Descriptions
Chicago is the largest city in Illinois and the third most populous city in the United States. The city has approximately 2.7 million residents. Its metropolitan area is the third-largest in the United States, after New York City and Los Angeles.
Chicago is listed as an alpha+ global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, and ranks seventh in the world in the 2012 Global Cities Index. The city is an international hub for finance, commerce, industry, telecommunications, and transportation. Among metropolitan areas, Chicago has the fourth-largest gross domestic product (GDP) in the world, just behind Tokyo, the New York City metropolitan area, and Greater Los Angeles, and ahead of London and Paris. Chicago is one of the most important Worldwide Centers of Commerce and trade.
The city lies within the humid continental climate zone, and experiences four distinct seasons.
Education
There are 675 public schools, 94 private schools, 83 colleges, and 88 libraries in Chicago. Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is the governing body of the school district that contains over 600 public elementary and high schools citywide, including several selective-admission magnet schools. There are 9 selective enrollment high schools in the Chicago Public Schools. They are designed to meet the needs of Chicago’s most academically advanced students. The schools offer a rigorous curriculum with mainly honors and Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Northside College Preparatory High School is ranked number one in the city of Chicago. The oldest magnet school in the City of Chicago, Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, was opened in 1975, was attended by the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, and ranked number two.Walter Payton College Prep High School is ranked number three. The Chicago high school rankings are determined by the average test scores on state achievement tests. The district, with an enrollment exceeding 400,000 students (2005 stat.), ranks as the third largest in the US.
Chicago's private schools are largely Catholic and Lutheran schools.Including the Jesuit preparatory schools. Some of the more prominent Catholic schools are St. Rita of Cascia High School, De La Salle Institute, Gordon Technical High School, Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Brother Rice High School, St. Ignatius College Preparatory School, St. Scholastica Academy, Mount Carmel High School, Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School, Marist High School, St. Patrick High School, Maria High School and Resurrection High School. In addition to Chicago's network of 32 Lutheran schools, there are also several private schools run by other denominations and faiths, such as the Ida Crown Jewish Academy in West Ridge. Additionally, a number of private schools are run in a completely secular educational environment, such as the Latin School of Chicago, the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools in Hyde Park, the Francis W. Parker School, the Chicago City Day School in Lake View, the Feltre School in River North and the Morgan Park Academy.
Chicago has been a world center of higher education and research with several universities that are in the city proper or in the immediate environs. These institutions consistently rank among the top "National Universities" in the United States. Top universities in Chicago are: The University of Chicago; Northwestern University; Loyola University Chicago; DePaul University; Illinois Institute of Technology; and University of Illinois at Chicago. Other notable schools include: Chicago State University; the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Illinois Institute of Art - Chicago; East–West University; National-Louis University; North Park University; Northeastern Illinois University; Columbia College Chicago; Robert Morris University; Roosevelt University; Saint Xavier University; and Rush University.