<p>Okay, so I am thinking of transferring to Chicago from Berkeley (as many of you probably know..). one of the main problems with berkeley is not the fact that I have to work hard, its that it is so cutthroat. there is no sense of community or sharing. i mean freinds will often times give notes if you miss class and stuff, but the general atmosphere is just one of extreme competitiness, no comraderie. Is Chicago also this way, or is it more community based? thanks</p>
<p>is that really how berkeley is? in that case i dont know if i should have applied..</p>
<p>In my experience, Chicago isn't overly competitive. People work together on problem sets, and I know a lot of people who will give a friend a paper to read and edit before turning it in. Some people in the same class will trade papers with each other, but this is seen more in first years. I've known a couple of people who have hidden their books/notes from their roommate, but in every case that's because the roommate (in the same class) hasn't bought the books, doesn't go to class, and overall just wants to mooch. There may be certain majors which are more competitive, but in the whole I'd say people work pretty well together.</p>
<p>I hear bad things about the med and business Grad schools, but that's to be expected at any elite institution. Also, it depends on the course, obviously - classes that are graded on a curve will be pretty competitive, especially if they are "weed-out" - the professors are attempting to fail half the class. </p>
<p>But as for the general spirit, it's definitely more of genuine intellectual inquiry then "career success is the only thing that matters." People at Chicago like learning stuff just to learn it, and are pretty level-headed about classes and such. In fact, the closest my hall has ever been was during the last finals week, which was an incredibly stressful and busy period of time. You really bond with people after staying up until 8 AM working on a paper with them, and there's a certain sense of gallows humor that develops as well. It sounds horrible, but it was really fun, trust me.</p>
<p>How many Berkely students does it take to change a lightbulb?</p>
<p>Two. One to change the lightbulb and one to knock the ladder out from under him.</p>
<p>Around 3rd week I happened to eat lunch - purely by accident - with a student at the law school who had gone to berkeley for undergrad. She was telling me about the competitive atmosphere which you described, and after we compared notes (since I had been at Chicago for only 3 weeks, we just mainly talked about how the atmosphere was like at the beginning. If people were constantly wanting to know what everyone had gotten in their SATs, etc..), we seemed to agree that the atmosphere was much more relaxed at Chicago.</p>
<p>What you have to understand is that Chicago attracts an unusually high concentration of future academics. In terms of future PhDs, Chicago only loses to Reed and CalTech, both very specialized schools which also cater to future academics. In that spirit, a lot less people here are interested in the how competitive side of things and are much more interested in just having a good time and making the most of their classes. I´ll echo jack´s statement about finals week being a bonding experience. It certainly was for me this year.</p>
<p>on the contrary, how many uchicago students does it take to change the lightbulb?</p>
<p>none. they prefer to study in the dark.</p>
<p>
[quote]
How many Berkely students does it take to change a lightbulb?</p>
<p>Two. One to change the lightbulb and one to knock the ladder out from under him.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I laughed out loud for real at that one.</p>
<p>ohh bendrumfront... I saw the thread. CONGRATS!!!!</p>
<p>yeah, my friends at Chicago bond really well (they apparently have these crazy study parties). The only thing about Chicago is that the GPAs are low and I heard that grad schools actually recalculate Chicago GPAs up and recalculate Harvard GPAs down, so it really doesn't matter in the end. Chicago is an awesome city...it'd be so much fun to go to school there.</p>
<p>your sn would indicate otherwise....</p>
<p>interesting guys, that is really good to know and really comforting, bcecaus that part of berkeley really bothers me. omg benrumfront, that was HILARIOUS, especially about berkeley, that is so true!</p>