U. Chicago....A Bunch of Nerds?? (hope not)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
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<p>"going to dinner with Professors, getting a $8000 Dartmouth grant for my thesis research in the Marshall Islands, going ice skating on Occum Pond for my first date with my girlfriend, swimming in the river before class, getting an "office" in the History department for my research,"</p>

<p>Like stuff like this does not occur at Chicago?</p>

<p>Slipper, another example of your naivete is that none of us here have ever said that folks at Ivies are not smart, are not interested in academics and so forth. And some of us here are smart enough to know that university life is a complex mix of different threads, where a kid balances the academic, intellectual, social, societal and so forth. BUT, each person's balance point is different. </p>

<p>You don't seem to understand that some kids don't have the same need for some of the diversions you obviously crave, just like you don't understand that people can see nothign wrong with "puking frat jocks" to use your phrase, while not craving to be part of that scene. And just for reference, I went to Mich. State as an undergrad, home of some pretty good parties, if I do say so myself, and UCSB for grad school, also known as a place to have a good time. Some of us have had the exposure to differing environments, and recognize the advantages of each. </p>

<p>BTW, I never said anything about "drunken fools, nor did I make my comments about all ivies, just cetain specific schools. </p>

<p>Pretty defensive about your alma mater, eh? I can understand why.</p>

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<p>Uchicago is what it is, it isnt forced to try and be something for everybody. I know a girl who tries to be something for everybody, but hey, there are children around, we cant talk about her.
What im trying to say is, its fine for slipper to not like Chicago. Whatever, end of discussion. What he dislikes about chicago are things that teh university and its students themselves are willing to publicly admit (and are unique in that they DO in admissions materials) that only a certain group of individuals will be happy there. I would rather this than, say, going to brown, and having to deal with as many attitudes towards education as there are students.
What service slipper thinks he is doing by saying that Uchicago has a rep for being anti-social and academic, I do not know, these things are public knowledge, to every single person on the CC board.
Im glad slipper has such fond memories of dartmouth, good for you. </p>

<p>PR's review of chicago is great. Of course its subjective, there is no real objective way to rank colleges. USNWR attempts to say that the correlation between schools with great prior subjective reputations to things like selectivity, alumni giving, and grad rate, necessarily means that these thing CAUSE a school to be great. Obviously, Chicago is less selective than ivies and NU and WUSTL et. al., but this is not CAUSED by the fact that it is a "worse" school. There are other confounding variables. (man, i should show this to my stats teacher). </p>

<p>NOBODY, and i mean nobody, would confuse chicago for anyplace else. However, the experiences at NU, Dartmouth, Cornell, Harvard and so on, all tend to be pretty similar (neglecting things like location). I, for one, would be much happier at a college with a bunch of students who chose IT because they felt that the academics there, the atmosphere there, and the social life there were all perfect for them. At other schools, people decide mostly between their colleges based on location, expense, and major. </p>

<p>My friend who's at Chicago explained the high admit rate to me: Less people apply, because the only people who apply and get in are people who can really see themselves here. Nobody comes here who would belong anyplace else.</p>

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<p>The issue is I do think there are people who come to Chicago not fully aware of what they are getting into.</p>

<p>Just look at the poster's question for example. I think you see a lot of these types of posts on this board particularly, and I flat out believe this group won't be happy. </p>

<p>The ones who really are ready to trade in a lot of community/ college life will love it.</p>

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<p>"The issue is I do think there are people who come to Chicago not fully aware of what they are getting into."</p>

<p>Slipper, did you ever stop to think about how funny it is that you, a recent Dartmouth alum, who has never attended U. Chicago, are trying to make people "aware" with advice contrary to what those that HAVE gone there say? </p>

<p>Some of us older folks here consider it to be the height of arrogance to emphatically comment on, and claim to be knowledgeable of, something one has no direct experience with.</p>

<p>Think about it.</p>

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<p>The best authorities on Chicago are newmassdad, grasslands, and keelee2. The minute one of them spoke on this matter, the debate ought to have been settled.</p>

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<p>We don't have jocks in our school. Actually we do, but they are my friends and they don't pick on anybody. Thats just my friendly little tight community school.</p>

<p>I never met in my school (I know, its weird):
1) Mean nerds
2) Rich people
3) Smart Party Animals (note "animals")
4) Smart sluts
5) Smart shy people
6) Smart mean people</p>

