Student of the College

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
41

<p>In my personal experience, the bs'ing here is very, very different from anything I've run into in, say, high school. At least in my hum/sosc, you might be able to fluff up what you're saying with some big words, but the professor will be on you to go deeper into what you just said, and challenge you if it doesn't quite make sense. They'll also expect you to provide a huge level of textual support in discussion and your essays. Writing a few sweeping generalizations based on what you THINK the reading is about will likely leave you with a D on your paper - actually doing excruciatingly close readings of the text and generating real, interesting arguments is the only way to do well.</p>

<p>Again, this is just my own personal experience. That being said, the point about learning how to speak in class without doing the reading is pretty valid, I dare anybody to read %100 of the texts when you're in hum and sosc and you have an essay due the next day and your teacher assigns 150 pages of Marx and oh god i just fell asleep reading one page oh jesus.</p>

42

<p>MARX.....OMG he is the most boring and dense writer that the world has ever seen! REALLY!...sorry, had to get that out of my system.</p>

<p>Anyway-</p>

<p>Yea, the Bs'ing here is still pretty intense. True, out with sweeping generalizations and the such...and in with analysis: the Uchicago way of analysis. Once again I offer a list! (aren't these useless things exciting? :) )</p>

<p>--If you're going to go against what someone else said, be prepared to feel their wrath. They will ask you to find it in the text and then pull your point from there, all in a matter of seconds.</p>

<p>--Learn to "Piggy-Back," as we call it here. When someone else throws out a piece of BS, back up their Bs with your own Bs. It's quite effective.</p>

<p>--Don't always give answers, direct the conversations. Address the class with questions about the text, especially in HUM where discussions are more abstract. Ensure that the class has defined key terms. Ask how those terms are related etc...</p>

<p>--BIG words are a good way to get your classmates to hate you. There will always be those few kids in each of your discussion classes that love to use 12 syllable words. "Big word people," think about it: If we can't understand your words, we can't understand your claims, and thus you make no sense to us. Shut the hell up and speak english- our english. (Yes, this does go against my "cheating" scams for Bs'ing, but I had to get it out on my system.)</p>

<p>--Outside references. If you can legitimately (or not) throw a completely foreign names into the mix and say soemthing that they said and then relate it to the discussion, you're golden....lol. once again, we normal kids may hate you for this. Keep that in mind at all times...</p>

<p>--The infamous British accent is a must. Any person who can successfully pull off a britsh accent will always dominate a conversation and be given the most respect in a discussion.... I don't know why- the world just works that way... :[</p>

43

<p>robertson, Fifth Week is slaughtering you too?</p>

44

<p>haha, sounds interesting. I'll have to work on my British accent- otherwise I'm in pretty bad shape.</p>

45

<p>
[quote]
Don't always give answers, direct the conversations. Address the class with questions about the text, especially in HUM where discussions are more abstract.

[/quote]
This one is actually great. The profs love it, and you can generally pull it off without having done the reading. Outside references are also good if you haven't read, but try to be pretty sure it's related to the reading; otherwise, you look like an idiot. You need to be careful to not be That kid, though. Everyone hates That kid, especially if he hasn't read.</p>

46

<p>Haha, BSing, so common in high school. As they say at in all my IB classes, IB therefore I BS.</p>

47

<p>what I love about these "BSing at the University of Chicago" tips is that there are probably very few people who could follow them without being relatively smart and competent to begin with.</p>

48

<p>haha TheLorax, you completely miss the point! Of course it takes someone smart to BS properly. However, being smart has nothing to do with your knowledge in a particular area--just how well you can take something you know nothing about and convincingly look like you know more about it than anyone else in the room (or at least more about it than the person you are arguing with). So of course BSing takes creativity and a hint of genius and competence!</p>

49

<p>Also, learn how to smile and have a sense of humor. Act like you're genuinely interested in the class, whether you really are or not, and don't ever be condescending to your classmates. Furthermore, you can say a whole lot without saying much of substance and do pretty well, but you'll get a lot more respect if you say less and make what you say really meaningful, and deep.</p>

50

<p>Agreed jack4640! Nice tip.</p>

<p>I'm the kid in my HUM class that laughs and keeps my comments short and to the point. It works really well.</p>

<p>Yes, Neverborn, fifth week is slaughtering me- one brain cell at a time.</p>

51

<p>I agree. Students at my high school just do a poor job BSing (and yet get away with it, yech), so its nice to see some people appreciate the skill behind it.</p>

52

<p>robertsont06-</p>

<p>Oh, good. I am glad I am not the only one who is dying this week! This weekend for me surely will be spent conked out in bed, as sleep deprivation is having its effects on me. One more day of this week... We can make it.</p>

53

<p>Can't wait to tell my Jr D, who is interested in U-Chicago, that Risk is big there! That may be just the kind of indicator that will cement our family plans for a spring break visit LOL. Do any of you kids play the Castle Risk version? It's a passion of our (nerdy) family.</p>

54

<p>TheLorax...
As you likely know, Maclean (sp?) is named after Norman McC., a long time English prof. who wrote "A River Runs Through It", which was autobiographical and later made into an excellent movie with Brad Pitt. It is an older building with some charm and not badly situated to campus, in my opinion. Interesting fact- the lower level was a long-time funeral home with some of the architectural features of that use still there.</p>

55

<p>Katharos,</p>

<p>This was... well, sooo intense. Glad its over, but can't wait 'till the fun starts in a couple days!!!</p>

56

<p>Isn't suicide prevention day next week? How is everyone going to handle that much fun?</p>

57

<p>I have at least one midterm/final every week from third week to exam week. It kinda sucks. But it's also nice not having them all at once like I did last term.</p>

58

<p>Felipe,</p>

<p>I am done with everything large tomorrow (or today now...) at 12:20. Just got back from Crerar; gotta love the all-night study space. =P</p>

<p>This suicide prevention day kind of makes me laugh. I think we may need it though as, heck, it's the U. of C.</p>

59

<p>For those who haven't seen this, though it is a little dated, it is still captures Katharos' reports: <a href="http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2000/03/07/opinion/399.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2000/03/07/opinion/399.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

60

<p>THE WEEK IS OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY</p>

<p>I love this feelin every single week. Now I can put everything for Monday off until sunday! (or early monday morning technically)</p>