University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is best-known as the university "where fun goes to die". Students even wear T-shirts proclaiming this sad fact.
In fact, the university has such a scary reputation that few apply, and thus almost half get in. Students take pride in the so-called "Uncommon Application," since there is little else about which to be proud.
Chicago claims to have either an older or more rigorous Core Curriculum than Columbia. Both assertions are dubious. In fact, Chicago's Core was inspired by Columbia's; it was founded on the teachings of lifelong Columbian and Core advocate Mortimer Adler. That said, according to a WikiCU contributor from Chicago[1] (I wonder which university he/she went to), "the University of Chicago's Core Cirriculum is generally recognized as superior to Columbia's in both depth and difficulty".
However, Columbia did plagiarize the concept for its Committee on Global Thought from Chicago's prestigious Committee on Social Thought.
