MIT, Univeristy of Michigan, or University of Chicago?

MIT. Great education, but moreover (IMO) a great city. Boston is incredible. Too bad i'm stuck in LA for 9 months of the year.

 

I went to the U of C. What exactly are you looking for in a school, and what do you want to study?

 

No place liked Boston when it comes to college education. Boston is a special place for college students. It is the only major city in the world that is also a college town!!!! There are many things for college age kids going on in Boston because so many schools are located in the Greater Boston area. So I would pick MIT because of Boston itself. But it will depend on what you want to study and your idea of a college life. The ranking of your field of study is also important although all three schools are very, very good schools. On the other hand, it will depend what your idea of college life would be. Michigan got good sport teams. If you go to Chicago or MIT, you will miss out an important part of college life.

 

University of Chicago is in a horrible neighborhood, just so you know.

 

eplkewell: If you were accepted to MIT, you deserve congratulations!

 

Oh, please. Yes, it's on the South Side of Chicago, but Hyde Park is a perfectly safe area. Its 'horribleness' is greatly overstated.

 

Seconded. If a goof like me can walk through the neighborhood lost, wearing a suit and towing a hideous purple and red suitcase and only get offers of help (and some strange looks!), it can't be that bad!

With those three schools, you'd be splitting hairs. All will position you well for graduate work or professional commitments.

 

Minorthreat is right. Hyde Park is a fantastic neighborhood that gets a bad rap because it's on the south side. (HP is, however, surrounded by some pretty terrible neighborhoods.) The UC police (who are real cops) and local police provide double coverage of the area, and the crime rate is actually lower than the crime rate in Lincoln Park, Wicker Park, and several of the so-called "safe" neighborhoods on the north.

HP is also one of the greenest and most diverse parts of the city, not to mention that it's one of the few places where a person can afford to live close to the lake.

 

Also, since it's August, I take it you'll be a senior next year and are getting ready to do college applications, if you aren't doing them already. Are you trying to figure out where to apply early decision or something?

 

If you got into MIT you should be smart enough to go to MIT. This should literally be a no-brainer. Seriously. I've worked with graduates of all three schools. The reputation of MIT is head and shoulders above the rest. A degree from MIT is a ticket to freedom. You will have the opportunity to do whatever you want.

PS - The off campus student housing at MIT is no safer than at Chicago.

PPS - My brother got his PhD from Chicago and works at U Michigan. Go to MIT.

PPPS - You should apply to Stanford.

 

Completely depends on what you want to do (as well as on grades/test scores - MIT is a hell of a lot harder to get into than Michigan and still considerably harder than Chicago). Although from an academic standpoint, I'm hardpressed to think of an undergraduate program that would be better at U of M than at Chicago.
And that's not just my Ohio State bias talking - I almost went to Chicago for undergrad.

 

Getting accepted to all three would be the logical first step.

As someone who just graduated from Chicago, let me say this: if you get into all three of them, go to MIT. You'll learn just as much and have a lot more fun.

 

Its an interesting school that's less fun than MIT, but Chicago does somewhat fit the bill in that respect. But again, it depends on what you want to study. If you're going for an econ/history degree, for instance, there is absolutely no point in going to MIT.

 

I visited Chicago a couple of times. I got the impression that it seems more the type of place that would be excellent for graduate school. It just seemed that undergrads were almost ignored by most of the faculty. It also seemed that the students on campus were having little to no fun. If those are the places you're applying, it's obvious you'll be in a studious atmosphere. It seemed, though, that at Chicago academics are very competitive. There are a lot of schools that offer the same level of education without the pressure of Chicago.

Granted, I only visited twice, so minorthreat is the real authority here.

 

Minder... sometimes, it is better to stay away from home, but it will depend on yourself. Some kids like to be near home and some don't.

How about some rep points for all of us..............

 

If you get into MIT, go to MIT. It is one of a handful (5 or so) schools in this country where a degree from it will make you set for life (along with Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford). If you get in, go to MIT. If not, then it's a toss-up. If you can get into U of M honors college, I'd go there over U of C. Both will give you great educations, but U of C is notorious for being a hard, hard school. Everyone there works super hard (not a bad thing), but it is not a laid back environment at all. I think you'll have a better overall college experience at U of M honors college than U of C. However, if you don't get into the honors college, I'd go to U of C. The difference in level of education at U of M and U of C is significant enough to go to chicago. I'm from the chicago area and one of my best friends goes to the U of C, don't worry about the neighborhood, it's fine. But again, if you get into MIT, go there.

Also, look into Carleton College. It's a great midwest liberal arts school, and the academics are easily up to par with U of C. Everyone works hard, but it's still very laid back and a great college experience. (If you can't tell, I go there, you get a top level liberal arts education, minus the east coast snobbery that you'd find at the Ivies or Amherst or Williams)

 

I leave for Carleton in two weeks. PM me if you need any info.

 

Physics, you said? *ahem* Have you considered Caltech? (And PM me if you have any questions about it.)

If you're dead set on those three as your top choices, then I'd say you should absolutely go to MIT if you get in.

 

People are forgetting $$ here. If you're going to major in physics, you'll need a graduate degree. Go to U of M first and get the BS while taking all the honors courses and graduate courses you can. Then go to MIT (building 6 - Institute of Theatrical Physics?) or CalTech for your Ph.D.

The opportunity cost is much lower with this strategy. Graduate study in physics is probably free with grants and TAs. Undergraduate study will not be free, so minimize the educational cost in this way.

The difference in the job market between a UM Bachelors combined with an MIT Ph.D. vs an MIT/UC Bachelors combined with an MIT Ph.D. is negligible. By taking honors and graduate courses at UM, you will be more than adequately prepared for the CalTech/MIT/Stanford level of graduate education.

eplkewell, you may not care now, but in 9 years you will thank me for minimizing the cost of your student loans to pay back. Plus, I'd guess you're more likely to get an academic scholarship from U of M - very few of those at MIT.

Plus there are better-looking women (or guys) at U of M.

 

I can tell you first hand that despite popular misconception, private schools are often cheaper. U of Chi, MIT, and almost all private schools worth their spit are well-enough endowed that they can meet your financial need. Carleton, on the surface, is 40,000 a year, but they're giving me enough that I'm paying about as much as I'd pay at the University of Wisconsin, which would be in-state tuition for me. Michigan's non-resident tuition is very high, and it's hard to get good financial aid there if you're from out of state and you don't have a 1600 SAT.

 

Certainly the case for most of the good private schools I know of... I know a few Californians who found that they'd be paying less at Caltech than in-state tuition at the UCs.