Why the Smartest People in the Midwest All Move To Chicago (Lincoln: top school, colleges)

[madpaddy]

So Chicago is attracting a lot young, single college grads to the city. That's great, but how many of them will stay in the city once they start forming families? Or will the long standing trend of "family flight" from the city to the suburbs continue, where many of these so called "smartest" leave the city (taking their tax revenue and local spending with them) just as they're entering their prime earning years?

[MichiVegas]

Boston does have a weird vibe, where, yes, it is pretty diverse, and the universities are probably the best in the world, and the metro is rich and thriving, but it doesn't overall have a super cosmopolitan feel.

Much of the Harvard/MIT talent leaves for NYC and Silicon Valley, and while the city proper is diverse, the suburbs, especially the outer suburbs, tend to be heavily white moreso than in other major metros.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by madpaddy

So Chicago is attracting a lot young, single college grads to the city. That's great, but how many of them will stay in the city once they start forming families? Or will the long standing trend of "family flight" from the city to the suburbs continue, where many of these so called "smartest" leave the city (taking their tax revenue and local spending with them) just as they're entering their prime earning years?

nationwide issues that have nothing to do with Chicago per se. This is the case in every major metro area.

[midwest1]

there may be some truth to the premise of this thread, but I think the Midwest actually can often gain from Chicago's best and brightest as well. People tend to follow their own lives and career paths and sometimes that takes them to other locales in the Midwest.

A few of the Chicagoans I grew up with are

Working at the Mayo Clinic in MN, cutting edge research GLOBALLY in her field
Running a research library in Minneapolis
A major politician in Indianapolis
A bio scientist VERY HAPPILY ensconced in Madison
Living on an organic farm in northern Wisconsin (again, very happily)

And I know plenty of folks from the Coasts who have willingly and enthusiastically made there home in Chicago. This elitist conceit that the graduates from just a few schools are the arbiter of the best and brightest is BS. Within virtually every BIG 10 university is a pool of folks whose SAT/ACT scores are equal to those of the Ivies...take the top 10% of each of those schools, and you'd have a group as large as an Ivy with test scores to match.

[grapico]

Originally Posted by midwest1

there may be some truth to the premise of this thread, but I think the Midwest actually can often gain from Chicago's best and brightest as well. People tend to follow their own lives and career paths and sometimes that takes them to other locales in the Midwest.

A few of the Chicagoans I grew up with are

Working at the Mayo Clinic in MN, cutting edge research GLOBALLY in her field
Running a research library in Minneapolis
A major politician in Indianapolis
A bio scientist VERY HAPPILY ensconced in Madison
Living on an organic farm in northern Wisconsin (again, very happily)

And I know plenty of folks from the Coasts who have willingly and enthusiastically made there home in Chicago. This elitist conceit that the graduates from just a few schools are the arbiter of the best and brightest is BS. Within virtually every BIG 10 university is a pool of folks whose SAT/ACT scores are equal to those of the Ivies...take the top 10% of each of those schools, and you'd have a group as large as an Ivy with test scores to match.

This is true, but where are the numbers of where top 10% graduates went?

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by midwest1

there may be some truth to the premise of this thread, but I think the Midwest actually can often gain from Chicago's best and brightest as well. People tend to follow their own lives and career paths and sometimes that takes them to other locales in the Midwest.

A few of the Chicagoans I grew up with are

Working at the Mayo Clinic in MN, cutting edge research GLOBALLY in her field
Running a research library in Minneapolis
A major politician in Indianapolis
A bio scientist VERY HAPPILY ensconced in Madison
Living on an organic farm in northern Wisconsin (again, very happily)

And I know plenty of folks from the Coasts who have willingly and enthusiastically made there home in Chicago. This elitist conceit that the graduates from just a few schools are the arbiter of the best and brightest is BS. Within virtually every BIG 10 university is a pool of folks whose SAT/ACT scores are equal to those of the Ivies...take the top 10% of each of those schools, and you'd have a group as large as an Ivy with test scores to match.

Great post. Its great to see that born and bred Chicagoans have found thats there life in the midwest outside Chicagoland.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by madpaddy

So Chicago is attracting a lot young, single college grads to the city. That's great, but how many of them will stay in the city once they start forming families? Or will the long standing trend of "family flight" from the city to the suburbs continue, where many of these so called "smartest" leave the city (taking their tax revenue and local spending with them) just as they're entering their prime earning years?

This isn't really a Chicago thing. The dense cities in the US undergo this unless the family in question has a good amount of money.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by midwest1

And I know plenty of folks from the Coasts who have willingly and enthusiastically made there home in Chicago. This elitist conceit that the graduates from just a few schools are the arbiter of the best and brightest is BS. Within virtually every BIG 10 university is a pool of folks whose SAT/ACT scores are equal to those of the Ivies...take the top 10% of each of those schools, and you'd have a group as large as an Ivy with test scores to match.

