<p>We are very pleased that our daughter will be going to UChicago this fall. She is beside herself with happiness. However, we feel at a bit of a disadvantage in planning because we are not familiar with Chicago. I imagine the answers to some of my questions will become apparent over time, but Im hoping someone will take pity on a parent who likes to plan ahead.
The two times, weve visited UChicago, weve flown into OHare. Once we stayed at the Hilton Chicago and the other time at the International House.
Well be driving out from the east coast this fall with all of my daughters stuff, and Im wondering if there is some place we can stay on the outskirts of the city that will make more sense than a downtown Chicago hotel. Not being familiar with the neighborhoods, I have no idea where to look for a nice area thats a fairly easy drive to UChicago on move-in day. Or does it simply make sense to stay downtown?
Also, with regard to move-in day, how does it work? Are we given a specific time or is everyone trying to get there around the same time?
I also have a question with regard to Midway Airport. It seems that is the better airport for UChicago students to use, yes? I saw an airport bus stop in front of the I House and forgot to ask if thats the bus to Midway. Does anyone know if it is?
Any other parent-type tips would be appreciated. This is our first one off to college.
Thanks!</p>
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<li><p>Midway is vastly superior to O’Hare if you are going to the University of Chicago. They are essentially on the same street, about five miles apart. You can take a city bus to and from Midway for regular bus fares; it takes about 40 minutes. A cab costs $30-40 with tip, and takes 20-25 minutes, sometimes longer in traffic (and of course it can let you off somewhere that isn’t a bus stop on 55th Street). O’Hare is more than 2 hours away by public transportation, and well over an hour by car or cab most of the time.</p></li>
<li><p>I have never stayed anywhere other than International House or the Loop (mainly, but not always, the South Loop); I have never driven to Chicago (and I don’t plan to start now). There is some motel near the lake in the northern reaches of Hyde Park, and some B&Bs in Hyde Park itself, but both would probably mean leaving a packed car parked outside overnight – not such a hot idea. There are some big hotels around Midway, and that would be reasonably convenient, both for coming in from the south, and for getting to the university in the morning but . . . jeepers! You are going to Chicago, one of the greatest cities in the world, and you want to stay at the airport?</p></li>
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<p>Chicagoland has lots of nice areas, including most of the Loop and Hyde Park, but in general if you don’t like those you are going to have to overshoot the university by quite a bit. Something you may not want to do at the tail end of your 12+ hour driving day. In general, “nice” translates into “north” or “a long way west”, and Hyde Park is in the southeastern quadrant of the city. </p>
<p>If you stay in the South Loop, which is where I have always seen move-in deals, it’s about a 15 minute drive (and a lovely one) to the University down Lakeshore Drive on a weekend morning.</p>
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<li> As far as I remember, there are no specific move-in times. There’s a (fairly early) start time, and any time from then until early afternoon will work. People’s arrival times naturally differ. Sometimes it gets crowded and cars line up, but they have lots of student aides there to unload cars. Then someone goes off with the car to find parking, and everyone else (and the aides) lugs the stuff to the room. For most dorms, there aren’t THAT many people moving in. The only really concentrated one is South Campus, with maybe 350 kids coming in one entrance, but I’m sure they have that covered. Most other dorms (counting Max P as three dorms, not one) have 50-100 people moving in, and that’s completely doable in a four-hour window with lots of help.</li>
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<p>Basically, between 8 am (maybe earlier) and about 3 pm you need to get stuff into the room, do whatever arranging requires parental assistance, get an ID card, computer hook-up, and some other registration material, then get everyone to Rockefeller Chapel for Convocation. It’s not exactly frenzied (or, more accurately, it’s only as frenzied as you want to make it). If you can’t live without one last trip to Target, and you have a car, there’s plenty of time for that, and for lots of stuff you might think you need you can stand in line with other families at the Office Max or Walgreen’s in Hyde Park. (Believe me, they know what you will suddenly decide you need after you are there, and they stock it that weekend.) </p>
<p>In the morning, there’s a holding tank for families at the Reynolds Club with pastries and drinks while the ID photos get taken and other mysterious administrative things happen (parents and sibs are kept away from that). Then there’s free cook-out type lunch in a plaza outside with lots of booths at which people are trying to sell your kids something or recruit them for something, and there are often open-house receptions at the Resident Master’s quarters for the dorm in late morning/early afternoon. Plus a lovely reception for teary parents immediately after Convocation, with the president and other top brass. So you will not have to worry about going hungry at any point during the day, and you won’t particularly want an early dinner. </p>
