<p>Yes, please report back on your impressions. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to voice them. I'll try to help.</p>
<p>A Sosc core (Mind, Self Culture & Society, Power & Resistance being the best-known) is definitely recommended. I am taking Self right now and it's just about the coolest thing ever. You'll be completely lost, having not done the readings, but you'll get to listen to people discuss the commodity-fetish and religion as a social organism. Very cool.</p>
<p>Update: There is now snow. :)</p>
<p>My DH and son took their snow boots and heavy coats as insurance that it wouldn't snow!! They are probably tromping about campus as we speak.</p>
<p>When my son was a student, he really liked an economics professor, I think his name is Steven Levitt (is that right?) who wrote the book "Freakanomics". Does anyone know if he is still there? His class would probably be a good one if you can get in.</p>
<p>He is still at Chicago.</p>
<p>Spouse and DS1 returned from their trip to the Chicago campus. DS1 attended Prof. Fefferman's 20700 Honors Analysis class and loved it. He said there wee about 25 students in the class, that the prof knew all their names, Prof. Fefferman was engaging, and that the women in the class actively participated (something DS hasn't found often in his math courses). He understood what was going on in class thanks to a summer program he attended, but did not yet know how to solve specific problems. (Which is fine. DS is a junior taking MV/DiffEq, and will have another year of math before placement even would beconsidered.)</p>
<p>His first comment: "I could <em>definitely</em> see myself spending four years here." He picked up a book on set theory before leaving. Ate lunch on campus, took lots of notes, tromped around in the snow, found a place that suits his intellectual bent.</p>
<p>He also sat in on a Math 16200 class which totaled four kids (including himself) and wound up participating in the class discussion. DS said he will have to thank his Analysis I teacher for such thorough preparation, as everything they covered in that class was review for him.</p>
<p>DS felt this was a highly productive visit and that he intends to apply. He is already talking about visiting in the fall for an overnight and interview. It has been hard finding places with the vibe he's seeking, but Chicago definitely fit the bill.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice!</p>
<p>Great report. Your S may want to post his experience in the "new" College Visits section here on CC if he has not already done so.</p>
<p>"I could <em>definitely</em> see myself spending four years here."</p>
<p>Cool, I remember calling my parents after my overnight and saying those exact words; a year later, and I absolutely couldn't be happier. I fully believe that if you sit in on a class, talk to people, walk around campus etc., and really like what you see, Chicago is the place for you. </p>
<p>I would definitely encourage your son to e-mail a professor in a field that he's particularly interested in and see if the professor would be interested in talking to a prospective student. I picked some random poly-sci professor off the website, e-mailed him, and within a day had a casual interview scheduled. I went up to his office and we had a great chat about the school's political science program, and the academic atmosphere in general.</p>
<p>I'm still in high school, but I did the same thing as jack and couldn't agree more– the professors I've conserved with are accessible, insightful and interested in what i have to say, and I'm still just a prospie.</p>
<p>*conversed with, heh, not "conserved."</p>
<p>My son is a big ol' geeky groupie of Dr. Lear in the Philosophy department. I even surprised him with tickets to a lecture in San Francisco last spring. When he got to meet Dr. Lear, the prof was <em>really</em> great and encouraging, inviting my son to have coffee and attend his classes when he visits. He's trying to make it out in February, if I can afford it. <em>grin</em></p>
<p>jack4640,</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. DS knows someone who was accepted EA for the fall and has another friend who was at Chicago for UG for math, so I am sure he's going to be chatting with them over the next few months!</p>
<p>He wanted to sit in on the math classes, as that's his intended major. However, after all the comments on Loving the Core, he has agreed that the next time he visits campus, he needs to sit in on a Hum/Sosc class or two.</p>