It’s finals week and early decisions time. I’ve survived a quarter of UChicago, you’ve survived half of senior year. Ask me anything about the application process or the school and I’ll answer them honestly.
Can you talk a bit about the physics and Maths for first years? Phys 140 series, and the Math 207-209 if you know anything about it.
@tutututututuru I’m not taking physics and I’m in Math 160s (Honors Calc, I’m not in IBL), so all this is secondhand but -
Physics 140s is going to be really hard if you have no background in multivariable calculus although technically it does not require anything past an extensive knowledge of single variable calculus… UChicago doesn’t really formally teach it and you’re going to be expected to pick it up (though I’ve heard it’s covered rigorously in analysis which will help if you’re willing to put it off a bit). I have heard that the professors just start integrating/differentiating over multiple variables and expect you to just understand what they’re doing with little prompting. If you do have background in multivariable calculus, it isn’t supposed to be that bad. The labs are the same as 130s, the difference is that 140s is going to cover things like stokes and greens and the differential (vs integral) forms of Maxwell’s equations.
Honors Analysis is Honors Analysis. Rumor has it that the professor who made it up came up with it because he thought Harvard’s Math 55 was too easy but I have no idea how true that is. You can get into if you do very well on the calc accreditation exam during o-week. I know people who went through Spivak/Apostol over the summer and have a fairly good grasp of rigorous, proof based math and didn’t place into it so be warned - when they say “exemplary performance”, they mean it. If you take it you’re going to be spending 20-40 hours a week doing math homework. If that sounds good for you and you place in, go ahead and take it. The class is about half first years, you won’t be alone.
I’m taking MV Calc right now, so I should be okay on the physics front. Or, at least, not not okay.
I’m going to try to learn proofs and baby analysis over the next few months. Math is what I want to do, regardless of where I end up. Though what you said is really, really intimidating, about placing into it. I had read that Spivak would have been good prep… I do have baby Rudin (my dad took Honors Analysis here), so I guess I’ll study more from that.
Though wouldn’t someone who has studied Spivak be kind of bored by 160s?
No because these people all take IBL which is very entertaining. Honestly it’s probably a better call to get an easy A in honors calc and go into honors analysis with a much better math background than you could teach yourself.
Wouldn’t you think most people in Honors Analysis got mathematical maturity themselves?
And you’re right. I also have to, of course, get in first. And I’ll trust my placement test results when I take it. If I can learn enough to place into Honors Analysis then I will. My dad seems to really think I can do it, and I really want to
Tell us about the culture and student life, from your perspective.
@tutututututuru Well, yes, most of the achievement gap is covered when everyone is doing 20 hours of week a work. My upperclassmen math friends told me that Honors Analysis is not significantly harder than Accelerated, it’s just more stuff. Still, Honors Calculus is a great class and the foundations you’ll get in proofs there is difficult to replicate. There’s a reason the math department sets the bar high. I know several people who placed out of Honors Calc but didn’t make it into Honors Analysis and “downgraded” to Honors Calc
@nighthawk4 that’s a little broad. Anything specific?
The culture is self-deprecating, intellectual and revolves around academics. Student life varies. Some people go to frat parties all the time. I’m in the middle of a finals week Lord of the Rings marathon so there’s that…
Lord of the Rings Marathon sounds awesome!
Why are you guys doing it during finals week, though?
Isn’t that the busiest week?
Another first year here. Finals week hurts but it’s utterly doable - most students find the time every night to gather for a movie/dinner/anything other than study.
I’m in greek life so, from my perspective, the social life is pretty great. I can go out most nights of the week if I want to, but more often than not I have work to do (and so do most kids). On the easier weeks I can go out and party wednesday, thursday, friday, and saturday (but I don’t because I also value sleep and late night netflix with my friends). That being said, it’s completely normal (and respected) for someone to opt out of a party because they have to finish a problem set, do some reading, write a paper, etc.
