Ok so basically I would have no credits. I’ve done languages and that’s it. I’d be interested in majoring in Linguistics, and having done a lot of reading around it, I’d be really interested in the computational neuroscience minor, but idk if that would be hard to pick up having no bio credits? But I think it fits really well with linguistics.
Basically, what I’m asking is - how long would it take me to complete the core?
plan on 2 years.
@menloparkmom Ok. I would take a gap year if I went to Uchi (I’m choosing between that and class of '20 and going to uni in Durham, UK) do you think I would be able to self study some AP classes or something for credit? Or can SAT subjects be credit?
People don’t complete the core before doing anything else. Completing the core happens alongside other classes.
The core really has two components – the part that has to be completed by taking special core courses (and that you can’t get out of with AP or examination credits), and the part that can be completed with courses you might take anyway (although in some cases there are special core-only options) and for which AP or examination credits can suffice.
The first part represents 9 quarter courses. The second part is 6 quarter courses if you test out of the language requirement entirely, and up to 9 if you don’t. For perspective, to complete a bachelor’s degree at Chicago, you need a minimum of 42 quarter courses, or an average of 10.5 per year, but most students wind up taking more than the minimum, so 11-12 courses per year (in three quarters) is pretty standard.
If you took nothing but core courses, it would take 3-5 quarters (out of 12 total) to complete the core, depending on the amount of AP/examination credit you had. Students usually try to get most of the core out of the way in their first two years (6 quarters), especially since (a) 2-3 Humanities courses must be taken first year, (b) the 3 Social Science courses are really integral to understanding what the University of Chicago is about, and © the courses in the second set are often required for their majors anyway. But it’s not uncommon to leave 2-3 of the Civilization or Arts courses for the third or fourth years, or to pack them into a quarter abroad second or third year. As a practical matter, that means that, over the first two years (6 quarters) on the Chicago campus, you take 5-10 courses out of 22-24 that you wouldn’t take anyway, plus another 3 if you have no language credit and wouldn’t otherwise take a language.
For someone interested in linguistics and computational neuroscience, every one of the second set of core requirements would be satisfied by something you need to meet the requirements for your major and minor anyway. For linguistics, you need to take (or test out of) three quarters of a non-Indo-European language, which would satisfy the core language requirement. For computational neuroscience, you need to meet the general education requirements for biology, which are completely consistent with the math, biological science, and physical science elements of the core. So essentially, for you, the “core” would mean devoting about 1/4th of your classes in your first two years to things not directly required for your major and minor, plus one extra (generally enjoyable) class every other quarter your last two years, or a quarter abroad.
You could try to self-study AP classes, or test out of them, but that probably wouldn’t be advisable based on your interests, unless maybe you could get credit for a year of Chinese or some other qualifying language. Self-studying math, biology, or chemistry could get you out of requirements, but could put you at a real disadvantage in the upper-level classes you need to take.
To echo JHS, many people space the core out across 2-3 years. Most of the time, the spacing is chosen to reflect the student’s interests and capabilities.
For example, a STEM major who loathes writing essays would probably choose to take HUM, SOSC, and CIV in separate years as much as possible - the prospect of taking two reading and writing intensive classes concurrently would not be appealing. Spacing out core requirements would also let those students begin courses for their major in their first year, which is usually the norm and prevents scheduling stress in later years.
On the other hand, a student interested in the social sciences or humanities would do well to take both HUM and SOSC in their first year, and begin CIV soon after. These courses serve as primers for each field, and usually incorporate a good amount of teaching regarding how to analyze texts and write quality papers (admittedly in HUM moreso than SOSC or CIV). The skills you learn in HUM, SOSC, and CIV will help you later on when you take courses for your major.
Most STEM students will complete the STEM side of the core during the early portion of their major. Humanities and social science students will take STEM courses specifically designed for non-STEM students. They are not reputedly difficult courses, and they are generally considered less rigorous than other courses in one’s schedule, so most students are happy to take them during what would otherwise be a difficult quarter.
The core is relatively long, though it should be thought of less as something to “get through” and more as protected time to explore different fields that you may not choose to pursue more rigorously. You have to take 3 quarters of SOSC regardless of your major, so choose the SOSC sequence that’s most interesting to you, rather than the one you think would be the least work. Same for all the other courses in the core. I find the students who have the best experiences in the core are the STEM majors who discovered a newfound appreciation of the humanities and social sciences by taking the classes in the fields they knew the least about. Likewise, I’ve found that non-STEM majors who take the full calculus sequence and push themselves to take the more rigorous offerings in the sciences tend to get more out of it than those who aim to skate by.
Note: You cannot test out of HUM, SOSC, and CIV. AP scores don’t cut it for those classes. However, 3’s and 4’s will usually cut it for language and core science courses, with 5’s granting even more credit. I believe there is a clause somewhere (on the CollegeBoard website?) that prohibits high school graduates from taking AP exams for college credit, so make sure to take all your AP tests before your proposed gap year.