University of Chicago Top Questions

Plenty of sex and parties...honestly

UChicago fun is not conventional and so when you become a student your definition of fun (if it entails non-stop parties) will evolve into something that incorporates the many different activities that Chicago has to offer.

It's important to get off campus! This school can get you caught up in doing nothing but work. Organziations and student activities are also a good way to release stress. Cultural organizations are very popular here. I work hard and play hard too. I usually get about 6 hours of sleep a night and I try to squeeze as much fun as I can into my weekends. Many people are into athletics and sports here. The dating scene isn't that great. People are either in serious relationships or not dating at all. The guys here are too scared to start talking with the girls. People party here on most weekends. Off campus, I like to go out to different restaurants or to different neighborhoods in Chicago and get to know the city better.

Frats are more the center of social life for first years, then you go to apartment or dorm parties more. If you don't like the party scene, we have our own campus theater that shows a lot of really great movies (sometimes in advance!) for cheap prices. Also, we're in Chicago. Plenty of stuff to do. Great restaurants, plays, concerts, etc... People make most of their best friends based on which dorm they live with. Otherwise you meet people at parties, in class, friends of friends. Some people you're not even sure how you met them... There are lots of clubs on campus. The dance clubs seem to be very popular, as well as club sports. Crew in particular has a lot of students.

Students in dorms do not generally leave their doors open. Guest speakers are really popular, but theater is not a craze here. I met my closest friends in my dorm and in Soul Umoja and in the Organization of Black Students. If I'm awake at 2AM on a Tuesday (which I generally am), I'm either on the phone or putting off music homework.

Cultural RSOs are pretty popular and put on cultural shows every year--the South Asian Students Association's cultural shows usually attract the biggest crowds. University Theater and Doc Films are both huge, and Fire Escape (our filmmaking group) does a decent amount. Dorms are varied--some dorms are more solitary, others more dormlike--there is a dorm for everybody. Traditions can be quirky--an annual naked run through the quads (that usually attracts more spectators than participants) or a week-long scav hunt that sends students on days-long road trips. I remember a lot of late-night conversations--about politics, about music, about anything and everything; the school has a lot of interested and interesting people. Frats are pretty tired, but they exist and have parties. The neighborhood has a lot to offer those who are daring enough to explore Chicago outside of Hyde Park and downtown.

there's a great queer women scene! it's growing and pretty lesbincestuous (but what lesbian community isn't) but very active. there have been a lot of women-only parties this year. the hallowed grounds is also the site of fabulous family-like community. partying: i party on weekends (including thursday--i can schedule my classes so i have none on friday)...usually apartment parties. i have (and this is a point of some pride) never been to a frat party or to bar night simply because i haven't needed or wanted to. there is enough social life that does NOT revolve around frat boys and cheap beer that it is not hard to avoid that scene, although it's definitely still "normative" and a lot (most?) people engage at one point or another. alcohol is the primary drug of choice; there's a fair amount of weed and a lot of people use cocaine or aderol to study or work (especially during finals week)...

Your first year (and later years, if you so choose) you'll be in the housing system, which will be a community of between 50 and 100 people in the same building and/or floor. This is a really good arrangement, cause each house provides a sense of community and a home base of friends and contacts that you'll likely stay close with throughout your time here. It organizes intramural sports and fun house activities like Karaoke Night or Casino Night. It's way cheaper to move out and into an apartment in the neighborhood, but I'm staying anyway, cause I'm with such a great group of people. The housing system definitely helps offset the isolation of being alone in a multi-thousand person university. The advantage of being in a multi-thousand person university, though, is that whatever you are into, there will be a really strong community into it too. I joined a gospel choir this year just cause I simply wanted to experience it. Having such a big place with a student body with such a diverse set of interests makes for a lot more opportunities to get involved in what you want to get involved in. Sometimes the groups become a little cult-like, though. That gets sorta creepy. The theater people, the ultimate frisbee people... There are also a bunch of traditions like the university-wide Scavenger Hunt in Spring Quarter that is absolutely awesome and sort of weird.

Last Friday some people from my floor and I went to see Lucha Libre (Mexican wrestling) as a House trip. I will just say this: I never want to see a man in pink and purple spandex again. House trips are really fun. You get to spend time with people on your floor and they are usually subsidized with House funds. Can I write about two things? Too late. My favorite thing to do is to explore. The Gothic architecture is just gorgeous, and there are a lot of hidden places. In all the buildings on the main quad there are these mysterious quotes such as, "Illusion, the occurence of illusions is not an, 20," and "Plants, lamps, chairs, thunder and lightning, rocks, etc, 141." They are often hidden in back staircases, so it's really fun to find new ones. So cryptic, and so cool.

If I had to guess: mock trial and debate would be two of the biggest groups on campus. In terms of sports: I do not have much idea, it seems to be pretty evenly dispersed, but track seems to be pretty intense and when there are track meets a lot of people come and watch. I'm involved with the Ultimate Frisbee team and they are a great community: most live in the same apartment and they are very welcoming and friendly and most of my friends/acquaintances come from there. A lot of students leave their dorm rooms empty: the housing system is pretty good: a lot of students bond with their house and make all their friends there. People party a lot, it's college, fraternities are very important because that is where the majority of parties are held. On the weekends, I mostly have tournaments: both in ultimate frisbee and in mock trial. Otherwise, I normally go out to eat with my friends, meet up with out-of-town friends or relatives, or go downtown. Occasionally I see shows downtown; I went to Navy Pier once.