I'm looking for any helpful advice to aid me in my college decision...I have been accepted into the University of Washington Honors Program with a full tuition scholarship. I have also been accepted into my dream school, UChicago, but with no merit money (at least I think I did not receive any merit aid because it didn't say so in my acceptance letter). UChicago is the perfect fit for me in terms of the type of education I am looking for, but it is SO EXPENSIVE! I do not know if paying 60k a year for UChicago is worth it to further my education. I am planning to major in biology and go on to graduate school.
Now, before everyone says that I should go to UW because it is cheaper, please know that I received my scholarship through the honors program, meaning that I have to stay in the honors program to keep my scholarship, and also that I will enter college with approximately 90 credits from ap classes. Therefore, the honors program would probably be a huge waste of time for someone like me, and I am not sure if I will stay in the honors program and receive the scholarship all four years when I could potentially graduate in two without the honors requirements. Well, that was just a tangent :). Again, any helpful advice is appreciated!
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UChicago vs. UW Honors
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The University of Chicago vs Harvard College (Pre-medical studies)
Anticipated major: UChicago = Biological Chemistry; Harvard = Molecular and Cellular Biology
This admissions process has been hectic (but such a blessing); at the end of it all I have come down to UChicago vs Harvard, and I am torn. Now obviously there is the fact that Harvard is the world class institute that it is -- just the name alone is enough to get people interested in you, qualifications aside. But the dilemma arises in the fact that I was admitted EA to UChicago and RD to Harvard; I have had time to grow with the UChicago community and I love it wholeheartedly. Each individual adds something unique and insightful to the conversation that it is hard to deny the intellectual and often "silly" environment (to put it very tamely; if you are in the class of 2020 and in the group chats you know what I mean). This is not to say that I would not make friends at Harvard, but going in with a solid base is always helpful when trying to branch out (applicable in all aspects of life).
The main snag comes in me comparing the two in terms of pre-medical placement and outlook. Pre-med is hard everywhere, that's a given. But with hopes of going to a top medical school such as HMS, Stanford, Feinberg, Pritzker, even CWRU (my "hometown" school; I've interned with Cleveland Clinic and UH) after the completion of my undergraduate studies, I feel that the schedule at UChicago may be a negative in terms of my GPA when applying. The CORE curriculum present in combination with the quarter system makes tremendously well-rounded students, yes, but it makes it difficult for prospective pre-meds who need to maintain a high GPA to remain competitive. At Harvard I feel like the absence of this CORE would allow me to tune my scheduling in order to help with the process. I am, however, not enamored with Harvard in the same way as I am with Chicago. This may be a result of me not being exposed to the student group as much, but I feel myself the "Harvard" name driving the experience, not the actual experience driving the experience (as in my time spent at the university, if that makes any sense), which I feel is where my decision lies in currently. Would it just be worth going to UChicago on merit, or would the Harvard logo help me in a way that would drastically change my standing as a medical school applicant?
I would hate to turn down Harvard, but is it worth me looking at the name over the experience -- well not me looking at the name, but more the view of those in society on me as an individual due to the connotation the name holds? Also, is it worth choosing Chicago for the people and the environment over the potential damage to my pre-med chances? I am extremely dedicated to what I do and my goal of becoming a doctor. I will go out and intern, shadow, gain experience, but that alone does not drive medical school acceptance. And thus, I am torn. Any advice (I will likely post on the UChicago side of things to gain other opinions)? Thank you in advance.
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Help! Will my offer be rescinded?
Would my admissions status be in jeopardy if my final semester transcript includes one C+ and two B+s?? Also, how close to my IB predicted grades to I have to be? Not that I'm planning on slacking off -- call it quieting an anxious mind.
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University of Chicago vs Cambridge
Hey friends,
I am so happy to get offers to two of my Top choices, Uchic and Cambridge for economics. Sadly, I now have to choose between the 2 and am caught in a dilemma... I know that I'm dealing with two drastically different education systems - American vs British, Broad-based vs Depth, but I still hope to hear what your opinions are on what I should choose. I am neither American Nor British, so there is no inherent native country for me here ( I would be an international at both). After evaluation of all the pros and cons I'm leaning slightly towards Cambridge because of its higher reputation in my country, its lower fees, and the fact that it is 3-years, allowing me to complete another masters in the US faster. (A UK undergrad with US masters would be pretty neat in my opinion). I'm not sure how well a Cambridge economics degree will help me get a placement at Top universities for postgrad, and it would be great if any of you with information can help me. Thank you to all those who give me legitimate advice!
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What percentage of Admitted Students receive Merit Awards?
Wondering how generous Chicago is with these awards. In an incoming class of 1,500 how many will have these awards?
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University of Chicago vs University of Cambridge
I was fortunate enough to be admitted into both Uchicago and King's College, Cambridge, and although I was initially 100 percent set on going to Cambridge many people have been telling me that U Chicago would be a better choice for me in terms of internship opportunities and student life. To even out the playing field a bit, and because currently I'm leaning towards Cambridge, what are the pros and cons of attending each university considering that I'm a history major and want to eventually do law? Finance is not a problem although I would of course like to save money and Cambridge seems to be the cheaper option, but is U chicago worth the extra fees? I do prefer USA as a place to live in general, however, I'm not too bothered about the differences in location. Any help is appreciated, thank you!
Note: In Cambridge, there's a chance that I can switch to law in my second year of undergrad, and if not the plan is to go to US anyway for post graduate/law school.
