Anyone with any objective views about Chicago, please??

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
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<p>After looking at this forum for a while, I have noticed that the answers to most posts are rather predictable. Overall, I get the impression that the people who post in this forum are inmune to any criticism of the institution itself (there is a newspaper article about this subject coming up soon....). Unfortunately, this contributes to perpetuate certain stereotypes about U Chicago that already exist and that we would rather not have.</p>

<p>Does anyone reading this forum gets that impression? Most forums are somewhat biased in favor of the school in question, but this one is becoming kind of ridiculous...</p>

<p>(corranged, idad, ohiomom, etc...please feel free to take a break now..)</p>

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<p>
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After looking at this forum for a while, I have noticed that the answers to most posts are rather predictable.

[/quote]
That's not at all surprising, especially given the fact that the same questions appear over and over again. I would be worried if answers seemed random or posts regularly contradicted each other and held no common threads.

[quote]
Overall, I get the impression that the people who post in this forum are inmune to any criticism of the institution itself

[/quote]
I am very open to discussing the flaws of the University of Chicago, particularly its flaws for individual students. Many of the prospective students I've hosted or spoken with can attest to that (though to my knowledge none spend time on CC). I am, beyond most other qualities, very honest. The fact is, I am extremely happy with my classes, friends, social life, education, dorm, and overall experience. I feel so satisfied and excited by my experience that I really want to be able to share it all with prospective students. I think I do, though, honestly discuss the University's shortcomings when they come up in questions or conversation.

[quote]
Unfortunately, this contributes to perpetuate certain stereotypes about U Chicago that already exist and that we would rather not have.

[/quote]
Which stereotypes do you not want posters perpetuating? And who is we?</p>

<p>In the end, people who do not like what they read do not need to read it. I feel a responsibility to answer prospective students' questions to the best of my ability, and I know (through many, many PMs) that my efforts are appreciated by prospective students who end up attending, prospective students who go to other schools, and by parents. </p>

<p>I am a naturally loyal person--you'll find I'll also stand up for Notre Dame, Dartmouth, the New England Patriots, my parents, my high school, my friends, and my hometown. My past jobs have been in marketing and development, and I spent time in middle and high school leading tours for prospective families. Maybe I'm just used to speaking up for the people and things I care about and value. I'd rather be blind to some of the school's flaws, though, and really love it, than find myself continually derailed by disappointment and unhappiness by searching for and focusing on anything that's not perfect. I very much believe that I am open to discussing flaws in the school, however. </p>

<p>I love my school. Perhaps I'm guilty of loving it a little too much. I don't think it's such a bad thing.</p>

<p>EDIT: Since when do objective opinions about a college exist, anyway? Evaluating a University is not something that can be boiled down to numbers or condensed into some kind of anthropological study. I think that all of the students who post on this board know that they are getting views from a certain, naturally baised source. The key is to factor in the inherent bias present in any opinion and gather information from a variety of sources. I think all of these students do that in one way or another. There is no single truth in matters of opinion and experience.</p>

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<p>"I get the impression that the people who post in this forum are inmune to any criticism of the institution itself"</p>

<p>yeah i really feel it's much more an issue of the nature of the criticism itself. if somebody wanted to ask about the nature of students in the econ classes here, for example, i'd respond that the econ classes are full of psycophantic morons who make me hate the major/career path every single day I'm here. Unfortunately, we're not dealing with pointed criticisms of the school, we're dealing with person after person going "HAY IS THIS THE SCHOOL WHERE FUN GOES TO DIE???!!!?" If you honestly expect us not to get defensive after hearing that "my brother's friend's sister said that everybody at UChicago is a huge nerd" then I really don't know what to tell you. </p>

<p>We're hardly immune to criticism of the school, we're just going to flat-out reject criticism of the school that's baseless and misinformed. If "presenting a clear, although favorable view of the school" is a stereotypical behavior, then call me guilty - we could use more school pride anyway. and honestly, i'm a little offended that you would compare chicago students to the kids who go to ivy league schools - as somebody with a lot of friends at HPY i can tell you that they're a lot more infatuated with their schools than you believe UC students to be with theirs.</p>

<p>hell, it's even a matter of sample selection - quite simply, people who are indifferent to their school are probably a lot less likely to waste time on college confidential hyping it up to potential students. so drawing conclusions from trends you observe on a single message board is flawed anyway.</p>

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<p>I don't know. Considering you were asked to "rank the ivies" on a previous thread and you were able to come up with a patented ranking methodology, I'm sure you think Chicago is just an inferior school because it's not part of the Crazy 8.</p>

<p>Instead of looking at uberuberuberelite schools on a totem pole system, I like to think of them on a horizon, all on the same level. If one school is objectively "better" than another, it's objectively better on a molecular scale.</p>

<p>And yes, as Jack said, I'm hanging out here because I am totally madly in love with this school, for all the weaknesses that it might have. I'm willing to talk about those weaknesses as they come up, too.</p>

<p>Are you a current student here?</p>

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<p>"Objective view." Is that an oxymoron?</p>

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<p>I am personally grateful to students such as corranged and jack4640 and parents like idad and ohio_mom, as they have helped me understand my own child's selection of Chicago over Stanford and the Ivies.</p>

