<p>If you have any questions for a current UChicago student, feel free to ask. I (and any other current students here) will help answer. That's about it. So ask away! Academics, housing, Fun, etc...</p>
<p>ok. I guess the most pressing question on my mind at this moment is do you know when admission decisions come out? Maybe you don’t know for this year, but do know for previous years to give me an idea? (it’s important since I’m trying to coordinate college visits with spring break)</p>
<p>They will probably come out within 2-3 days of the dates of the rest of the schools out there, so I’d say from March 29th to April 3rd. But this is just a guess; your admissions counselor will know more. Even if they say “We’re not sure,” you could probably get a moderately accurate range by mentioning that you’re trying to coordinate visits.</p>
<p>That said, the April overnight programs are super-awesome and happen after decisions have gone out and everything.</p>
<p>thank you very much</p>
<p>Hi Me. Antonia, I’m a junior in HS right now and I plan on visiting the University of Chicago on March 30th. I just wanted to know if you like the school? Are the professors accessible? Do you like the quarter system? How is the core curriculum? Are your classes large? Any information you are willing to give will be greatly appreciated. </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Hey there!
I’m glad you’ll be able to make it for the visit day. Here are my answers to your questions as presented:
Q: Do I like the school?
A: Yes! I feel like an exclamation point is necessary to convey how much I like the school. Maybe even two or three. I really love UChicago in all its glory. They wouldn’t hire me as a tour guide if I didn’t :). Expansion on why will be provided in the below answers–</p>
<p>Q:Are the professors accessible?
A: Absolutely, in both a you-can-find-and-talk-to-them-when-you-need-to way and in a they-don’t-sneer-at-us-lowly-peons way. They’re required to set aside a certain number of office hours (at least 3, I think) per week per class that they’re teaching, and if you can’t make those it’s generally super easy to set up a meeting by email. Even in my one huge lecture class this last quarter, the professor knew who I was because I sometimes sat in the front row and I went to his office hours a few times. (Piece of advice: wherever you end up, GO TO OFFICE HOURS. This bumped my econ grade from the B that I would have gotten based on my exams to a B+ because I hung out with the professor for a total of 3 hours over 10 weeks). So professors are easy to meet with and they don’t regard it as a burden–generally, they want to hear what you have to say/help you succeed in their class. And they genuinely respect what we have to say on the subject matter, even if it’s something they’ve been studying for their entire careers. There’s a lot of mutual respect and a feeling of equality, which is awesome.</p>
<p>Q: Do I like the quarter system?
A: Yes. I am a nerd and am interested in lots of things. The quarter system will allow me to take more classes than I would be able to take if we were on a semester system. You get to take more classes total while simultaneously taking fewer classes at a time. It is a bit of a sprint (okay, sometimes a lot of a sprint), but we still get a great deal of breadth and the material never drags on and on. It’s also nice to go home for vacation with absolutely no work to do (some of my other friends on spring break are prepping for midterms. I laugh at them a bit.) In conclusion, more classes total, fewer classes at a time (better focus, for me at least), fast but still thorough, relaxing breaks. I really enjoy it, and when I was picking schools some sort of quarter system was actually one of my criteria. Turns out, for me at least, I was right.</p>
<p>Q: How is the core curriculum?
A: I may be a little biased on this one. My “Why UChicago” essay was all about how I am interested in tons of stuff and don’t want to have to pick a major yet so therefore the core was love. Still, I think many would agree with me when I say that the Core is one of the greatest assets of our school’s academic experience. The idea behind the Core is that it teaches you how to think (or rather, helps you learn ways to think about) the various academic disciplines. Once you’ve learned how to do close reading of primary texts in your Humanities class, you’ve learned a skill that has applications beyond just deconstructing the Iliad–you’ve truly learned how to read any text with an analytical approach. The same is true, I feel, in most of the other areas of the core. The other nice thing is that within each discipline, you can customize your Core experience. For example, within the Humanities course choices, you can get the very specific dead-mediterranean-men experience with Greek Thought and Lit or, on the other end of the spectrum, you can get a very multi-cultural, multi-gender reading list with Readings in World Lit (or a multimedia approach as in Media Aesthetics), and there are many in between. In summary, the Core is generally super awesome and occasionally a pain, but a total asset and awesome part of what makes UChicago great.</p>
<p>Q: Are your classes large?
