are the people at uchicago as weird as rumors would have you think?

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
21

<p>well, a bit of a tongue in cheek, and a bit of a reality here.</p>

<p>As a mother, one of the unexpected benefits of having a SON at U Chicago is this: Given that there is no other universities near by (like U Penn surrounded by other schools right near by, like Drexel, Villanova, etc), and U Chicago has done the basic “filtering” job for my son’s universe of potential, easily accessible pool of opposite sex, statistically, it’s practically impossible for him to fall for an air haired bimbo, there simply aren’t that many of this variety around on U Chicago campus. (by the way, I am NOT saying U Chicago has done the filtering job because it’s a difficult, tippy top school to get into. You could be very smart, and still be an air headed bimbo when it comes to character and value, or a male version of that) </p>

<p>There is a story of ancient Chinese scholar, one of the most venerated. His mother was a young widow. He was her only son. They lived in a neighborhood where the main trade was a funeral business. She came to realize that her young son was spending most of his time mimicking the wailing sounds of “professional mourners” (those paid to wail and cry at funeral processions for dramatic effects). She decided that this was not a good environment. So, she moved to a different neighborhood. Soon she noticed that her son was mimicking the touts and behaviors of street merchants hawking their wares. So, she moved again - this time to a neighborhood of scholars, and her son started to mimic the behavior of his new neighbors. </p>

<p>Moral of the story: the environment is important. the kind of peers you are surrounded by help define who you are. Even for the most independent minded, this does matter. this is why I happily let my son turn town a full ride worth well over $50K/'year and go to U Chicago instead as a full pay studen.</p>

<p>I did NOT regret that decision a nano second, and it’s not because we are relatives of Donald Trump with wads of cash to burn (ughhhhhhhh, THAT man! I cringe every time I realize that he is my alum). He was a good kid to begin with. But, the kind of young man he is becoming right before my eyes is beyond my wildest expectation, and U Chicago and the peers he met there had a HUGE role in this maturing process. </p>

<p>An interesting tid bit: he visited a HS friend at Princeton during a break. He shared an interesting observation with me. His friend honestly told him how status conscious she became after she started at Princeton, and how she feels compelled to become materially successful as a proof of her position in society. At high school, if anything, it was my son who had far more drive to succeed financially. My son’s direct words - “Mom, given how competitive I am by nature, had I gone to Princeton, I would have been even more driven to become wealthy no matter what” Over last two years, he became far less interested in material success, and far more focused on what good he can bring both to himself and to others and ultimately to the community/society he belongs to. He is still very competitive but what he is competitive for has changed and was shaped by his experience at U Chicago. </p>

<p>I am not saying that my son is a 100% representative U Chicago specimen, and she of Princeton. However, as a statistician, I believe that regardless of an overlap of two groups with regard to their distribution curves, if the two curves have statistically different means, these are indeed belong to different population, NOT a same population. You could be an air haired bimbo or a gigolo at U Chicago and a most avid “life of the mind” accolade in Princeton. But the odds are, you are more likely to be an life of the mind accolade at U Chicago and be a far more status conscious and materially ambitious young Turk at Princeton.</p>

<p>By the way, by “competitiveness of my son”, I don’t mean grade grubbing aggression. He helps his peers with academics and what not. He gets way north above 3.5, but I don’t think that’s because of studying for the sake of getting good grades. He barely studies for the courses he is not that thrilled about (B+ on these), but spends an inordinate amount of time on courses he is passionate about way, way beyond what it takes to get an A. He reads A LOT on his own. Created a very interesting club and spends a lot of time managing it. He does go to parties, but being hammered does not interest him. Has has lots of friends of both sexes and a very healthy social life - again with other kids who are more or less like him in terms of values, orientation, and interests.</p>

<p>Now, does this sound weird to you? Perhaps. It sounds amazingly good to me, and is worth every penny I spend as a parent.</p>

22

<p>Wowzers, @hyeonjlee, that was beautiful.</p>

23

<p>Yes, beautiful. I think that must be the first story I’ve ever heard about someone turning down a scholarship at U of I and paying full price at U of C. </p>

<p>Also, if you are the mother/father of a college applicant reading up on schools while they play Halo 9 on that xbox 1080 you bought them - prolly time to give up on that kid cause once they get out from under you they’re just gonna be doing the same thing except it’s gonna run you 60,000 a year …</p>

