<p>Okay, last year I was a student at Smith College. First semester GPA was 3.6, second semester I had mono and GPA was 3.1, so total GPA was 3.35. This quarter I'm at UChicago, aiming for a GPA of 3.5+. I do have strong ECs, and SAT of 1480. I transferred from Smith b/c I was looked for coed environment and more academic rigour -I didn't get a chance to visit UChicago b/c of mono. Unfortunately, so far I hate living in the city and not being on a more progressive, tight-knit campus. If I take off after first quarter to work a social service job and investigate well/apply to some other schools, will that look major sketchy?</p>
<p>Schools I'm considering:
Wesleyan (I've developed a major crush...)
Oberlin
Reed
Swarthmore (accepted last year)</p>
<p>If not accepted to other schools, I might go back to Smith (assuming they don't reject me)...</p>
<p>Someone, if you were trying to evaluate a candidate's capabilities and potential -what would you think of the above scenario? All I want is some impressions...</p>
<p>um...stay at Chicago, do not go back to Smith, Chicago is an amazing school, you would be crazy to go from Chicago to smith. Do you have any idea the number of opportunities chicago will afford you.</p>
<p>Umm... I HATE living in the city. I'm not used to the constant noise, and it makes it difficult for me to study let alone enjoy myself. Plus, I'm not used to education having such a competitive bent. If I went back to Smith, I'd major in polisci -they have lot's of great connections there. I'd much rather be happy than rich -I'm one of those boho folks. Of course, I'd still prefer to go to a top-notch LAC, so would you still hazard a guess on how I'd do with Wesleyan and Swat?</p>
<p>I'll stop bumping when I get answers from 5 more people...</p>
<p>UChicago is competitive? I'm surprised. I always thought it was such an intellectual place. </p>
<p>If you apply to Smith again, I think they might understand. </p>
<p>Honestly, I don't know what to say. I mean I would be sympathetic but who knows what an adcome might think. I would be sympathetic to my own situation but honestly, I don't know if adcoms will be. I pray to God that He;ll touch some hearts in the admission offices.</p>
<p>Well, competitive is all relative, I suppose. Compared to my hs and Smith, there are a lot of competitive people at UChicago. I believe this is most emphasized in economics and pre-med, but even in my SS class there are a few people who dress rich, don't smile much, and are forever rushing to do most of the talking in class, instead of listening well. The UChicago student body as a whole is much preppier and dresses much richer than I had anticipated. It makes me feel sort of out-of-place. This is not to say there aren't lots of geeks -they just tend to be more of the preppy variety in terms of how they dress and talk -if that makes any sense...</p>
<p>I feel like Chicago does teach people to argue analytically, but I don't know if it teaches people to listen.</p>