<p>I am currently interested in majoring in Physics and love much of what I hear about UChicago, but I can say that I am worried about how intensive people say it is. I do love learning and enjoy most of my work, but I don't feel as if I would enjoy being up til past midnight every night and having a life filled with stress over work. I have a friend currently at UChicago majoring in Chemistry who mentioned that he was up til 2 AM every night in the first quarter. So, my question to people with some knowledge of how math/science works at UChicago is this: how stressful is the workload? I have no problem doing a lot of work, but if it is impossible for me to go to sleep at a normal time, I don't feel as if I'd enjoy that. Are the people who stay up into the wee hours of the night so busy because they weren't studying at the more reasonable hours?</p>
<p>Seriously, it will depend on how much work you decide to take on and how many commitments you decide to make. I got more sleep in my first quarter than I got in senior year of high school, by managing my time well and not over-committing (only one honors class instead of two, not having two reading/writing classes, etc.).</p>
<p>These things are not going to be up to the college, for better or for worse. They’re going to be your responsibility now.</p>
<p>So it basically boils down to how much work you want to take on? I’m good with that. I just didn’t know whether core curriculum requirements make everyone’s schedule entirely full.</p>
<p>Do students really enjoy their Core classes? It seems very restrictive.</p>
<p>Okay, this is a hard question because it varies a lot. Many people here are braniacs and sail by in multiple honors classes without staying up late every night. Then there are the people who struggle and get Bs in regular classes. Personally, (I’m only a first year, so things aren’t too hard yet) I don’t feel like I work very hard (maybe 15 hours of studying a week on average) and I do very well (For reference, I’m in a honors science class, and was in the middle math sequence for fall and winter quarter-152,153). I can’t predict how it will be for you. The best advise I can give to make it as easy as possible (while still rewarding, of course), is to read course evaluations. They are your best friend. Also; take advantage of the three week drop period (5 weeks for math). Be honest with yourself about your abilities and if you find you are struggling to get a C/B in a class, it’s time to talk to your adviser/professor, etc and fix something. I know a lot of people who just suffer through and regret it.</p>