<p>After getting rejected from all of my top-choice schools this year, I'm basically left with four options, with Chicago being my personal favorite. The instructors are amazing, the economics program is one of (if not) the best in the country, and I love the campus.</p>
<p>But here's the thing: having a healthy social life during college is important to me. And by all accounts (my interviewer all but said it herself), a large majority of the students are a little.....off (?). I don't mean to be offensive, but I guess I just don't believe that a person who is bright must also be odd or socially inept in any way.</p>
<p>Most of the smartest people I know are also the most down-to-earth, genuinely funny, kind, attractive and "with it" people I have ever met. My first choice schools were Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth and Brown, and from personal experience I know they are just teeming with these type of people -- future leaders.</p>
<p>Could someone give me a balanced, non-biased, accurate account of what Chicago students are really like? Obviously, I understand that beyond generalizations, there will be every personality type on a campus as large and diverse as Chicago's. This doesn't preclude the college from having a describable social atmosphere however. If anyone reading this understands what I mean......please "reach out" and let me know. I feel like I'm the only one. Thanks.</p>
<p>collegedude, I feel like if enough people feel the way you and I do, life will be fine. My interviewer said that she went to concerts, explored Chicago all the time, and sure, her GPA wasn't stellar, but who cares once you are there. She loved living in the city and enjoyed her social life. Hell, she met her husband there (she graduated a few years ago). </p>
<p>I don't think that the attractiveness meter is really very much different. ..I guess we'll visit and find out. </p>
<p>You aren't the only one, but from what I've read on this forum and other places, a lot of the current students are more balanced than the stereotype precludes. I think Chicago would challenge me intellectually...the question remains if I will rise to the challenge.</p>
<p>Consider this: I've been on this forum since early december, and not a single week has gone by without at least a handful of people asking the same question you just did.... now, if all these people have the same concerns as you, don't you think that its just possible that things aren't as bad as you think, since, after all, so many future students will go there with the same apprehensions?</p>
<p>If by "abnormal" you mean can't catch a football, that's part of it....</p>
<p>but when I was at Chicago, I saw a variety of "types." Some were more bizarre than you might imagine, some where incredibly normal kids, kids you would expect to see at other top colleges, and quite a few were lookers.</p>
<p>I would think that describes the makeup of almost every college.</p>
<p>Go visit. Go walk around. Go to hutch and talk to some students and decide for yourself. </p>
<p>One person's strange is another person's interesting. For instance, most Chicago kids would be completely turned off by the Vandy (or Duke) dress for success approach and party emphasis. They'd call it superficial.</p>
<p>All the current students I've met have been friendly, sociable, and at least mildly attractive- generally more so than students on other campuses. I'm guessing the truly unsociable are hidden away in some dark corner of the library for most of the time, so you need not worry.</p>
<p>I did see one kid riding a unicycle, playing a guitar and singing.</p>
<p>well, in all fairness, I was deciding between Georgetown and Chicago back in December... the only drawback, socially speaking, is that the girls at Gtown were def. muuuch better looking than the average Chicago girl... people were just as friendly and sociable, though</p>
<p>newmassdad- ouch. I am probably best described as a Duke student with a Chicago mentality, and your post made me wince. I admit, I've been guilty of calling quite a few people here superficial, but they're not all like that. :rolleyes: </p>
<p>
[quote]
I don't mean to be offensive, but I guess I just don't believe that a person who is bright must also be odd or socially inept in any way.
[/quote]
I think you summed up U Chicago very well. What makes Chicago students "strange" is that they're truly passionate about their interests (both academic and not) and are willing to carry on conversations about them outside the classroom. If that's strange, I wouldn't being labeled as such. Scav Hunt is carried out with typical Chicago intensity, and they have a blast doing it! :)</p>
<p>The fun part of stereotypes (my Vandy comments, for instance) is that stereotypes are based on truth/experience taken to illogical extremes. So any stereotype should be taken with a grain of salt, whether about Chicago or another place. At the same time, the stereotype does usually describe a dominant culture.</p>
<p>Much as not every Duke student looks like a J. Crew catalog shot, not all Chi students look like they bought their clothes at a Salvation Army sale. But enough at each school do look and act the stereotype, and set a flavor for the institution.</p>
<p>I think the real question each of you should ask yourselves is whether you have enough independence to be in a social minority on a particular campus. Not everyone has this.</p>
<p>You can find serious partying at even the most serious schools, like MIT or Chicago. You just need to look harder, and may be looked down on by some fellow students. Just the same, serious students (in the library on Saturday night, I suspect) are found at true party schools like Wisconsin. They, again, will be viewed askance, though, by their peers.</p>
<p>Only you can decide if you care about this stuff.</p>
<p>"Just the same, serious students (in the library on Saturday night, I suspect) are found at true party schools like Wisconsin. They, again, will be viewed askance, though, by their peers."
Yikes. Guilty as charged. :o </p>
<p>newmassdad, maybe you can answer a question I've had for quite some time. Do the graduate students at U Chicago share the same quirkiness that characterizes the undergrads? I devoutly hope so, but many university have stark contrasts between the two.</p>
<p>The Chi grad students I've known seem pretty normal for grad students. But, now that I think about it, the chi undergrads are a lot like grad students already. </p>
<p>So quirky? dunno. If the undergrads are quirky, then I guess the grads are, too. It can be pretty hard to tell them apart just by looking once the undergrads are here a few years.</p>
<p>We had many undergrads working in our lab and everyone got along very well and even hung out together some. One thing both have in common, both are very busy, and committed.</p>
<p>UChicago students are wonderful. They are brilliant, hard workers, and they like to think. </p>
<p>Yes, some students are at the Reg on Saturday nights. I am there now, on Sunday night, and there are as many students here now as there are during the week.</p>