<p>Don’t include your student in your dinner plans. You are politely invited not to see them after Convocation, and the kids are given lots to do together starting then. As you may already know, Convocation ends with a procession through the campus from Rockefeller Chapel to Hull Gate, led by a squadron of bagpipes. Parents walk with their students up to Hull Gate, but then only the students pass through, to the frenzied cheers of upperclassmen standing on the other side of the gate to greet them. It’s a great ritual and packs an emotional wallop for parents; bring Kleenex.</p>
<p>Some people come back to see their kids Sunday morning to say goodbye (again). We never did that. If YOU don’t need it, your student sure won’t.</p>
<p>Though the Midway Airport hotels are not like staying in the city, I did stay there overnight for move-in one year. I had no problem leaving a packed car in the very well lit parking lot, and I made sure I parked as close to the entrance as possible. Now, if it were me, I’d plan to get to the area the evening before. Scope out Hyde Park, grab some dinner and head to the hotel. There’s a Marriott (and all of its less expensive siblings) in a hotel-park kind of situation. Then head to campus in the morning. Most times the drive time from Midway to campus is less than 1/2 hour, depending on whether you take 55th Street or the I-55 to Lake Shore Drive. Another advantage to the Midway area is that there is a convenient BB & B, Best Buy and Target if you need to do some last minute shopping the night before! If you’re staying more than that one night, I too would move to a hotel in Chicago after move-in.</p>
<p>We haven’t visited a lot over our four years but have stayed everywhere–the Wooded Isle Suites near campus, the loop, a hotel at Midway, International House, and in rooms offered by the university in a dorm. No option is perfect, but they all have their attractions. The Wooded Isle has little apartments, close to campus and a little run down. You could cook if you want. The loop hotels are standard downtown nice places, and they’re great for the city experience, but they’re not exactly close. I agree with JHS about the Midway hotels, but we stayed at one once when we couldn’t find anywhere else for Family Weekend–we had a car, and it was pretty simple to go back and forth to Hyde Park. I House is convenient, as it’s right on campus, but fairly low end for parents. The rooms in the dorms are even further down the list. </p>
<p>As for transport, we’ve used the bus from Midway (the 55, same number as the street it mostly takes), the trains (to our downtown hotels) and rented cars. Our daughter has taken cabs and other transport from Midway on occasion. We’ve avoided O’Hare, but if you can’t, just take a deep breath and suck up the longer drive or more expensive cab.</p>
<p>For move in, we had the downtown hotel and took a cab to campus–a really good deal, as we were directed to the front of the line for drop off. We didn’t make any shopping trips, and that was fine with everyone. For graduation, we are opting for I House, as we’re only going for a quick trip, not the week of festivities, and we want to be right there. We haven’t decided whether to rent a car, and the nice thing is, we don’t feel we have to decide until the last minute. It would be really nice if there were more near-by hotel options, but there aren’t and that’s just the way it goes. At least we didn’t have to make reservations for graduation four years in advance, which is something that people do for other schools. </p>
<p>Have a great four years, Honeybee5. It will be over before you know it!</p>
<p>Parent of a rising 4th year from New England here. Our standard m.o. has been to fly into Midway, rent a car, and stay in different locations on each visit. We have found that once we have a car, distance from campus is not such an important variable. We have had excellent luck finding nice hotels at affordable prices in various downtown/Loop locations using Hotwire (which also has had great car rental prices).</p>
<p>I want to reiterate that if you have a car it takes less time to drive to campus from the South Loop than from Midway, even though Midway is closer (20-25 minutes on 55th St. with a traffic light every block vs. 15-20 minutes via Lakeshore Drive and no lights until Hyde Park). You may still want to stay at Midway if it’s meaningfully cheaper, but at the same price you will prefer downtown. Driving in from the south, I’m not certain that it’s a whole lot easier to get to Midway than to get to the South Loop.</p>
<p>Ditto JHS. Midway would be a last choice for me too. The time we stayed at Midway hotel I was horrified–why would anyone stay there??! Why can’t we find anything in the Loop??! I can’t believe that Hotwire has nothing!! But as it was, that weekend we couldn’t find anything in the Loop for less than a large fortune. So we sucked it up, and driving back and forth to Hyde Park wasn’t as bad as I’d thought it would be. </p>
