I hate to generalize, but - aw who am I kidding? I love to generalize and do it all the time. I’ve known quite a few U of C alums, and tho every one of them was very smart, each and every manjack of them had at least one facet in which he or she was downright goofy as fuck!
Never encountered such a direct correlation with any other institute of higher learning. I don’t know if it was the vaunted general curriculum or what.
For engineering UofI is one of the top schools in the nation, and definately tops in Illinois.
What, no love for Southern Illinois University in Carbondale? That’s where I graduated…nice location, great parties and…hmm, yes, I think there were classes to attend, but I don’t remember exactly. Great parties…oh, I mentioned that already…good times, good times. We held our 5th year class reunion party in detox.
I would agree that Illinois State University in Normal has a good rep, and of course Northwestern is also top notch. UofI in Chicago and Champaign are very good, but I think they are a bit full of themselves and treat students like livestock for the first two years…might be a wiser idea to go elsewhere, and transfer there for the last two years of college when you actually get to take classes in your major.
Hmmm
No mention of Bradley?
U of I’s engineering program is top-notch. SIUC has (from what I hear) a decent program, and is about $5k cheaper per semester for tuition and fees. That’s $40,000 over a regular 4-year degree program.
And I agree, it’s pretty impossible to rank without knowing preferences. SIUC (why yes, I’m familiar with it, why do you ask?) is cheap and far away from Chicago, so we get a lot of Chicagoans who want to go far away. We also have a fairly extensive art program and a strong journalism program. The music program is currently rebuilding, and that’s about all I’m familiar with.
One reason why it’s impossible to rank without preferences:
If you say “I want the best education in X I can get in Illinois,” Southern, Illinois State, etc. don’t enter into it. If you say, “I want the best education I can get in X at a public school in Illinois,” they may start creeping in. If you say, “I want the best education for the money I can get in X in Illinois,” I definitely think they’re on the table.
UIC may not have the cachet of the other shcools seeing as it’s mostly a commuter school but it ain’t all that bad either. The Engineering dept. is good as is the Architecture dept. and Medical schools. UIC’s medical school is the largest in the country. And from here …
*With 36,000 students, UIC is the largest university in the Chicago area…
UIC has been named as one of the most affordable universities in the United States by the magazine U.S News & World Report and it is listed as a college “best buy” in Barron’s Best Buys in Education…*
When I went to a college night last year, the rep from “competitive-admission” schools was from Illinois Wesleyan. I forget the specifics, but their applicant/admission ratio was extremely high. So SOMEONE must think they are worth the premium…
Awww, shucks. Speaking as a U of C alum who definitely fits your second observation and maybe-sometimes fits your first, I don’t know how they manage to do it myself! I suspect they have a very strong self-image and know how to recruit toward the type. I wasn’t surprised when I discovered that an older co-worker of mine went to the U of C–he’s the goofiest guy in the whole department, and brilliant to boot.
So anyhow, I have to rank UChicago above Northwestern. As far as academic quality, groundbreaking research, Nobel prizes, and professional recognition, there’s no comparison. Listen to NPR and you’ll be amazed at how many times the University of Chicago comes up in economics, physical sciences, and social sciences. That said, Northwestern is a great place for a great education, and I’m sure any NW grad can get a good job anywhere.