University of Chicago was a very liberal school. I had picked it from a catalogue of schools because i was interested in pursuing a career in foreign service, and that was a school that was recommended. Everybody around me was appalled at the thought of a Central California girl going to a school as far away as Chicago. Even the butcher down at the corner said that I shouldn’t go near Chicago and that UC was in a “bad “ part of town! LOL.
UC Berkeley was as far as my parents were willing to send me, and it took all summer to get them to agree to that. And I accepted UC Berkeley’s offer of admission too late to get a place in a dorm. I rushed for a sorority instead to have a place to live. LOL.
That was my mother's concern too. I lived in SW Michigan, and Chicago was not too far away, and was academically rigorous in a variety of disciplines. That was about all that concerned me at the time. When my mother objected, I opted for the University of Michigan, which also accepted me based on paperwork alone. It was a simpler time in many ways.