<p>Recently I was at a business meeting where one of the administrators of the graduate schools at Yale was present. It was late at night and I was telling her that I was taking on extra jobs to pay for the tuition for my child at the U. of Chicago. She became very animated and indicated that she thought that I was smart to be getting my child the best education in America. She said that the grad schools at Yale think the most of students from Chicago and believe that they are better than students from most of the ivies. In fact, she idicated that a world renowned professor associated with Yale was actually shocked to find out that Chicago was not considered an ivy league school and that Cornell was. She said that Yale would rather have a student with a B average from Chicago then one with an A from some of the other elite schools.She also indicated that Chicago really taught their students how to think critically and write well. So, in the world of academia and among those who really know education, namely, where it matters, Chicago is still ranked at the top.</p>
<p>Welcome to CC, newenglandparent! In the same boat and glad to exchange mac and cheese recipes if needed...</p>
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Perhaps you should consider starting the thread "Life according to S- experiences". There seems to be so much to learn from him and he has so much to say!
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</p>
<p>idad,</p>
<p>Your son really seems to have lots of interesting stories and I also sometime just wonder....As for the example you just mentioned, why would anyone brought up MCAT anyway? Lots of students in chem class aren't premeds unless that's a MCAT review course (but then that's Ivy, not Kaplan). I also remember how you said your son was comparing notes with his friends that went to other schools over winter or spring break and concluded that Chicago's classes were better. So that means his friends all decided to carry bunch of notes to the plane over the break, got together, and then compared (talking about competitiveness) which I found to be quite weird.</p>
<p>^^^^Nicely put Sam Lee. I am surprised that it has taken this long for someone to become aware of the "situation". Then again, just like the old spanish proverb says "there is no worse blind man, than the one who does not want to see...." I restrained myself from making that observation earlier for obvious reasons. I have noticed that some people here have a difficult time maintaining a civil discussion. (Get ready now for the bashing you will get from idad's admirers)</p>
<p>idad's insightful, colorful, specific, descriptive and at the same time extensive stories about S "experiences" are a very smart way of making his point across. I will say no further.</p>
<p>"So that means his friends all decided to carry bunch of notes to the plane over the break, got together, and then compared (talking about competitiveness) which I found to be quite weird."</p>
<p>"Comparing notes" is a common colloquial expression used to indicate the sharing of mental notes - I am rather suprised that you are not familiar with it. From the ms word theasaurus (so you will not have to take my word for it), compare notes means to 'exchange information, share, or swap opinions.'</p>
<p>I'm laughing, because I can't decide whether Chicago is the perfect school for somebody who nitpicks and questions every piece of information he receives, or whether it's a terrible place for somebody who is constantly lamenting that it doesn't have the sweatshirt appeal of some other schools.</p>
<p>Midmo,
"This may come as a shock to a lot of people, but I know a lot of long-time professors who cannot name all of the Ivy League schools. They start to falter after HYP. All of them know about the University of Chicago. Just FYI."<br>
I assume these are professors not teaching at academically oriented institutions of high calibre. To suggest that a professor would have heard of Chicago but not Columbia, Brown, Cornell or Penn is kinda crazy. Where I live, most people never heard of UofC but that doesn't make it an excellent school! A school's name should be important for employers and people that matter, not Joe Schmoe. I think you are being too defensive. I don't think it is necessary to say "Oh, this young man from Harvard says blah blah about wishing he had gone to Chicago." Who cares? The fact remains most people who have a choice seem to go elsewhere. Moviebuff raises a lot of great points. Idad's son should be writing the literature for Chicago's website and brochures.</p>
<p>Smart guy, I phrased my comment poorly. The people I was referring to have of course heard of, sent their students to, and work with people from all of the Ivy schools. However, when asked to identify which schools are part of the Ivy League, they cannot identify some of those schools as part of that group. My poorly made point was that MB's put down (I think) of UChicago because it is not Ivy League was off base. People who work in universities don't give a hoot if a researcher or scholar or student hails from the Ivy League per se. By the way, I'm not trying to be negative about any of those schools. I am just a bit amazed that so many student posters care so much about Ivy vs non-Ivy.</p>
<p>As for my being defensive, I don't have anything to be defensive about. And you are correct, nobody should care what Joe Schmoe thinks about universities.</p>
<p>I had to chuckle at the comparing notes comment. ohio_mom is, of course, correct. "Comparing notes" meant talking about their courses, what was required, papers, tests, etc. I used the term, not S. As for the MCAT comment, at least one third of the class (chemistry) were pre-med, according to S. As is he. This was the first time, however, he had ever heard someone let that fact influence their study in an area, or their theoretical vs. practical (his words) pursuit of knowledge in a course. To go a little further, after "comparing notes" with other students at the school, he found that there was what he described more focus on the practical than the theoretical at that school. He didn't say exclusive focus, but just the sense of the general culture. Nor did he say it was bad, only different from Chicago. He prefers the Chicago approach, others may prefer a different approach. This should come as no surprise, a poll taken of entering first year students at that particular school found that only 4% of the students were considering pursing a graduate degree in liberal arts & sciences (as opposed to a professional degree, or not planning to attend grad school). Though I have not seen a poll, I would guess the number would be considerably higher at Chicago, which, I believe I read, has the third highest percentage of students going on to attain a Ph.D in the country after Cal Tech & Harvey Mudd.</p>
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Though I have not seen a poll, I would guess the number would be considerably higher at Chicago, which, I believe I read, has the third highest percentage of students going on to attain a Ph.D in the country after Cal Tech & Harvey Mudd.
