University of Chicago Top Questions

What makes University of Chicago better than just about anywhere else at the undergraduate level is that it simply has more possibilities than anywhere else. We are a liberal arts college with 26 nobel prizes in economics and a similar number in physics. Our math department is arguably the most extensive in the country and our humanities is well renowned as well. One friend of mine put it this way. "If there is a specific class or program at Harvard or Princeton that you are afraid is lacking at University of Chicago, don't worry about it. If you can exhaust the knowledge of any U Chicago department, Chicago will write you a recommendation such that you can get any extra instruction you could possibly want or need." This carries through to alumni too because U Chicago builds its reputation on producing successful graduates. If you do well at U Chicago, they will help you succeed after college as well.

Professors know your name if you introduce yourself and class participation... imagine a room of smarter that kids who don't want to be the that kid in this class but secretly all are. It's like that. By which I mean awesome because you learn as much from your fellow students as you do from your teacher. We are pretty competitive generally and I have an academic conversation outside of class at least once a day but they almost always involve the defining of terms within a conversation. The Core, which is like GERs at most schools, is incredibly challenging and if I could have majored in my Humanities core class from first year, I would have. This is not a vocational school. This school will force you to confront who you are and why you are that way and how you got there and you will be a better person for it, but if you aren't ready to face yourself at the molecular level and challenge that, you aren't ready for this school. We don't just challenge the mediums we express ourselves in, we challenge our validity as mediums of thought and we challenge the media itself. This school, if taken seriously, will force you to show yourself who you are. And if you don't take it seriously, you'll be bored but you'll sound smart when you graduate.

Academics at UChicago is simply amazing! We have a very structured core curriculum that allows each student to take a wide array of courses from different subject areas and fields in order to get that well-roundedness that a UChicago degree depicts. About 95{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of classes are taught by professors who are, of course, top in their field. There are about 7 nobel prize laureates (of the 81 that are affiliated with the institution) that are current faculty members here at UChicago. The remaining 5{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} are taught by graduate students who are just left to complete their dissertations. The professors are excellent, very articulate and are available for office hours. Classes vary in sizes based on the type. Core science classes are usually lectures that range from about 60-100 students each with sections that consists of about 18 students. Math, Humanities, Social Sciences, Civilization Studies etc range from about 12 - 20 students with some depending on the reputation of the professor. Students here study a lot! It is the culture of the school and that is why our graduates cop the best positions in whatever career field they go into. It does get a little depressing in the Winter quarter but nevertheless we find ways of making it all the more interesting, and fun. Students are often overheard at the dining tables or in the lounges (AND communal showers) discussing texts from our core Humanities and Social Science classes. People like Kant, Descartes, Plato, Hegel, Adam Smith and Marx spark debates between students here.

The University's Core requirements are excessively large. Students are expected to take almost exclusively Core courses in their first two years of college, so that, compared to students at other universities they will be behind in their major area. Rather than requiring just one course in a breadth of academic disciplines, U Chicago expects students to take at least two or three courses in each of several disciplines. The mathematics department at the University is highly political, and success and acknowledgment in the department is as much a matter of how well you are liked as of how skilled a mathematician you are. Still, the University offers a number of highly theoretical honors sequences that help to prepare the serious student of mathematics for graduate school. The math courses here are truly top notch, and expectations, which are at times exceedingly high, push students to obtain sophisticated mathematical results early on in their career. Additional programs, such as the Directed Reading Program (DRP) and Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) give students experience in intensive, independent research that is extremely valuable as they prepare for careers in mathematics.

U of C has, without a doubt, the best undergraduate program in the country. The Core makes this so, along with wonderful classes and some of the best professors anywhere.

I study every day. My favorite class is spanish. Most of my professors knew my name (except my chem profs--my chem class was a lecture). Class participation is common. Most of my classes were discussions, but frequently the same people (the "that kids") dominate the class discussion. Uchicago students frequently have intellectual conversations outside of class, but almost to the point where I wish they would stop being so intellectual. The core kind of sucks. I think they should revise the core to make it harder on non-science majors. Everyone has to choose between around six hum core sequences and several sosc sequences. There are no non-major and major hum or non-major and major sosc sequences. However, for the science part of the core, non-science majors can choose to take a major sequence (like gen chem, gen physics, gen bio) or a non-major sequence (core bio, global warming, nat sci, ice age). Most of the non-major sequences (with the possible exception of nat sci) are easy. They should make everyone take more rigorous science classes. Science teaches you a unique way of thinking that other academic disciplines don't teach you. Then, I think that everyone should have to take at least gen chem or gen bio or gen physics.

I can hardly imagine a better environment for learning. Classes are small and the professors are brilliant and well-known in their fields. The students are very intelligent, so classes move quickly and many undergraduates enroll in graduate courses at some point in college.

Teachers expect a lot from you, and it can be quite intimidating to speak up in class. Nevertheless, it is doable.

The University of Chicago is a very intellectual and academic place. It is very theoretical and not very practical. Majors like business, marketing, teaching, etc. do not exist. It feels very much like preparation for graduate school and not for the real world.

At U of C there is one thing that I like about the classroom: the teachers know your name. This to some here is a very little thing but it can mean the world to some student here. Something that I hate about here is that, as quoted from Ted O'Neal, "If you got A's in High School expect B's and if you got B's expect C's."