<p>So, I'm really considering the University of Chicago as I go into the application process. I've been reading up on the university and trying to learn more about it. I knew it was very rigorous academically, which attracted me to UChicago. As I kept researching, though, students were complaining of no social life, and I want to know if I go to UChicago will I have SOME social life? I'm ready to be challenged and pushed, yet I want to have some kind of social life too. Is this wishful thinking at UChicago??</p>
<p>anyone at all?</p>
<p>I’m a first year at the college and so far, the social life is what you make it. Sure, there are people who study all the time. But contrary to popular belief, people here ARE social. This was my main concern deciding to come here too and so far, no complaints. It also depends on what dorm you choose to live in, but you will have a social life. Trust me on that.</p>
<p>Think about it this way:</p>
<p>There are no big social events that everybody goes out and does together. (That includes frat parties, homecoming, etc.) But yes, there are a lot of opportunities to be social, whether it be by going out to big parties or just by sitting around and talking.</p>
<p>cool. so its basically a matter of putting yourself out there?</p>
<p>Yah there are no unifying social experiences at Chicago - such as the big saturday football games or thousands of people on a frat row. Instead, the social atmosphere differs from person to person. Choice of dorm can make a difference (with, say, Snell Hitchcock having a very “quirky” [read: odd, close knit, into scav hunt] feel, and other larger houses being more generally social), and it just comes down to what you want to do. </p>
<p>I think at Chicago, the key is, you sort of have to work on the social part of life. Your academics will be demanding, opportunities don’t just fall into your lap - you have to make an effort to make time, hang out with people, etc. It can be rewarding, but academics are definitely at the forefront.</p>
<p>PS - in the past few years Chicago has hired consultants to overhaul the admissions program, but I think consultants could also be used to find the best use of resources to enhance the social life on campus. Back in my day, the College would funnel money into programs that no one really cared about, such as the major activities board, which brought really random bands to campus.</p>
<p>Have you really heard students complaining about having no social life? Or have you heard other high school students saying that they’ve heard that people have no social lives?</p>
<p>I think you will find lots of the latter, but very, very few of the former.</p>
<p>Bit of a related question: any current students want to comment on how much intra-house socializing goes on [something along the lines of house/team spirit] and what portion of the student body participates in scavhunt?</p>
<p>While we wait for current students – </p>
<p>Intra-house socializing: My impression is that it varies from house to house and year to year (i.e., if you get the right combination in a house, there will be more of it, until those people move out). And some people are really into house activities, while others don’t view their house as a very interesting social unit.</p>
<p>Both of my kids reported a lot of intra-house social life at the beginning of their first years, and practically none by the end, but it may have been that their interest in it waned steadily over that period. (Whatever intra-house socializing there was, their interest in it DID wane as the year progressed and they found friends on some basis more firm than proximity.) However, they both maintained at least a few house-based friendships long after everyone had moved out of the house (and in my son’s case now, after the house has ceased to exist).</p>
<p>Obviously, the people who live right near you are going to tend to be the people you get impromptu pizzas with, or take a Wii break with, or hang out and watch House with. There’s lots of that, everywhere. And the RHs get money to sponsor house events, which of course are going to attract interest and participation.</p>
<p>I think “house spirit” tends to be strongest where there is both a large corps of first-years and a significant number of upperclassmen who want to lead it and to maintain traditions. Which probably means in Snell-Hitchcock, and not so much elsewhere.</p>
<p>Scav: This is not unrelated to the house spirit question.</p>
<p>The last few years, there have been 8 or 9 teams participating in Scav Hunt, one of which is composed primarily of non-undergraduates, and only three or four of which have enough people to try to compete seriously on all fronts (which means at least 50-60 people participating actively, and more helping out with one or two items). Counting the (numerous) judges, and discounting the graduate/alumni types, there are probably something like 500-600 hardcore scav participants, maybe twice that many spot-item participants, and a huge number of people who come to whatever party happens mid-Scav. So maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of the college is involved to some extent. (More if you count the party, and if they have a party.)</p>
<p>(Many of the rest probably wish Scav would fall off the face of the earth, or at least go somewhere else. It can be noisy, destructive, and annoying in many ways. Classes get interrupted for pranks, passers-by get accosted for silly things, and you may find your house common room taken over by 30 boys who have not slept, showered, or picked up after themselves for three days. Pretty squalid.)</p>
<p>Snell-Hitchcock seems to achieve near-universal Scav participation, which is why it has dominated Scav recently. Max P generally mounts a serious effort; most of the Max P houses are on one team, but a couple have broken off and joined other teams in the past. The BJ team also gets good participation. Other dorms generally have to combine to get critical mass, or to content themselves with less than a full effort. There is some flexibility – some individuals will join other dorms’ teams because that’s where their Scavvie friends are, or because they are more into it than the people in their dorm.</p>
<p>One of my kids is an enthusiastic Scavvie who lets it take over his life for a week, and I’m sure dreams of becoming a judge. The other one wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot wicker phallus.</p>
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<p>Amen. I lead my life differently from most college students around the country because I choose to lead it differently. The same kids at Chicago chose to take honors physics, literary Chinese, and do University Theater on the side.</p>
<p>As far as inter-house pride and rivalries, I believe there is some. Scav is a high point of pride if you’re into that sort of thing. Even though I moved off campus, I still am familiar with the house first-years… we have parties together, I’m on the house listhost, etc. etc.</p>
<p>Breack has gotten very close-knit in the past year or so. There are a lot of second-years who returned and have been putting their stamp on it. They had paired with another house for Scav in previous years, but last year went solo and did quite well for having a small team compared to some of the others. </p>
<p>JHS – you are right. They didn’t bathe for days. S said he got about five hours of sleep the entire time.</p>
<p>Kind of forgot about this post - thanks for all the info about houses and scav!</p>