<p>So I've been admitted and have been doing outside research about the colleges that are possibilities for me. Just about every description of the UC student body is a bunch of nerdy antisocialites.....please tell me it isn't so. I think UC has a lot to offer, and I LOVE the campus, but I don't know if i could survive for four years with 1500 or so 'wonkish nerds' as the Princeton Review puts it. I'm pretty cosmopolitan, and though I like academics I certainly like a social life. Here is what the Princeton Review said about the UC student body:</p>
<p>"Typically "wonkish, nerdy, cloistered, extremely studious, and religiously dedicated to academic performance," Chicago students are "brilliant, on par with those at any other school, but not the kind of people that you want to have a casual conversation with." That is somewhat attributed to "personal hygiene and social skills [which] are sometimes lacking," and partly because "we ask seemingly strange questions. This is only because, after a few years at Chicago, we only see questions in terms of 'useful' or 'useless.' Strange questions are often the most useful, and we eventually forget that normal people avoid asking the strange questions." The school has attempted to recruit beyond its nerdish base, bringing in more students of the frat boy/jock variety. Most agree the efforts are counterproductive. One student writes, "Chicago has a reputation for its antisocial, elitist student body, but when it tries to change this reputation, it just erodes the reason for its greatness."</p>
<p>Anyway, tell me what you think, and CONGRATS to all fellow admitted types.</p>
<p>It is what you make of it. You'll find people you like, and you'll find the anti-socialites. The education you receive there will be unparalelled, however. Weigh your options.</p>
<p>Well, I got accepted, and I wouldnt call myself a nerd. Intelligent? yes. Unique? yes. Loser? no.
Don't know if I'm going to Chicago yet or not.</p>
<p>Erp...that's what I heard, too. A friend of mine who goes to a nearby college has told me that the Chicago girls she runs into all tend to be either sluts or nerds. (But then, she was rejected from Chicago last year so I can't tell you how much of that is bitterness.)</p>
<p>i don't want to upset you guys, but i heard that the there there are SO depressed with the studying and all. there are like no parties around, and the people there are really big study people. so maybe the new acceptees can go in there and show the people how to have some fun! :)</p>
<p>I have a first year at U. Chicago. Nerds? Maybe. No social life? Are you kidding. My D has spent many a night helping drunk dorm mates...</p>
<p>There are parties if you want them. Some frats are right on the edge of the campus.</p>
<p>yes, it is true that many students like to study. D has even spent a Sat evening (so she tells me...) in the Reg. Does that mean all students do this? Hardly, as I was told when I took a group of them to dinner last month.</p>
<p>If you do want a wild party scene, you shudda applied to Duke. Or Northwestern. That's not what Chicago is about. But they do have fun, and it is a pretty alcohol tolerant environment, if that's what you want. I saw plenty of bottles in the dorm rooms.</p>
<p>I think the whole wonkish poor hygiene line of crap type student exists, but it is more of a stereotype perpetuated by those who are bitter about being too stupid to write a good essay and instead just sell their soul to meaningless homework, notetaking, and memorization in order to go to an ivy.</p>
<p>This is an interactive message. Please substitute "blank" with any word you like.</p>
<p>How can you generalize a few thousand kids? It isn't prerequisite that you must be a dull nerd to study at Chicago. Blanking Blank son of blanks who believe in blank rumors like that shouldn't go to a fine university like Chicago. I can't believe how many waste of life blanks are out there... Plus, maybe it is just me, actually I think it is just me, why is social life, something you control in the purest sense, such an important consideration in your decision? If you don't have the confidence for starting a party, than shut the blank up about there being none. Childish blanks.</p>
<p>Ok, so there are a lot of stereotypes out there....Heres what i would like to know from people who actually attend U of C. What type of nerds are there? I mean i could be classified as a political nerd i guess. I have subjects i love and i like studying them and have fun doing it. On the other hand, I am a social person who likes to talk and joke, whether it be about school or not. I also don't like to completely KILL myself over school work, though if I am having fun with something then I will put my heart into it. What is the real atmosphere? Are these 'UC NERDS' the highwater, plaid shirt, ducttaped glasses, snorting laugh type, or are they just truely interested in academics, but easy to talk to/look at/be around? Thats my real question. Also, UC has one of the best Law schools in the nation, so if youre going to be a legal eagle, then this is the place for you.</p>
<p>I'd like to join this club... Frankly, this issue of "oh no! i'm going to one of the best universities in the world in one of the greatest cities in the country, both filled with the most intelligent and unusual people out there, and I'm afraid I won't find a single friend and i'll die from lack of fun" gets tiresome. Too many people persist in inquiring into this supposed issue, and I take the attitude that if you have to ask, you're probably not going to get the answer.</p>
<p>lmao jpnumbercnumbers, didn't think too much of you before, but now i know you got it in you. welcome.</p>
<p>sarahbarah: i don't know many females who come anywhere near the Way of the Prick (at least without sacrificing all feminity: in which case I would start to worry about my future in that respect at chicago). They're all too damn nice. Your above post in true but not brutally and prickly so. But if you demonstrate in the future, perhaps you will be granted admission by our team of highly selective officers...</p>
<p>sarah.. i believe it was Louis Armstrong (the jazz musician, not the astronaut or cyclist) who said "Man, if you gotta ask, you'll never know."</p>
<p>My brother (whos at Northwestern) described UofC as "The Place Where Fun Goes to Die." His friend from high school (who I know too) isnt exactly what comes to mind when you think of "fun loving".. but i appreciate his uniqueness, his intensity, and so on.</p>
<p>Here's how I see the UofC student body (feel free to correct me if im wrong)
The intellectualism of Reed/Cal/Oberlin, without the hippies
The ambition of HYPS, without the snobs
The excitement and desire for a good time of any other school, without the unquenchable thirst for hooch.
Students seem playful, ambitious, hungry for more. Everyone I've met whos gone there is quirky, but then again, we all have our quirks, at least at chicago they're not repressed.</p>
<p>Id never heard of college kids playing crainium for fun eitehr, but then when my brother came home from NU for christmas, he was talking about the game ... apparently its big on every campus.. it really is a fun game, so at least for now, I still hold by my own definition</p>