<p>The end of O-week has come to a close. Just want to drop in and comment on how sweet this place is. OK, so it's not perfect, but it's pretty damn close to wonderful. The frat parties suck, so dont come here for that. The apartment and dorm parties are sweet.</p>
<p>How's the workload? I still don't have an accurate grasp on the workload...</p>
<p>classes start tomorrow. How would a first year know before then?</p>
<p>as a prospective student, I'd love for you to keep us updated on your perspective of the place as the year progresses.</p>
<p>Haha I'm happy to hear you're having a good time. O-Week is really a time to let your social butterfly flourish... with luck, the rest of your year will be like O-Week plus homework.</p>
<p>One thing that I always think goes undermentioned is how high customer satisfaction we have at this school. That's not to say it's Candy Land, but most of us really, really like it here and couldn't imagine being anywhere else.</p>
<p>Great to hear you're enjoying it, but my first year is having a harder time. She found O Week way to long and too isolating in that most, if not all activities/meetings were scheduled with one's house. She would have preferred a little more mixing since she hasn't "clicked" yet with many in her house, including her roommate. She's having a hard time finding "her people" and so much downtime seems to have exacerbated her feelings of being alone. She's probably on the "less intense" end of the spectrum of the student body, though she knew full well what she was getting into. She also knew that this would be a challenge academically for her, one that she welcomes, but the reaction of those she has expressed those concerns to has been disheartening. The responses have been mostly along the lines of, "you know this place is so hard, why did you come here?" There seems to be no understanding of normal anxiety, or respect for one who chooses to place themselves a little outside their comfort zone and stretch academically. Classes start today, hopefully things will settle down.
And to the OP, I hope you continue to enjoy yourself and remain happy with your decision. I guess I was just wondering whether any current upperclassmen felt like my child when they started.</p>
<p>lb56 -- I don't know about current upperclassmen, but if you check out the "meltdown" thread in the Parent Cafe (the last couple of days' worth, not the early part), you'll know that your daughter isn't the only first year who is having those feelings now.</p>
<p>lb56,</p>
<p>These challenges are completely normal. My D, now a 4th year, had what may be the most horrible roommate situation possible, just to use an example. Roomie moved out late the first quarter, which helped, but then just made my D feel lonely.</p>
<p>I agree that the house orientation of dorm social activities is a big limitation, but chicago is no different from anywhere else. We can only hope your D looks for some outside activities to get involved in. I think ECs are where most kids find "their people" anyway. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
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And to the OP, I hope you continue to enjoy yourself and remain happy with your decision. I guess I was just wondering whether any current upperclassmen felt like my child when they started.
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<p>It really depends on what house you're living in. I've heard that most houses form cliques, but in the house I'm in, everyone's pretty much together and we try to incorporate anyone into the mix that we can. I'm a rather anti-social person myself, but my house has kind of changed that.</p>
<p>Your daughter probably has the perfect opportunity to make friends in the classes she's taking. If worse comes to worse, though, and things don't get better, drop me a PM. I'm pretty good with making friends with anti-social people, and I can sympathize with her from past experiences.</p>
<p>To be perfectly honest, I felt kind of alienated during O-Week as well, and it would've been a lot worse had I been placed in any other house. I was really surprised that the people here aren't as intellectual as I had been suspecting (no doubt, there are extremely smart people here, but it seems like there are also many not-so-smart people). Pretty much everyone has already gotten out at least once and gotten drunk, for example, whereas the people who matriculated almost solely due to academics tend to feel alienated in these situations. 6 out of 7 students at UChicago drink. I thought it would be much lower.</p>
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How's the workload?
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<p>It really depends on what classes you're taking. One of my classes takes 30 hours a week, and another one seems like it's going to take less than 5. I'm sure you'll be working at least 20 hours/week out-of-school, though, no matter what classes you take.</p>
<p>O-Week was amazing! Go T-House! haha</p>
<p>First day of classes went well.. everything looks manageable so far, and my roommate and housemates are great.. go UChicago! Oh and per the comment above that suggested that O-Week was too long.. no way! It was just long enough to be able to explore the city, get to know your housemates better (sorry that your daughter hasn't found the right group of people.. but encourage her to go to the RSO Fair on Friday to find some clubs to join), and just get to know the campus and how it works. </p>
<p>I feel so much more comfortable after O-Week and can't wait to learn more.. both in and out of the classroom.</p>
<p>how is the academic environment? i mean, yes i've heard it's "hard" but how does it compare to high school (i assume you took a tough courseload... after all, you got in!)? :-) also, is a pretty wide assortment of students- or does everyone seem to have similar interests?</p>
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how is the academic environment? i mean, yes i've heard it's "hard" but how does it compare to high school (i assume you took a tough courseload... after all, you got in!)? :-) also, is a pretty wide assortment of students- or does everyone seem to have similar interests?
