University of Chicago Top Questions

This is the Holloween Concert by University Of Chicago Symphony Orchestra on 10/28/06 at Mendall Hall.

The myth with uchicago is that students only do work, that they don't get out and play. This may be true with a certain group on people, but on the whole falls short as a description. There are many parties to go to, and certainly other ways to have fun. The Scav hunt is really quite famous (look it up on wikipedia). Athletics aren't that popular, but we do get a lot of guest speakers (in my freshman year, Bill Gates, Madeline Albright, Steven Levitt who is a professor at Uchicago, just to name a few).

If I were awake at 2am on a Tuesday, I'd probably be either watching Star Trek online, working on a paper, or reading about current events. There are a lot of social activities that don't involve drinking, like going downtown, watching movies on laptops, going to the lake, playing soccer or ultimate frisbee, or attending a free concert on campus. I met my closest friends in the dorms. Athletic events tend not to be popular. I went to exactly one athletic event my whole time here: a football game, first year.

If I'm awake at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday, odds are a few of my friends came into my room before I went to sleep (I'm a bit fanatical about my 8 hours, which is really rare around here) and we started talking. Three hours later, I'm still awake, we're looking up stuff on youtube or Wikipedia and still just talking about whatever. Since I live in the Shoreland, a dorm with apartment style rooms, my roommate probably baked something at some point, and the three of us are probably eating it. If I'm awake at 2 a.m on a Saturday, I'm probably out at a party, dancing around or eating the chips and dip.

Generally I meet my best friends through the house system and date outside of it (generally meeting girls at school-sponsored clubs and events). You will make very good friends very fast here, probably from your house/dorm, or maybe from class. However, the dating scene is very tricky. Usually people have so much work and such divergent interests that relationships last only a few months. There are notable exceptions to this, however, the most common complaint that I hear is that couples can't spend enough time together because they are always busy with their own activities. It is possible to have good relationships at U Chicago but it is difficult. People generally find group activities to enjoy together like discussing politics and philosophy in house common rooms or sports like midnight soccer that don't interfere with class schedules. Usually in the common room everyone will be part of some kind of conversation but many of them will be working on homework while participating in the discussion.

Some dorms leave their doors open, some don't. Athletic events are sparsely (at best) attended, probably because the popcorn is worse than the skills displayed. There is usually one frat party a week if you want one, but most people watch movies, leave Hyde Park, or go to apartment parties. Coffeeshops are huge for social interaction, as is the first floor of the library. The dating scene is hard because people here are often socially inept and those that aren't wind up dating in a relatively incestuous group or dating frat boys, in which case... well. Frats actually only constitute something like 9{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the student body. Every year, there is Scav and Summer Breeze in the spring: one, a three day scavenger hunt taken very seriously by about half of campus. The other, a massive concert. I met my closest friends in housing or through RSOs; if you are awake at two am on Tuesday you are studying or watching tv online.

There are over 500 Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) here at UChicago. They range from cultural organizations, student support groups, politically related groups to sports teams, greek life and a host of others. Athletic events are not the most popular thing on campus, however, our sports teams do very well in their competitions. I think my favourite RSO that I'm involved with is Model UN (MUNUC). We do not compete but we organize a Model UN conference for high schoolers in downtown Chicago. We spend weeks upon weeks simulating, writing papers and thinking of how to make our committee the best. Then we spend a weekend conducting the conference at a REALLY nice hotel, a weekend that immediately follows the first round of exams so it's quite fun. The students are great, and we have fun providing them with an educational even while at the same time ensuring that they too enjoy themselves. Students here are VERY warm and friendly. My dorm is one of the most social dorms on campus. We have small bedrooms but huge lounges so people are forced to socialize. Also the communal, co-ed bathrooms are just another aspect of how far our social skills and experiences are stretched. Students will prop open their doors and you cannot help but stopping by to say hello, to be offered a snack or just join in on an interesting conversation, movie or video game. We're up pretty late (average bedtime is about 2AM) and of course there are those that pull the regular all-nighters while taking breaks to engage in a game of Super Smash! People drink do drink a lot here, usually at some frat party on the weekend but it is not overdone. Of course, it's a college campus so you're going to have the regular drunk, wasted people staggering the sidewalk and random people hooking up. Lots of students date and are engaged in what we refer to as 'housecest'. There are however a few awkward people that remain in the minority here at UChicago. We have really random events and traditions here, like the track team streaking through the library in finals week, polar bear run in winter, kuvia festival, Summer Breeze concert and my favourite Shake day on Wednesdays at the one of the 12 coffee shops on Campus.

There is a rift between the large portion of the student body that does not party, and the equally large portion that parties regularly. An unusually high proportion of the student body here does not even drink, and does not even on occasion go to parties. Still, as at any university, there are many students here who go to parties multiple times (at fraternities or apartments) throughout the week, and come home loud and drunk late at night. This can be quite obnoxious to students who would rather sleep at night, or to the many students who study late into the night and would appreciate peace and quiet. Still, it is generally true here that you will not be judged for whatever you like to do, unless of course it is directly harmful to those around you. For example, you will not be pressured to drink any more than you will be judged for drinking.

The major annual traditions include Kuvia/Kangeiko (a week of morning yoga in the dead of winter culminating with a naked run from one end of the quad to the other), Scav Hunt (the largest scavenger hunt in the world. rather esoteric event), various Doc Films events, Summer Breeze (carnival on the quads with a music festival in the evening).

Folk Arts Community is awesome. We put on monthly contra dances, quarterly concerts, and a annual dance weeked. some people leave their doors open. guest speakers are popular athletic events not so much theater is popular If I'm awake at 2 am on a Tuesday, I'm probably doing homework Scav, kuvia, and summer breeze are our main traditions Party nights are wed., fri., sat., but I'm not really into the party scene I'm not planning on joining a sorority. There are only three on campus. They don't play a huge role. They are there if you want them. The only downside to the greek life is that pretty much every first year in my house joined a frat/sorority. So, we don't really have much of a house identity because everyone is involved in greek life. Last weekend, I went to our June contra dance. It was fun. It was also reading period, so I studied a lot. You can do lots of things on a Saturday night that doesn't involve drinking...homework, watch a movie, go to doc, go to a play, performance etc..., go out to dinner, go out into the city We went to Lincoln Park Zoo a couple of weekends ago.