<p>In fact (off topic), it helped me crystallize my views on some supposedly dangerous neighborhoods to the west of U of C. What made the biggest impression on me was the not-so-affluent but nicely maintained neighborhood. It confirmed what I’d already decided during the high school visits, that my daughter’s riding back and forth between school and the airport on the bus would be perfectly safe.</p>
<p>Stayed at the Ramada Lake Shore Drive for the overnight visit and thought it was overpriced – closer to motel than a “hotel,” as it advertises itself. We have gone to Chicago in the past on vacation and have found better deals at nice hotels downtown through hotwire…Sounds like it will be busy during move-in weekend.</p>
<p>My son will be a first-year, and we need to buy him a Chicago-winter jacket. Any suggestions on a good place to do that? I’m reluctant to buy this in Southern California. My “winter” jacket was about right for the visiting weekend in April. </p>
<p>Thanks to all for sharing your experiences.</p>
<p>The Ramada is the one place we haven’t stayed, but your review rings true.</p>
<p>As for the all-important JACKET, what I’ve seen over the years is a recommendation to sit tight, then buy or order one at the December break. He can consult with he buddies and pick one up there or figure out where to get it. If he hasn’t budged, write again then, and people will nudge you towards the usual suspects. Not to worry though–they figure out how not to freeze.</p>
<p>for the jacket try
Northface</p>
<p>One reason for Midway hotels, for move-in only, is that you can lock your car in a lit parking lot. We actually never stay at Midway when visiting, but for a trip with a packed car, it was more convenient. Many of the downtown hotels only offer valet parking, which means giving your keys to someone. I agree on all other points. LSD is faster than 55th Street or I-55, and the downtown hotels are both much nicer and in more interesting environs than the Midway hotels. </p>
<p>For winter coats, I’d have your son wait until December as well. Layering will work until then, or he may do some shopping in Chicago. My S went for almost 2 years without anything heavier than his Carhart jacket, with fleece underneath, but my D bought a calf-length NorthFace within the first 4 months, and we live in the northeast! S did finally break down when he lived over a mile from campus and bought a Mountain Hardware jacket that he swears by until this day. </p>
<p>And as for ease of arrival, nothing beats Midway. We have tried to avoid flying in or out of O’Hare for 8 years now. It is just easier to navigate, and so much more convenient to the U of C. The last time we flew out of O’Hare it took us 2.5 hours on a Sunday afternoon to get there from Hyde Park. Just traffic, no construction, accidents, or special events. Yuck.</p>
<p>we drove from Boston for move in last year. Stayed the night around Cleveland each way. We stayed at the Ramada Lake Shore, which wasn’t great but was a a covered lot with free parking, took the bike off the car but left the rest in the car overnight. For all trips home, D has taken southwest from midway. We stayed at IHouse for other visits, never with a car, but they also have free parking.</p>
<p>There will be move in info in the orientation packet, some dorms started earlier than others and the biggest reason to get there early was to get street parking after unloading the car.</p>
<p>Last year the whole thing was spread out over two days. Move-in started at 8am (I think) on Sunday. The kids had dinner that night with their housemates in the dorm. On Monday there were some orientation events in the morning and the convocation in the afternoon followed by the bagpipe-led march to Hull Gate. Advice: Get in line early for the convocation! We were in line 45 in advance and ended up standing in the back. A few minutes later and we wouldn’t have gotten in at all.</p>
<p>For move-in, we flew in the day before, rented a car, and stayed in the loop. Bought most of S’s dorm stuff at Target after we got there. A few on-line purchases shipped to his dorm were waiting for him. Had a lovely last dinner in Chicago. </p>
<p>As it turns out, I was able to visit S this past weekend. The campus and Chicago are beautiful this time of year. Stayed in I-House–convenient location, and lovely public rooms, but didn’t care much for the bathroom down the hall. Hyde Park really needs a nice hotel. On a visit last fall, we stayed at a lovely Bed and Breakfast in Hyde Park run by a UChicago prof and his very charming wife who invited S to join us for breakfast, but it was expensive and not all that close.</p>
<p>Thank you so much to everyone who answered. I really appreciate your insights and tips. This is like a UChicago Insider’s Guide for parents.</p>
<p>The Midway area is not the nicest neighborhood but the motels are less expensive, safe and they don’t charge a parking fee. We have done variatuons over the years, however, for 1st year we arrived the night before, stayed at a Midway area motel where we found the loaded car was safe, then drove to the Shoreland dorm (no longer a dorm) early in the morning and waited behind the other cars that had already lined up infront of the dorm. There was a lot of help from the 2nd year volunteers and move -in was easy.</p>