<p>I am a prospective who went to one of those parties. It did not mess with how I feel Chicago is. I know not to expect partying like that during the week (and why would you want it) but I know that it is available when you might have the time. My hosts were awesome and they made it very clear that the school is very work oriented but fun is still there. UofC from the looks of it looks like a great mix of study and play. I cannot wait for September. </p>
<p>Also... OF COURSE the campus would be much quieter on a normal Monday, but who cares?</p>
<p>I was a little dissapointed by the overnight - but I think alot of it was from staying in MaxP and the bad class I visited. Overall though, it hasn't deterred me from going next year. I don't think I got an accurate feel of the place either weather-wise or people, but at least I got to see the campus :p.</p>
<p>there seems to be a lot of disappointment/negativity towards the 10-11 visit. ahh! this is making my decision for college more complicated. could you guys elaborate more on why it was disappointing?(pyramid!) and what exactly do you guys mean by the "traditional" college experience?</p>
<p>gee... i had fun. maybe i just define fun differently, or maybe i got lucky with who i hung out with and what i did, or maybe i'm just gung-ho about college and had myself convinced that this was going to be awesome before i even showed up.</p>
<p>classes were awful, but i think that that might have been because they've already been in class for 3 weeks, and a lot of the basic explanatory stuff was already covered.</p>
<p>drinking coffee=making me sleep for some reason. i drank a cup of their coffee every time before i went to a class/presentation, and i still fell asleep.</p>
<p>I attended a class called Human Being and Citizen which is highly acclaimed depending on the professor. The person teaching the class I attened was a post-doc who had know idea what she was talking about. They were discussing Kant's categorical and hypothetical imperatives and she was completely unable to lecture or answer questions: she basically sat there dumbly and took notes while a few people discussed it. Whether that has to do with the material or not I'm not sure. It <em>is</em> Kant after all :p</p>
<p>I think the thing to do next year when picking classes is to practice some ageism - when in doubt, pick the older professor. They're more likely to know what they're talking about. Never go for some random person with a "teaching fellowship"...not good...</p>
<p>wow so much negative experiences ... :/ yikes !!!
im visiting there next week.... i hope it's worth it cuz i m missing my calc BC final/practice AP exam for this... </p>
<p>wow classes are boring/unethusiastic? ahhhh i hope i dont fall asleep in any of the classes.. now im kind of worried... T_T</p>
<p>It's really hard to choose which class to take: they give you a list with more than 80 classes and you have a couple of minutes to choose: it's a crapshoot really. Even though I didn't have the greatest time it still hasn't deterred me from going next year. I saw enough of the good to make my decision. :)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Every student I met was incredibly smart and friendly</p></li>
<li><p>The campus is beautiful and impressive, although it was a little fractured, with streets running through it</p></li>
<li><p>Although the course I attended wasn't that great, every person I talked to really enjoyed all of their courses and raved about their professors. If they didn't like one professor, they simply tranferred.</p></li>
<li><p>The city of Chicago is amazing and the opportunity to explore it for 4 years is exciting</p></li>
<li><p>The administration was very considerate and helpful and seem to help the students as much as possible.</p></li>
<li><p>There were plenty of student clubs and activities to join and all of them seem well attended and full of enthusiastic members</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I think you'll understand what I'm talking about once you've visited - Chicago simply has an atmosphere you'll love or hate. A word of caution: the night I went (yesterday) there were 3 frat parties which about 90% of the people in Max-P Graham House attended. I <em>didn't</em> go - and I don't think this is a typical representation of the college. If this isn't what you were imagining either, don't worry, and if it was then keep in mind that this was a special event. If you have an questions please PM me.</p>
<p>I am actually surprised at all of the negative comments - and they mainly aren't even on the partying I was talking about! :)</p>
<p>Select profs are very, very good, and I have even had grad students for Greek who were quite outstanding, as they are more "human" than the profs. Because of that, they may even be able to explain the "dumb questions" without making one look stupid.</p>
<p>Okay.
