<p>Are Brown people more social. Less pretentious? I visited UChicago and did not feel very comfortable there. I’d like more open, liberal people. What do you think?</p>
<p>UChicago is my second choice if I don't make it into Brown, even though the two schools seem to be polar opposites.</p>
<p>Any time you put the words 'UChicago' and 'social' in the same sentence, you will probably hear the phrase, "where the fun goes to die." I dunno about that, I just think UChi students have a different kind of fun. As in, they're hardcore geeks, and they like it that way. "Physics party in room 211, yo! BYOV - bring your own vectors!"</p>
<p>Pretentious at Brown? Au contraire.</p>
<p>i really love u chicago but its totally not for me...way too intense. i do love how the school seems to have a great personality though, and as speckonthemirror said, they seem to have a great sense of humor aout their geekiness. but if geekiness isnt your thing, i dunno...</p>
<p>My boyfriend is a second year at the University of Chicago and I spend a lot of time there. It really is a completely different environment. It's a fabulous school, but it attracts a very different kind of student and has a very different atmosphere.</p>
<p>Chicago kids brag about pulling all nighters to write papers or do problem sets for classes they don't care about it. They see their core as a point of pride, and see themselves as getting a superior education because of it. There's a lot to be said for that, and it works for a lot of people, but not for me. When I pull an all-nighter, it's because I'm writing a paper for a class I chose to take or studying for an exam for a subject that interests me.</p>
<p>Also, the "pretentious" thing is all a matter of perspective. Chicago is an Ivy League-quality school that's not in the Ivy League, and a lot of the kids there seem to have an Ivy League complex where they think that all Ivy League kids are pretentious, and that UChicago offers a much better education. While it is true that some Ivy League kids are pretentious, and that a Chicago education is quite excellent, I find the attitude of Chicago kids that they're somehow better than anybody who goes to an east coast school to be MORE pretentious than the attitudes of most of the people I've met at Brown, who seem to be more into the idea of education being something that you do for yourself rather than something that a school hands to you on a plate (or bangs you over the head with). I'm sorry if that paragraph made very little sense.</p>
<p>Social life seems different, too. There's definitely drinking and partying at Chicago, but I think there's more at Brown. That said, you can have whatever kind of social life you want here -- frat parties to cultural events to just hanging out in your room and chatting with people.</p>
<p>In terms of "open" and "liberal" people, you're more likely to find more of them at Brown, but they're definitely there at Chicago, too.</p>
<p>Anyway, those are all just generalizations, and just drawn from my personal experiences. Not everybody at Chicago is pretentious -- I love a lot of the kids I've met there. And there are certainly "geeky" kids at Brown (some of my favorite people).</p>
<p>If you like UChicago, except for the social atmosphere, you might look at Columbia. It is more social, but has a core curriculum if that's what you like.</p>