<p>I heard good things about both...</p>
<p>but, generally, which is better academicly??</p>
<p>Define "better". On an absolute scale, Chicago is considered better. But it really depends what you want to get out of your college experience.</p>
<p>When you're dealing with top colleges, there really is no "best" academics because you're going to learn from the best professors available no matter where you go in that realm. Some schools do have more prestige though. U of Chicago has more name recognition and prestige than WashU, but I live in Chicago and I would dread going to UofC and the social life there is lacking</p>
<p>There both in the ghetto if that helps.</p>
<p>WashU isn't in the ghetto, its in a suburb outside of St. Louis...and is far...far far from a ghetto...</p>
<p>And the U of C is in an area that is changing rapidly. There are million dollar houses within a few blocks. Some ghetto!</p>
<p>Chicago >>>>>>>>>>>>>> St. Louis.</p>
<p>for academic reputation, i'd pick chicago. Then again, it'd only be for academic reputation as the social life there seems like a complete drag.</p>
<p>When I visited Wash U, it seemed to border on a rich suburb and a ghetto. If you went away from the University one way, you'd find yourself amongst really big, well-kept houses, but if you went the other way, you'd be in the ghetto.</p>
<p>Now to the later posts regarding life beyond academics at Chicago. My little tidbit addition to this discussion is the brawling, thriving, exciting city of Chicago itself that the University is so proud to be part of. And many UC students (and I was one once myself) immerse themselves in the City. You are a subway ride from seeing baseball games played by the World Series Champion White Sox (I did a number of times) or stay on the same subway line and see those lovable losers, the Cubs in Wrigley Field. How about the more high brow stuff - the Symphony anyone (Chicago Symphony Orchestra - one of the best in the world which had student tickets for selected dates); the Lyric Opera perhaps.. How about laugh-a-second low brow such as the Second City Comedy Troupe (John Belushi and a zillion other comics are alums over the years). Guess where Saturday Night Live got its inspiration? And this not for a lot of money. Want an endless variety of restaurants for cheap eats? Chicago fits the bill - Chinatown, Greektown, and every cuisine in between. Guess where deep dish pizza got its start?</p>
<p>And I did all of these activities as a student and I was far from a hell raiser. One of my friends from college (who is now the lead economist for a Fortune 250 company) would go out once a quarter and seek out the grungiest, liveliest jazz bars throughout Chicago's South Side. So the University of Chicago and the city of Chicago are symbiotic. You can't do one without the other. So homebodies stay away, but the adventuresome I encourage to plunge into the University of Chicago and the proud vibrant city it calls home. So much for the phrase "where fun goes to die".</p>
<p>I goofed...only part of my reply posted. I started off my original response with the fact that both Wash U and Chicago are superb schools academically and that you can't go wrong on that score with either one. I then digressed to the later posts on social life and the neighborhood. The "social life" part came through. The comments on the neighborhood around UC did not. To paraphrase about the UC neighborhood, Hyde Park-Kenwood (HP-K) Here are a few factoids about the immediate neighborhood north and eas of campus, Hyde Park-Kenwood, that underscore how vibrant an urban community it is. A large majority of the UC faculty and their families live within a couple miles of campus, more percentage-wise than any urban university in the country (including Harvard, Yale, Penn, Columbia, NYU, Boston U, USC, etc.). The largest grocery "co-op" in the country (where community members pool their resources to purchase food) is in Hyde Park. The Museum of Science & Industry, one of the world's premier museums and one of the most visited, is on the lakefront in Hyde Park. There are Frank Lloyd Wright designed homes sprinkled throughout Hyde Park (starting with the "Robie House" right next to campus). There are two seminaries - one Lutheran and also the Chicago Theological Seminary - in Hyde Park along with churches, mosques, and synagogues of every stripe (from Roman Catholic to Black Muslim). The list goes on. </p>
<p>Yes, there are impoverished neighborhoods south of campus (Woodlawn) and east beyond a major city park. But even Woodlawn is gradually being redeveloped. </p>
<p>To anyone seriously interested in either Wash U. or U of C, go ahead and visit and draw your own conclusions. Your opinion deserves to be shaped by more than stereotypes (which do have elements of truth) about either school and their respective neighborhoods.</p>
<p>"WashU isn't in the ghetto, its in a suburb outside of St. Louis...and is far...far far from a ghetto..."</p>
<p>What the hell are you talking about? Pssssh, I live in St. Louis, go a block north of WashU, have fun.</p>
<p>I do apologize...I guess I didn't see the North part when I visited, all I saw was suburbia...well i think its a really nice place</p>
<p>U Chicago!</p>
<p>washu is hardly in the ghetto. I've lived in st. louis my entire life, and I currently attend wash u. West of campus is the affluent clayton, east is the central west end the park and the mansions on lindell, south is the upscale DeMun area, and directly north is the loop and the pershing/waterman neighborhoods which aren't rich but certainly aren't poor, in fact a lot of grad students live there. i will admit that a bit farther north it gets progressively poorer, but that's a good ways away. It is precisely these kinds of false perceptions about urban life that have led to St. Louis' decay and poor reputation. For some reason people have this unfounded fear of the city, when in reality nobody is downtown after 6pm unless there's a concert or sporting event. Anyway, yes st. louis has its problems but the area around washu isn't one of them, in fact its a bright spot. But, to answer the original poster's question both cities and schools are great and you can't go wrong.</p>
<p>University of Chicago has a more distinctive personality than Wash U. I went to U of Chicago, a close friend went to Wash U. She liked it- a very high quality education. As an undergrad, I knew two grad students from Wash U. They said it was pretty much the same- serious academically, not a party school. (They had a few regrets about that.) I think that University of Chicago is more interesting.</p>
<p>As I understand things, the primary difference between U of Chicago and Wash U is the academic orientation of the school. U of Chicago is, from what I've read, primarily oriented towards producing scholars, researchers, and future professors. Wash U is more oriented towards producing professionals. It has, for example, a killer (in more ways than one) pre-med program. So, part of deciding which school is more attractive is deciding what your academic orientation is.</p>
<p>GHETTO? u guys are so racist.</p>
<p>
[quote]
GHETTO? u guys are so racist.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Go grab a dictionary.</p>
<p>Oh wait, I'll do it for you.</p>
<p>ghetto - originally, a section of a city in which Jews lived; it has come to mean a section of a city where members of any racial group are segregated...</p>
<p>I say we drop Financeman88 off in Wellston, and leave him there and see if he lives.</p>