<p>I guess I am posting the age old question. What is UChicago like in comparison to the Ivy League Schools? Did anybody turn down Ivy League acceptances to go to UChicago. Is Chicago just better?</p>
<p>Yes, there are students who turn down Ivy League schools, even Harvard, for Chicago; and yes, there are students who choose Chicago because they are turned down at an Ivy; and yes, there are students who choose an Ivy and turn down Chicago; and yes, there are students who choose an Ivy because they are turned down at Chicago, and yes, there are...</p>
<p>Marvelously said. Now, the only question is, what is the ratio of all those turn-downs :).</p>
<p>Haha idad that's great</p>
<p>The ivies are hardly monolithic - which one are considering?</p>
<p>Umm yeah I am inclined to think that more would choose UChicago over Cornell, Brown (although how you could apply to UChicago AND Brown I don't know), and maybe UPenn, but prolly choose the others over Chicago. Not saying I would, but I bet mathematically that's how it would work out.</p>
<p>What's wrong with applying to both UChi and Brown?</p>
<p>For one thing, UChi has extensive core requirements, and Brown has none.</p>
<p>plenty of people apply to columbia (core) and brown</p>
<p>The Ivy League schools are all different, and they're different than UChicago. I know people at Chicago who turned down Harvard, and my sister (who's at an Ivy) is good friends with someone who turned down Chicago (she says it was because she couldn't imagine having to take another math class at college!).</p>
<p>See I would be wondering why someone who "didn't want to take another math class" would even be applying to Chicago in the first place. And with Brown vs. Chicago I was basically thinking about how Chicago has the philosophy of a core (students should have a basic familiarity with all major fields and there is a common set of knowledge that everyone should have) versus Brown (do whatever you want, heck learn nothing for all I care). Personally I find Brown's approach disgusting, and loving Chicago it is hard for me to see someone seriously interested in both schools unless they were truly philosophically ambigious about their education.</p>
<p>I love Chicago; but I'd go to Brown, too. At Chicago, I'll be forced to take all of these interesting and varied classes that I'd want to take anyway. At Brown, with no requirements, I'd take all those interesteing and varied classes I'd want to take anyway.</p>
<p>Having said that, I didn't apply to Brown...</p>
<p>You'll run into people every once in a while who will reduce it down to UChi>Ivies or Ivies>UChi or some Ivies>UChi>other Ivies. Not so much on this board, but definitely in real life. Don't get caught up in this. People like both UChi and the Ivies for various, individual reasons and it's stupid and pretentious to arbitrarily declare one school better than another using any number of worthless generalizations as justification. One person's experience at a school can be completely different from another's, so anybody who is really concerned about being happy with where they end up for the next four years should visit campuses, sit in on classes, do overnights, and talk to the students and faculty as much as possible - pretty much the only thing that will come close to giving you the feeling of what it's like to go that particular school. </p>
<p>If you prefer to go by rankings and reports, you'll find that sometimes UChicago is ranked higher, sometimes its lower, and sometimes it's right in between the Ivies, so I wouldn't recommend doing that. </p>
<p>(Personal note: Even though I think people should approach this issue from a neutral point, I'm horrifically biased in favor of UChicago and would probably quit school before going to an Ivy League. In my experience, where the Ivies have a sense of self-importance, Chicago has a sense of humor, and I can't stress how important that was to my decision to go there. But seriously, kids, make your own decisions.)</p>
<p>I agree with Jack.</p>
<p>Along with students who turned down Harvard for Chicago, I know a student who turned down UPenn for Chicago (she felt Chicago emphasized education more), a student who turned down Columbia for Chicago (Chicago "felt more homey"), and a student who turned down Williams for Chicago (Chicago seemed more connected and less insular.)</p>
<p>To make a generalization about the difference between Chicago and other top schools, I would say that Chicago students, on the whole, are more focused on learning for the sake of learning than students at other schools. (A lot of my friends who are at other top schools took pride in that they got straight A's and did almost no work in high school-- at Chicago, my friends are proud of themselves if they work hard and learned a lot for a B-.) A lot of students I've talked to at Chicago are also interested in pursuing PhD's-- I hear less about med school and law school and business school than I do about graduate programs in the liberal arts.</p>
<p>For the OP, if you are still here: I can't give examples of students who have turned down an Ivy in favor of U Chicago, but here is a related anecdote. One of my son's good friends is interested in studying math and physics, and has long considered Princeton his first choice. This fall, he finally visited P'ton, sat in on classes, interviewed, and spoke with current students. On his way back home, he visited U Chicago, although it was not high on his list, but rather because my son and some others had been speaking favorably about it. The result? Princeton is no longer even near the top of his list, and U Chicago is now a primary goal. In his case, the visits made all the difference; he was not impressed with the classroom teaching at Pton (he has taken classes in math and physics at a flagship public U since 10th grade and thought the teaching was easily as good at the public), and he thought the feel of the Pton campus was pretentious. U of Chicago, on the other hand, seemed full of genuinely scholarly types, down-to-earth but smart and engaged, and he was far more impressed by the look and feel of the campus than he thought he would be.</p>
<p>I suggest a visit if at all possible.</p>
<p>Chicago is about at the level of the Ivies, as are Stanford, Caltech, and MIT. The real question is what kind of an atmosphere you would like. As the Uncommon App shows, UChicago is known for a quirky side that's matched probably only by MIT and Caltech- except UChicago is less technical. Environment is just as important a factor as actual academics in applications, so that's a strong consideration to have when applying to Chicago.</p>
<p>...Of course, you could alternatively apply everywhere. If you can pay that much.</p>
<p>I live in Chicago and have visited UChicago many times. Personally, I didn't like the antique-ish/gothic campus, or the strictly academic reputation it has (based on observations, and others who went there). My sister who went there loved it. I was going to apply anyway, but I decided not to after getting into my ED school.</p>
<p>Where did you get in ED?</p>
<p>Know this, 99% of people would choose an ivy simply because you will have better prospects for jobs and such out of college. Only choose Uchi if you are TRULY DEDICATED to the school. Because while many would argue that UChi has a better academic atmosphere than most ivies (and I agree) it is still much harder than most ivies and will leave you with a lower GPA. Once again, only go there over the Ivies if you really love the school.</p>
<p>If one believes that, one should read this: <a href="http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0310/features/zen.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0310/features/zen.shtml</a></p>