<p>University of Chicago and Wellesley were my top two choices and I was accepted to both. Now I'm having a tough time deciding between the two; it is really comparing apples to oranges. Does anyone have any advice on which to choose or information that could aid me in my decision? Anything you have to say would be appreciated!</p>
<p>It’s really apples vs. oranges. They are both excellent fruit, with equivalent nutritional value. Each one is a complex package of interesting qualities with plusses and minuses. </p>
<p>Which do you like better? Apples or oranges? It’s really that simple. And it’s perfectly appropriate to use your “gut” to make a choice like this.</p>
<p>Have you visited? I think that, especially in the case of an all-girls school, this will tell you which place you want to attend.
besides that, I agree with JHS. Go with you gut. I think either way you’ll have some of the best 4 years of your life. You’re in an enviable position.</p>
<p>have you visited?
Wellesley wound up as D1’s runner-up.
It is of course a wonderful school, but there were some specific aspects she didn’t like.
The place seemed to empty out on weekends, everyone scattering off into the city. And she definitely didn’t like the notion of having to ship herself over to MIT frat parties to have a social life. The student body seemed somewhat business/ job/ preprofessional oriented. Not that people couldn’t do lots of things, clearly they can and do. When you walk outside of campus, you are not in boston, you are in a suburb. And there are no guys, and that does matter.</p>
<p>On the other hand, she didn’t fancy chicago’s core curriculum, to the point that she didn’t apply. And I don’t know what the social situation is like at chicago, you’d have to investigate.</p>
<p>Otherwise, I would imagine the classic LAC vs. university tradeoffs apply. E.g., Class sizes vs. more TAs but more choices & more high-level research going on.</p>
<p>Chicago has a reputation for being a pretty tough school, but I can tell you that the Wellesley kids we spoke to did not seem to be having any picnic either.</p>
<p>dude. sassy_classy, thanks for posting this. i’m working on the same thing!</p>
<p>Chicago is more like an LAC when it comes to class size and professors than many universities. I believe they now cap Core classes at 19.</p>
<p>S’s HBC class has had 20 the past two quarters. Nevertheless, every class except Core Bio has been under 20 students.</p>
<p>I didn’t attend either, but have had many friends at each. Some quick observations from which you can perhaps deduce your own best fit:
- The Wellesley alumnae are 85 percent fanatical supporters, 15 percent affirmatively annoyed that they had to go there. Almost none seem to be neutral or ambivalent. (Deduction: it’s not for everyone, but if it is the place for you, you tend to be almost irritating in your devotion to the place.)
- The Chicago alums tended to have ambivalent and much weaker feelings about their undergraduate time at U Chicago (as opposed to my friends who got law, business or academic graduate degrees at Chicago, nearly all of whom were enthusiastic supporters). Basic story: not a place where they had much fun socially, but one where they were constantly intellectually stimulated. They seemed to respect it more than they loved it.
- The Wellesley women I have known all seem to graduate with a very strong group of five to eight friends with whom they stay close friends after graduation. Something about the place leads to the creation of remarkably supportive female networks that seem to stay with you for life.
- The Wellesley hetero social life tends to center around MIT. In earlier generations, Harvard, Yale, etc., were factors, but not now. MIT guys are brilliant, but geeky - as the Wellesley statement goes, “The odds are good, but the goods are odd.” All the same, there are plenty of brilliant, interesting guys at MIT, and, in my experience, the U. Chicago undergraduate males are not that much more socially adept than the MIT guys. In fact, they seem kind of similar, setting aside whether it is electrical engineering or neoplatonism that gets their motors running.
- The Wellesley professors really do spend a lot of time with students and a lot of time teaching. All the same, quite a few do significant research - for example, Chip Case, whose Case Schiller index on real estate prices is getting fairly constant notice in the media now.
- Wellesley is significantly more international than almost any college in the country - maybe more than any college. A lot of the students come from south and east Asia, in particular.
- The vast majority of Wellesley women are straight, but if you are at all homophobic, you should find another school.
- In terms of hetero social and dating life, Wellesley seems to work better for physically attractive women than for women whose charms are less apparent from across a crowded party. Some really wonderful but physically unattractive women I’ve known who have gone there seemed to have trouble finding the right guy. The issue is compounded for women who are shy. For women who are outgoing and physically attractive, the absence of guys on campus doesn’t seem to be that big a deal. They seem to appreciate being able to roll into class in sweat pants and a hair tie, where any attention paid to them is based on the intellectual insights they share, and leave the ogling and being ogled for the weekends. The bottom line is that the absence of men is more complicated than it may seem at first glance, and can be either a defect or a positive feature based on who you are.