24

<p>my son did not turn down U of I. It was a different school.</p>

<p>Another thing: while he was at HS, he did play online game about 10 hours a day till the beginning of the summer before the senior year. After he quit that, he spent 10 hours a day reading books on international finance on his own. I never interfered with his time management - my philosophy is, they have to want to do it themselves and learn it through trial and error. He only started to get awards and what not in the field of economics and finance AFTER the college decisions came out. Reverse order…</p>

<p>He was so blaze about all the college application stuff, he submitted U Chicago application one minute before the deadline. He did not do optional essays for U Penn application. But I was not worried about his motivation. I knew that he is capable of self propelling like a rocket when he finds his passion. that gamble worked. The reason why I let him give up the full ride is, in that school, he would have sailed through everything and anything with straight A’s while half asleep most of the time. I did not want that. I wanted him to be intellectually challenged. Hence, U Chicago.</p>

<p>Funny thing is, both of my kids are doing much better in college than in HS, academically, socially and all other ways. Actually, this is a little inaccurate. S1, the U Chicago kid, had higher GPA in HS, but that because he was able to ace any test, both in school and SAT, without ever studying/preparing for them, so it does not count. In U Chicago, he does study hard for the courses he likes - not for grades per se, but because he is so fired up. He called yesterday, and he said he did not eat much last two days because he was so into doing problem sets, reading and what not for a couple of his courses that he is just so passionate about. Now, this, I guess, can sort of fall into “that weird U Chicago kid” stereotype.</p>

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<p>@hyeonjlee i really like what your saying. i feel like im very similar to him- i really focus most of my attention in the subjects im interested in (for me its chem and calc). i hope to meet people like him when i attend college, and if he is anything like the rest of the kids at uchicago, i think ill do fine there.
and im trying to find time to go visit the school, but because i live in maryland thats difficult. ill probably go over spring break.
thanks so much everyone for your help, i really like the way the school is sounding now</p>

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<p>Hmmm… obsessed with “international finance” but not a materialist like those kids at Princeton you guys bash ever since he didn’t get accepted there… Sounds like a real winner and NOT a hypocrite OR a materialist.</p>

27

<p>Okay, I’m calling it. Oops is a ■■■■■.</p>

28

<p>

@ ILoveUofC: I feel like you know me … that one hits a little too close to the mark!</p>

<p>@ OP: It’s kind of like any other college, except there’s less emphasis on Greek life and partying (though there’s that if you want it) and more of an academic mindset. Not necessarily the ol’ “grades grades grades” feel to it, but there’s an unspoken expectation that when you get here, you will prioritize schoolwork over social life (though to what degree that happens, it depends on the individual) and the expectation that you will challenge yourself and possibly overburden yourself with classes. You may often feel guilty whenever you’re taking time off of doing work. I went downtown last week to hang out with a friend, and we brought along our homework … and yes, we did spend a few hours on it!</p>

<p>ILoveUofC, btw, makes a good point about the grad student culture kind of trickling down to the undergrad culture; I find that it’s very true – though obviously my perspective may be skewed, because my department is extremely grad-student heavy. I find that the atmosphere’s somewhat more “mature” than the scenes at other schools, but maturity doesn’t necessarily exclude having a social life. If you want a social life, you’ll be able to find one. If not, you can be a hermit. (I am pretty much a hermit 90% of the time, and I can safely say that most people, at least in my dorm, are many times more social than myself.)</p>

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<p>My dearest friend OxalisWombo,</p>

<p>You’ve found me out! I am indeed a ■■■■■. Please continue to lie about how great the student body is and don’t forget to go into some threads about how much more selective the school is getting and pat yourself on the back for making it in while the standards were low! You won’t be hearing another peep from me…</p>

<p>Your friend,
Oops</p>

30

<p>OxalisWombo: </p>

<p>a ■■■■■ indeed. It looks like its the second or third coming of “objectiveperson”. Kind of curious that Objectiveperson’s last post was in November of 2011 and “oopsididitagain” first posted in November of 2011.</p>

