University of Chicago Top Questions

Some of the most popular groups on campus would have to be cultural organizations. Political and activist groups are also popular.

The University of Chicago has over 500 registered student organizations, over 400 of which are for undergraduates, so there isn't really a group of "most popular" groups. There is literally a club or organization for everyone. A list of all of them can be found at https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/studentlife/activities/clubs.shtml As for activities, most students study/procrastinate more than they do anything else. Indeed, students have to do so much work to succeed at this school. However, we also know how to have fun. Here are some of the things students do: --Fraternity parties on Friday and Saturday nights --Concerts and shows by Off-Off Campus (a well-known improv group) and other student organizations --Free food all over campus all the time --Summer Breeze, a huge concert and carnival held in Spring Quarter (the headliner this year is Ludacris) --Scav, an enormous scavenger hunt that takes place Spring Quarter --Go downtown for concerts, shows, shopping, lots of stuff. The Resident Masters of all the dorms also sponsor awesome trips to Cubs games, concerts (Yo-Yo Ma and Lang Lang, for example), and other fun things. --Hyde Park Jazz Festival in Fall Quarter --Skating on the outdoor Midway ice rink in the winter --Intramural Sports (think ultimate frisbee and inner-tube water polo) School can be tough, but there are always fun and interesting things to do here.

They are all important--everyone will have an argument as to why!

cool

MUNUC, ChoMUN, The Maroon, Phoenix Fund, Women In Business, Mock Trial. Student Government, University Theatre, Rhythm and Jews, Chicago Mens A Capella, Doc Films. UBallet, Council on University Programming (COUP)

Clubs/organizations: I personally am not overly involved in student clubs on campus (We call them "RSOs" for Registered Student Organizations) but this mainly has to do with my personality type. (Not especially a "joiner".) However, I still feel very involved with campus, because most campus events are open to everyone and organizations are always welcoming new members. Especially popular groups on campus are University Theater, Women in Business, Peer Health Exchange, Model UN, just to name a few. (THERE ARE A TON.) This is one of the things I love about Chicago, if you want to join a club, they are always there, but there is no pressure if they are not really your thing. Dorm Life: Dorms sort of develop their own personalities. The college is divided into houses...your house (think Harry Potter...) consists of the people you live and eat with. You can be as involved or uninvolved with house activities as you want. We have house tables in the dining halls so you almost never have to sit alone. Your house sponsors trips and activities such as going out to dinner, going to see shows, and movie nights, so if you are kind of shy at making your friends on your own this is a good way to get to know people. It depends on the night as to whether or not doors are open or closed or if people are being rowdy or quiet. (Most of the time pretty quiet...) Everyone feels very safe leaving their doors unlocked, and it is not unusual to have a random techno-music study break in the hall at 2:00 in the morning. Dating/Social Scene: I think that the dating is pretty typical of any college campus. There are people who date exclusively, there are people who hook up casually, there are people that are seemingly asexual. People party Friday and Saturday nights (this is probably my biggest complaint about the school....It would be nice to have the option of going out more than one or two nights a week, but oh well) Parties are usually held at the frat houses or apartments around campus...word generally travels by mouth. Most of the frats charge a $5 cover to cover alcohol costs, which I found unusual, but apparently it is to make up for the low dues of being a member here. I know a lot of people involved in Greek life, though I think that is the nature of being someone who likes to go out a fair amount, because officially only somewhere around 10{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the student body is affiliated. I am not personally, but my best friend is, and they are generally very welcoming at the parties. When we go off campus pretty much we eat, eat, eat. There is SO much good food in Chicago and so many diverse neighborhoods. The dining halls close at 2:30 on Saturdays, so we usually use that as a day to go out and explore the city and have dinner. We also hit up museums and shows....though it takes at least an hour to get anywhere on public transportation so sometimes laziness gets the best of us. Overall, the social life is what you want it to be, but there is no way to get around how much studying is necessary at this school. That being said, I have found some of the best friends in the world here, so even when I'm in the library in the middle of the night working on a terrible paper it is hard to be miserable.

Your closest friends will be your housemates. The system is built, it seems, to force interaction between the stereotypical socially reclusive Chicago students, but it works to form close friendships and make the medium sized university feel small. I love that I can walk down the hall to my house lounge and always find a friend to procrastinate with or go to the dining hall by myself and always find someone at the house table to have a conversation with. Greek life is much bigger than I thought before I came here, but is not at all dominent. I'd say the majority of people I know went to frat parties first week and only return when there's nothing better to do. Apartment parties are a common weekend activity if you know upperclassmen. There's always a million things happening Friday and Saturday nights, though two frats host events every Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, as well. For non-drinkers, there's always a show or a concert or some sort of activity going on. I'd say I know more people who drink then who don't drink, but there is never any pressure to drink or a feeling that one won't have fun if one doesn't drink.

The dorm system is organized into "houses," with whom you celebrate house traditions, play intramural sports, etc. Most people get pretty into them, since they're done with the people you live with. Outside of just dormmates, there are plenty of campus clubs (complete with quirky names) and events; the occasional concert in Mandel Hall is always popular. Fraternity and apartment parties can always be found on the weekends and are typically pretty packed, but certainly not every student is partying, so you get to pick and choose.

There are multiple groups on campus and they are separated into different sectors. Multicultural groups are some of the most fun to get involved with and I am involved with PanAsia. Through this group, I have gotten to meet with artists and stars from all over the world and bring them to U.Chicago to celebrate Asian American culture. We have a lot of greek life on campus as well and they host parties, fundraisers and events for the schools. My friends who are in these programs really love it and say that they have met life long friends there. Our fraternity brothers and sorority sisters are not like those at other schools though because they do mingle with other students and meet the high standard that our school sets for academics. Pre-professional programs are also very common in different kinds of jobs. Finance, consulting, marketing, medicine and another progressional all have groups on campus that give relevant experience to our major since we are a liberal arts school. I am involved with one called Eckhart Consulting and I have gotten to do consulting work for a number of different clients in the city of Chicago. We also just have a bunch of different organizations such as MUN, Mock Trial, Debate, and Student Government. We also have many clubs started that are for entrepreneurship and for those interest in sports. Bascialy, there are a million things to do on campus and when you are not participating in clubs, you can do other things. On a typical Saturday night, there are parties where you can go drink and be social. But for those who don't want to drink or want to party in a different setting, there are other things. We have Doc, which provides cheap movie screenings of recent movies every weekend and people go out to dinner in all kinds of places such as Chinatown or downtown. We can go shopping or just hang out with friends at people's apartments. People go to the Chicago Theater for shows and on weekends, our school hosts large events such as a Spring Carnival, concerts with Wale and sports games. You name it, you can do it at U.Chicago.

While students are involved in all kinds of RSO's (registered student organizations) the two I am most involved in are Peer Health Exchange (and organization that has college students teach health to 9th grade students in Chicago) and my sorority. The students do not take their commitments lightly. My Peer Health Exchange group meets at least once a week as well as teaching once a week. Greek life, while it is growing quickly at Chicago, still allows its students to be as involved as they want to be; a student can do the bare minimum, and just go to chapter meetings once a week, or take on leadership roles, go to every mixer, etc. Because of the house system at Chicago, students often bond heavily with the students in there house and often socialize in their dorm. Students often take advantage of being 20 min from downtown Chicago by going shopping, seeing shows, going to bars, going to concerts, etc. A social person at Chicago probably goes out 3 times a week, but it is definitely not the type of school where there are parties every night of the week.