- Hyde Park is more interesting than the town of Wellesley. It’s one of the most interesting parts of Chicago (and the loop and the north side are easier to get to from Hyde Park than Boston is from Wellesley). Hyde Park is also quite a bit more dangerous than the town of Wellesley, especially at off hours, but most people who pay attention to where they are get through their time in Hyde Park without serious incident. If your day to day vision of college life involves neat little restaurants and cafes, and noodling through great used bookstores, Chicago definitely has the edge. Downtown Wellesley has both a Starbucks and a Peet’s, but no neat independent cafes; Hyde Park has a lot of funky independent cafes and restaurants. The Wellesley village shops tend to be of the sort you find in malls; Hyde Park, again, has a lot of unique shops that couldn’t have been started anywhere else.
- The academic strengths of the schools differ. Even where both have very strong departments - economics, for example - the ideological and analytical profiles of the teachers vary. If you have a very definite focus on a given major, you need to consider this issue.</p>
<p>I’m not positive about my major, but it definitely won’t be in the math and science family. As of now I’m thinking English or Political Science.</p>
<p>This is one comparison that you could probably answer within 5 minutes spent on either campus. If you can visit, go.</p>
<p>While I basically agree with oldperfesser that there are Wellesley supporters and people who are annoyed that they went there, I’m not sure if the 85-15 split is right. I know a lot of people who have loved Wellesley, and I know quite a number of people who have not submitted an application after a visit.</p>
<p>I also think that the opinion about UofC grads’ feelings about their school is outdated.</p>
<p>I am in a similar situation, except I was waitlisted at University of Chicago and got into Wellesley, so my decision was made for me (probably). However, I still like UChicago better and would definitely go there if I got off the waitlist! The city atmosphere (used bookstores, funky cafes, like oldperfesser said) really appeals to me, and I like that UChicago is less preprofessional than Wellesley. But I’ll be happy to attend either one :D</p>
<p>On the 85-15 split, I was talking about graduates, not applicants. Wellesley and Chicago both share in common that a lot of self selection goes on before you get to either the applicant pool or enrolled populations. While both offer excellent academic experiences, neither is for everyone.</p>
<p>What was interesting to me was the split in feelings at the alum level. The Wellesley women tended to have strong, generally positive feelings, while the overall impression from my Chicago friends was ambivalence (more than one quoted the “where fun goes to die” motto, but more in a wistful way than a bitter or unhappy way). In neither case to I get anywhere close to a scientific sample, so consider it one more unreliable anecdotal factoid.</p>
<p>At either school, a visit while the students are there would be helpful; a vist without a chance to spend an overnight and really get a sense of student life would be a lot less helpful. At Chicago, you might get a sense of the really interesting urban setting and at Wellesley a sense of the incredibly bucolic campus, but without students you wouldn’t get to what really makes the two schools unique. At both schools, you would want to visit some classes to get a sense of what classroom life is really like.</p>
<p>College is a big decision, and Wellesley and Chicago are both fairly quirky, albeit excellent, schools. Given the overall investment of money and, more importantly, life, I think visits would be a very good idea.</p>
<p>Sassy et al, my D got into UChic and Wellesley. I was expecting a debate similar to the one waged here at my home but didn’t happen (I was surprised). She had interviews at both places during campus visits and the UChic interview was more difficult and pointed, and the Wellesley inteview was more supportive. IMHO she equated that to mean UChic may be better. Besides the Wellesley tour guide was less “animated” than the UChic one – I don’t know if that made a difference.</p>
<p>My daughter’s closest friend’s mother went to Wellesly and she is doing very well now. That is one of the reasons my D applied. Wellesly is definitely a suburb and hence has less anxiety factor too. (BTW my D’s friend chose to go to a LAC in MN!)</p>
<p>I am of the opinion both schools are very good.</p>
<p>Also, Wellesley gives significantly better financial aid than UChicago.</p>
<p>I was in the same position as you, with Wellesley, Chicago and Barnard on my list; however, because Chicago face palmed with the financial aid, I’m pretty much deciding between Wellesley and Barnard now :)</p>
<p>There is no doubt in my mind though, that I would’ve gone to Chicago hands down had money not been a factor. The application was the best experience I’ve had in terms of writing the essays.</p>
<p>I guess I’ll try to leave the option for Grad School open 
Good luck to wherever you do decide! And who knows, we might meet each other at Wellesley.</p>