<p>I know I will meet a lot of them when I get out of this small town.</p>

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<p>Newmassdad, every alum from Chicago I have spoken to felt the social life was lacking. Every guidebook confirms this. Heck, this board confirms this. And I am not just talking about big parties, I am talking about a sense of place knowing that you really love a school for more than just academics. I am talking about knowing half your class and having an amazing alumni network. These are things Chicago lacks.</p>

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<p>Will this flame war ever end!?!?!? Do everyone a favor and keep any heartless comments to yourself please! This is really unproductive and NOT going anywhere!</p>

<p>If you have never been to Chicago OR never applied to Chicago OR have no interest in Chicago whatsoever, then don't post here! Most people on this board don't freakin' care for what you have to say!</p>

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<p>will there be weed to smoke?</p>

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<p>slipper, how do you know all this stuff about how horrible chicago is? (is it from a visit or alumni or something like that??)</p>

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<p>I dunno, maybe Slipper is really giving us a heads-up about Dartmouth. The way he describes it, makes it sound as if anyone who isn't majorly into drinking wouldn't fit in there. Good to know.</p>

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<p>So accepted students, where have you been accepted, where are you choosing to go and why? Is Chicago the right place for you? What do you look for in a school?</p>

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<p>Well, I'm choosing Chicago...I'll admit I'm put off by a lot of stuff about the social life, because I do like to have typical frat-boy kind of fun...But I realize that in a school with 4000 people, and considering I'm going there, I'm sure there are others like me.</p>

<p>Academically, Chicago is perfect.</p>

<p>I have a question though: If I choose to defer my acceptance for next year (class of 2010), is it possible to apply to other colleges in the meanwhile, or will my agreement with Chicago be binding (like an ED one)?</p>

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<p>Not to sound shallow, but the first thing I noticed when I visited was the girls (as a whole) weren't attractive</p>

<p>The academic reputation is great tho.</p>

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<p>Good question about the deferral...I don't know. I would be interested in applying other places too......as for the girls....maybe we can find good looking ones downtown. I am also having the same problem with academics and social life. Academically chicago is the place for me. I also love the campus. I am, though, really worried about the social life. I am a very social person, and I couldn't possibly spend hours cramped in the Reg (UC's library), it looks like a prison. I would like it if we could start social clubs or debate societies kind of like you would see at the ivies. But thats just my preference, I like making small talk while sipping good brandy in a room with wood paneling and leaded glass windows.</p>

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<p>wow, elpresidente, brandy and wood paneling, thats exactly my idea of a good time. In a world class city like chicago, there'll be nothing stopping us from having a world-class time like that.</p>

<p>As for girls, I'm concerned too. However, chicago is a huge city, with a few other colleges (depaul and loyola come to mind, on top of NU) that im sure have social offerings as well, if UofC is really that bad. </p>

<p>Lets look at things this way, CC is supposed to be the nerd's hnagout on the web (come on, only nerds care this much about college admissions and selection)... so imagine how the non-nerds, people who dont use CC, must be feeling about teh social life. They must be normal-er than we are, and be just as eager to have a good time. I really don't think we'll be in bad shape.</p>

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<p>it seems as though many people on this forum are having problems deciding whether chicago's social scene is good enough but love the academics. </p>

<p>add me to that list. </p>

<p>i'm weighing UC and amherst right now; both fit me academically, perhaps chicago more so, but amherst definitely seems a little more laid back. </p>

<p>and guys, i hope i'm not disappointed with your looks considering the way you're bashing UC girls. come on, grow up a bit. i mean, a bunch of frat guys tried to impress me by playing a little game of catch with a football, (missing most of the times,) tearing off their shirts, etc last saturday when i visited and you don't see me making fun of their lack of athleticism. </p>

<p>but its all in good fun.</p>

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<p>If you want to see how people look at chicago, go to the class websites and look a the picture. Then draw your own conclusions. </p>

<p>Remember, this is not Vanderbilt or U. Florida - no artifically enhanced frat/sorority types at Chicago. What you see....</p>

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<p>Veronique and Mstee,</p>

<p>I dont see how you could come to that conclusion reading my posts. My point is that a certain segment of the population believes that there are only two types of people 1) intellectuals and 2) frat guys. My point is that there is a huge group in the middle, and places like Dartmouth, Amherst, Brown, whatever are probably better fits for those people. </p>

<p>My favorite times at Dartmouth had nothing to do with drinking.</p>

80

<p>Hm, Slipper, guess I got the wrong impression from your post #46 where I thought you were dissing kids who would rather go to the library than get wasted.</p>