Ive kinda skipped over explaining why the program was so horrible because I was in a really really bad mood this morning, and felt that I couldnt be objective about it. Also I think quite a bit of why it was bad had more to do with me and bad luck than any actual problem inherent in Chicago or the program.
However misery loves company so:</p>
<p>Why it sucked:</p>
<ol>
<li> I was there alone and I knew no one. It was a precursor of next fall. Being alone would not have been quite so bad if it wasnt for the fact that there was some blank time in the program. I did introduce myself to other people who looked alone and we ended up wandering about, but it was very awkward. [My little ****: The administration should have arranged an alternative for us to do during that blank hour.]</li>
<li> I got very little out of the scheduled programs. The general feeling was that I could have read the information at home, and indeed had gotten much of the information at home. The talks I went to (Economics, Humanities) became very specific to the major. Given that Im undecided.... The more general programs about life at Chicago and the panel dealt mostly with debunking myths about Chicago. Given that Ive been active on discussions on CC, most of that was old hat. </li>
<li> I visited two classes, The Chinese Voice in Narrative Fiction, and a Bio class. Both of them were extremely boring. They were very small, and the professor spent the entire time talking. The professors were quite boring. There was little or no discussion. Certainly no invigorating Life of the Mind atmosphere. To be fair after the bio class the students told us that this was an atypical day and usually they discussed papers with the professor and it was much more interesting.</li>
<li> My host ah my host (whom Im going to refer to as it because Im a little afraid it might somehow find this post gender will at least keep this a little more mysterious) My host meant to be nice. Unfortunately it and its group of friends were not my kind of people. They reminded me of nice normal high school kids and what I really love about Chicago is the quirky intelligence it promises. Host and friends had neither of the aforementioned qualities. </li>
</ol>
<p>This would not have been too much of a problem .UNTIL WE GET TO 5:</p>
<ol>
<li> My host and its group of friends really didnt give a **** about prospies. Seriously theyd make all sorts of derogatory jokes about them and then remember that I was there and choke. Also half of them had signed up for prospies but hadnt bothered to go back to their dorm to meet their prospie.
Seriously is it too much to ask that a host:
a) makes sure their prospie gets dinner
b) makes sure their prospie isnt wandering around alone in the dark without a map (k, the map part was my fault, but I completely didn't anticipate needing one given that I was shadowing...) lost as hell
Sadly mine did neither.
This could just be my bad luck but some part of me (perhaps irrational) blames Chicago Admissions a little for not selecting better hosts.</li>
</ol>
<p>In general the April 10-11th program seemed designed more for people on their first visit to Chicago. I think I should have gone to Dorm Preview Day instead. (I only got to see two dorms too .)</p>
<p>Lol - I got lost in the dark WITH a map. Then I walked into the wrong building of Max-P.</p>
<p>None of the hosts paid any attention to their prospies. I lost mine in Bartlett - I turned around to get food - and when I looked again he was gone...</p>
<p>I have to say that wandering in the dark not knowing where you really are is scary - you keep thinking: "yeah this is Hyde Park but it's still Chicago." If I had gone missing that night no one would have known where I was or would have noticed that I was gone for a LONG while.</p>
<p>Yeah! That happened with me.
Maybe I'm just being *****y, but that really irritated me. I hate being alone...and there I was, hungry and lost in dark and unfamiliar territory...and yes, I was freaked out.</p>
<p>I really think Chicago should get hosts who care, or at least figure out some sort of way to elimiate incidents like that...</p>
<p>They kept talking about not doing dumb things like walking alone in the dark for safety...and poof...they put their prospies in situations where they have to do that.</p>
<p>Hey! I specifically asked my hosts whether they got paid and they got this dumb look on their face and said they didn't. Then they asked what colleges paid people to be hosts...</p>