<p>Of the '06-ers that I know...
--A Russian studies major is at a prestigious med school
--A poly sci major is living in Chicago and is in a rock band and probably has a full-time job too
--A sociology major is at a prestigious consulting firm
-- A bio major took a year off and is now pursuing a master's in biostat
-- A ? major is working at the U of C Press
-- An economics major is writing for a major magazine</p>
<p>Of the graduates I know from '07...
--A poly sci major is going to state law school
--An international studies major is going to state law school
-- An economic major is going to state law school
-- A physics major is pursuing a PhD at a prestigious university
-- A biochem major is pursuing an MD/PhD
-- A public policy major is working as an assistant manager in a corporation you've heard of.
-- A history major is doing Teach for America</p>
<p>Of this year's crop that I know...
-- A comp lit major is deciding between a PhD program and law school and will probably take a year off
-- A public policy major is looking for grad school in public policy
-- A classics major is looking for a PhD in a very specific field
-- A bio major is looking for med school
-- A bio/human development major is looking for a PhD in psychology
-- An art history/anthropology major is looking for a professional degree in museums/libraries
-- An international studies/public policy major is looking for law school
-- A biochem major is looking for anything but med school (he doesn't want to go)
-- Two physics majors are looking for physics grad school
-- An econ/psychology major is looking for government/non-profit work
-- A poly sci/psychology major is looking to do Teach for America
-- A history major is looking for law school
-- An econ/stat major is going to work for a magazine</p>
<p>Of my younger friends' futures...
-- Two econ majors want to do i-banking and have had prestigious summer internships
-- Two bio majors want to go to grad school for bio
-- A Law Letters major wants law school
-- An econ major wants to do investment banking (and has not had a prestigious summer internship yet)
-- An interdisciplinary studies in the humanities major wants to do corporate work
-- A bunch want to go to med school (and have diverse majors... anthropology, Spanish, English, sociology)</p>
<p>And... that's all I can think of right now.</p>
<p>I thought I'd cross-reference that list with a sampling of my high school friends. Some of my friends are in pre-professional programs (education, journalism, business) and already have predetermined career tracks. Others are pretty open-ended at this point. One wants vet school, one wants computational biology, one wants law school, one wants investment banking and has a prestigious firm salivating on him (there's a great story behind this, but it's not appropriate for an internet forum).</p>
<p>Some don't really know what they want yet, though they're having a great time in all sorts of majors at all sorts of colleges.</p>
<p>Personally: I (a 3rd yr econ major) plan on applying to a few business schools (HBS and maybe Sloan or another) next year for admission right after 4th year. When I don't get in, I'll try to get a job at GS/Blackstone/Citadel or another highly competitive 100hr/wk firm.</p>
<p>I've applied to do Teach for America. I've also applied to law school. I'll do Teach for America if I get it. If I also get into top choice law school, I'll defer that for two years. If I don't get TFA, I'll do law school right away. If nothing works out, I'll get a job at McDonald's. Or maybe Burger King.</p>
<p>I was able to maintain a 3.7 last quarter with minimal work, granted I was only taking three classes, but I was taking the reading intensive hum and soc core at the same time. Many days I'd do no work, some days I'd do an hour or two of reading. Of course, there were 3-4 days over the quarter where I'd put in maybe 12 hours on an essay. My math class was curved such that half the class would end up getting an A/A-. Math is not my strongest area, but since I was able to stay slightly above the curve, I got in A-. It's really not all that impossible. I'm sure it varies with teachers, and next quarter will probably require a lot more work... but nonetheless, my experience shows that you can do well without killing yourself.</p>
<p>Let me try to extinguish some of your fears.</p>
<p>1) it's impossible to get a high GPA at Chicago.</p>
<p>False. I hate talking about grades, but I might as well just be honest. I got a 3.9 first quarter, and I estimate that I studied about 3 hours a day: sometimes much less (as little as an hour or two) and sometimes much more (like a whole day, usually a Sunday if I'm writing a paper). It's definitely hard, but way more manageable than I was predicting after everyone talked about how hard everything was going to be. I don't think very many people did this well, but I also don't think any of my close friends got below a 3.0.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, though, that I took just 3 classes; I'd say about half of first years take 3 classes and half take 4. I definitely recommend starting with 3.</p>
<p>2) people won't get placed well if they don't have a 4.0 like everyone at harvard does!</p>
<p>I am perpetually amazed at how many people have AWESOME jobs lined up. It's obviously too early to know about grad school, but I know several third years who already have jobs lined up with huge, renowned firms. Don't fret! :)</p>