<p>I've been increasingly unsure of whether or not I'd be a bad fit for UC. Stats wise, I'm in the range for accepted students and my ec's are also on par, but if I were to get in, I'm not sure I'd like the environment. I'm 16 right now (a rising senior) who's probably planning on UC EA but I'm not so sure I dig the whole "its where fun goes to die" vibe. I've drank and I smoke with friends (not cigarrettes haha) and I do think I could see myself getting into a party scene or frat environment in college. I'm just worried that I might be in the minority here at UC. I appreciate everything it has to offer academically, and I like the whole learning for learning's sake thing but I am only a self motivated learner when it comes to things I care about or am interested in, but not much else, hence my whole iffyness about the Core. My parents really want me to go here but I'm not so sure given what I've heard about the school's social scene. Personally, I could see myself enjoying life a lot more at Dartmouth, Duke or Brown, but I'm not so sure and I'm not sure I could justify turning down UC (especially to my parents). I'm visiting tomorrow, so hopefully I'll get a better idea then, but if any UC students want to chime in with their thoughts or experiences, I'd be grateful.</p>
<p>Based on my visit, (frosh next fall) which is as badly representative a sample as your trip is, it doesn’t live up to that slogan. I had a mini hangover in the morning and a couple of the girls I ate lunch with did as well. Two unrelated girls the night before were the best at beer pong I’d ever seen and a high school friend of mine has a sister @ uchicago who parties a lot, like a lot. Not in a position to say anything about pot from first experience but second hand it’s widely available and if you get the right RA it’s not an issue unless your smell from your room seeps into the hallway on a daily basis. Not gonna comment on other substances on this forum.</p>
<p>Some dorms party more than others, if you end up getting in and going I would suggest Max P and that’d be enough, no need to join a frat or anything to have fun. </p>
<p>Core-wise I mean that can be a deal breaker but it honestly shouldn’t. You can go to brown for like full freedoms (yay!) but the individual requirements of the core classes can be met by different things on the spectrum, like one of them can be either a 2/3 course series that reads plato-like-stuff or one that reads science journals. Like actually go to the syllabus online and plan out a four year schedule of 42-8 credits and see if in the end there are actually classes that you wouldn’t be self-motivated about.</p>
<p>Lastly, about the parent-pressure aspect like that’s total crap that you must overcome. If you’re a self-motivated person, the only important thing is which college will motivate you to be the best, not which is abstractly ‘better’ from their perspective. My folks preferred I didn’t say yes to uchicago but I did because I felt I fit in with the students I met there (they in no way met the stereotypes btw). Anyway good luck on getting into those colleges.</p>
<p>No offense but you’re time at UofC this weekend will probs not be representative since you’re visiting at a time when most student have gone home for the summer. </p>
<p>“Where fun goes to die” is a joke that refers to UofC’s students always wanting to learn more and more because they’re curious about the world around them and aware that there’s too much too learn in too little time. They’re also aware that it’s impossible to know everything and therefore go and have a good time quite regularly.</p>
<p>Cheers to all, but if you don’t think you’ll fit in at an academic powerhouse, then don’t go to an academic powerhouse.</p>
<p>Because they’ll post things like this:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/drank.html[/url]”>www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/drank.html</a>
The same is true of “drink.” Don’t say “I’ve drank the beer” unless you want people to think you are drunk. An even more common error is “I drunk all the milk.</p>
<p>ignore truth123, he’s ‘that’ insecure poster on this forum that keeps posting every positive article he can find about the university. He’s not a ■■■■■ per se but tbh everyone would prefer not to be associated with his one-sided, and irrelevant posts which is why most of his topics have 0 replies. Case in point, he took your post in which you clearly state you’re interested in the academic rigor and your concern was about ‘fit,’ and replied with ‘you’re not smart enough to come here, as evidenced by a grammar mistake. durrr.’ Just go through his history on this forum…yeah. Sorry he hasn’t gone away yet ={</p>