Some Big 10 schools are in fact rated very highly. Not sure about 10%, but there are definitely some, especially at schools like Northwestern and Michigan (and maybe Illinois and Wisconsin for certain programs) who are at near ivy league level.

Here's some examples of ratings of various programs via US News too:

National Rankings
5) Chicago
12) Northwestern
14) Washington (St. Louis)
18) Notre Dame
28) Michigan
37) Case Western
41) Illinois and Wisconsin
52) Ohio State
68) Purdue
69) Minnesota
73) Iowa and Michigan State
75) Indiana, Marquette, Miami (OH)
101) Iowa State, St. Louis, and Loyola (Chicago)

Engineering
5) Illinois
8) Purdue
9) Michigan
18) Wisconsin
20) Northwestern
29) Ohio State and Minnesota
43) Iowa State
45) Notre Dame
48) Washington (St. Louis)
51) Case Western and Michigan State
61) Iowa
63) Dayton
65) Illinois-Chicago
72) IIT
81) Cincinnati
89) Michigan Tech
97) IUPUI

Business
4) Northwestern
6) Chicago
14) Michigan
21) Washington (St. Louis)
22) Indiana
23) Minnesota
27) Ohio State and Notre Dame
34) Wisconsin
43) Michigan State
44) Purdue and Iowa
47) Illinois
52) Case Western
70) Iowa State
84) St. Louis
93) DePaul
99) Cincinnati

Economics
1) U of Chicago (tied with a few others)
7) Northwestern
11) Minnesota
13) Michigan and Wisconsin
27) Ohio State and Washington (St. Louis)
30) Michigan State
32) Illinois
40) Iowa
42) Indiana and Purdue
55) Iowa State
56) Notre Dame
64) Illinois-Chicago

Statistics
6) Chicago
12) Michigan and Wisconsin
17) Minnesota
20) Iowa State
22) Purdue
27) Ohio State and Wisconsin
33) Illinois and Iowa
48) Northwestern
55) Medical College of Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
67) Case Western

Biology
11) Washington (St. Louis)
13) Chicago
15) Wisconsin
20) Michigan
26) Northwestern
30) Illinois
32) Minnesota
34) Case Western and Indiana
42) Mayo (Rochester, MN)
46) Michigan State and Ohio State
56) Purdue and Iowa
71) Illinois-Chicago and Notre Dame
82) Iowa State
92) Cincinnati

Chemistry
6) Illinois
7) Northwestern and Wisconsin
13) Chicago
16) Michigan
21) Purdue and Minnesota
26) Indiana and Ohio State
33) Washington (St. Louis)
38) Iowa State and Michigan State
67) Case Western, Iowa, Notre Dame, and UIC
74) Wayne State
94) Cincinnati

Finance (Incomplete)
2) Chicago
9) Northwestern
11) Michigan

Accounting (Incomplete)
3) Illinois
4) Chicago
5) Michigan
11) Notre Dame

Law
4) Chicago
9) Michigan
12) Northwestern
19) Minnesota and Washington (St. Louis)
23) Notre Dame
25) Indiana
26) Iowa
33) Wisconsin
36) Ohio State
47) Illinois
68) Case Western and IIT
76) Loyola (Chicago)
80) Michigan State and Cincinnati
94) Marquette
98) IUPUI

Medical (Research)
6) Washington (St. Louis)
8) Chicago and Michigan
18) Northwestern
25) Case Western
27) Mayo (Rochester, MN)
28) Iowa
29) Wisconsin
38) Ohio State and Minnesota
42) Cincinnati
48) IUPUI
51) Medical College of Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
59) Illinois
64) Rush (Chicago)
70) St. Louis and Wayne State

Medical (Primary Care)
7) Minnesota
8) Michigan
11) Michigan State
14) Wisconsin
16) Iowa
19) Mayo (Rochester, MN)
24) Ohio State
31) Northwestern
37) IUPUI
39) Chicago
44) Washington (St. Louis)
49) Case Western
51) Michigan State
55) Medical College of Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
77) Cincinnati
79) Ohio and St. Louis
84) Wright State

[Dreadnought]

I am a native St. Louisian that went to college and grad school in Chicago because I wanted the big city experience, and then worked for CME in the loop for a few years before ultimately deciding to come home to St. Louis. I love both cities, but it really came down to the fact that I wanted to be closer to my family and friends and career is not the most important thing in my life. To me life is too short for that.

It also doesn't hurt that I actually make slightly more money in St. Louis than I was making in Chicago, but my cost of living is much lower. I also get to work with tech/projects that is just as exciting as what I was doing up there. We have many big companies here as well, but of course not as many as what Chicago offers. At the end of the day you should do what makes you happy though, and for me that's not NYC or Silicon Valley.

Incidentally, I have always been a huge Bears fan and often wear my Bears hat or shirts or sweaters around St. Louis, and strangers constantly ask me what part of Chicago I am from because they are from there as well. Lots of Chicagoans down here.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Dreadnought

It also doesn't hurt that I actually make slightly more money in St. Louis than I was making in Chicago, but my cost of living is much lower.

Weird. What field are you in?