University of Chicago Top Questions

as an undergrad, students can take seminars with huge names, and get one-on-one contact. the faculty is amazing, and their willingness, and even eagerness to interact with the student body is kickass.

Small classes, accessible professors, LOTS of homework. But you know what, it works. You start a language in 101, and walk out of the classroom on the first day being able to speak it with the right accent. Your professors CARE about what they teach, and they want you to go to office hours. You meet people that just utterly amaze you with their devotion and intelligence. And you work your ass off to get good grades. But so does everyone else. Plus, the CORE is an experience that shows you things that you want to do for the rest of your life, and things that you never want to go anywhere near again. Plus.... You end up reallllllyyyyy good at Scrabble! :)

UChicago=academics. There is no doubt that you are getting a liberal arts education here; the Core is the general education requirement, and it will be a large part of your first and second years. It includes a foreign language requirement, a humanities sequence, a social science sequence, a civilizations sequence, a music/art/drama requirement, physical and biological science sequences, a math sequence, and even physical education. The Hume and Sosc classes are known for being small discussion classes (less than 20 students usually) taught by renowned professors as well as legitimate grad students. Math, science, and history classes tend to be a bit bigger (anywhere from 30-200, depending on the class), but the professors are almost always approachable no matter what the class size. TAs are also helpful in the event you can't speak to a professor. The workload varies, but I'd say it's more than almost any other college around. Luckily, I find most of the readings, problem sets, and essays to be helpful and somewhat fulfilling rather than just busy work. To end with a cliche, UChicago's slogan "The Life of the Mind" really is an accurate depiction of the academics.

What can I say? Amazing. My whole outlook on Biology and the study of Biology changed a few weeks into my Chicago education. My outstanding teachers and amazing peers opened up a view of this subject that I had been searching for unsuccessfully all through high school. Although the class itself was extremely challenging for me, someone who had never encountered this way of thinking, I developed a true, intense intellectual interest in the subject. The entire approach to biology was brilliant and I will always remember this class (AP Fundamentals sequence) in a fond way. My other classes have been rewarding, albeit in different ways. I truly enjoy the very discussion-based atmosphere of all of the classes I've taken so far, even if the content wasn't as interesting to me. I feel as if it makes the classes that much more interesting for those who are interested in it and bearable for those who have interests that lie elsewhere. And I'm not going to stretch the truth -- there are days when some classes are an extreme bore, but on the whole I have been extremely impressed with the academic culture at Chicago.

The Core. That is probably the most distinguished aspect of the academic life in the UofC. Each student are expected to read Classics, like the works of Plato, Aristotle, and other Greek academia, study the Social Science inquiries, and equip ourselves with a language and knowledge on civilizations. What makes these Core Classes interesting is the fact that they are discussion-based classes, but that also means an average weekly read of at least 100pages. That may be a pain in the neck, especially when you have to juggle two essays, calculus problem sets, and lab reports at the same time. Hell yeah, we take pride in believing that "Hell does freeze over" here in the UofC.

Academics are hardcore, though not as killer as some make them out to be. To be honest, many here enjoy or are amused by the stereotypical rigor of our classes, and play up these stereotypes for the sake of humor or self-pity. Class discussion reveals the presence of both the super-brilliant and the relatively dense. Professors are, on the whole, great, but there are certainly a few duds. Most are very accessible, and usually know students' names, as the classes are smaller than one would expect at a school of this size. Learning here definitely focuses on the theoretical over the practical, sometimes to a comical degree, and other times to a seemingly tragic one as graduates shop around resumes which show them to be very well-educated but ill-prepared for employment. Most students, despite their complaints, like it this way. Many find jobs, but most go on to graduate or professional school. The standard liberal arts majors abound, but nothing resembling pre-professional. Interdisciplinary and self-directed majors are numerous and relatively popular. Many students appreciate the common core, but end up resenting it because of its narrow restriction of study the first few years. It assures a good distribution of classes, but the classes which constitute it are too narrowly defined.

The Core: I didn't really like the core. It was too little options and being forced to take classes that aren't that worthwhile. I'm all for branching out, it is just that instead of being able to take classes that interested me outside of my discipline, I had to take ones from specific sequences. That being said it is nice knowing you have read a broad base of historical literature. Theory: That is pretty much all that is taught here. Physics classes, writing classes, they all revolve around theory. Professors: I don't think the profs here are much greater than anywhere else. Some are good, some are terrible, so I would guess the same as any other school. Quarter System: No matter what they tell you, you really aren't getting that many more classes out of the quarter system than elsewhere. For electives it is better because you can take more individual classes. On the other hand a year of introductory physics here is the same as anywhere else, even if it is broken into three classes instead of two. And in that sense you actually take less classes, because you can only fit so many sequences in your schedule on top of the core. I found that there were many classes I wish I could have taken but didn't have the time, and I blame it on the quarter system and the time. The name UofC might not carry much weight with your friends, or people who confuse with UIC, but for internships I think people will recognize the name, especially for physics.

Professors are excellent, and most definitely know my name. They really make an effort to be available. Class participation is extremely common and high encouraged. UChicago students DO have intellectual conversations outside of class, as their reputation holds. And the best part about this is that it's not a bunch of pretentious snobs speaking to hear their own voice but really have no idea what they are talking about - these intellectual conversations are grounded on and based firmly in the academic experience acquired here at UChicago.

The academics are amazing, but waaaaaaaaay to intense, needlessly so. One thing that attracted me to this school was the extensive core classes -- I wanted to be as they say here a "Renaissance Man" (well-rounded and learned). Sadly, the core is possibly the worst part of U of C's academics. You will be taught these classes by new teachers (who have just gotten out of graduate school and want you to suffer just as much as they did), who are inexperienced and do not want to teach the subject. And, they rush you through material so fast that you cannot actually think about or internalize the knowledge you are supposed to be learning. I am a sociology major, because I took an amazing class "Inequality: Race, Gender, and Neighborhood" by Mario Small which changed my perspective on the world.

Good. Very!