<p>I would really like to visit sometime in the next month or two. granted, chicago is not next door - it's either a 12 hour drive or a plane ticket away - but I am currently trying to convince my mom to take me up for a couple of days or something. If I'm accepted, then I'll definitely visit before I make my decision. UChicago definitely seems like the kind of school that you want to get acquainted with before making such a huge decision.</p>
<p>From Providence, you should be able to get a round trip to Midway for under $200 (well, maybe under $300). If you drive, in addition to depreciation, gas and tolls, and taking an extra day (12 hours is pretty optimistic), and frazzling everyone out, it will cost at least that much for your mother to get a hotel room for two nights. Go alone, get hosted or stay with friends, and tell your mother all about it when you get home.</p>
<p>If you enjoyed coloring in the University seal on a faux-coffee-stained postcard, ran through the obstacle course that is our application supplement, and have the qualifications to be accepted, I think the answer of whether you'll enjoy Chicago and fit in is pretty self-evident.</p>
<p>To put it another way: there are a lot of people here, and they're all really different. Some could be characterized as "quirky," or "zany" or "arty." Others as "competitive," or "motivated" or "goal-driven." And that's not to say that the two are mutually exclusive, either.</p>
<p>Everybody I know IRL who is not a good fit for Chicago either a) had negative intention to apply from the outset, because the school doesn't have a strong household brand name attached to it, because it doesn't offer buxom blondes by the boatload, because it has DIII sports, b) didn't like the idea of filling out the application or couldn't come up with a sufficient answer to "Why Chicago" and left the application incomplete, or c) didn't get in.</p>
<p>So, again, if you find yourself looking at a few schools in April and Chicago is still on your list, I recommend a visit, and I recommend a comprehensive visit, too. Talk to people, visit classes, poke around. Don't just do the tour and leave.</p>
<p>Just to play devil's advocate here for the sake of any lurkers who, for economic or other reasons might find it difficult to visit the campus, sure, it would be great to see it before you apply or make your final decision, but it's not essential. If you do your homework (reading through all the posts on this forum, exploring UChicago's website, reading college guides, talking to anyone and everyone who has any association with the University, etc etc etc) you can get a pretty good sense of what the culture at this school is like and therefore whether you would be happy here. Still more important, have a serious conversation with yourself concerning your academic goals. If the University is especially strong in areas that you are especially passionate about, then you will more than likely be happy here. For example, if you are a top math student in your high school (scoring the national average or higher on AMC and AIME tests), then you will probably find your needs met here (Phuriku might need to corroborate but this is the sense I have gotten from my son). If you are a broad-spectrum learner, you will probably be happy here. And so forth.</p>
<p>We didn't see the campus or have a tour until we arrived in September for O-week, and yet, as things have turned out, I can't imagine a better place in the country for my sophomore son. I expect the same might be true for many students who know that they will make the college, not the other way around.</p>