What is life like at UChicago? What do students do for fun? Do they mainly stay on campus or venture off? What is the surrounding area like?Are the academics cutthroat, so much so that free time is rare? What do you think is the best thing about UChicago and what do you think the worst is? Thanks so much!
A couple more questions in the same vein. How often do you go downtown? Do you know (former?) classmates who decided, after enrolling, that U of C was not the right fit for them? And, if so, what was the issue?
The Reg.
Several threads address a few of your questions:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1804976-a-review-of-the-university-of-chicago.html#latest
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1800751-academic-atmosphere.html#latest
While this thread is older, it is still applicable:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1449758-uchicago-first-year-taking-your-questions-p1.html
Oh geez. Broad question. I’ll try to answer it through the other ones.
Go downtown. Party. Talk. Binge watch stuff on Netflix. Normal college stuff, though usually with a nerdier than average bent.
Depends on the person. I go downtown all the time, at least once a week. Some people never go. Some people go multiple times a week every week (it’s like $2 to just hop on the 2/6 and be in the loop in 20 minutes, it’s really convenient).
Hyde Park is really great and absolutely safe, it feels like a college town. Woodlawn and Washington Park are also nice (reports of how dangerous they are are exaggerated). If you’re in a group you’ll be fine. If you are alone you’ll also probably be fine. It’s still a city, and you should be alert, but it isn’t even close to as bad as people make it out to be.
Cutthroat? Not at all. There’s no sense that we’re fighting each other, more like it’s students vs academics. Free time isn’t rare either, school doesn’t totally take over your life unless you let it (hint: don’t try to take all honors classes like in high school). Time management is key.
The core for both.
Answered
Yes. They mostly either wanted to do something that UChicago didn’t offer, anything from musical theater to engineering. Some people do not like going from being the best to being “average” (by UChicago standards). This is rare, but some people absolutely hate the core or feel like they aren’t smart enough to handle the school and try to transfer out.
Thanks – really helpful!
My take on this:
What is life like at UChicago?
Amazing, in my opinion. You have to be willing to put in the time to study- there is a lot of work. But there is time for fun as well. The good thing is there is a lot of flexibility: if you are serious about studying, take honors math and a honors science, and you will get a great education. If you want to have a lot of fun, do econ, take the normal sequences, and you will have a lot of time to have an active social life, while still getting a pretty decent education.
What do students do for fun?
Party, dinner downtown, movies/tv, fun with their house, etc. There is also a ton of high quality free food almost all the time!
Do they mainly stay on campus or venture off?
People usually stay within the proximity of campus during the week, probably going down as far as 53rd street (urban area with lots of places to eat in Hyde Park). During the weekend, people often go down to the Loop.
What is the surrounding area like?
Pretty nice actually, I never feel unsafe. I don’t go south of 60th Street though 
Are the academics cutthroat, so much so that free time is rare?
Not at all cutthroat. I am taking some rigorous sequences, and everyone has been very helpful. I have 3-4 study groups that work together with me. So far, while the workload has been very heavy, the exams are not that bad- I like it because I can focus on learning a lot, and get good grades without having to waste time and energy competing with others.
What do you think is the best thing about UChicago and what do you think the worst is?
Best Thing: Profs, students, staff, campus, resources, free stuff, and the academic environment.
Worst: The weather.