:)l</p>

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<p>^Actually, that's one of the subtle differences between them. </p>

<p>With Chicago, people outside Illinois have never heard of UIC, so there's not a whole lot of confusion, although there's not a lot of popular consciousness of the University of Chicago. And in the city of Chicago, the University of Chicago is not in the forefront of peoples' minds, so confusion with UIC can exist.</p>

<p>With Penn, sure, people outside of southeastern Pennsylvania are much more aware of Penn State, and easily confuse Penn with it. In the Philadelphia area, though, Penn is absolutely a core institution, to an extent that puts the University of Chicago to shame. It's the largest employer in the city. The wildly popular new Mayor and wildly popular Governor (and ex-Mayor) are both alums (and show up for a LOT of basketball games), as are many other movers and shakers in the region. Penn's president (whoever it is) is a celebrity whose moves get front-page newspaper coverage. There is little or no local confusion between Penn and Penn State.</p>

<p>Penn : Philadelphia :: Harvard : Boston, something it would be ludicrous to suggest about Chicago.</p>

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<p>"Both get confused with their "state" counterpart. I even know folks in Chicago that can't tell the difference between UofC and UIC..."</p>

<p>This happened to me coming from O'Hare. I thought the cabbie was saving time by going by UIC or something, but no. </p>

<p>"What? UChicago? This UIC! You mean like hospital, no?" </p>

<p>"The University, just go to 59th?"</p>

<p>"Yes, hospital?"</p>

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<p>DH went to Penn for UG (Wharton, back when it was relatively less mercenary) and law school. </p>

<p>S1 (entering first-year math major) never even considered Penn. Chicago trumps in math, hands down. It also beats out Penn in intellectual environment -- Penn is very pre-professional, Chicago, to beat the dead horse, is about the life of the mind. Penn has a large, strong Jewish community -- as the spouse of a Penn student, I went to services on campus and was involved in a Gilbert & Sullivan lyric opera group. (I had more ECs than DH!) Penn is not isolated from the rest of the city -- we lived just off campus during law school and I had a 20 minure trolley ride downtown to work. I would hazard a guess that the best math minds at Penn are probably in Wharton, not necessarily in the math department. (DH was a quant guy himself.)</p>

<p>One of DH's biggest regrets about his undergrad education is that he was able to slide through without taking much in the way of social sciences and humanities. It is a lack he has been making up via his own reading and education ever since. I will also say that DH felt the difference between rich and poor pretty keenly there (he was definitely one of the poor ones).</p>

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<p>Thank you for your replies, everyone. I just got my decision from Penn, and I got in. I'm really excited, but this makes things about a hundred times more confusing. Augh! I have the weekend to decide!</p>

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<p>Think about what you wan't in a college experience. You'll make the right choice.</p>

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<p>2 cents from a non-U Chicago/Penn voice.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>If indeed "nerdy, quirky, rigorous, and evenly balanced" has drawn you to Chicago it should also probably lead you away from Penn. As Unalove points out, you could probably find a niche at either school but you'll be surrounded by many, many more like-minded types at Chicago - at Penn you'll have to sift through a predominantly mainstream, pre-professional student body to find those kindred spirits.</p></li>
<li><p>Few would question Chicago's superior academic strength in mathematics. Here, though, I'd suggest you be honest about your own talents. I'd argue it would take a truly exceptional amount of ability to exhaust Penn's resources and notice, at the undergrad level, meaningful differences between the schools' departments.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Where will you be happier???</p>

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<p>Good points, Bala. One thing I have been wondering about is whether the student stereotypes at either school are that well corroborated. Are the differences in student body between UChicago and Penn all that obvious? Or am I making more of a deal out of it than I should?</p>

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<p>I think that's an impossible question to answer, as the "types" of people you run into anywhere are largely based on whom you meet through your interests, so it's a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy.</p>

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<p>Thanks, unalove, that's kind of the answer I was getting to. It seems like quirky, nice people say, "there are a lot of quirky, nice people!" and so on.</p>

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<p>lol, I'm not a fan of dismissing schools by labeling them as too "preppy" or whatever considering that a lot of my best friends (pretty nerdy and quirky nice themselves) look pretty preppy, as they don't wear a sign that says "HEY GUYS, I'M NERDY!"</p>

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<p>Yeah, I have no issues with preppiness. It's the default for a lot of different kinds of people.</p>

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<p>Wow. I just happened to look at oatmealia's thread on the Penn forum. The students in that thread don't do such a great job of representing!</p>

<p>I live in such a little bubble, in some ways, that I sometimes forget to appreciate just how amazing the Chicago students who post here are. Thoughtful, judicious, respectful, generous, substantive. So I'm remembering now.</p>

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<p>Absolutely! I couldn't tell if they really thought I'd fit in better at UChicago, or if they just weren't that enthusiastic about promoting their school. The Chicago people here have been great.</p>

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<p>oatmealia, are you a part of the Facebook group? Because that will really introduce you to the type of people you will see at Chicago.</p>