University of Chicago Move-In Day, or I'm Nerdier than these Noobs

So, today, upper-classmen move back into University of Chicago housing, which means two things for me.  First, the neighborhood is about to get a lot more crowded.  Second, I get to do the traditional alumnus activity of claiming that the University of Chicago is on the slipperly slope to the mainstream, and this year's students are less nerdy than my cohort.  At this rate, we'll be just another Harvard in 5 years.

So, this year, the University of Chicago tied for 5th place in the US News and World Report ranking of best colleges.  Through artificially increased selectivity through the adoption of the common application, we boosted our rankings.  We have also increased the percent of alumni donors, a much needed step towards building a University community.  But, through our efforts, despite my want to call the younger nerds not nerdy because they spend even more time on Facebook than I do, they aren't really less nerdy, just nerdy in different ways.  Nerdom, like most cultures, is continually evolving.

The University spends a lot of effort trying to increase its ranking, but the whole ranking system is skewed.  CalTech and MIT also got 5th this year, but for very few people would find that CalTech, MIT, or the UofC would give them the 5th best educational experience of any University in the US.    Harvard, which almost always ranks number 1 on these things, was my least favorite of all the schools I visited.  Instead of students competing to go to "the best" college and colleges competing for "the best" students, the process should be tailored to the particular advantages and interests of schools and students.  Why can't the University of Chicago reject the stupid game play and acknowledge openly that it creates the best atmosphere for a particular kind of nerd?  Why can't it just cater to that type of nerd?

In the 1980s, my mother gave a talk at the University of Chicago.  Her talk in mathematics was supposed to be in Eckhart, but one of the frats was blasting music and they had to move the talk to Ryerson.  What music? The theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey.  If that doesn't seem humorous or homey to you, the University of Chicago is a wrong college choice, no matter how highly ranked.  On the other hand, if the fact that the only time campus gets crazy is for a very nerdy scavenger hunt appeals, Chicago is a better place to go than anywhere else.  If you are choosing a college, keep in mind that rankings represent the choice for some sort of "typical" student, and that they tend to discriminate against public schools.  The best public school in the country, which is on par with any Ivy League is the University of California - Berkeley.  Its ranking? 21.   Make a ranking of your top choices based on your own criteria, because you are anything but typical.