Because everyone needs a stress reliever
Seconding everything @tawsch says, but adding on that student life at UChicago is impossible to stereotype. Friends in Max P in greek life and friends in Snell live completely different lives. In my dorm there are more people who don’t drink alcohol at all than people who go out to party more than once in a blue moon. Some people get super involved in RSOs, some people take masochistic schedules and spend all their time in the reg. Personally, my non-academic fun mostly revolves around typical nerdy things (Catan, Lord of the Rings marathons), typical college things (Cards Against Humanities, etc.) and going downtown. I don’t drink and I feel no pressure to do so at all, I’m in good company.
After going through the admission process and experiencing UChicago life, what would you say is the personality of an average UChicago student? (If there is such a thing)
Also, what is your favorite part about being in first year so far? Dislikes?
@HydeSnark I hope finals didn’t screw you. God bless you rn. you need it homie
@JessiqueL I would say that the average UChicago student is either very driven, very passionate, or both. Most students cannot get into a school like this without demonstrating exceptional drive and/or passion for something in their application. In addition, though, UChicago students are very open to opinions and such. We spend a lot of time talking about “pc” culture and all of it’s potential benefits and drawbacks, and we spend a lot of time debating everything we have an opinion on. What we don’t spend a lot of time doing is putting other opinions and viewpoints down. I found myself at a party about a week ago debating the effect of capitalism on art, and a minute later I was doing something far less educational. The people I’ve met don’t often TRY to be intellectual, open, and curious outside of the classroom; they simply are. We’re also very self-deprecating, which is kind of like a weird tough-love kind of situation. We don’t hate it here, we love it here, but it’s definitely a rigorous and intense school and we all enjoy the suffering together (?). We chose to be here because we wanted the challenge and the potential benefits.
My favorite part so far has been meeting new people and my HUM class. Everyone here is insanely talented and/or smart, but very few seem like super geniuses when you first meet them. It’s so cool to be talking to some chill person from down the hall and then to find out later that they won some national (or international) competition in something insane. Also I just really really like my HUM professor, he’s super great at communicating with us and poses really interesting questions. He’s also clearly passionate about the subjects we discuss in class and does his absolute best to get us to be enthusiastic as well (and he succeeds)
@waddups Thanks man, luckily my finals are over now 
@JessiqueL Argumentative, intellectual, interested in thinking about everything. Most people seem to have at least one thing they absolute love and are ridiculously good at. Aside from that people here are like any other group of people.
I like most things about this school honestly.
Non-academically, the people are amazing. I feel like I’ve made better friends here in a quarter than I did in all of high school. I love being in the city. There’s a million things to do, most of which is free/cheap. The art institute and the MSI are free, and you can go to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for $20 and they put you wherever there are open seats regardless of the price of the seats (I got to listen to Dvorak in $300 seats for $20). Hyde Park is great too, it feels like a college town even though we’re in a massive city.
Academically, most of my classes and professors are great. My adviser is really amazing but YMMV. The opportunities to get involved are incredible like any other major research university, but the classes are similar to my friend’s at small liberal arts schools (my largest class had 25ish). I never felt like I was doing busy work. It basically took all the parts I loved about school in high school and took out the bad bits. If you like math, you will be in math paradise here.
This isn’t really a dislike but the school is very hard. If you come here, you will work. A lot. Constantly. There is time for fun stuff but some days your socializing will just be a study group. Some people bite off more than they can chew and have a lot of trouble. I don’t think we’re more depressed than other schools, but people are much more willing to talk about it. Struggling is never something you do by yourself, it is something you bond over. It’s both a blessing and a curse.
I do dislike my hum class. Half the people in it don’t bother to do the readings and just make stuff up to boost their participation grade. The professor is great but the other kids leave a lot to be desired. But I think I chose a bad hum. Some people love their hum.
Another first year tagging along this thread! There are definitely a lot of different people that make up UChicago. I’m on the water polo team so we have practices twice a week to just go hard and compete against each other; then I go back and hang out with my house, and we can debate stuff from politics to music to whether the solubility of cheese affects the possibility of cheese rain. I usually study in my house lounge so people come and go; finals week has seen the lounge become a bit more empty, but then again our Mario Kart group just finished about 60 races in a row so I guess it depends. My house also has a little group that goes to parties and is in Greek life, and they’re as much a part of the culture here as the people who live in the libraries around campus.
Personally, I love it here - repeating what @HydeSnark said, I think I’ve made better friends here in a quarter than I did in four years of high school.