From the news, “Chiraq” sounds like it’s about to fall apart. Of course, it’s not. That being said, while the campus is beautiful, the surrounding neighborhood is not.
Honestly, it may be the thing that’s holding me back. The city of Chicago is not a selling point.
Funny you said city of Chicago is not a selling point.
http://visit.uchicago.edu/page/explore-chicago
Yes, Hyde Park is not Chicago. Still downtown Chicago is only around 40 minutes away in train or bus.
Chicago is not falling apart. Don’t listen to right wing media. Most of the 9.4 million people living in the metropolitan Chicago area go to work and come back home just like any big cities in America.
Chicago isn’t really much more dangerous than other cites in America. As a student, you don’t really have much to worry about, even if you travel through the “bad” neighborhoods around Hyde Park. Not that Chicago is perfect - there are plenty of problems - but the chances of the systematic gang violence affecting you is basically nil. It’s a city, and you should take normal urban precautions, but there’s nothing about Chicago in particular that’s worse than, say, Cambridge, New York, Berkeley, etc.
And, lol @85bears46 meant to link a video on UChicago’s facebook page welcoming the class of 2021 with some fancy shots of Chicago. It’s nice, but this is still my fav: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4A9o2iQubs
It must be something on CC that won’t let me copy any link from Facebook :(.
Anyhow, just go to U of Chicago Facebook page and you can see the video posted by U of Chicago on March 17th highlighting the attractions of the city of Chicago to all newly admitted students.
Of course, you can also find the hilarious but probably true comments like this:
“Reg, Harper, Crerar–its all yours to discover. Get to know the libraries you’ll soon call your bedrooms.”
I travel all over the world and stay in large cities. Is Mexico City dangerous, nope, is Detroit dangerous, nope. etc. etc. The only city I don’t go out of the hotel is Caracas, and that is because of the anti American sentiment the govt puts out. Big city rules, 1) don’t go out at night by yourself (2) know what’s going on around you (like protests) 3) know where the bad parts of the city and try to avoid them. 4) never act like or wear items that let people know you might have money.
Chicago is amazing I don’t know where you heard that from, but this city is so enjoyable
Different people are attracted by different things. Chicago certainly was (and continues to be) a selling point for my kid. And she likes Hyde Park. But she grew up in a city and expects a certain amount of busyness, and diversity, and discovery. And she’s used to public transit. Living so close to a lake is new and different for her and probably something she’ll enjoy even more in the Spring.
If you have a choice, go where you’re drawn. But explore enough to get a better sense of what each place has to offer.
I’ve grown up in Boston and spent a lot of time in NYC. My impression of Chicago (the city) was of a place past its peak now settling into a faintly grimy senescence. I wasn’t expecting the thrum of Manhattan, but a little “City of Big Shoulders” swagger would’ve been nice. Downtown just felt enervated, even sullen. Nothing of New York’s pile-driving tempo, or Boston’s beehive hum. It just felt sad.
And on a magnificent early spring weekend, no less.
What’s it like when the weather’s awful?
By the end of the century, of course, Chicago will have a clear advantage over the likes of Boston and New York, which will then be underwater. But that’s outside my contemplated educational timeframe.
Well with that type of impression, I would suggest Northeastern or NYU for you.
I don’t know what part of “downtown” Chicago felt “enervated, even sullen.” There are parts of the Loop that are a little like that, because the Loop is definitely yesterday’s urban core. Manhattan used to have neighborhoods like that, too, although it doesn’t anymore. But the parts of Chicago where people actually work and play are anything but enervated. Chicago is a fabulous city, and not at all senescent. It’s not Manhattan, but it’s a heck of a lot bigger than Boston. One of the things I like about it, though, is that no one labors under the impression that it is the center of the world, and that isn’t true in Manhattan or – without any justification at all – Boston.
The truth is somewhere between these two extremes. We were downtown yesterday and it was packed with people as usual. The city core and residential areas immediately north, west and south of downtown are experiencing tremendous growth and positive change. These areas are magnets for smart kids throughout the Midwest, and downtown Chicago is certainly healthier than competing CBD’s like Milwaukee, St. Louis, Indianapolis and Detroit.
However, other areas of the city, some suburbs and the rest of the state are struggling with a declining and aging population, high taxes, never-ending budget issues and a corrupt, incompetent government.
To the OP, the Hyde Park location is both a source of strength and weakness. Whether it is a selling point is based on your point of view. If you concentrate on the negatives (high crime off campus, distance from downtown, living in the micro-bubble of Hype Park), you will hate UC. If you embrace the positives (one a handful of world-class cities in North America, tremendous opportunity for internships, the college itself), you will be happy.
Good luck with whatever you choose.
JHS wrote:
“Chicago is a fabulous city, and not at all senescent. It’s not Manhattan, but it’s a heck of a lot bigger than Boston. One of the things I like about it, though, is that no one labors under the impression that it is the center of the world, and that isn’t true in Manhattan or – without any justification at all – Boston.”
I guess I better go back for another visit. But I just didn’t “get it.”
