<p>A question that I've always wanted answered but never have. To current or past UChicago students: Is there anything you regret about attending the university? And if you could do it all over again, would you do the same?</p>
<p>I regret coming to UChicago thinking that I could just “try out” the core and then decide on my major after two years. (I had a nebulous idea, but not much more.)</p>
<p>You can do that, but it’s a really, really bad idea. The sooner you pick, the better. And if you are one of those people who knows exactly what you want to do on day one, more power to you.</p>
<p>Coming to UChicago was the best decision of my life. It should’ve been a whole lot easier of a decision, but UChicago wasn’t that well-known to high-schoolers when I applied, so I lucked out by being encouraged by one of my teachers to apply.</p>
<p>During my time at Chicago, I concentrated almost all of my attention to philosophy and mathematics. If I could do it over again, I would branch out a bit more into economics and/or participate in some actual summer internships (rather than the admittedly-fun research in quantum physics that I did all 3 summers). I would also try to have more of an active social life, rather than the semi-social life that was inevitable due to my double major.</p>
<p>Regardless, my experience at Chicago has put me in a great position career-wise, and as for most of what I wished I could have done at Chicago, I have done as an alumni on my own. I feel very fortunate to have been able to attend the University, and if I could do it all over again, I would, even if given the chance to attend Harvard, Stanford, et al.</p>
<p>Maybe it does exist to some of them, but have never heard of it. You could see the retention rate is about 98~99%, I guess only several schools have a better number. Your question is too generic, it could be asked to any other college students. No one can guarantee some students at MIT regret not going to Stanford, some at Stanford regret not going to Harvard, some at Harvard regret not going to Yale, some at Yale regret not going to Chicago…</p>
<p>In case it wasn’t clear, I’m unbelievably glad I went to UChicago.</p>
<p>I regret trying to please my parents by minoring in statistics, after trying out math and CS. I could’ve used all those spots for building up a better theoretical groundwork for my future studies (e.g. more classes in history, religion, linguistics, comp. lit, etc.), but instead I sunk a lot of time and effort into attaining skills that I’ve since forgotten. If I could go back, I would also take five quarters of German rather than five quarters of Russian. I enjoyed Russian, but without constant practice, it fades quickly, and German is a much more useful scholarly language.</p>
<p>I also wish I were more proactive about seeking out part-time work and in engaging with professors outside of the classroom, and it would’ve been nice to take advantage of a study-abroad opportunity (likely over the summer). Also, would’ve been great to explore the city more in my free time and to get out of the dorms sooner; having come out of a suburb, public transportation was extremely new to me, and I’m prone to getting lost, so I didn’t explore much. Of course, with the iPhone these days … :D</p>
<p>But these are minor regrets. Overall, I love my time here.</p>
<p>I asked S1 about this and he had an interesting response. He said he does wonder what it would have been like to attend a school that had a more typical (whatever that is) college experience, and given the chance he might do that. He then pause, smiled, and said, “But I know one thing for sure, if I have kids, they are going to go to the University of Chicago.”</p>
<p>Would I still have attended the University of Chicago? Without a question, yes. </p>
<p>In terms of do-overs, I switched majors a lot and took a bunch of random classes in random departments, not all of which I did well in. I wish I’d known what my current major would’ve been, and not taken extremely hard classes in say, the math major, which I was trying to do at one point. Also, I wish’d I’d finished the core earlier. I was dead-set on being a certain major UChicago was known for and took many major-related classes my first two years instead of core classes, and turns out, that original major wasn’t for me. Those are the academic side, but there are are also many things in my personal life/dating life/general non-academics that I would’ve liked to change/do-over that have made much more of a difference in my general happiness at the school.</p>
<p>Going to the University of Chicago was the biggest mistake of my life. I regret it almost every single day. Knowing I could have gone to an Ivy League school just breaks my heart.</p>
<p>It is an absolutely miserable place to attend school. It is grinding, joyless, boring, nerdy, anti-social, cold, and stressful. Chicago is no fun for college students and its Hyde Park neighborhood is one notch above slum.</p>
<p>When I graduated and went to work in the real world, I quickly found out that U. Chicago gets no respect. The Ivy schools (the real Ivies: H, Y,P) do, and maybe Stanford. Everywhere else just tags you with “not good enough for Ivy” and frankly, they’re right. Most Chicago students are petty mediocrities and I wouldn’t hire one myself. </p>
<p>The alumni lists are the real giveaways. Google the famous alumni of Harvard or Yale. Then google Chicago’s. There’s no comparison. Places like Chicago are factories for turning out employees for people who went to Ivy League schools. </p>
<p>Frankly, anyone who’s dumb enough to go to Chicago, deserves what they’re in for. But don’t say you haven’t been warned!</p>
<p>201006 - what ivy schools did you turn down for UChicago?</p>