<p>I’m not saying they’re the same person, but it is interesting timing.</p>

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<p>Respond to me however you wish, but I’m making it clear that, in my opinion, prospective students should not listen to you. Somewhere between claiming the college hyeonjlee’s son turned down was U of I (when U of I wasn’t mentioned once in her post) and insinuating that he is a shallow hypocrite, you lost whatever credibility I thought you had. It’s apparent that you don’t have anything constructive to bring to this discussion.</p>

<p>EDIT: Obviously, this is directed at Oops.</p>

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<p>ghealy12, your concern about weirdness and introversion in general is understandable. UChicago has a reputation for being less social than its Ivy peers, and it’s a good sign that you’re concerned. Most of us wanted to know how true the reputation is (not very) before coming here as well. </p>

<p>However, your particular worries are unrealistic:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>True, the UChicago social scene isn’t dominated by your stereotypical frat brothers or jocks throwing crazy parties every weekend, but neither are the social scenes at any of UChicago’s peers. Your concern seems to be that very few people will be social enough for you, which is obviously untrue. I’m not sure why you needed others to tell you this. There are plenty of people here who do enjoy partying and there are plenty of people who are eager for human interaction. In fact, there are far more of these types than there are hermits and near-hermits. </p>

<p>UChicago is “weird” in the sense that students here are less likely to define themselves by the dominant social trends and more likely to engage in intelligent conversation. That not many students at other schools are like this is the most common complaint I’ve heard from my non-UChicago friends about their own colleges.</p>

33

<p>I actually think UChicago students could stand to be a bit more outgoing and social. It’s very possible to find friends and opportunities to socialize, but contrarily it is also possible to totally sequester yourself and solely focus on academics. These two attitudes seem to mutually cancel and produce a sort of quiet politeness on campus (rarely talk to strangers, frown intelligently about upcoming midterms, etc.). </p>

<p>The distinguishing feature of a UChicago student is an abiding curiosity about <em>something</em>; for example, my roommates and I drink/party with reasonable frequency, but we also talk about math and philosophy in our spare time in ways that make strangers give us weird looks (two of us—myself included—are math majors and are taking point-set topology together this quarter). I spent several hours yesterday playing D&D and polishing off a 12-pack of Newcastle Brown Ale with friends. My roommates and I have spent hours discussing Kant, Hume, Descartes, and Aristotle (multiple sessions for all; my third roommate is an intensive-track philosophy major). You get the picture. I think this is all a blast, but your receptiveness to it may vary if want a more “traditional” college experience.</p>

34

<p>Have a look at the UChicago tumblr…it might give you an idea of some of the fun, social, exciting and typical things that students here get up to: [UChicago</a> College Admissions](<a href=“http://uchicagoadmissions.■■■■■■■■■■/]UChicago”>http://uchicagoadmissions.■■■■■■■■■■/)</p>

<p>The students here are interesting, nice, ambitious, and the kind of people you want to sit down and have a cup of coffee with. I know that some of them are frustrating, but most of them are beautifully down to earth - and everyone is inquisitive. This isn’t the kind of school where you can say something in class and not expect to have to back it up, or continue discussing it, when you walk into the quads. And I love that.</p>

35

<p>No, absolutely not. My daughter is in her first year there, and from what I have seen and from her reports, students are intelligent, committed, involved and passionate about many things, and there is such a diversity of interests and backgrounds that someone would have to really work at being isolated and not having a social life. I can’t imagine a better place for her. However, if things like big-league football, an emphasis on fraternity or sorority involvement, and hard partying are of importance, obviously a student should look elsewhere. I think Dunbar’s descriptions are right on the mark.</p>

36

<p>From my experience (graduated 3 years ago), UChicagoans tend to be intensely curious, with fairly little concern for projecting a polished image in social situation. I am generally able to have deeper conversations with other UChicago students/alum that I barely know than I am with many extremely intelligent people who went elsewhere (very “good” school where I’m sure the education is fantastic). One this about UChicago is that students don’t pretent to be disinterested. If you are super interested in some esoteric philosophical perspective, people won’t necessarily roll their eyes when you start talking about it at dinner, and some will probably start debating it with you. </p>

<p>This is a little bit different from mainstream American culture, even among the educated. In two post-UChicago experiences, one at a fairly selective employer and one at an extremely selective law school, I have found it somewhat more difficult to find others who are equally interested in having rigorous conversations, etc. It’s not impossible, but I have to search for such peers, whereas it was pretty commonplace at UChicago.</p>

