The title says it all. My parents are adamant with their notions that Hyde Park is not a good place to study at. I want to make an appealing case to them that it’s not and would appreciate some help.
Hey there. Congratulations on the admit!
I can’t answer your question myself, but I’m tagging @Knowsstuff who I believe is from the area and may be able to help.
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Thanks!
Would you be transferring from Michigan?
yes
Ah. Makes it a bit tougher of an explanation since A2 is so safe. I have a family friend at U Chic right now, loves it, family is what I’d consider culturally more “conservative” (not hippies) and they are happy with her experience there and are also pretty familiar with Chicago. For my kid we ruled out U Chic because of academic atmosphere before we even addressed the question of safety: I had faith in their administration that campus was kept appropriately safe relative to other urban schools in not-wealthy areas. But there have been incidents. Yet Columbia has also had recent incidents. As a parent I’ll be more worried if Kid ends up at an urban school, whether that’s warranted or not. But I think you should make your case that if Bill Gates thinks it’s safe enough for his son…
That being said, if I was your parent you might have an uphill battle convincing me that overall U Chic is a better school than Michigan. Department by department you might be able to make a case.
Not much can be done about the racism factor if that’s a contribution…except growing up to be an adult who thinks differently. Good luck!
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IMO, starting out by calling your parents racist isn’t going to generate a lot of good responses. If you call out your parents… I don’t know the area but it was one of two schools that were taken off the list partly for this reason and partly for other reasons.
If they’re worried about your safety, it may be because they think crime and murders are higher in Chicago. Gather reputable data on crime statistics in Chicago (maybe a 5-10 mile radius of campus? I don’t know the area.) to prove them wrong then. Or if you’re planning to go into Chicago for social events or whatnot, then include those areas too.
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Thank you! Yeah I think I might compare statistics to columbia and might share your anecdote to them.
I think it’s valid to be concerned about Chicago’s safety because there might be elevated rates of crime there. I don’t think it’s valid to be concerned about Chicago’s safety because there’s “lot’s of black people there.”
I do think I came off a little hot-headed as I felt extremely frustrated that the first thing my parents did when I told them I got into Chicago was vehemently tell me not to go. I have edited that part out.
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My kid will be going to GT in the fall. My biggest concern is having my beautiful young daughter in downtown ATL. A campus visit and a look at crime stats did wonders for my anxiety! My DH (who works for another GA university) pointed out that GT (and I assume all urban schools) have a HUGE interest in keeping the campus safe. Sure, the surrounding area might be a bit sketchy, but that is for anyone who visits a big city. My job is to make sure she knows to follow the “buddy system”, be aware of surroundings and not so stupid stuff.
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First off I remember you and don’t want you to leave Michigan 
.
But I know personally many, many white families that have their kids go there. It’s a great campus with one of the best live theaters in the city called the Court Theater and one of the best Jazz series in the city. I mentioned these since people all over come to Hyde Park to go there. The city overall does have increase crime. But so does every other large city and honestly the suburbs also. I live by Wrigley and kids go to school by bus and train. Both my kids took a train to a bus to get to school.
You definitely need to be “street” aware but you should be at Ann Arbor also. The campus is a typical urban campus and yes it’s a great school but you would have to really convince me Michigan doesn’t have what your looking for at UChicago. It’s also a different feel /culture.
Go to the UChicago thread and they discuss this a lot area /safety.
Anyway. None of us would send our kids there if it was a bad place to live. Ann Arbor is safer. Not sure what stats you can dig up. I wouldnt think twice about walking around Ann Arbor /campus at night. I would at UChicago. Also the mass transit green line is fine during the day. I would be more cautious at night. Just being honest.
One thing is Facebook actual students there and get their take on it.
One more thing Hyde Park is a very diverse area. This is not a negative. It’s what makes this area great. Great shops and restaurants…
I’m a parent of a UChicago student. We are from a small town, in the south, so I was a bit apprehensive about her going to school in Chicago. She absolutely loves the school, the atmosphere, the fellow students, and the close proximity to the heart of the city. She has had no issues, and none of her friends and teammates have had issues. The campus, and the areas around campus, have a lot of security. At night you need to be more careful. In the evening, she’s always with friends, traveling by Lyft/Uber.
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Your parents are right to be concerned, and you are right to not want to be limited to campuses in suburban or rural areas. They’re not being racist - they’re concerned for your safety, and they have good reason to be so. Showing them statistics about crime rates is not going to help. The fact is that at least three members of the U Chicago community lost their lives to crime last year, and I’m sure that many more were the victims of non-fatal crimes . You could point out to them that it is still very rare, and tell them in great detail about all the measures you will take to make it virtually impossible that you could become the victim of a crime there. You should also make a case for the advantages that U Chicago offers you that U Michigan doesn’t.
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If they actually are racist (as in that is actually what they told you, either directly or indirectly), then it is unlikely that you will convince them (regardless of actual levels of crime relative to what would ordinarily be acceptable to you and them), since racism against Black people is often connected to believing or perceiving that crime in places where there are Black people is much higher than it actually is.
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UChicago is not dangerous, or I would not allow my child to go there. Have your parents look at the crime statistics on the students, compared with other urban universities. Visit the campus, talk to current students. Do not fall prey to reading opinions from people that are not students, or past students, of the university.
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Each college must file an annual fire and safety report, often referred to as the Clery report.
OP can get data there are on variety of on and off campus crimes, BUT one must adjust the data by the size of the undergrad/grad population if they want to compare schools.
Here is UChicago’s ‘21-‘22 Clery report https://d3qi0qp55mx5f5.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/safety-security/uploads/files/Final_SFS_Report_2021_(2)11.15.pdf?mtime=1637004390
And UChicago’s daily crime log:
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