<p>I was wondering if people who have gone to either the accepted student weekend or to an overnight visit could comment on the experiences. I'm trying to decide which one to do because I was accepted EA. I know I want to stay overnight and get a good feel for the atmosphere of Chicago, but at the same time I may be busy in April going to other Accepted Student Weekends. I just want to know if one experience is significantly better than the other. Thanks for any input!</p>
<p>I’m doing the overnight one and I was accepted EA. I just want to know about chicago asap and go when I’m still on a slight Chicago high.</p>
<p>I kind of feel like the accepted student weekends put on an unnecessary show. This can be good for meeting other prospective students, and potential friends you could have later if you come here. I know two people who were prospie friends in April, and they were placed in the same house. Now they’re practically inseparable.</p>
<p>The ideal visit, in my opinion, is Thursday afternoon through Sunday morning. This does require three nights at UChicago, which might be excessive if you don’t know anyone currently at the school that you can stay with. So this probably won’t realistically be possible. But with such a visit, you get a sense of people working and/or procrastinating on Thursday, the livelihood that goes on on Fridays, and some of the more laid-back social events on Saturdays, such as going downtown or cooking a dinner with friends.</p>
<p>Personally, I didn’t do any overnights since it just didn’t work out for my parents. I just visited and did a tour during one day, and classes weren’t even in session, since it was at the tail end of spring break. Just keep in mind a few things:</p>
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<li><p>Accepted student weekends are designed specifically for you. The school will plan lots of fun activities, and everything will be easy to figure out because the school does the planning for you. You’ll probably sit in on classes and have some sort of social activity.</p></li>
<li><p>While arranging a visit yourself takes more planning to fill your time, it often gives you a better sense of what life is actually like at UChicago. There aren’t hundreds of prospective students running around, and you’ll consequently get more attention from students, professors, and others on campus. </p></li>
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<p>I wouldn’t really say that one experience is better than the other. Your first guideline should just be to choose whatever works out the best for you and your family.</p>
<p>I did my overnight in early October, and it was great except for the fact that there wasn’t a whole lot to do so early in the year. I would guess that an overnight visit would probably provide a more “authentic” UChicago experience while the admitted students weekend would probably be tailored more toward the cheesy, getting-to-know-people end of the spectrum. However, you will know that the people at admitted students weekend have gotten into and have strong interest in actually ending up at Chicago.</p>
<p>Everybody’s covered the bases pretty well. I did an an overnight, and I agree that it gives you more the authentic UChicago experience – I prospied on a Friday night, and we ended up hanging out in her room and going to Off-Off Campus. However, I have heard that during admitted students days, you get to play kickball with the admissions officers! 
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<p>Completely off topic, but do you guys know when the admitted students days are? As a current student, I’m completely oblivious! :p</p>
<p>Admitted student weekends are April 15-16 and 22-23</p>
<p>Is there a best time to visit?</p>
<p>I really want to go soon (like, in January or sometime like that)… will there be enough people there/activity?</p>
<p>I also want to see how cold it gets so I know what I’m dealing with. I’ve never been to Chicago in winter, but I hear it’s bad. Seriously, how bad is it?</p>
<p>And what do you do for an overnight? Do you get a tour or what?</p>
<p>Winter’s not bad. Everyone hypes it up just so they have something to complain about. If you come here, you will do this too.</p>
<p>There will certainly be enough people around in January. I’d say it’s probably a better idea to visit in January rather than February, when we’re not stressing over papers and midterms and the like. Those will come in February. Just be aware that your flight could get delayed or canceled if there’s bad weather, so keep that in mind when you’re planning your trip.</p>
<p>My sister goes to one of those other schools in Chicago, and we visited her once in November. It was pretty cold. When I first visited the school she goes to, I noticed all these signs about events and activities that were taped to the ground, and in the winter, you realize it makes sense, because everyone walks with their heads way down in their coats. But it’s not as cold as everyone makes it out to be, and people get used to it pretty quickly.</p>