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<p>No matter what high school you went to, no matter how many and what courses you took, UChicago is harder.</p>
<p>The intellectual diversity here is really astounding. The only annoying thing regarding this issue I've seen thus far is that too many people are majoring in economics.</p>
<p>Though I love this school, I did not particularly love O-Week. I found the house-ness stifling, I felt that kids were "un-intellectual" and whatnot, but what it comes down to is that it takes some time to adjust. I've been following along many college-related discussion forums and these sorts of experiences are completely normal and happen at all colleges everywhere.</p>
<p>Lb, if your D does not like the house, she will be able to branch out through EC's and classes (discussion classes like hum= chances to make friends). Sometimes one's personality doesn't click with the overall feel of the dorm or the house, and it can be tough navigation, for sure. I'm also curious as to who is making these "it's your fault that you came here" comments, and perhaps the people who are saying that are as terrified and inexperienced as your daughter is and are just trying to brush off their own insecurities. It also may take some time for other housemates to warm up a bit, and get beyond how they want to portray themselves to others. Expect a lot of bragging and alcohol in the first few weeks. By the middle of the quarter, people will start to feel "at home," and as a result be more friendly, open, etc. I encourage her to look at the upperclassmen living in her house as an example-- usually, the upperclassmen have a better outlook on things than the first-years.... and they're the ones who actually know what this school is like :-)</p>
<p>I happen to think there are a lot of "normal" people here, people who did well in high school, who like academic challenges, who also watch America's Next Top Model and listen to Kanye West.</p>
<p>And in terms of workload intensity, again, she will see for herself what it's like. If she got in, she's capable of doing the work, end of story. She may or may not be capable of getting the same grades she did in high school. I work about as hard in college as I did in high school (the work itself is harder here, but I put less pressure on myself for grades, so it feels easier), and I'm quite proud of my grades, even though they fall a letter below my high school performance.</p>
<p>unalove, thanks for the words of support. She's already started thinking about what ECs she wants to join and is looking forward to the RSO fair on Friday. She has also started making it a point to talk to and get to know some of the second years in her house. Though she is one of those "normal" kids (think Top Chef), I do believe she will find her way and ultimately her place at Chicago. Classes started today and she thinks that's a good thing. I know she will find her level academically as well.
And phuriku, she says there are way too many bio majors! I guess it depends on who you meet O Week!</p>
<p>The RSO fair will be a lot of fun. I'll be there working multiple clubs.</p>
<p>I seem to remember being really frustrated with the first-years in my house when I was a first-year. (Now, they're my best friends). The upperclassmen had their act together, though, and I sort of took cues from them.</p>
<p>Your daughter should organize a TV night around Top Chef or another guilty pleasure show (Grey's, ER, Heroes, ANTM) and send an e-mail about watching it together out to the house listhost. We do that in my house... it's a lot of fun.</p>
<p>phuriku,</p>
<p>Unfortunately, you are incorrect. I went to Exeter ('05), and UChicago has never been nearly as challenging or intellectually engaging.</p>
<p>My experience thus far:</p>
<p>UChicago rocks. Maybe my house is an anomaly, but everyone is awesome/extremely friendly. Classes are spectacular so far, and the workload is not going to kill me. I couldn't picture myself at any other university.</p>
<p>CesareBorgia, if you find chicago less than challenging, you should ask yourself why? Only you control what courses you took. If you took easy classes for easy grades, don't blame the school. Otherwise, you found the math 161 sequence easy? Did not take it? Ask yourself why? AP-5 Fundamentals of biology easy? Honors Ochem easy? not a science person? What about advanced language study?</p>
<p>Or lets look at it another way. in how many quarters, of your six so far, did you take 4 courses? I presume all 6? </p>
<p>CB, U Chicago offers great flexibility in course enrollment (like all good universities) for example, UofC allowed my D to take a grad immunology seminar the summer after her 1st year, with instructor permission. How much of this flexibility have you taken advantage of?</p>
<p>newmassdad-- I did the same ( years ago), taking grad courses as an undergrad and getting pulled into research by the head of O-chem. Chicago does not need to be easy or boring!</p>
<p>newmassdad,
I'm taking Math199 with the intention of taking analysis. I have no desire to take Bio or OChem (All of my friends that have taken intro and 2nd year science classes here have hated every minute of their classes, as the teachers are horrible (at teaching; their research may be amazing) and the text books (chosen because they were written by a UofC prof) are equally so.
-I was planning on getting a Classics minor/major to find some way to challenge myself, but after taking a year of Accelerated Latin, I realized that the Classics department had watered down their courses to a laughably low standard.
-Yes, I have taken 4 classes every quarter I've been here, and have taken summer classes every year as well.
-I am taking a GSB class right now.</p>
<p>-The most significant problem at UChicago, however, is the student body. For the most part, it simply is not intellectually engaging.</p>