University of Chicago Top Questions

The best thing about this school is that your BA (or B.S.--whatever degree you come here for) will have the name University of Chicago on it. It is a highly-respected university in the world of academia, and you will go far with a degree from UChicago. One thing I'd change about this school is the social diversity. There's not enough. As I stated for an earlier question, a lot of the people at this school fall under that "weird" category, and I began to get fed up with half the people here. I would like to see more black students on this campus, and more things for black students to do. Sure, if I wanted to go to a Greeked-out university with parties and step-shows all the time I would have gone somewhere else, but the reality is that I'm here for that UChicago degree. As far as the size of the University, I love it. It's not too small and not too large. When I tell people I go to UChicago, most say, "Oh, you mean UIC (University of Illinois @ Chicago)." It annoys me that people aren't aware that University of Chicago exists, but those that do know the name reply, "Oh really? wow..." My absolute favorite thing about this school is the independence the students are given. None of the administrators I've met here are the type to treat you like the high school student you're not. The motto here isn't "Don't drink if you're underrage." It's more like "Live and let live--don't be stupid. We're all grown, so let's just have a good time!"

UChicago has everything, but it's not always easy to find. We don't have a pre-law program or an undergrad business degree, but we have advisers in charge of looking after pre-law students, and we have a strong business program (though not a major) that many don't know about. UChicago is a strong brand name, especially among alums. Because the coursework is sometimes so rigorous, people who know about us--especially in academia, but often in business, too--really respect our degree.

U of C has advantages of a big university with lots and lots of resources and research opportunities and advantages of a smaller college in terms of a supportive house community and a commitment to small seminar classes throughout the four years. If you want to seriously engage with ideas and seriously commit to your studies, there is no better community to do that in, in my opinion. People care about what they are studying here. And the work is intense enough that if you don't care about it, you won't enjoy yourself as much. That's why it isn't as good a package for pre-professional people (pre-med, pre-law) or people who see college as the place to get "contacts" to become "well-connected" and "high-powered" in their career.

Me: "I go to the University of Chicago." Them: "Brr!" Chicago winters are honestly not as bad as people make them out to be. If you get a nice warm jacket and some good boots, you're good. I wouldn't suggest having a picnic or anything in February, but the weather is tolerable.

The best thing is probably the workload and professors: they keep everybody (or do their best, at least) on the same page and studying hard. I might mix up the housing system a little, so that students who don't immediately bond with their house have other opportunities to make friends. I feel that UChicago is the perfect size: many people expressed their doubts to me because the graduate school is so much larger than the undergraduate, but I never see the graduate students and they do not at all dominate campus. Some people are really impressed that I go to UofC, but some people think I chose the wrong school (should have gone to a more prestigious one). Some people remark on how dangerous Hyde Park is. I spend most of my time on campus in class. I like a lot of different study spots: so there's no place that I spend a LOT of time at. I feel there is a lot of school pride at UofC and that's one of the reasons that I decided to go here: because the students honestly seemed to love it and that has made me love it to.

The class size here is good. It is large enough that you can't possibly know everyone, but small enough that you feel connected. It has been great meeting a lot of different types of people from various backgrounds with varying interests. There can be said that certain locations attract a certain type of people, but I found that no matter where I decide to spend the time that I have I never feel out of place. This is especially nice in terms of the campus location. Hyde Park is a very interesting neighborhood and relatively close to the center of downtown, just a quick bus ride away. There is so much that Chicago has to offer and it has been really great to have so many people that come here love the city as much as I have and want to stay.

Chicago is a great place to go to get an education. It's close to the city, which is nice, but being in a neighborhood w/ families is great too. At UChicago, we're proud of being crazy-busy, doing lots of homework, and not having a very active social life.

I think U Chicago is just the right size. It's not too small where you know everyone, but it's not too large that you might get lost. Well, people in California don't really know of the school. So when I was first telling people that I was going to attend the school, most of them just warned me about the weather and said bring a heavy coat. Out here, however, people often mistake U of C for UIC and it can be very annoying. Not there this anything wrong with UIC but it's just not the school that I go to. People who understand that I mean University of Chicago usually assume that I must be smart and probably think I might be stuck up. On campus, I tend to be in the library a lot unless I'm running to class or different meetings. I also spend time in the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs building and also the University Community Service Center. Since we are div. III, there's not an overwhelming amount of school spirit on campus. However, there are people that faithfully attend athletic events and I would say they exhibit the most school pride. U Chicago tends to pride itself on being uncommon or unusual. One thing that is unusual is the quarter system and the rigorous, infamous core curriculum. One time that I'll always remember is O Week or the freshman orientation week, because that is the only time when you'll just be on campus with absolutely nothing to do! And even then we had required meetings we had to go to!

Housing setups make it difficult to meet people. In almost all dorms, first years live amongst upperclassmen, meaning that many of your neighbors already have friends and aren't really interested in knowing you at all. The high proportion of dorms with singles or suites with livingrooms and such encourage people to stay in their own rooms rather than socialize. I lived in BJ the first quarter of my first year and I had to move out because I couldn't stand the people there. BJ is mostly singles, and the people there obviously want to be by themselves. At the dinner table there was hardly any conversation. If there was, it was usually about something like the weather or what was for dinner. People were so withdrawn I felt like I didn't know anything about any of them after living with them for three months. Because the social life in the dorms are so poor, many people choose to live of campus after their first year without feeling like they'll be missing much. I'd say a quarter of second years, half of third years, and most fourth years live off campus. This contributes to the complete lack of community. The university is hardly an urban school. Hyde Park does not offer much in the way of activities or even restaurants. Think if it as a suburban school. Really.

If I were accepted to both Harvard and UChicago, I would turn down Harvard and a majority of the people I talk to here would agree... I just transferred here from a large state school, and there are certain things i wish i knew. For one thing, my social life (I don't want to add to stereotypes, I'm speaking as a transfer here) took a real nose dive for a while, and it's only beginning to pick up again. And i mean beyond the expected interim friendless period. It was a real experiment in extroversion. I think the people who make friends the easiest are in dorms, so do that if this is important to you (i live in a townhouse north of campus). Also, anyone with a general thirst for knowledge and unassuming naivety will make friends easier here with the slightly timid, but fundamentally substantial personalities to be found here.