<p>201006 - Really? What took you so long to create a new account just to share your all negative first post? If you were truly a Chicago alum with such negative experience, why wait till now to warn other people? If you were truly able to have gone to another top school, what made you think you could have done better there and that it was less grinding there, etc? </p>
<p>Is it possible you are just someone who is jealous about UChicago’s rising in general popularity which is simply catching up to its long history of renowned reputation in the academia? Is it possible you are someone who just could not stand the fact UChicago is gaining steam so you have to do something to stop its momentum by creating a new CC account just to bash it with negative remark? </p>
<p>Chicago alum such as Cue7 whose comments in this forum whether they are positive or negative on his alma mater I always value and respect because he would back up his comments with thoughtful analysis whether people agree or not. Your first and all negative post in this forum would not help any prospective students or parents to understand the University at all. Therefore, in my humble analysis, I conclude you are just someone who is jealous of UChicago’s academic excellence and rising popularity. </p>
<p>If you were truly a UChicago alum, prove my analysis wrong and tell us more about your experience.</p>
<p>I suspect 201006 is a rejected student or is an alum/student/admissions rep of one of UChicago’s peer schools.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>I wish I mastered my middle / high school foreign language by spending say, my first two summers volunteering abroad. Teaching ESL or SAT prep to foreign students would have covered the cost and the rewards intellectually, professionally, and personally would have been large. Instead, I took a course each summer and held down non-notable internships, which neither impressed future employers nor particularly placated my parents desire to justify the cost of a Chicago education since they paid minimum wage. Alternatively said, I wish I had taken a more investment minded approach to summers during college rather than staying in Chicago so I would not lose money on a twelve month lease. In hindsight, my first and second year summers were a nearly complete waste of time (not to mention Hyde Park is pretty dead from late June to September and should be avoided unless you have an RA role or courses). </p></li>
<li><p>Going to be unconventional here and say dated more at the expense of hanging out with other heady types. While I made several long lasting friendships that were founded in a sort of deep intellectual camaraderie (it is fair to say this is a very UChicago experience based on my observations of undergraduates), I did not make a <em>sustained</em> effort to be amorously involved with someone. It was a date / fling here and there for most of my time in the College with only one or two girlfriends proper that were both short lived. My belief is that a non-trivial subset of the male students who did not like their time at the school (apart from some hardcore loners) were guys who were reasonably engaged socially and doing OK or very well academically, but otherwise dateless because of their perception that there was always something that needed to be done (and not because they were oddballs based on the number who are engaged / married now). Frankly, by the time you reach 20 this can start to wear on you, especially if you were constantly attached or rather sociable with the opposite sex in HS. Spending an romantic evening with a girl is just very different than three hours of freewheeling group conversation about politics, classes, religion, etc. with people from your house.</p></li>
<li><p>Going to the gym four to five times a week. While every day is not possible in my opinion, and would take a toll on your academics, there is no reason not to go every other day at least.</p></li>
<li><p>I would also credit others who say that shopping for majors in the context of core requirements can be a recipe for trouble. While I had abundant AP credits to find my way around until I settled on economics, if you are coming in with little advanced standing you may need to do more research (say sitting in on courses, getting copies of syllabi) to understand if you are going to like the coursework in a given field of study. Trial and error can be too costly both time and GPA-wise. Core classes are – with the exception of the master’s level civilization sequences and perhaps the honors like sections of the hard sciences – not very representative of what you do in the corresponding BA / BS programs. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>I wish I had found a way to overcome my anxieties and self-doubts earlier in my college career. I found it somewhat challenging to do well at Chicago, but it’s also hard to do poorly.</p>
<p>I wish I went to more apartment party blow-outs, played more poker, and watched more TV. That’s really more a me-thing than a Chicago-thing: I have the other-people tolerance of an indoor cat.</p>
<p>I wish I realized that public transportation at night isn’t as scary as it’s made out to be provided you know what you’re doing.</p>
<p>I wish I didn’t feel like I had to cling to my housemates all the time.</p>
<p>My college experience was a roller coaster: the highs were exceptional, the lows were unavoidable. I don’t know that going to any other college would have been any better for me – if anything, probably worse.</p>
<p>I think my one major regret – and again, this is not a regret, but rather an observation – is that I found a tremendous sense of bonhomie at UofC but I do not have any enduring college friendships today, some years after I graduated. I think this is kind of inevitable… we scattered to the winds after graduation, I moved a zillion times back and forth doing different things and I haven’t really plunked down roots anywhere. </p>