Cool things from Admitted Student Open Houses

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
61

From what I could see last year, if you want to take SOSC as a first year you should prioritize it after Hum. The reasoning is that they allow you to pre-register for up to nine choices. That, and the fact that these small-ish seminars were already half-full, told us that it’s harder to get Sosc than a course you actually placed into (say, math or FL). @Lea111 it could be that prioritizing the non-major science over the SOSC was what cause the problems last summer so thank you for clarifying. Was figuring that w/o the math the schedule was just non-conventional and broke the algorithm! LOL.

My daughter’s strategy was interesting, IIRC. She kind of “forced” her schedule by placing her “placement course” lower on the priority than SOSC, figuring that SOSC was harder to get into and that they wouldn’t dare kick her out of Math her first year (or give her non-calculus). She also placed all her math/science at one time of day, and Hum/Sosc at another time. Her worst scenario would have been having a day or two with several classes back to back and then nothing or just one class on the off day, which was a scenario that seemed tolerable for her (worked out much better than that in actuality).

As mentioned non-major PHSC was the “toss away” (lowest priority and droppable if things got too crazy). The lecture is large but the labs have a size limit so we were surprised she got into that as well as the others.

Others might have a different strategy but I’d definitely recommend that first years think carefully about their course priority and choose your least interesting course as your 4th. Hum will be wired in as first choice because it’s required. The remaining priorities are up to the student.

As for Civ, those classes that tend to be department-specific and likely will have majors in there as well as those fulfilling the Core. My impression is that it’s a bit more of a free-for-all but they have several sections of, say, European Civ. so would be very surprised if people didn’t get in. However, just a thought: it’s possible there will be a flood of 3rd years who didn’t make it into study abroad - that will impact kids like mine who wants to take two sequences (one to fulfill the core, the other for her major). She plans to discuss this with her advisor but I encouraged her to go straight to the history dept. and talk to them about what to take next year, given her interests. Worst comes to worst she can just take Western over the summer with the Dynamic Duo (Weintraub/Boyer).

62

@Lea111 Every class is feasible to get into if you make it your top priority, just sometimes other priorities come first. You just gotta be optimal about your priorities.

63

All this concern with classes getting closed – I never heard that once when my kids were students. I didn’t hold their hands through registration, but they always told me in advance what classes they planned to take, then took those classes. No one ever said, “I hope I get into that.” They didn’t necessarily get the section/time they wanted for Hum and Sosc, but I never heard any concern that they could get completely shut out of a Core course, or that they had to game “priorities.” Creative writing classes, and a Theater Arts set design seminar, were competitive to get into, but on the basis of work submitted, not scheduling algorithms.

Is this a sign that the rapid expansion of the college size is affecting educational quality?

64

After writing up what happened, I decided that it actually worked out well for DD (with a lot of work and stress).

I remembered now one of the other reasons she put science before SOSC - she was able to rank 9 sections of SOSC and only 1 section of science. And while half the spots for SOSC were gone, presumably onlyi half the first year class wanted those spots at all, whereas presumably most of the first-year class was going to be taking science. They said to rank 2, but she couldn’t make 2 work with the 9 HUM and 9 SOSC sequences she had put down. Since she was following the recommendation for SOSC (9 sequences) and not following the recommendation for science (only 1 science-with-lab-section listed), she put the science second and SOSC third.

So it seems just as likely that if she had switched the priorities, she would have gotten into SOSC but not into science. Maybe that wouldn’t have been as big a deal, since science is only one quarter, instead of 3.

Honestly, as much as I’m a planner, I’m not sure it’s really possible to guess how the algorithm will work in the end. It’s unbelievably complicated, and there’s just too much information the students don’t have.

65

@JHS Must admit, hearing this does concern me. My S is considering a double major, which I imagine would make scheduling courses even more complicated. He’s still not committed, so I’m not overly focused on this yet…but may be very shortly!

66

It worked out well for my DD as she finished all her math (plus two more math courses for engineering), Science, Sosc, and humanities as a first year. leaving only Civ to complete. Probably the best way for a double major.

67

@CU123 What AP credit did she have coming in?

68

If getting into core and major courses were a real problem we’d be hearing a lot more about it. Our kid has had exactly ZERO problem. Last year’s class was sizably larger than in @JHS’s kids’ day (I think); however, they still managed to have enough sections of Hum. My daughter has actually enjoyed her instructors - all of them have been excellent and by now she’s had everything from grad students to tenured faculty with a professional instructor or a college fellow tossed in there just for variety. By the time you enroll in courses 9 - 12 you get a sense of whether the quality of education is somehow suffering - and answer seems to be “no”.

It’s understandable that people worry about what core class to take or when to take it and getting your desired times. Hearing about strategy and “priority” and nine sections of this or that is probably a bit overwhelming. But that has more to do with the large number of Core offerings in Hum and Sosc. than it does getting shut out. That first quarter does require a lot of thought but that makes the back end of things that much easier. Also, a good number of students are involved with credit-heavy majors (including doHeuble majors) and seem to graduate on time.