A: Depends. Most of them are fairly small. The Core classes are generally seminar-style, which means they’re capped at 20 people, which is a great size–if you want to stand out, it’s very easy and the professor will get to know you quickly and easily, or if you want to fade into the background, well, it’s possible but difficult. This last quarter, my Russian class had 8 people, my Humanities seminar had 20ish. Other classes that are more lecture-style will be larger. My poli-sci class probably had about 60 students in it, but once a week we broke into small (15 person) discussion sections, which helped keep the class feeling small. I have been in lectures of over 150, but those are VERY VERY rare, and are generally only found in the intro Econ classes (which I was taking) and some of the intro science classes (general chemistry, for instance). All of these large classes are heavily staffed by TAs who are very helpful, and the professors are also accessible. But it’s rare that you’ll be in classes that large at UChicago. Most classes are seminar-style, which is awesome because you get to interact with the professor and your classmates on an individual, equal level–the tables are arranged in a big circle and the professor sits with you, no podium. So class size really isn’t an issue, I don’t think.</p>
<p>Quick Note: This post was all about academics. We do have fun, contrary to popular belief, about which I can go on for ages if anyone dares ask me.</p>
<p>Apologies for the lengthiness of my post. I hope it is helpful for you in your college search. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thank You so much for your detailed response to my questions. Now I’m even more excited to see the campus. I have heard the rumors about UChicago being the place where “fun goes to die” but since you have stated that in fact you do have fun would you so kindly tell me what it is students do for fun or what you personally do for fun. I’m a huge book worm, so hanging out in a library engrossed in a Wharton novel is enjoyable to m and if that is what a lot of students do I’m o.k. with that.</p>
<p>You said you have fun, could you give more examples of this fun? I guess the one thing that I’m worried about with Chicago is that although I’m kind of a nerd, I view myself as a fun nerd who enjoys learning but likes to have a good time too. My interviewer kind of scared me with vivid descriptions of kids who don’t ever see light and stay in the library for months.</p>
<p>Haha there are many people who’s campus life is living in the Reg or sleeping at Crear, but if you like to actually go out, there’s plenty to do. There is a show on every night, if you’re into theater or comedy. Doc Films plays movies for pretty cheap (even cheaper if you buy a quarter long pass) with themes for each day of the week. Greek life is only big if you want it to be. Few people are actually in a fraternity (and much fewer in a sorority), but there are a lot of Greek parties throughout the quarter if you’re interested. Houses tend to have trips together downtown also, if you’re not one for going in a smaller group or want something even more organized.</p>
<p>Antonia,
My daughter has been accepted at UChicago. Great news. I have a few questions:
- how is academic life there? is there any time for doing stuff besides homework?
- how is the dorm life?
- how safe is the place for a 18yo girl?!
- how’s the social life?
- what is there for fun?
thanks in advance…</p>
<p>Now for a post about fun! This should be…well, fun, I suppose.</p>
<p>So. Fun. I’d say that whatever is fun for you, you can find it here. Some kinds of fun can be slightly more elusive than others, but they do exist. If bookworming is fun for you, you will find it easy to have fun in that we have amazing libraries, bookstores, and coffeeshops in which one may consume literature and lattes. If parties are your fun, they happen fairly regularly within housing, at the fraternities, and at apartments. As stated by someone else, there are musical/theatrical/dance/art exhibitions happening All. The. Time. It’s insane and insanely awesome (I say this as an inexperienced but enthusiastic member of University Theater). There are clubs for a zillion martial arts, sports, religions, competitions, outdoorsy things, and random interests (hot chocolate club, anyone?). And any interest that you have, you can pursue even if it’s something you’ve never done before–I’ve never done theater in my life, and the first quarter I got involved, I stage managed my friend’s play. The workload, at times, can be pretty intense, but well rounded people (that really is almost everone, exceptions being those rare people who try to sleep over in the libraries) can find a comfortable balance of work and fun. And if you’re like most people here, in high school you’re probably used to balancing lots of work and insane amounts of extracurriculars. Now since they don’t really go on a resume, you can focus on things you’re mega interested in or just want to explore.</p>
<p>RelaxedParent–congrats on your daughter’s acceptance. As an 18-year-old girl myself, I think I can be of use.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>how is academic life there? is there any time for doing stuff besides homework?
