<p>I am fascinated by University of Chicago and feel like I have an o.k. chance of getting in. I was wondering if a current student could answer a few questions.
1) How good is the financial aid. The tuition is way way out of my league and i was thinking that even applying might be a waste of time.
2) How hard it it academically?
3) What is it like living in Chicago? I am from a fairly small Alaskan city. I think temperature wise it might be about the same but population wise it is not even close.
4) How is it politically? I want to go to a school where the student body is fairly interested in politics.
5) How are administrators? I noticed that their website seems very personable and friendly. It is much different than the other school websites that I have looked at.
If anyone can answer these questions or give me other useful advice about the college, the campus, or the admissions procedure I would be very grateful.</p>
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<li> Tuition is largely covered if you show need. About a hundred people also get merit scholarships, which can be huge.</li>
<li>uchicago is among the hardest schools in the nation. YOu have to take this in perspective. This place is an ivory tower for kids who love learning, not just studying, so if you belong here, the work will be enjoyable. You do have freetime, you just build up one hell of a work ethic. Esp. in honors calc.</li>
<li> The city's a shock if you come from a small place, but the weather was the biggest problem for me. The campus is secluded and self-sustaining, and you are very much sheltered and coached as to how to go about the city.</li>
<li> Um...we have politics, but we aren't that demonstrative about them. The people here are intensly open-minded, and most people can be convinced to vote one way or another. There are few steadfast members of any party.</li>
<li> This school, again, is very different in general from all others. The undergrads have access to every building and all faculty, in the grad schools and the college (all teachers have to teach both.) They love to work with students.
Come by for a prospective weekend! I'll probably be the one giving you a tour! On admissions- the process is self-selecting, and the competition is stiff. Read "the ideal of the university" by wolff.</li>
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<p>what do you mean that the process is "self-selecting"?</p>
<p>this means that the people who know what the university of chicago is and want to go there by definition are the kind of kids who ought to. Uchicago has a reputation for being hardcore academic (i promise, it is, i havent slept since i got here) and so the people who apply largely have the work ethic and the grades/reputation to go with the app. Thats the reason why the acceptance rate is high- (also because many kids pick ivies instead, etc).</p>