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17th, not that it means very much.</p>
<p>Yes, I remember seeing that, there is another list calculated in some different way that has a different distribution, but as you say, it doesn't matter all that much.</p>
<p>And for another piece of "trivia," the Education Encyclopedia claims that one in seven U of C Alumni follow an academic career path. Sounds a little low to me, but it may be just who I know...</p>
<p>The U of C's undergraduate enrollment increased about 20 between 1993 and 2003. If they were using the 2004 enrollment to calculate, that would deflate Chicago's rating. If you use the 1998 enrollment, their figure would put Chicago about 13th. If you use enrollment from the early '90s, Chicago would be abou 9th.</p>
<p>When I was at Chicago the undergrad enrollment was, I believe, about 3000! The total enrollment was under 9000. A long time ago...</p>
<p>ohio_mom,</p>
<p>Sorry for my limited knowledge on colloquial expressions. I am not a native speaker and I was an engineering major. I hope you realize there are many non-native speakers that aren't neceesarily well versed in "colloquial expressions". The less you assume, the less you'll be "surprised".</p>
<p>idad,</p>
<p>I also remember another odd sceanrio you desribed: you had a meeting with some pretty successful person in Wall Street and upon knowing you went to Chicago, he said "my biggest regret in life was not going to Chicago (he went to Stanford instead)". I had to chuckle at that; it seems strange someone that smart and successful would overblow a school like that. It sounds so tacky. I hope I am not missing some "colloquial expression" again. :rolleyes:</p>
<p><em>I'm laughing, because I can't decide whether Chicago is the perfect school for somebody who nitpicks and questions every piece of information he receives, or whether it's a terrible place for somebody who is constantly lamenting that it doesn't have the sweatshirt appeal of some other schools.</em></p>
<p>Hey, I love Chicago's grey shirts with the phoenix and school crest!</p>
<p>SL: You make a good point. We should remember that there is a wide range of people, from many backgrounds, reading these threads. I interpreted his statement a little differently. He had attended both Stanford and Oxford. This does not mean he was necessarily unhappy with either of his two schools, only that he wished he could have in some way experienced U of C.</p>
<p>Sam:</p>
<p>Ahm, if you're not a native speaker, you might want to think about it before you comment on some phrase used by native speakers. Just a thought.</p>
<p>Sam -
I thought you might be - but your (standard) english is very good! I think that one of the great values of these boards is that it presents common usage - making the communications transition easier. </p>
<p>Tarhunt -
English is a pretty tricksy language - 'comparing notes' sounds pretty straightforward - nothing colorful to indicate deeper meaning. And it would be a bizzarre scenario!</p>
<p>ohio mom:</p>
<p>I have great sympathy for those who are trying to communicate in a second language. I'm not any good at it myself.</p>
<p>I guess that's why, when it seems like something doesn't make sense, I ask someone who knows the language better, "Did I misunderstand this?"</p>
<p>Tarhunt,</p>
<p>I don't see how "thinking about it" would help in that case. Either you know it or don't. You are not suggesting me to have my friend proofread every response I write, are you? ;)</p>