If you want to have time for stuff other than homework, you will. It’s that simple, I think. I want to get my homework done but I also want to be in University Theater and be a tour guide and see the Chicago Symphony and go out once in a while. All of which I generally manage to do. Some weeks are worse than others, depending on when midterms are scheduled, and honestly no one really has fun during finals week, but I would say most of the time, most people can find/make time to do non-homework things. The people who have more difficulty with this end up spending more time in the libraries, but most students manage pretty well. We like to complain, but that’s just for fun (and occasional stress relief). Also, I’ve found the academic community to be very supportive. Students really aren’t competitive about grades/grading on the curve, and genuinely want to help each other and collaborate and learn, and the professors I’ve had have been really supportive when I’ve encountered difficulties (by this, I mean that it was easy to get extensions on papers due when I had theater performances every night for a week/bronchitis, but also that they’re awesome to talk to during office hours, as mentioned in my “academics” post). Just wanted to mention that, as I feel it’s a really important attribute of the academic experience here.</p></li>
<li><p>how is the dorm life?
I really enjoy dorm life, for the most part. There are two great facets of dorm life here: the dorms themselves, and the House System.
The dorms are great because they’re all quite different from one another, so whatever kind of lifestyle you desire/want to experience, you probably can. I wanted a roommate, but also wanted to be in a larger room fairly near to campus, so I ended up picking a dorm where all of the doubles are actually suites (two people in two connected rooms). If your daughter wants a single, she can easily get one, even as a first year, and if she wants to live with roommates, she can do that too. The University is pretty good about trying to convey the differences in the dorms, each of which has its own special charms, and when the University doesn’t have an answer in its literature, the current students (like me, or the ones on the 2013 Facebook group) can help.
The house system is really special. The dorms, in some cases, are quite large (the new South Campus Hall is enormous), so to make them “smaller,” each is divided into Houses. Houses can be anywhere from 38 (smallest) to about 108 (largest) people. Houses are generally geographical in nature–blocks of the building or blocks of 2 floors. Each house has its own Resident Assistant (or two; they’re upper year students) and Resident Head(s), who are graduate students or young professors, as well as having its own House Lounge (common room) and such. I was quite worried about coming to a school in a big city because I wanted the tight community feeling I heard about at smaller, rural schools, but I needn’t have bothered, because the house system is a wonderful remedy. Each house is unique in its character and traditions, which are carried on by upper year students. All years are mixed in Houses, which is great because you have a good support system–the upper years will either be friendly and helpful or at worst ignore everything but their work. Yay house system!</p></li>
<li><p>how safe is the place for a 18yo girl?!
The University has done a very good job of making the campus and surrounding neighborhood a very safe area. We have a private police force that is actually one of the largest in the world, and they’re not your average mall rent-a-cops–they’re well trained and well paid, and very friendly and helpful. They patrol Hyde Park 24 hours a day. In the evening, there are three different transportation services that the University provides to make sure everyone is comfortable–there are shuttles that run periodically all around the neighborhood and can get you pretty much anywhere in Hyde park (free, for University community members only), a service called SafeRide, where you call a certain number, tell them where you are and where you want to go and they’ll take you there (you can also flag down any saferide bus you see and they must pick you up), and the Umbrella Service, where you call a number and a member of the University Police will follow behind you in a car as you walk to wherever you’re going. I make use of the shuttles and SafeRide all the time, and though I’ve never used the umbrella service, I know people who do. So these measures make it very easy to be safe. The other part of being safe is not doing anything totally stupid, which would be walking alone through an alley with your headphones on at 3 in the morning. But that’s all common sense. Hyde Park is a really great neighborhood (it has a bad rap left over from the 60s and 70s, when it was a bit rougher). It is an urban setting, so some crime is inevitable as it would be in any other urban setting, but it’s very easy to be safe, and not only safe, but comfortable.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I addressed Social Life and Fun in an earlier post, but if you have more specific questions, please feel free to ask.</p>
<p>As usual, I apologize for the long post.</p>
<p>Congrats again to your daughter!</p>