<p>I think I'd worry about a student who disliked the place and spent (wasted) his or her time bashing it on a board like this.</p>

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<p>Seashore-- I'm glad that helped you. Chicago is all about "fit," and your child won't be alone in choosing Chicago over lots of other top schools. He or she probably won't know it, because it's not something students talk about a lot, but I've learned about enough students turning down schools Dartmouth, Penn, Brown, and Columbia to think that it's not such an unusual choice.</p>

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<p>Thanks, Seashore. As Amykins said, there are a lot of students who chose Chicago over other schools and over full or significant scholarships. I was talking with one of my good friends the other day, and he mentioned (when making a point about keeping the uncommon application) that he had been accepted to half the ivies--and didn't apply to the other half. I was talking to him later, and I said that I was impressed that he had gotten in everywhere he applied. He really dismissed it, saying that everybody here was smart. He wouldn't name the schools he turned down.</p>

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<p>What did you expect? You are in the Chicago forum, after all. There are certainly sweeping statements made on here ("the best undergraduate education," etc.), but the college forums are practically designed to promote propaganda. ;)</p>

<p>In any case, I don't think idad or other posters are any more zealous than Byerly (Harvard), PosterX (Yale), par72 (Holy Cross), et al.</p>

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<p>I'm certainly not objective, but I do try to suggest other schools if a) I think Chicago is a poor fit or b) the student would have a serious problem being admitted. Chicago is not for everyone.</p>

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<p>Aside from the general opinion present in the contents of posts, which may or may not be too positive, i genuinely feel as if i have become more familiar with the school. Students (and Libby) have been selfless in providing information about Chicago, so along with Seashore i want to thank corranged, amykins, jack4640, Libby, idad and ohio_mom. Because of your posts i might not go completly mental over this whole college thing, and I know that UChicago, for better or worse, will be my top coice, and is filled with wonderful and intelligent people.</p>

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<p>Thanks warblersrule86. This forum appears to be practically designed to promote propaganda alright. That's what I find discouraging. The opportunity to make a more believable contribution is lost by the usual spin!. Comments like the one above are even more amazing to me.... Critical Reading, anyone?</p>

<p>I have already received four PMs from posters with (very strong) views which are the opposite to the ones that we usually read here about Chicago. I find interesting the fact that these people have not even bothered to post in here and would rather PM me. What does that say about this forum?</p>

<p>Does anyone really believe idad's S stories? Come on people. I am sure that there is once coming....</p>

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<p>serchingon,
Who are you? A student? A parent? Why are you on this board picking on idad, ohiomom, corranged? What are your motives?</p>

<p>BTW, I don't have a kid in Chicago, although my son did spend last summer there.</p>

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<p>serchingon is a pretentious buffoon who's ticked off that nobody took their stupid, patronizing posts in the "med school placement" thread seriously. you'll notice that this thread is just a thinly-veiled attack on corranged and idad, both of whom had the nerve to provide opposing opinions in that thread. </p>

<p>there are plenty of reasoned critiques of the school floating around this board. we're not like, engaged in some massive coverup of how much the school sucks so that we can trick people into coming here. </p>

<p>furthermore, it's entirely possible that there are some people here who are overdefensive and praise the school too much, but to generalize about the entire institution from the posting habits of a handful of people on a message board is dumb. </p>

<p>if you could make your point without trying to sneak in casual insults of the posters, the students and the school, people would take you seriously. but you don't, so you're either trolling or have poorly-developed social skills. if i wanted to hear some nerd expounding at great length about their worthless opinions i would have taken a third quarter of hum.</p>

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<p>serchingon,
well, now that you have eliminated Chicago, you will better be able to concentrate on the list of schools to which you will apply. Identifying schools that are not a fit is quite useful in determining schools that are. What majors are you considering?</p>

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<p>Haha I made the same exact observation, jack! I thought I had heard (read?) the name serchingon somewhere before..and then that incident about med school admissions struck me. He`s also known to rank the ivy league schools too on other forums.</p>

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<p>Again, anyone with any objective views about Chicago, please???</p>

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<p>Again, you can<code>t really have</code>objective views` about a school or anything for that matter. If you are sincerely interested about obtaining such information why dont you just go to the school and see for yourself. Even descriptions in college books like Princeton review are somewhwat biased.</p>

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<p>You haven't addressed the problem Idad and I pointed out about the inherent issues (impossibility?) in getting any kind of objective opinion about a university.</p>

<p>EDIT: Cross posted with Japstudent12. :)</p>

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<p>Why are you so obsessed with finding an objective view? You're essentially looking for a robot with no personal opinion who happened to attend Chicago or is a parent of a Chicago student. Even if such a robot existed and was willing to cooperate with you, what could it really tell you. Describing anything is inherently subjective. Sure it could tell you, "I saw a student; he was 6'1"; he carried a book." But I don't think that's what you desire. Also, how can anybody rank colleges when at best, he or she is limited by their personal experiences. For someone to truly reach objectivity, they would have to attend every single college simultaneously while maintaining a robotic outlook on life. Obviously you have a problem with Chicago, so just cross it off your list and move on with your life.</p>