When you say Chicago is a “heck of a lot bigger than Boston”…well, yes, it’s definitely more of a sprawl, but bigger in impact? I’d love to hear how.
In contrast to Boston, (I’m speaking of the city and its immediate surroundings), Chicago struck me as much less “nutrient-dense” (although, speaking of nutrients, it does seem to be a better food town). In fact, I was kind of shocked by how little “there” was there. As a locus of scientific research, medicine, biotech, venture capital, the arts, by any measure of which I’m aware, Boston’s thumbprint is substantially “bigger” than Chicago’s. And then there’s the financial picture, the tax base: If Chicago loses the CME (and with the trading floors almost gone there’s apparently no reason it has to be there anymore) will it even still be Chicago? The City of Chicago may be closing in on a Detroit scenario, the State of Illinois not far behind. Boston and Massachusetts, on the other hand, might as well exist in another country altogether.
I’m not looking to go to college in Boston, so I suppose that’s neither here nor there. But I am calibrating what I see against what I know. And on that basis, at first glance, what I saw seemed wanting.
@boringusername With no disrespect towards you and yet with your negative attitude towards city of Chicago and your seemingly unwillingness to change your mind after one brief visit, I would seriously suggest that you decline the admission offer from U of Chicago. As you said even in an early spring day you already found the city wanting. What are you going to do if there is a polar vortex and you have 2 midterm, 2 papers and 3 problem sets due? I think you would be far happier staying in Boston or NYC.
Huh?
There’s two top 20, research-oriented universities, many other research universities, both public and private, 3 massive research oriented hospitals (Northwestern, UofC Med Center, Rush), lots of biotech (and tech in general) companies, most of which are doing well, tons of world class museums (the Field Museum and the Art Institute being most prominent, but then there’s also Adler, Shedd, MICA, Museum of Mexican Art, MSI, etc.). There isn’t just the CME, there’s the Board of Trade, and plenty of finance firms.
I grew up on the east coast. I get it, people here think Chicago is just cornfields and crime, but it is definitely not closing in on a Detroit scenario. The city is growing, there are vibrant arts and culture scenes, and yes - Chicago has seriously great food. Politically, Illinois isn’t doing so great, but then again - neither is America - and you don’t seem to think it’s the end of the world for America.
@boringusername funny thing, exactly what you say of Chicago is exactly how I feel about Boston. To each his own. If you take the time you will see Chicago is not only a great city with all the creature comforts a person could want (or not want) and some seriously nice midwestern people Chicago is on my top 10 list and a great place for a holiday.
We are excited my son will be there for the next four years (or more) and the city is one reason he chose it over Cambridge.
Really? “You don’t like Chicago? Well, I don’t like Boston. And your little dog (Cambridge), too”?
Ok.
Beyond that, I see a fair amount of conclusion-jumping on this thread. For example, that I appear “unwilling to change my mind”–despite the fact that I said I ought to go back for another visit. Or that my first impressions of Chicago suggested that I’d he happier at NYU or Northeastern (Those are my choices?). Then there’s the errata: e.g., Board of Trade is owned by the CME; CME goes, it all goes.
I trust these responses are not indicative of the quality of dialectic I’d encounter in a UChicago classroom.
I don’t know what kind of “quality of dialectic” you are expecting when you walk in onto the UChicago forum and start calling Chicago “Chiraq” and imply that it’s only going to be important when the East Coast is flooded from global warming. The hundreds of companies, Professors, medical researchers, art curators, Broadway performers, etc. that chose Chicago disagree. The base of your argument is ridiculous, and using bigger words and more poetic language doesn’t change that. Learning the difference between eloquent rhetoric and a solid argument is one of the purposes of the Core.
Chicagoans are proud of their city and there is nothing that they loath more than having some pretentious Bostonian from the East Coast walk up and start baselessly insulting their city - like, we’re sorry you thought the Loop felt “enervated”, maybe next time someone will pile trashbags up on the side of the road to make it feel more like Manhattan. As for the “‘City of Big Shoulders’ swagger” - you’re going to be seeing it when all the alumni and Chicagoans on this board dogpile you.
The base of my argument was that Chicago struck me as a city past its prime. I provided an overview of the reasons for my impression, seeking not to lose everyone by getting snared in too many details.
My argument was rebutted with:
a recitative of Chicago’s world-beating crown jewels–the Field Museum, the Art Institute, etc.—all of which date from Chicago’s “prime.”
a swipe at my use of “bigger words and more poetic language.”
an oblique accusation that I’m “pretentious.”
Is this what passes for “solid argument” in the Core?
@boringusername sigh… your perceptions of the city are just that, your perceptions. How are they any more relevant than mine of Boston while I live in NY. Best of luck moving forward.
… you did seem to miss the “nice midwestern people” in the rebuttal…
If dislike the city that the university is clearly proud of and is named after that much then just don’t attend. It’s for your own sake and the sake of others as well. You won’t have to suffer in a dying city for the next four years and the students there won’t have to put up with your negativity for the next four years. Cheers! 