<p>Me.Antonia, I am bringing junior d to the May 11 open house. What can you tell me about the (in)famous UChic essay for applicants?</p>
<p>I applied with the old “Uncommon” app; now that the school uses the Common App the structure of the essay section is different, but I know there is still a section that will have some sort of wacky essay question. I think these essays are actually more fun to write–it was a lot more interesting for me to write, at least.</p>
<p>Here’s the website with the archive of this year’s questions:
[University</a> of Chicago College Admissions | Essay Questions](<a href=“http://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/admissions/essays.shtml]University”>http://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/admissions/essays.shtml)
and here are previous years’ questions:
[University</a> of Chicago College Admissions | Previous Essay Questions](<a href=“http://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/admissions/previous_essays.shtml]University”>http://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/admissions/previous_essays.shtml)</p>
<p>I answered this one: “In Jorge Luis Borgess Labyrinths, he writes a parable entitled Borges y yo, which translates as Borges and I. In it, Borges writes about the other one, his counterpart, who shares his preference for hourglasses, maps, eighteenth century typography, the taste of coffee, and the prose of Stevenson, but is not the same as he. The other one is the famous author; the other one is the one things happen to. He concludes this parable with the line I do not know which of us has written this page. Write a page. Who has written it?”</p>
<p>The nice thing about these essays is that you can interpret the prompt quite literally or very figuratively. One of my friends has dissociative disorder and answered this prompt by writing an essay as her most dissociated self. I ended up writing about a childhood wish to be ambidextrous and how my right hand and left hand do different things and represent different parts of my personality. So really, the prompts are just the start, and if you don’t like any of them, you can write your own!</p>
<p>Hope this was helpful, and I hope you and your daughter have fun at the May open house! I might be a tour guide for that one.</p>
<p>Thanks for your feedback. We (my daughter and I) will be there in April at one of the two invited dates. Hope to meet you there. By the way, is there any student club that is interested in music and dances of India?</p>
<p>Antonia, thanks for your help. If I may, I have another question. UChicago has invited my daughter for a campus organized visit, for dorm room overnight stay, class room visit (while it is session!), and other meetings. These organized meetings are Apr 16/17 and Apr 23/24. My question is whether it is worth participating in this organized session or is it just enough to schedule an ad-hoc over night stay and class room visit? Please provide your suggestion. Thanks.</p>
<p>Hi, I’m also a current student at Chicago and I just want to say congrats to everyone!</p>
<p>As for RelaxedParent’s questions…</p>
<p>Indian dances: There is a registered student organization for both bhangra and raas. There are noncompetitive aspects and competitive teams within these organizations, depending on skill level (you have to try out for the competitive teams) and whether you want to travel to other colleges or perform just around Hyde Park. There’s also the South Asian Student Association, which puts on an Indian cultural show each year and includes lots of dance performances.</p>
<p>As for the April overnights, I’d personally suggest your daughter to attend the college organized ones because there are additional benefits than just scheduling an ad-hoc visit. The April overnights are a great way to get prospective students acquainted to the campus because during these visits your daughter will meet potential future classmates. Furthermore, there’s probably a better chance of interaction with current students since we’re expecting hordes of prospies and will (hopefully) want to show the best side of ourselves. There’s also additional information sessions scheduled during this time and (I think most importantly), a chance to explore the social scene on campus.</p>
<p>Thanks for your suggestions. By the way, your note “will (hopefully) want to show the best side of ourselves” is interesting! hmmm…Yes, my daughter is excited about UChicago.</p>
<p>Does UChicago do the same thing that harvard does, you know were they pay everything if your parents gain less than 60K</p>
<p>Hi there.
When I go to a US University, I want the typical college experience- work hard/party hard. (Probably party harder
haha!)
Well, how do you like the parties at UChicago?
I heard and read (e.g. Princeton Review) some bad stuff about the UChicago Social Scene.
90%nerds and ultra competetive…
Is that true?</p>
<p>And how do you like Chicago? Is it a long way to the hot spots from UChicago and are there any buses or tubes that go there?(I certainly do not want to buy a car…)
Im gonna be 21 when I start studying and I wonder if there are many students who are as old as I am? By the way…
Clubbing and drinking is prohibited under 21 in the US, right? So will my classmates have problems going out on the WE?</p>
<p>THX a lot, SoWhat</p>