69

@CU123: depending on the major it’s possible to enter with no AP credits to offset Core or FL and still double major - a lot depends on what your specialities will be. Econ. and history would be doable, for instance.

70

Wanted to amend #67 to add that UChicago is going to be a bit more complicated for reg. simply because practically all Core subjects must be done in sequence. Even Phsc. and Bio have sequenced “pairings”. It does make for a little more forethought than just signing up for Freshman writing, a science and a math like kids at other schools. But you are also supposed to get a lot more out of your gen eds as a result.

71

Not all Core Physc and Bio have to be taken in sequence (but kids who take the real intro General Chemistry, Physics, and Biology courses have to take THOSE in sequence of course).

Hum is relatively easy. They know in advance exactly what the registration in Hum will be autumn quarter: everyone in the first year class, and every transfer student. They can divide that number by 19, toss in a few extra, and know exactly how many Hum instructors need to be hired. They have a good idea what the range of popularity is, and can assign the instructors accordingly. It would be an incredible failure if they couldn’t get everyone situated in a first or second choice Hum.

But it should be the same with Sosc too. The numbers are a little less precisely predictable, but there’s really no excuse for freezing any first year who wants to take it out of a mainstream Sosc. Hum is important as a freshman comp course, but it’s Sosc that really supplies the common analytic framework Chicago students share. If they admit an extra 200 students, they should take some of those extra tuitions and spring for enough Sosc instructors to cope with the demand.

72

@JHS there might be fine print but the choices for non-major Bio involve taking Core Bio (10130) first. You have choice on the second/third and/or you can waive Core Bio with the AP. I thought for pre-med it was even more strict.

For Phsc. they might have restructured the Gen.Ed. last year to allow more choices but most if not all are in an ordered sequence. Here’s the wording:

“This requirement may be met by taking an introductory sequence in Chemistry, Geoscience, or Physics, or by taking an acceptable pairing of Physical Sciences (PHSC) courses, which generally have a broader focus than the disciplinary sequences.”

When we looked last year it was pretty strict but with a lot of choices which was great - my daughter found something she liked!

Your description of Sosc. is in part why my daughter wanted to take it first year.

73

@Lea111 DD started in math 153 (so AP credit for 151 and accreditation test credit for 152) and takes 4 classes per semester so like @JBStillFlying says double major is doable as long as your willing to take a 4 class load most quarters.

74

@JBStillFlying Classics is excellent prep for philosophy and/or political science. There is not a comparable complete survey of the history of political thought offered and it gives you the opportunity to meet faculty if you’re serious - my sosc prof turned into a letter writer for PhD apps.

@JHS’s advice on Hum and Sosc is good. I think the deader, whiter, and maler the syllabus, the better the class is the general rule, unfortunately.

@Lea111 @JBStillFlying My experience with my advisor is similar. They’re generally much more involved in the lives of struggling students. FWIW Mind is a joke.

I’ve never had problems getting into classes. I think a few majors where (a) demand outstrips supply of profs and (b) there are prereq bottlenecks - stats, CS, pubpol - account for the vast majority of complaints about not getting into stuff that I’ve heard. Plus art core, of course.

75

The key to the art core is Art History. Love, love, LOVE our Art History department and I can’t figure out why people are climbing over each other to get into solidly okay VisArts or TAPS classes when we have one of the best art history departments in the world, especially if you are interested in architecture, archeology, or urban design.

Literally, look at these classes! They’re amazing! There are so many choices for undergrads, even more than in many comparable universities with excellent art history programs! They cover an incredibly broad stretch of topics! Most of them count for the core!

https://arthistory.uchicago.edu/index.php/undergraduate/courses

76

Would be very grateful to hear any more insights about the Art Department–particularly the Visual Arts & Cinema groups…and anything about the Animation-related classes. Thank you!

77

@monstermama there is the Cinema and media studies major with a couple of upper div animation or game design studios. Then there is “Film and Moving Image” (14400) which is open to non-majors to fulfill the Core and probably wildly popular as a result. Have to agree with @HydeSnark that Art History would be the more satisfying intellectual experience. I once took an art history course as an Econ. major and it was a lot more challenging than I thought it would be. You learn more than just styles of artistic representation - you actually learn the social and political history of the civilization (this was an ancient Eastern culture). However, studio courses are loads of fun and loads of work as well. It’s a different application of the brain cells. Film and Moving Image, as an intro course, is probably a combo. of studio and classroom.

SAIC up the street is a world-class school of art/design attached to - and leveraging heavily off of - the Art Institute itself. They will likely have summer or night studio options for anyone interested in figure drawing/animation from a “technique” perspective:

http://www.saic.edu/academics/areasofstudy/animation/

http://www.saic.edu/cs/ace/

UChicago’s approach will be more “think’y” than SAIC since all their creative fields culminate in academic rather than professional degrees. There’s some “doo’y” there, but the subject is treated more as an intellectual exercise (as all subjects are at UChicago). That doesn’t mean there aren’t some great studio courses - there undoubtedly are. The perspective and context are what might be a bit different from a traditional art/applied art program (which, depending on the degree program, might be 2/3 studio and only 1/3 liberal arts).

