<p>I've been thinking of UChicago as my top choice for a long time now, but someone told me that UChicago is not a great campus or with great people - that everyone is focused on their work and there's no fun. It seemed unlikely, since it's umm...in CHICAGO. But I thought I should go to the people who are there, and ask them.</p>
<p>So tell me HONESTLY! Is it a (relatively...) fun place? Will I enjoy my time there?</p>
<p>No, you will not enjoy your time there.</p>
<p>Honestly, there is not a shred of fun in the place.</p>
<p>Every time I read on this forum that the Chicago campus is lacking I scratch my head. I've visited many, many college campuses, and I really loved Chicago's. The gothic portion would make a great set for Romeo and Juliet, and the lake is spectacular. Get the university to send you a copy of their poster with the campus in the foreground and the city and lake behind it. </p>
<p>As for fun dying, if you don't get that it's a JOKE, then Chicago might not be the right place for you. The work is hard, but the students love it.</p>
<p>People do take their work seriously here, but they also have lives. I have enjoyed my time here immensely. May it occur that once in a awhile people choose to stay in on a Friday and do a problem set? Yes. Do people regularly spend the whole weekend working on school stuff? No. The main difference I would say (of course never having gone to a place that's not Chicago) is that if you do your chemistry lab report on a Friday instead of doing something fun, you'll just get a little teasing at Chicago, instead of being completely socially isolated.</p>
<p>If you're going to ask it, get it right. University of Chicago is "Where Fun Comes to Die."</p>
<p>The most important thing I can say about this line is that it's not something that Fiske or Barron's or any other of those college tomes came up with; it's something that the students came up with to make fun of themselves. Consider it more telling about our sense of humor than any fundamental truth that if you go here, YOU WILL HAVE NO FUN.</p>
<p>This should be a featured discussion up at the top of the page, because we get way too many of these threads.</p>
<p>No, Chicago is not where fun goes to die. There are plenty of people who drink and party on weekends (and weekdays). There's also roughly infinity other things to do that are fun as well. The city itself has a ton of stuff to do.</p>
<p>Last weekend, I streaked through the Regenstein (track team tradition), went to a frat party, went to a rave in an abandoned warehouse, saw Body Worlds at the MSI, and saw 300. And this is the weekend before finals week, the lowest-key weekend there is around here. If I was having any more fun here, I'd probably die.</p>
<p>Oh and the people are great. In fact, they're the greatest. I'm more at home with my friends here than any other group of people in my life. It's literally painful to leave, and when I'm at home I'm always just hanging out with friends from school who live close by anyway.</p>
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This should be a featured discussion up at the top of the page, because we get way too many of these threads.
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<p>I SECOND THAT.</p>
<p>"and saw 300" </p>
<p>I second THAT. Greatest movie. Ever.</p>
<p>Seriously, look at the gargoyles. Gargoyles are fun. Castles are fun. Uchicago is a castle. Make the connections.</p>
<p>it takes a certain type of person to go to the University of Chicago</p>
<p>(a smart person)</p>
<p>(a smart masochistic person)</p>
<p>(a smart masochistic person with a beard)</p>
<p>(a smart masochistic person with a beard that resembles Dostoyevsky's)</p>
<p>yoo-jin - you must have met my son, LOL!</p>
<p>If it indeed is where fun goes to die, it might be because the local eats / bars / cafes are lacking. I never thought that an academic setting would have such a noticable dearth of places to unwind. I suppose most students roll Metra up to downtown.</p>
<p>blazingson - there are plenty of nice restaurants and bars around campus, certainly enough to suffice for most students, but if you walk about 15 minutes northeast (towards Broadview and Shoreland), the "downtown" Hyde Park area has at least 20 restaurants, most of them ethnic and quite tasty, as well as weave shops, hash shops, bookstores, record stores, etc...</p>
<p>If you're not satisfied with what you can SEE from campus, just walk a bit and you're bound to run into tuns of stuff.</p>
<p>Or, you could just take the bus downtown. Those lucky Broadview kids get a 15-minute express to Michigan & Wacker right at their doorstep. (As well as a single with a private bath...)</p>
<p>Re: fun. It exists. In fact, there's a LOT of it. Don't believe me? See an off-off show.</p>
<p>I have read good things about the bars etc. around the University, huh.</p>
<p>Nah, the bar scene in Hyde Park is pretty lacking (from what I hear). You've basically got Woodlawn Tap and a few other rutty old places. There aren't any clubs, either. If good bars/clubs are your thing, downtown (around Division st.) and the north side are your best bets. 20-40 minutes on the train will take you where you need to go. </p>
<p>(That being said, I'm not endorsing bars for people <21. They're way too expensive, and you'd need an illegal fake ID anyway. Honestly, not worth the expense.)</p>
<p>The Hookah bar right on 55th, on the other hand, is awesome, and a great place to chill out with friends after-hours.</p>
<p>I know a bar near campus that doesn't card, but to be honest it's cheaper, more convenient, and more fun to go elsewhere. I'm also not endorsing bars for people under 21. Of course not. That would be wrong. </p>
<p>People of age do go to Jimmy's. It's more of a tradition than a cool place to hang out, though. Some people also go to The Pub on campus.</p>
<p>I’m sold :)</p>