<p>Alright, so I just got accepted and was wondering what life is like at Uchicago--politcally, socially, spiritually, etc...I'm guessing that students are predominantly liberal or libertarian. And what about the drinking scene? Is there much of a pot scene (not really into that)? Anyway, I'm just getting a feel of what the university is like. thanks for any input.</p>
<p>Life is whatever you want it to be, really. There are lots of kids who drink, but there are many who abstain. It's a college campus, so many students drink, but there are lots of students who don't drink much and some who don't drink at all. You can go to parties with friends and not drink, or you can avoid the party scene and watch movies, go to shows, go downtown, play video games, or whatever else you want to do with your friends. I've never seen people judged for not drinking. There are a number of people who smoke pot, but you may never know about it if it's not your scene. If you want to smoke pot, you'll be able to find people to smoke with, but it's really not that big on campus. </p>
<p>The campus is liberal overall, as are most college campuses, but I'd say students are more conservative when it comes to economic issues than students at most schools, which makes sense given the U of C's econ department (and the fact that so many students, regardless of major, take the intro econ courses). </p>
<p>There are definitely a number of religious students from a variety of practices, but no religion dominates campus life in any way. Most people I know are Catholic; I don't know many Protestants or non-denominational Christians, but there are Campus Crusade for Christ events, and they chalk actively on campus (write psalms and such on streets and sidewalks). There are lots of Churches around campus and Hyde Park. There is also an active Jewish population, and one of the frats on campus is actually the "Jew frat." I know a number of Muslim students, and they seem to have a nice community on campus. I also have friends who are Hindu, Buddhist, and probably a number of other religions.</p>
<p>Anyway, other people may have quite different experiences. It really depends on who you end up knowing.</p>
<p>is there wireless service on campus for internet...if so how much does it cost, how much does internet in ones room cost ?</p>
<p>Wireless service everywhere on campus; it's free.</p>
<p>I would say that student life could be described as de-centralized. There isn't any one strong political/social/spiritual/substance use perspective that dominates campus. I would say that a generally libertarian ethic could be discerned in a lot of ways, from the actual political views of most folks (socially liberal, economically conservative), down to the fact that there isn't a strong pressure to act in a certain way/do certain things/use (or not) various substances. For example, with respect to drinking, it's pretty widespread, but it's not socially mandatory. Drinking takes place, generally, at frat/apartment parties or at smaller private dorm/apartment gatherings. Getting completely trashed isn't uncommon, but I think it's also a less common than at a lot of campuses. You can participate nonalcholically without much problem (i.e. non-drinking is probably more socially acceptable than many places). Drug use, as far as I know, is pretty subdued (I'm sure people use the whole spectrum of substances, but you have to go looking for them). </p>
<p>But most of all, there isn't any one way to describe campus life. Whether it's spirituality, politics, socially, substance-use, there isn't a lot of pressure to adopt a certain lifestyle. </p>
<p>In general, it's probably more serious than your average campus. Very few students completely neglect the academic side of life. For example, I know frat-members who work extremely hard during the week to free up the weekends for other activities. A few weeks ago, I overheard one of the more party/drinking oriented people I know say, "Okay, I can go out tonight, but I HAVE to work [on schoolwork] until 9:00 first, so don't call me before that."</p>
<p>That's not to say that students work 'till 9:00 every Friday (the library is actually pretty empty at that point). But it's also pretty rare to find people who start drinking Thursday night and aren't entirely sober again 'till Sunday during the academic year.</p>
<p>And regarding Internet: one of the biggest adjustments I have to make when on breaks is dealing with Internet not being free and everywhere like it is when I'm on campus. It's pretty hard to find places on campus that you might want to use the Internet and can't.</p>
<p>I agree with Maroon. Good post.</p>
<p>wow im really starting to love the u of c...free internet just was the cherry on top...also are there many/some/a few conservatives(republicans) at the u of c?</p>
<p>I am in complete agreement with Maroon and corranged here. As my friend puts it, you'll always find people who agree with you and you'll always find people who disagree. That rule of thumb applies to just about everything (politics, religion, how you choose to spend weekends, etc.)</p>
<p>I have to say, though, my first impression after my first day or two here was: "GAY PEOPLE! REPUBLICANS! FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS!"</p>
<p>I'd also like to emphasize the being able to party while staying sober/ not getting totally wasted. I do go to parties; depending on my mood, I'll either not drink anything at all or I'll drink moderately (2-4 drinks over the course of a night). I've never, ever felt like I was not "partying" correctly or that people looked down on me for not drinking that much.</p>
<p>During O-Week, they threw the stat at us that 1 out of 7 U of C students don't drink or rarely drink. I could buy that-- I don't know if current students agree.</p>
<p>unalove,phuriku and the rest of chicago students that post here, do you guys have facebooks or anything?</p>
<p>Oh, Beefs. Trust me, you don't want to friend Sir Phuriku on fbook. He's quite scary.</p>
<p>I do have one, but I don't use it regularly and only "friend" people I know in real life. Sorry!</p>
<p>lol ok...but like if i do end up goin to chicago how am i gonna know who the infamous unalove really is...and phuriku is just so interesting that ill sacrifice my health to see what he looks like</p>
<p>beefs...</p>
<p>are you a girl/boy?</p>
<p>boy =DDDDDD...why the question and whatd you think i was</p>
<p>oh also, you said internet was free...did you mean only wireless or also ground lines in rooms</p>
<p>umm.wow.....</p>
<p>
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and phuriku is just so interesting that ill sacrifice my health to see what he looks like
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</p>
<p>Hahahahaha. Have you ever seen a math major? Like, a really hardcore math major? We all look the same. Sit in on honors analysis -- you'll see. I'm the only non-Jewish, non-Russian sitting in the back.</p>
<p>I'm also a pretty boring person by most people's standards. I don't drink at all, I've gone to one party this quarter and I hated it, and most of my time is spent at the library studying or just hanging out with friends (mostly my girlfriend). I'm one of the socially awkward people that corranged seems to despise. All in all, I probably belong to Caltech more than I belong at UChicago.</p>
<p>lol honors analysis...thats like uber invite only...what, aside from placement tests do you need to get in, because im planning on being a math major too</p>
<p>I'm not Jewish or Russian, and I sit in the back too....</p>
<p>Technically you only need the placement test to get into the class, to do well in it, however(or at least this year), it seems you also need a decent background in the basics of real analysis...</p>