78

I think I’ve seen 3 or 4 students or parents on CC in the past couple of years saying that a student got a schedule after pre-registration with only 1 or 2 courses on it, when the student wanted 4. That’s a frightening prospect, because add/drop sometimes moves and it sometimes doesn’t, and if you’ve been scheduled for only 1 course, it’s not just a matter of watching add/drop list and looking for 1 course to open, or contacting 1 prof for permission to pink-slip in; you’ve got to coordinate all 3 courses you’re trying to add, making sure that they don’t conflict with each other (and, if you’re a normal person, making sure that they don’t create 6 straight hours of classes with no sit-down food opportunity until 5 p.m.).

DD got only 3 courses in winter quarter from pre-registration despite putting in 7 course choices (two of the alternatives she had put in were classes with 40 or 50 spaces, not arts core courses). But we found a 4th class that sounded interesting and fit with her scheduled 3 classes; the class was a bit of a gamble as the grad student teacher hadn’t taught many classes and didn’t have many evaluations, and what there were, weren’t great. The class, though, was in the teacher’s area of interest and expertise, and with about 10 students; it turned out to very good.

Of the CC posters who post, concerned that they got only 1 or 2 classes in pre-registration, that’s 3 or 4 students out of thousands. I have no idea what that reflects in terms of how frequently this happens; most people don’t post on CC about something like this, I’m sure. I know some poster has said that getting only 1 or 2 courses in pre-registration is fairly common.

My daughter had tried to pink-slip in 3 times. The first time (in the fall), it worked - she wrote a fairly long email, and the prof was willing to expand the small class by 1 student, though after people dropped out, it wasn’t oversubscribed anyway. The second time, the prof didn’t answer, and since there was a conflict between her scheduled class and the desired class and so she didn’t show up for the desired class the first week, eventually the prof resolved the request as “denied” without ever speaking to her. The third time, the prof didn’t answer. Classes started, and she did go to 5 classes for a few days, and finally emailed the prof directly. He didn’t seem to understand the way the online pink-slip process works, and said that they can’t expand the lab sections, so no. The registrar should not allow an online pink-slip request to be filed, if the professor has a policy of not allowing expansion of the class; it’s misleading. It’s too bad DD wasted time going to the class, and it’s too bad she didn’t spend time looking for a different class while there was still a chance she could get in. This is one of the administative snafus that helps no one and causes unnecessary trouble. In the end though, she’s got 3 good-to-great classes and 1 not-great-but-meeting-the-core-requirement class.

I don’t at all think that Chicago is worse than most private universities, or probably worse than most LACs. One turn-off for Kenyon, when we were looking at schools, was that English majors complained that they had to camp out the night before in front of buildings to get into classes they needed for their major. Given that Kenyon is famous for English and DD is interested in the humanities, that didn’t sound good. We also saw students complaining in Brown’s newspaper about not getting into classes. I certainly do not think Chicago is especially bad in this regard. The pre-registration process is not Pareto optimal (it will keep you from getting into a class that is your #1 ranked choice and not full, if it conflicts with your #10 ranked class and you’ve already been placed in that class), but I’m no CS expert - maybe there’s no way to make it Pareto optimal with modern-day computing power and limited time. There’s no reason to allow a student to make an online request to get into a class, if the course policy is not to allow someone to get in that way; having that is just sloppy incoordination, but not at all out of range for most universities, I’d imagine. One general problem is that Chicago seems to be filling many of its core classes to the max - maybe because they’re expanding fast, maybe to save money, I don’t know. That gives students little wiggle room to create complex schedules (4 classes meeting 2-3 times a week, plus lab, plus sometimes a discussion class). Doing a lot of research and planning does not prevent these problems.

However, the bottom line is still mostly very good classes. At least so far.

79

@CU123 You said your DD got everything but CIV done in 1st year. Did she have AP score to waive out of foreign language (normally 3 quarters)? That’s what DD had - credit for Math 151 and 152 and waiver of foreign language. If she’d been able to get into SOSC, she would have had only CIV and 1 science core class left by second year. As it was, she’ll end up taking 7 core classes and 4 non-core classes this year. And have 2 CIV (3 would be one extra 3 SOSC; and 1 core science in second year … if she can get in.

If you come in with no AP credit/waiver, you have 18 core courses to take. With 12 a year max, that’s all your courses for first year, and half your courses for second year (or some other combination).

80

For the parent who asked about 3 or 4 classes first quarter, my DD’s best friend started with 4 courses, and dropped 1 within the first couple of weeks. Again, my impression is that it’s not the majority, but it’s not like frowned upon or something to take 3 courses that first quarter (not that my DD would have cared).