<p>I've been interested in u of c because it's got a great poli science program but i have some concerns. see, i do study hard but i tend to procrastinate a lot and a hardcore-blow-your-brains-out-never-have-any-fun type of school isn't for me and i've heard that chicago is like this. is this really true? i'd love to hear otherwise because if it weren't for this i'd be in love right now lol.</p>
<p>Most people's first year, or at least first quarter, is a shocker. They're not used to so much being expected from them, both in terms of quantity and in terms of quality. Since most people come from a situation where they never had to try <em>that</em> hard to get decent grades, I'd say most people come in procrastinators. I know when I was in HS it wasn't uncommon for me to write papers for AP Lit during lunch before class, for a perhaps extreme example.</p>
<p>A lot, and I mean <em>a lot</em>, of people I know had the same sort of work ethic coming into Chicago. They just weren't challenged. But almost everyone learns quickly how to best manage their time, and by their second year have it well under control. Although my workload has been steadily increasing over my four years here it feels like it has been decreasing because I am now able to manage my time so much better.</p>
<p>If everyone else about Chicago excites you then perhaps you should see it as an opportunity to kick yourself of a bad habit. You're probably not getting a good education if you don't feel at least a little uncomfortable during the ride.</p>
<p>dittogal, I'm so glad to hear I'm not alone. :-)</p>
<p>I should add that I know some people who are still able to procrastinate into their upper years here. I don't know how. I think I value my sleep and my social life too much.</p>
<p>Of course, there's also the "ugly" truth. Some people just can't handle the workload for whatever reason. They realize this very quickly and often transfer after their first year. I know two people who did this. Some other people, such as one of my current apartment-mates, take a quarter off. She's graduating on time, though, with a degree in Chemistry.</p>
<p>The two main aspects of the work/difficult are the quality of work and the quarter system. Basically most work requires some legitimate effort and can't be done over lunch (at least effectively) and there's not much time with a super-light workload during the academic year. But with some time management, you'll be fine and have plenty of time for fun/socializing/etc.</p>
<p>Yeah, remember, at Chicago there are three quarters in the academic year (the fourth being summer), each ten weeks long. That means in many cases you're covering in ten weeks what most people would cover in fifteen. The best advice is to hit the ground running and don't fall behind.</p>
<p>man, i hate quarter systems...anyway, i'm sorry if im going to be stereotypical here but i've heard chicago kids are "nerds who have no fun". personally, i've never visited the campus so i wouldn't know myself but is this somewhat true? again im sorry if im being kinda b****y</p>
<p>Re: "Nerds who have no fun"</p>
<p>Man, I swear I've answered this question at least four times in the last two days. Hah! I'll just say that my friends and I have tons of fun as do most of the people here. Of course, whether or not what they do is what you'd call fun is entirely dependent on what you consider fun. But people here definitely "have fun."</p>
<p>It's not the case that everyone is absorbed with schoolwork all the time. The academic disposition on campus is very organic and it's not an issue of people having fun in spite of it; in many ways it becomes part of the fun (e.g., FOTA[/url</a>] or [url=<a href="http://scavhunt1.uchicago.edu/%5DScav%5B/url%5D">http://scavhunt1.uchicago.edu/]Scav</a>).</p>
<p>Yeah the loads of work is the only thing making me look elsewhere. It's really scary, especially when I come from a crappy public school that offers very few AP classes. I'm sure it would be an extreme shock, but hey we'd all be in it together I guess. I must tell you all though, that when I was eating lunch on the open house day, I asked a sophomore how the workload was, and he didn't pretend it was easier or try to scare me, he just said "worth it".</p>
<p>Yes, it's definitely worth it. I come from a small village (~1500 people, which I guess is large...for a village) and a school system that offered few APs: English Literature, Biology, and Chemistry only. My senior year was the first year my high school ever offered a calculus class, and my teacher would spend the first ten minutes of every class telling us jokes from a silly joke calendar. All that, and I'm getting a BS with Honors in Mathematics from the University of Chicago. Talking to students from other schools, graduates and undergraduates, I know I've gotten a world-class mathematical education. It helps that at a place like Chicago, unlike some other schools of its calilber (MIT, CalTech, etc.), you also get a well-rounded liberal arts education.</p>
<p>So, you know, don't worry about it. Well, ok, worry about it, but not so much. Education isn't supposed to be easy. It's hard work; the public school system has just tricked you into thinking otherwise. Each drop of blood, sweat, and tears has been worth it. If you're up for the challenge, and it <em>is</em> a challenge, you'll come out miles ahead of where you are now. Really.</p>
<p>I'm living right in Chicago, and I go to a pretty competitive school. I'm not so worried about the "studying all the time" nerd stereotype, because I think that the people who don't have social lives didn't work for them. I talked to friends there, and they said that you have to work for a social life, and try to get one, but it's not hard. It's just not thrust upon you.</p>