Is UChicago right for me?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

<p>UChicago has personality. I haven't visited the school, but from everything I've been reading, I really love the overall "quirkyness" that I'm perceiving. I think I'll be meeting the kind of people I want to meet (smart, fun to talk to, witty, etc.) if I went to school there. I also love the fact that students there care more about what they learn, not as much about the grades they earn. (That's me in HS, I always tend to get a lower grade in easier classes...)</p>

<p>But just now, I started questioning whether I really have the right impression of the school.... I was reading unalove's thread "Chicago and fit." What he wrote told me UChicago students are VERY passionate about learning and not very concerned about what happens after they graduate.</p>

<p>I'm starting to question whether I have enough "intellectual curiosity" to fit in at chicago... I mean, I can see I will have a lot to gain if I went to school there. The fact that there are discussions among students and that people actually care about what they learn sound GREAT to me, but if "caring" about what they learn means, say, staying up all night reading about everything there is to learn in the world (basically an interest in everything from how many digits of pi can be memorized to random historical facts to a love for literature written in ancient English) , I'm a little afraid I don't have enough of what it takes.</p>

<p>I do like learning, but only when it's about what I am interested in (my interest is actually quite broad, but not nearly broad enough to cover, for example, the stuff I named earlier.) Outside my interest, I find myself with absolutely no motivation to learn... To give you a better idea, I actually got a B in "career pathways," which was an extremely easy but also extremely trivial class that for some reason is required at my HS. </p>

<p>I'm a little worried that if I did attend UChicago, whether or not I'd be able to keep up with everyone. In HS, I'm actually quite a slacker because not enough courses interest me and I really hate doing "busywork." Basically, I do well in what I take an interest in no matter how hard it is, but I manage to mess up on what I consider "uninteresting" even if all I had to do to do well is staying awake in class.</p>

<p>I guess to make my question clearer I'll try to use a lame analogy here. When I took algebra II I actually got a C in the class because homework felt so repetitive... but when I got to AP Calculus the next year and had a cool teacher who made it interesting, I was one of the only two students to get an A in the first semester, despite how "hard" that teacher was reputed to be.</p>

<p>UChicago, as I've read, has very "rigorous" courses. I want to know whether these courses are rigorous like Algebra II homework was long and tedious, or rigorous like AP Calc was "hard." As for the students at UChicago... are they more like the kind of people who would get an A in algebra, or an A in calculus?</p>

<p>Blah, I can't think of any other way to phrase my question...</p>

<p>Also, although I enjoy an intellectual atmosphere, I know I would eventually want to somehow apply my knowledge (and I think it's also practical to want to be financially secure) which would involve finding a job (and hopefully a well-paying one). I have no wish to stay in academia for the rest of my life. There are people like that at UChicago, right?</p>

<p>Whew, long post... thanks in advance for the response, everyone. I'm looking forward to it!</p>

2

<p>i think people at uchicago aren't down with careerists</p>

3

<p>just graduated from Chicago this past year (2007), at Stanford now for grad school, and going into consulting when I graduate from here (2008).</p>

<p>Chicago is a tough place. The curriculum is amazing, and the courses are rigorous. You really do need to love to learn to be able to go to the school.</p>

<p>The education, by and large, isnt considered "practical" in the sense that its not a trade school- you dont learn skills of a trade that are directly applicable to many jobs. You dont learn how to build machines (we dont have engineering), you dont learn how to do corporate financial spreadsheets (we dont have accounting), etc.</p>

<p>What you do learn, though, is how to think critically, how to express your ideas well (which I may or may not be doing right now...), how to argue for your positions in convincing and passionate ways, how to provide factual analyses of complex issues, and how to problem solve. U of C students actually learn and improve themselves, and emerge from college as better and wiser people because of it.</p>

<p>Its not bad to have real world aspirations, and the comments by "GoodaySunshine" are pretty much false- considering that econ is the most popular major, and one of the most popular career choices is IBanking, the U of C is accepting of "careerists." However, that doesn't mean you can sit all day reading the latest Jim Cramer book. You need to be intellectually rounded in some manner, hence the core curriculum</p>

<p>It boils down to this: regardless of your future plans (b/c I guarantee you they will probably change in college), if you dont think the core curriculum is the most amazing thing on earth (or if you're not willing to entertain the idea that its pretty cool), then think carefully about if the U of C is right for you. the worst thing that could happen is for you to get to school, be forced to take Humanities, Social Sciences, History, Foreign Language, Natural Science, Biological Sciences, Art / Music, and Phys Ed (yes, we have to take gym), and be miserable. Dont get me wrong, there are lots of options within each, and you can place out of some, but you will invariably be forced to take classes that you wouldnt choose to take on your own. Thats what happens to everyone, and most people emerge better because of it (I added Poli Sci as my second major because the Core got me interested in it).</p>

<p>as if this post weren't long enough, i'll just leave you with the thought that you should forget about the after college part for now, b/c the opportunities will be there if you go to any top school. what you need to think about is whether you feel that the school's curriculum is right for you.</p>

4

<p>Does the heavy weighting on the theoretical make Chicago applicants any less appealing to grad schools? I know that the answer to this is probably no (acidsting13 went to Stanford), but just wanted to make sure.</p>

5

<p>When I wrote my thread (I'm a female, by the way, but don't worry about that) I was hoping that others chimed in with their own take on college/career and the in-between. I think I'm on one extreme of the spectrum, and I don't think it's an extreme that many at Chicago share with me. What I wanted to point out is that I feel extremely comfortable being a non-careerist. Some of my good friends at Chicago are future investment bankers and doctors, and they don't share the same views as me regarding careers.</p>

