<p>I just don't understand. Guidebooks describe Chicago as a great "nerd school." However, the definition of a nerd according ot the American Heritage Dictionary is "a foolish, inept, unattractive person" or a "a person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept."</p>
<p>The Princeton Review actually describes the students at Chicago as being, "Typically "wonkish, nerdy, cloistered, extremely studious, and religiously dedicated to academic performance," Chicago students are "brilliant, on par with those at any other school, but not the kind of people that you want to have a casual conversation with." That is somewhat attributed to "personal hygiene and social skills [that] are sometimes lacking," [...] The school has attempted to recruit beyond its nerdish base, bringing in more students of the frat boy/jock variety. Most agree the efforts are counterproductive. One student writes, "Chicago has a reputation for its antisocial, elitist student body, but when it tries to change this reputation, it just erodes the reason for its greatness."</p>
<p>From the message board and my own observations the students at Chicago are neither foolish nor inept, but sharp and witty, and they wouldn't be taking the core if they were single-minded. Why does this myth or self-deprecating humor persist? In what sense are the students nerds? I did not apply to Chicago to be a social climber but are the students really socially inept?</p>
<p>The best explanation will probably come with the looseness with which people use "nerd" in slang. So then does a different kind of definition of nerd apply to students at Chicago? I'm sorry for playing devil's advocate but I just wanted to bury the hatchet and end my worries.</p>
<p>Well, I'm going to the U of C next sure, and I am definately not socially inept :D, if anything I need to chill down a bit with the socializing and the partying.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that the Princeton Review is motivated to sell copies, so whatever they can quote that's catchy, they'll use.</p>
<p>Though I'm sure you could find people like that description if you look hard enough, I think the typical Chicago student is a self-proclaimed "nerd" in that he or she cares about learning more than his or her peers. That's what happened to me in high school, at least, and I ended up making fun of myself because I didn't want to admit to my friends that I ACTUALLY LIKED the material and I didn't care too much about grades.</p>
<p>I think that the typical Chicagoan is a "nerd" in the sense that he or she will probably be bringing a handful of books with them to college. That's one thing I've noticed is nearly constant about every person I've met and every dorm or apartment party I've gone to-- the people might be outwardly normal, and <em>gasp</em>, they're having parties, but if they have a few hours of free time they imagine themselves reading "Anarchy, State and Utopia" or "The Crying of Lot 49."</p>
<p>The Princeton Review is trying to sum up the characteristics of a group of thoussands of people in a few sentences; there's no way that they'll be accurate. </p>
<p>The self-deprecating humor is, honestly, more of a joke than I realized before coming here. Nobody doesn't have fun in college. </p>
<p>There are plenty of socially inept people here, but there are also a great number of socially active people and it's difficult not to find a niche.</p>
<p>Nerd is used in a variety of contexts, seemingly designed to confuse parents as well as international students. Once upon a time, the term 'intellectual' would be used to describe Chicago students, but this word seems to have gone out of favor.</p>
<p>That PR description has remained unchanged for some years, and should be understood to be the opinions of but a few interviewee's. I agree, nerd has recently come to replace intellectual, which is perhaps a better description.</p>