<p>Cheers!!! :)</p>
<p>LOL..ure everywhere!</p>
<p>yeh that's the idea lol...
i need to build a strong case for chicago.. and to find out everything about it.
i don't want to make a wrong decision.</p>
<p>after knowing a lot about both schools i'll be able to make an informed decision</p>
<p>and can someone pls post the link to the class of 2008 student profiles.. thanks</p>
<p>One word: the gargoyles.</p>
<p>You won't get them gargoyles anywhere else!</p>
<p>lol but i hate gargoyles ... they scare me</p>
<p>But the gargoyles are pleasant, erudite looking fellows. They shouldn't scare you :)</p>
<p>Okay, what about the wacky traditions? The small, discussion-based classes? The exquisite dorms? The gorgeous gothic campus? The city of Chicago (all those museums and theatres!)?</p>
<p>What are the wacky traditions at Chicago..</p>
<p>Please enlighten me :)</p>
<p>Hmm. Walking across the ice of the botany pond in winter. 5 am calisthenics and streaking on the snow during Kangeiko (the winter festival). The track team streaking through the library during finals week wearing nothing but their track shoes. Not stepping on the Reynolds Club seal in order to graduate in 4 years. Look 'em up on the website!</p>
<p>Alright, lol. Thanks.
Do I just search for "college traditions" or something?</p>
<p>Chicago sounds more and more appealing.. but I still want to go to Barnard very much.
Poop...</p>
<p>Yep, it's somewhere in the prospective students section. </p>
<p>It's your choice :) I feel like a hypocrite for trying to convince you to go because I'm not going myself. I chose flip flops over snow boots ;)</p>
<p>But snow is so cool! :D</p>
<p>Chicago the city is awesome because it is at the same time large and city-ish as it is homey and friendly. Chicago is the first city I've visited where the people who live there actually seem happy to be there (granted, I didn't go to certain parts of Chicago), and it also happens to be near my first love -- horses! -- even if that's an hour or two away.</p>
<p>The campus is great because it advertises itself to be a unique learning experience -- you'll often hear it recommended next to Reed College and the St. John's colleges. Its core will show you that it's dedicated to a liberal arts education, but the kinds of courses they offer in the majors and the access you'll have to leaders in their respective fields (especially economics, of course) shows that it's not an unbalanced, scattered education you're getting. The campus 'feel' is pretty unique: like a lot of Chicago, it went for the Gothic feel, and lots of brick, which has an interesting effect on the tone of it. Chicago has a lot of support for its alumni, and I hear the career center is awesome at helping place you into internships and jobs. </p>
<p>For the negatives: Chicago gets cold. Way cold. I heard a reported temperature as low as -20 F. That's /cold/. Then there's the snow. Chicago also has Div III athletics; they're competitive and do quite well in their league, but it doesn't stir up the student body nearly as well as Div I athletics do. Their study abroad program is actually a lot smaller than the one at the school I'm currently at; I don't know anything else about it, but it seems they restrict themselves to well-developed countries, which isn't bad in itself but pretty tame, especially when compared to some outside options. Also, they have a reputation for grade /de/flation, which could be bad if you're pre-professional.</p>
<p>Good luck making your decision!</p>
<p>Just a comment on cold.</p>
<p>For reference, as an adult, I've lived in places as varied as Santa Barbara, Boston, Minneapolis, Chicago and Dallas, TX.</p>
<p>Once the temperature drops below freezing, heck, below 40 or so, you need to bundle up. A sweater won't do it. Most people don't spend much time outside when it gets cold, whether its +40 or -40. And if you want to, or need to, the right clothing is not hard to come by. Gloves, hat and scarf take most of the pain away from even very cold windy weather. Trust me. I've seen VERY cold in Minn. </p>
<p>Besides, with a compact campus like Chicago, the only time you'll be out in the cold very long is if you decide to head downtown on the train or bus, and that's your choice, and since you'd be a Chicago student, you'd be smart enough to bundle up appropriately, right?</p>
<p>Student faculty ratio- 4:1
Nobel prize winners- 77</p>
<p>no school in the world can beat that</p>
<p>thats why i want to go.</p>
<p>plus, i love the cold weather and wind. wind reminds you that the environment is alive.</p>
<p>nkay you're not even going to Chicago? NOW WHY IS THAT!!! </p>
<p>And where are you going instead?</p>
<p>If you haven't visited this yet, I recommend you do: <a href="http://psac.uchicago.edu/faq.html%5B/url%5D">http://psac.uchicago.edu/faq.html</a></p>
<p>Also, the whole psac.uchicago.edu site will give you some insight into the student life there, especially from a student's prospective. Their site has a lot of hidden gems like that. ;)</p>
<p>THE LIFE OF THE MIND...