<p>In my opinion, what I’d be most concerned about is the Core and how that fits with you. If, as mentioned, you live in say Max P you won’t have trouble finding parties, people to drink and smoke with etc. I’d say that it’s not that everyone here eschews all partying and fun, but more that people have other things that take up a lot of time, and have to balance that, which may lead to a more subdued balance than at most colleges.</p>
<p>Lol thanks, truth123, let’s compare test scores sometime :P</p>
<p>But in all seriousness, even though the tour was during the summer I did appreciate getting a first-hand look at the school. I live close by anyway, so I’ll probably visit at least a few more times. The posts about the social life (at some of the dorms) were definitely helpful, I’ll try and schedule an overnight at Max P or South Campus (if possible, idk what my options will be) and get a better idea of the social life here. </p>
<p>I think I’ll have to look more into the core myself and see just how much leeway it gives me. I still think I’d prefer the Brown/Amherst mentality (open curriculum) just because for example, I dislike Chem but I’d be forced to take some vaguely chem-related class before I graduate when I’d rather be taking a civ or history or math class.</p>
<p>Well all the chem/physics/bio stuff you get out of with a 4/5 on the AP exam. The only stuff you actually need to take is the six or whatever it is of core classes, and maybe a quarter of math.</p>
<p>
I don’t know if partiers are actually a minority here, but that scene is not hard to find at all. During your first year though, it really depends on what dorm you end up in. Max P, South, and BJ have large contingents of partiers. Smaller off-campus housing tends not to cater as much to that. If that’s a big concern for you, I would put down your enrollment deposit as soon as possible (if you’re accepted obviously). Those dorms tend to fill up fast, especially with Pierce being torn down and the college over-enrolling for a few years now.
Like LearningLover said, you wouldn’t necessarily have to take chem. All science, math, and foreign language requirements you can potentially bypass through AP credit. Your sciences don’t even have to be that rigorous; you could take global warming instead of chem, or you could take metabolism & exercise instead of biology. There’s really only about 9 classes that you absolutely can’t place out of/take a dumbed-down version of, and they’re all humanities-oriented.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If you’re okay getting low grades in classes you’re not going to work for but be asked to take, then sure, maybe this is a fit. </p>
<p>At the same time, why are you thinking of wasting time and tuition dollars, as well as another deserving applicant’s seat, applying to a college where you don’t see yourself engaging in small discussion classes? These are unavoidable here, and I (as an alumna of a certain vintage) always looked forward to going to classes where students would be active in participating in discussions and caring about the material. Are you going to be “dead weight” in those classes? That wouldn’t be fun for you or for your classmates.</p>
<p>And perhaps this is my old-age arthritis setting in, but to assume that Brown, Duke, and Dartmouth is “easy,” social," or “work hard/party hard” in a way that the University of Chicago is inherently not is a vast oversimplification of all of these schools’ cultures and communities. Any time you bring 5,000 or so active, bright, and interesting 18-22 year-olds into a relatively confined space, many different things happen.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Sigh. Please don’t think that the primary benefit of a schools with open curriculum models is avoiding classes you don’t like. While I don’t personally agree with the open curriculum model, I absolutely appreciate that Brown has put a lot of thought into why their curriculum is the way it is, and if you are looking at schools like Brown, I think you should read what they have to say about their own education and ways to improve it:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.brown.edu/web/pae/documents/Task_Force_Undergraduate_Education_Final_Report.pdf[/url]”>http://www.brown.edu/web/pae/documents/Task_Force_Undergraduate_Education_Final_Report.pdf</a></p>
<p>Bottom line is, if you don’t have an open-mind to at least trying a non-major version of a subject you don’t like, then you may not be the right fit for UChicago. I may not like the hard sciences, but hey, I’m willing to try the core bio sequence and learn a bit about cell processes, and I am really interested in a less-physicsy version of astronomy which they do offer in physci.</p>