<p>I’d like to do accepted student weekend, but I don’t want to miss too much school visiting colleges, and I don’t want to go to Chicago on a weekend where I’d have to get back to school so quickly that I couldn’t stay with my sister for a while. So I might just go visit (again) during some 3 day weekend.</p>
<p>^^^ I go part time to CU Boulder in Colorado, and they write everything on the sidewalk for that same reason. I think I might like Chicago. ;)</p>
<p>I want to see the “real” Chicago… not that the accepted students weekend is fake, but I want to see what it’ll be like normally, not some hyped version.</p>
<p>Don’t come when it’s freezing out. It’ll be miserable for you, and people on campus will be grouchy. Come when it’s getting warmer, or when it’s already warm. </p>
<p>If you don’t mind the cold though, feel free to come during winter quarter. There are lots of excellent classes being offered and you won’t miss out on finding people to talk to or whatever. </p>
<p>PM me questions if you have any about classes, schedules, dorms, people, etc.</p>
<p>Two things: admitted student days are pretty awesome so if you want to come then, don’t be discouraged! Plus, if you come on the first April program day, you can see throat singers perform at International House. If you don’t know what they are, google them immediately! So cool. </p>
<p>And my second note, as someone who hosted 19 whopping prospies my first year and did two overnights herself, coming during a normal overnight has one major advantage: you fit right in. On admitted student program days there will be tons of you and you will be easily spotted, so you won’t be as easily able to remain covert and just kinda get a feel for the normal UChicago goings-on, if that’s one of your priorities.</p>
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<p>I’ve found that people are grouchier when it rains than when it’s really cold. Besides, the cold is a good conversation starter. I prospied at Ohio Wesleyan on a day when the high was 20, which is about as cold as it ever gets there. I’m from an area with a climate nearly identical to Chicago’s, so I was used to it, and I had great fun informing kids from the South about how to stay warm.</p>
<p>If you do happen to come when it’s really cold, you absolutely MUST buy a hot drink at the Div School (in the basement of Swift) or Istria (at 57th Street and the Metra line). Soooo good, and it warms you right up.</p>
<p>How is the weekend of Feb 11? Will most students be at school or leaving for winter break?</p>
<p>I believe that’s only a three day weekend, so most people will still be at school. Some of the students who live in the Chicago area will go home, but most will stay on campus. However, classes obviously won’t be in session on that Friday, and most people will be catching up on sleep and just generally lazing around. So if you come then, don’t expect to see huge masses of people walking around. It’s great for prospective students to sit in on classes, so if possible, try to come when classes are in session.</p>
<p>Is it possible to do an overnight during one of the admitted students weekends?</p>
<p>Would it be unnecessary to do both a humanities snow day in February and the Admitted Students weekend in April? I imagine the humanities event will be more low-key, but I feel like it would be good to go to both as someone who wants to get as much exposure as possible before placing a deposit.</p>
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<p>Good thread. Thanks for the all the tips. After D was accepted EA, we started planning an overnight. Coming from CA, I also wanted D – who has never even been in snow except for one time when she was 7 when we were passing through Tahoe – to experience Chicago winter to make sure she’s up for it. (I grew up in Boston, so I have some experience.) D didn’t want to wait for the accepted students weekend in April because she wants to make a final decision sooner than that. They only do dorm overnights Thu and Fri, so we’re arriving Thu Jan 30 mid-day. We’ll explore on our own Thu afternoon and stay at a hotel downtown near the Metra line. On Fri, we’re planning to take the Metra down to U of C and do the morning tour. After lunch, she’s sitting in on a class. She already contacted the prof by email to ok it. Then she’s spending Fri night in a dorm, while I’ll be seeing blues guitarist Buddy Guy play downtown. We’ll meet up Sat a.m., explore some more, and fly out that afternoon. It’s a little compressed, but we didn’t want to stay another night because there’s a reception in SF on Sun for Bay Area EA admittees that we want to attend. I agree with the poster who said that a Thu to Sun is best, but the shorter Thu to Sat plan is do-able I think. I guess we’ll find out.</p>