It’s a joint BA/MA program at UChicago:
http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/thecollege/internationalrelations/#jointbamaprogram
Congratulations on such great options! You would definitely need to visit both schools on the overnights and then take a couple of days to process it before making your decision.
Regarding the campuses: Both campuses are nice, but I wouldn’t say the UChicago campus is isolated. UChicago has more of a traditional-campus feel, where there’s a quad (or 3), and it feels like a botanical garden. It’s located in Hyde Park, so you can walk to restaurants and shops, etc. from campus.
Yale campus is nice as well, and feels more spacious as far as the exterior layout of the buildings; also cars do go through parts of campus, and there are also restaurants, shops, etc. walkable from campus.
Both schools are phenomenal and you’ll definitely know after your visits to the schools, and talked to the students and faculty.
Also, regarding the vibe of ‘super-preppy’ or ‘low-income’ that you mentioned, I didn’t feel that either of the schools exuded more or less of those vibes, either way.
@marlamrhs Both are great choices for language learning:
UC: https://humanities.uchicago.edu/about/languages-uchicago
Yale: https://cls.yale.edu/languages-taught-yale
Congrats on getting into both schools. Your academic experience will depend on you and which school you will better motivate and inspire you. That comes down to fit and where you will be more happy. If you truly want to get a real feel, I’d try to visit outside of Bulldog Days and Chicago’s equivalent.
My only comment weather-wise is I grew up in the NE and attended Yale. My brother lives in Chicago (great city), but I have never been so cold in my life than on Xmas visits to my brother’s home. The wind just blew right through my ski jacket and the multiple layers I had on!
Someone needs a better ski jacket. That’s not supposed to happen.
My wife and I and some of her family were in Chicago around New Year’s.
One night she and her mom decided to go to a(nother) play – we had just seen Wicked. Our nephew and I decided to hike back to our hotel, about a healthy mile away, to take in the Badgers’ bowl game against Miami.
Well we got semi-lost because my darn location dot in Maps was floating around. It was about -10F and I swear on some streets the wind was howling at about 20mph. (Then we’d turn onto another street and the wind would die down. We liked those streets.) I was not wearing gloves, so taking out my phone to look at Maps was quite the hardship on my fingers. Two or three “warmth stops” at 7/11s later and we finally made it back to the hotel. Then we ordered a $35 medium pizza (that was so good that the price was almost worth it) and watched the Badgers get the W.
Growing up in northern Wisc, i’ve endured some wickedly low temps. This was a reminder that life isn’t fun when you are stuck out in a cold, windy environment and lacking the necessary apparel.
So if you choose UChicago, use your gloves and a stocking cap. Screw fashion; warmth is more important.
UChicago has The Core. It can be a major turn off or major attraction depending on your taste.
https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/academics/core
If OP decides to enroll at UChciago, he/she has to make sure that he/she fully embraces The Core.
Yale is the better brand, and at least nobody ever said it’s where fun comes to die.
Given the large variety of options for each part of the Core and the reduction in the number of courses required, the Core is much less onerous than it was a couple of decades ago. I don’t think this is a huge concern for a prospective student.
In any case, anyone interested in Directed Studies at Yale is unlikely to have qualms about Chicago’s Core.
You are greatly overestimating the difference between the two student bodies.