37

<p>dear morons,</p>

<p>@OopsIdiditAgain is not trolling. He or she has simply been at U of C too long. Also, the students really do suck, and they are also the best part about the school. Well, that and the grad student who taught my freshman calculus course.</p>

<p>Academia is really pretentious. I got to learn that at the tender young age of 18. I get the impression that some people go through all four years without coming to that conclusion. I could never figure out the purpose of all the work they gave us, and I’m a fairly conscientious gal myself, but seriously now, what the ****.</p>

<p>Yes, U of Chicago is weird. Weird people go there on purpose because they feel alienated and think they will fit in. But mostly the people who come to U of Chicago are the super-creative, the borderline schizophrenics. As a perennial dropout and all I’ve had the good fortune to attend another medium-sized, elite, private institution of higher learning, and while the students were just as sharp, their intellectual focus was entirely different (nevermind that they also engaged in the conventional courtesies of talking to people, or, better yet, looking people in the eye when they talk to people, or my favorite yet, acknowledging their acquaintances instead of, just at the right moment, happening to notice something interesting on their shoes, and hoping that you come away with the impression that their too cool for school and not ****ing neurotic). Only at the U of C will someone invite to digest your Burton-Judson cereal and ice cream supper over a docudrama on female genital mutilation.</p>

38

<p>"Academia is really pretentious. I got to learn that at the tender young age of 18. I get the impression that some people go through all four years without coming to that conclusion. I could never figure out the purpose of all the work they gave us, and I’m a fairly conscientious gal myself, but seriously now, what the ****.</p>

<p>Yes, U of Chicago is weird. Weird people go there on purpose because they feel alienated and think they will fit in. But mostly the people who come to U of Chicago are the super-creative, the borderline schizophrenics."</p>

<p>Your descriptions are hilariously accurate. I’m an alumnus of the school, and a proud one at that, but you’re spot-on. Especially the pretentious part. I didn’t actually realize how obnoxiously pretentious people were until 4th year, and then it hit me like a bus. It’s not even pretentious… it’s arrogant. </p>

<p>People in academia have dual inferiority/superiority complexes… society evaluates them lower than people in professional fields, which gives them an inferiority complex. To compensate, they come together and start to believe that they’re the superior ones and everyone else is a walking, talking idiot. And then there are fights within academia. People in humanities can be incredibly resentful of people in the sciences, and people in the sciences disrespect people in the humanities.</p>

<p>It’s all a bunch of bull, and within 3 years of it, I got sick enough of it that I essentially decided to leave academia and never come back. Academia is good in moderation, but when it OWNS a school like Chicago, it can have dreadful effects on your mental well-being. Fortunately, I think Zimmer and Nondorf are trying to move the school away from such an isolated position into a more diverse school, which I think will have an incredibly positive effect on the institution as a whole.</p>

39

<p>I’m a second year, and I love the student body here. People aren’t weird - not in the derogatory way the term is usually used - they’re interesting. Football players write poetry, Econ majors are fascinated by Albanian human rights, sorority girls are hard at work in the library every day (not that none of these would usually happen, I’m just saying that no one is two dimensional). We form a cohesive community because everyone respects and is in love with each other’s passions. I will literally sit down with people to ask them about what they’re ‘a nerd about’, and it’s always surprising and enlightening.</p>

40

<p>Painting all of academia in that light is a bit unfair. I’ve been lucky enough to have taken classes with multiple professors in my department (and outside my department) who have actually been fairly self-deprecating about their fields of study and cynical about the back-scene politics. Maybe it’s different depending on department (or alternatively, maybe I am one of those who hasn’t realized how pretentious academia is yet). I tend to think the smaller ones that are unpopular enough to even be unappealing to undergrads (i.e. the departments that can’t even manage to attract five undergrads a year into their subspecialty) to have both grad students and professors who are fairly open about the fact that nobody really cares about their field, but hey, if you find it interesting, please come join us and share in the collective misery of knowing that nobody gives a ****!</p>

<p>Overall, I find the undergrads are more arrogant and pretentious than the grad students. That said, I’ve been told by several grad students that they think the undergrads are actually smarter even though we lack social finesse and have a tendency to mumble and not make eye contact when we’re talking to people.</p>