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Speculation on how Legacy works at Uchicago
This speculation is based on my limited and anecdotal private exchanges with a few parents, but wanted to put it out there to test and see what others thought
So far I have heard that Chicago, does give consideration to legacies ( looks like this is not restricted to just kids of College alums, like at Harvard, but anyone who attended Chicago, even grad school) but uses them to fill slots after other students have been given a chance to enroll. In other words, they get in, they just have to be patient and be willing to get on the wait list.
The families I have spoken to, have kids with competitive profiles, and applied early, but got deferred and then wait listed and then got off the list.
If this is true, then for those who don't have hooks, this is good news. Chicago admission committee prioritizes non legacies over legacies, but then allows the legacies in at the last minute to round out the class.
Any legacy families out there that can agree or disagree with this observation?
What has been your experience?
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Double Major Possibility?
Would it be possible to major in both econ and molecular engineering? More importantly, would it be advisable?
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UChicago Acceptance Rate?
Did UChicago release its overall acceptance rate for this year yet?
Also, does anyone know what the most recent (and which year?) early action acceptance rate that was released? I can't really seem to find it online.
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O-week question
Can families depart Chicago after the Family reception with President Zimmer on the 18th, or is there anything to attend the next day? What was it like last year?
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Late Deposit Housing
I just put down my deposit for UChicago and am worried that I won't get into any of my three dorm choices come fall. I'm requesting a roommate so hopefully I won't end up in singles housing because the university says it prioritizes roommates over dorm choices. I want to live in Max P, North, or South...is there a chance for me??
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What did you turn down for Chicago?
Title says it all- just curious! Or, what did you turn Chicago down in favor of?
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What did you turn down for Chicago?
Title says it all- just curious! Or, what did you turn Chicago down in favor of?
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Increasing International Enrollment at Some top Universities
Percentage Increase in International Enrollment at Various Universities since 2004 based on
http://highereddatastories.blogspot.com/
Negative
Stanford: -1.37% (Rose sharply between 2008 and 2011 and then plummeted, Maybe the Economic crisis?)
20% to 30%
Penn: 19.75%
Harvard: 24.11%
Yale: 28.84%
31% to 40%
MIT: 32.53%
Princeton: 40.67%
UChicago: 40.86%
41% to 50%
Cornell: 48.10%
over 60%
Dartmouth: 65.62%
Brown: 65.5%
over 100%
Columbia: 101.2%
Berkeley: 129%
What do you think is going on? Why are Columbia, Berkeley so much higher than other schools?
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Job/Employment Opportunities?
Is there a database of jobs or some other resource for students to find jobs while enrolled at UChicago?
What kind of jobs do students usually get, how much do they pay, and how much of a time commitment are they?
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Class of 2020 Size?
The UChicago website says the class size for the class of 2019 was 1537. The 2020 FB page had just over 1,700 members two weeks ago and now is down around 1660 since May 1st. Do you think they have increased the incoming class size by 100 or so?
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Will I get my offer recinded?
Hi I got in to university of Chicago in the EA round. I'm worried about an online differential equation course at another college (I finished all the math course in my high school Junior year) The course was previously on my school transcript with a Pass, but they'll send the course transcript with a letter grade to Uchicago at the end of the year. I'm afraid the score won't be pretty…So will my college take back my offer if I get a C or D on that course? Thx
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World Reputation Ranking #11 vs. U.S. Name Recognition - why the discrepancy?
Hello, this is my first post! Been reading forum for some time and have appreciated all the info and opinions ...
Times Higher Education just published their 2016 "World Reputation Ranking" - I realize this is just another ranking, but it claims to "employ the world's largest invitation-only academic opinion survey to provide the definitive list of the top 100 most powerful global university brands". Well, one can argue about "definitive", but it is one measure of brand name recognition. UChicago is ranked #11 (it was ranked #11 in 2015 and #14 in 2014).
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/worlds-most-prestigious-universities-world-reputation-rankings-2016-results
What is curious to me is that the lack of name and/or reputation recognition in the general public. We are starting to get a real sense of this based on the reactions we get on sharing the news that my D is going to UChicago. Surprisingly, this is also among classmates and their parents at her private school, who just completed the college process, too.
Does any one have a theory(s) on WHY the school lacks name/reputation recognition in the general public given that UChi has been academically reputable for a very long time?
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foreign language fulfillment
if we already speak a foreign language fluently and place out of the requirement, do we just have an extra 3 courses that we can fill however we want?
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UChicago AP Credit
Okay so I have reviewed the website thoroughly and I still have a few questions. Basically my main question is: Are the General Education Requirements and General Elective Requirements different?
UChicago says the maximum number of General Elective Credits from AP Exams possible is 6, which I can attain. However, if I get those 6 credits, can I in addition place out of the General Education Physical Sciences/Biological Sciences/Mathematical Sciences introductory courses with adequate AP Credit if I do not plan on majoring in one of those areas?
http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/thecollege/degreeprogramworksheet/Degree_Program_Worksheet_2013.pdf
http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/thecollege/examinationcreditandtransfercredit/
Essentially my situation looks like this:
US History (5) = 1 General Elective Credit,
AP Chemistry (4) 2 Quarters 10000 Level PHSC General Ed Credit,
AP Literature (4) 3 Quarters General Elective Credit,
AP French Language (3) Competency Requirement,
AP Biology (5) 1 Biological Science General Education Credit,
BC Calculus (4/5) 1 Mathematical Science General Education Credit
About to take:
AP Statistics (1 Mathematics General Education Credit)
AP Physics C Mech + E&M (Max 2-3 Physical Sciences General Education Credits)
AP Micro/Macro Econ (2 General Elective Credits)
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