You have the oppertunity to be in an intellectually stimulating atmosphere. Yes, I understand that one can argue that such an oppertunity is available at any top college however I feel that the rigor and intensity is unmatched. Or perhaps it is the love for learning.. It seems to me that there are very few people there who are not passionate about something, they are quirky and ambitious and simply said I hope that this time next year I will have the luxury of being in your position...</p>
<p>Ok, if the ONLY REASON I PERSONALLY want to go to Chicago is the following.... do you think that's enough of a reason to go to Chicago?</p>
<p>Ok, so the ONLY REASON FOR ME to want to go to U of Chicago is that it excites me.. it really does. The thought of learning in an environment like that.... everything I said in my Chicago essays.. Those are the reasons why I'd go to Chicago.
And when I graduate from Chicago, I'll be like WOWWW that was sooo worth it.
And this is the image I have in my mind... my brain just doubling in size at Chicago.. and that thought.. it really excites me - and this is the geek inside of me.
And I'll feel like I've really made a huge accomplishment when I graduate.. I'll just be so proud of myself for going through that.
So, for ME, this is one of the few reasons why I'd choose Chicago over Barnard... Otherwise Barnard is rather undefeatable.</p>
<p>Actually if any of you want to read my Chicago essays to see if it'd actually be a place for me.. please pm me. I hope pheonix and other UoC students see this post.</p>
<p>I'm just gonna forget the reasons why ANYONE ELSE wants me to go there.. cus it's all about prestige/name etc.. which quite frankly doesn't concern me so much.</p>
<p>I'm going to Stanford because I didn't want to die of misery in the cold. Also, I don't think I'd like living in an urban environment very much. But the class sizes at Chicago is something I'm going to regret not having when I'm squished into a 250 seat lecture hall at Stanford.</p>
<p>It was a terribly tough decision to make - but really the weather and setting was the deciding factor because both universities equally prestigious, in my mind at least.</p>
<p>I think your reason for wanting to attend Chicago is the best one out there. If you think you'll thrive in the intellectual environment, then you'll be very, very happy. And the social life is not as dead as it may seem - I read many parents' posts saying that their son or daughter both study AND party.</p>
<p>U-C has a classic, rigorous non-nonsense liberal arts approach. It has an intellectual atmosphere that's next to none (even more-so, imho) than those of H-Y-P. Even though they're mainly grad teachers, the presence of so doggone many Nobel Prize winners (most, by far, in the nation) absolutely provides intellectual stimulus to the undergraduate program... And, of course, there's all that Oxbridge Gothic architecture... Hyde Park is essentially an intellectual college town within Chicago... OK, for the 1 millionth time (I'm sure), you have to keep you're head up and the fringes aren't the safest areas of town, but the "scary" aspect of Hyde Park -- it being in the heart of Chicago's South Side -- are WAY overblown.</p>
<p>There has been a movement, in the last decade or so, to 'lighten up' U-C's stuffy, pompous atmosphere with more extracurriculars (like intercollegiate football and other sports) and fun in an attempt to de-egghead the place, image-wise.</p>