<p>What they do share with me (I think acidsting would agree) is that they love school, and will take that philosophy class and that acting class for the pure joy of it.</p>

<p>As for me, I'm the A in calculus. I'm also downright awful at crossword puzzles, word games, and other "intellectual" sidelines. I get at least eight hours of sleep a night. I'm not very well-read. I don't want to go into academia as of now, but we'll see if I get sucked in.</p>

<p>What does concern me about what you're saying, above the fears that everybody here is 24/7 brilliant (not the case), is that you want to be in control of what you're learning. If you don't think you'll be able to make it through a core, Chicago might not be the right place for you. If you're cool with anything as long as it's decently challenging, welcome aboard.</p>

<p>**</p>

<p>I don't think grad/professional schools don't really think in terms of "practical" and "theoretical" educations. Art History majors go on to earn MBA's, religious studies majors go on to law school, etc. I think they care about the rigor of the work you've done and your "mental fitness" for what's ahead.</p>

6

<p>gbh, I'd think that the heavy weighting on the theoretical makes U of C grads MORE appealing to grad schools, bc. grad schools don't want you to already know the material before attending their school. Instead, they'd like to be able to teach it to you, and they probably enjoy students who can think a little differently.</p>

7

<p>Ok, thanks everyone. (and sorry about unalove..)</p>

<p>I want to control what I learn because I want to it to be intellectually challenging. (emphasis on INTELLECTUALLY) I felt like I wasted my time in some HS classes I've taken (here the word challenging can be defined as "lots of work that keep you busy) and I would really hate to have a repeat of that in college. I guess that wouldn't be a problem since unalove said she gets plenty of sleep. (would you care to comment on the overall workload, by the way? :))</p>

<p>I'm also glad to hear what acidstings said. UChicago teaches universal thinking skills that applies no matter what I do? That sounds like the perfect undergrad education. I mean, what's the point of grad school if I've been prepared for work already in undergrad? </p>

<p>So I guess I'll be applying to UChicago. Before yesterday I was pretty convinced I'd take chicago over any ivies without the blink of an eye, now I'm glad that conviction is back. Woohoo. It's such a shame I slacked off in HS and chicago is a reach for me, because getting in would make me very happy. :P </p>

<p>Does anyone have anything to add, just to make me like the school even more?</p>

<p>One more thing, since "careerists" care about what happens in grad school admissions, how do the relatively lower grades that students at UChicago have measure up with the grades that students from other schools have? I mean, it's such a shame that "intellectually challenging" usually means you can't ace tests all the time....</p>

8

<p>If I were you, I would make clear your aversion to "busy work" in your why Chicago essay. It sounds like a lot of classes weighed down your GPA, and you should let the ad coms know that you're in it to be in it and that you are looking at the University of Chicago to give you the kinds of offerings that you want.</p>

<p>All of the data that I've seen (most of it links to external sources that I found through this website) confirms that Chicago is a top school when it comes to placing students in various prestigious grad schools and workplaces. Sometimes you'll find posters "rating" the relative recruiting strengths of majors and schools.... though this kind of rating is purely speculative and highly biased, it's nice to think that people who seem to think they have any sort of authority, even those who are anonymous internet posters, even those who have no reason to feel one way or another about the school, tend to rank it highly. Again, I mentioned that I don't really go for this sort of data, but I can easily see somebody else caring about it, and it seems from all indications that Chicago as a school performs well, probably because Chicago students are, by and large, intelligent and motivated.</p>

<p>Getting good grades at Chicago is difficult, but not impossible. The average GPA is around a 3.3 (B+) which is pretty high, but low in relation to other schools. A lot of grade-getting depends on the course and on the professor.</p>

9

<p>Dude, you sound just like me. Hopefully we'll both get in. I have great test scores, ECs, and stuff, but my GPA sucks coz my school tries to pander to everyone, including people who don't care, don't want to care, etc. Thanks for asking the question, I've wondered long and hard about it myself. After this, I'm reconsidering my early decision app to Wharton. Thankfully, I also applied early to Chicago. I think I'd rather go to Chicago, just because it has people more like me than an Ivy would.</p>

10

<p>I'm a current student. I probably fall in the middle of the career/theoretical side. I think that theory is really important, but not particular valuable if it doesn't have some practical application (I'm applying to law school). That being said, I think UChicago is amazing. I definitely did the worst in easy classes in high school, and was really frustrated that a lot of my high school "Honors" classes consisted of the same curriculum as the regular, but with an extra unit stuck on somewhere, so it was just more work.</p>

<p>At Chicago, most of the material may not be necessarily "practical" in that you could use it right away. But it's very useful in preparing you to be really good at whatever you do eventually learn to do. </p>

<p>The challenge of Chicago is definitely intellectual rather than busy work. That's why the grades are distributed the say they are. It's really hard to consistently get A's because there isn't a simple formula for effort --> grades. With regard to the workload, it depends. Sciences are definitely more intense than non-science. Regardless, you never really have a time in the quarter where you are totally free of pending work. But if you manage time halfway decently, you usually won't be scrambling frantically. If you manage time well, you can have lots of time to spend on nonacademic ventures. And sleep.</p>

<p>As far as post-graduation options go, graduate schools (especially academic and law, from what I have gathered) are big fans of Chicago graduates. On one hand, GPAs are a little lower; however, they are also more meaningful. A strong GPA from Chicago carries more weight than one from a school where half the grades are A's or A-'s. And the rigorous nature of the school is very appealing to graduate schools interested in admitting the people most likely to produce outstanding results (especially academic and law).</p>