<p>"but rather you look at students at Yale, painting their faces blue and getting really psyched up for the Yale-Harvard games, and well, that's school spirit"</p>
<p>jpps1 - many people do not find this attractive at all. The emphasis on football (and the resources put into it) turned my son off to many schools that would be good fits academically. Not all schools should be alike, just as all students are not alike.</p>
<p>You can't balance professional sport with academics. You can't train 5 hours a day and still get the best grades. No. But you could spend 1 hour a day lifting weights and doing martial arts like I do. You must be fit, thats important. But if your mind's concentration is not on academics, than Chicago isn't right for you.</p>
<p>I agree with ohio_mom. In fact, I specifically avoided the "rah-rah" schools. It just doesn't interest me and I didn't want to have to be in the minority in being disinterested. And by the way, Harvard and Yale have pretty meak school spirit, if we're going to talk about sports hooplah. My friends and family who are at Harvard or have graduated have gone to a total of one football game ever between all of them (6 people). A place like UMichigan is a better comparison.</p>
<p>Look at it this way: You can go to a school with athletics and ignore the games. But you can't go to a school without athletics and attend games.</p>
<p>With 14 usable hours in a day, there is more than enough time to have fun and study well.</p>
<p>Maybe some of you need to learn some time management, because I seem to have no problem. It's ridiculous to say that you must be solely focussed on academics in order to succeed at Chicago; I immensely enjoy my classes this year and truly love to learn, yet I find plenty of time to watch sports, hang out with my friends and relax.</p>
<p>College isn't high school. 14 hours include class, study, work (for me at least), activities, relax time, cooking, eating, cleaning...bla bla bla. 14 hours all of a sudden doesn't seem that long anymore.</p>
<p>"Seriously, if you don't think you can balance academics and athletics, then I feel pretty bad for you. Especially for newmassdad, who seems to believe that anyone who does not spend every waking hour thinking about school doesn't belong at Chicago."</p>
<p>Did I say that? Don't think so. Maybe jpps1 doesn't know that there are other diversions than spectator sports, which is what div 1 sports are. To call them athletics is limiting the term. </p>
<p>And "balancing athletics and academics" is about as hard as balancing tv watching and academics, at least for div 1 "athletics". </p>
<p>I don't get the point.</p>
<p>I don't understand the comments about U Chicago sports. It's true that they are in Division III which does not allow athletic scholarships. However, within Division III their overall sports program was ranked 24th. Division III athletes play for the love of the sport. If students do not attend games then it's their loss.</p>
<p>U Chicago does recruit athletes as my son was recruited for football. Yes, the sport is taken very seriously. Football players arrive at school a month earlier than the general student population and spend a month practicing as well as playing their first three games before school starts. The same is true for other fall sports. Also, unless the school is Division 1 (not 1AA), sports are not that big a factor. If that was the case, the school would lose more students to Northwestern</p>
<p>Like many other parents, I would have preferred my son attending an Ivy League School but only for the prestige, not the education. I feel that Chicago is better than or at least equal to any of them in that Department, especially in Economics</p>
<p>Thanks, newmassdad. I second his statement. Newsflash folks: other fun exists out there besides sports. No one ever said all remnants of non-school related life were doomed to go the way of stirrup-pants. This thread just happens to be discussing sports, which a lot of people interested in the University of Chicago, find disinteresting. Period.</p>
<p>Regardless, newmassdad's general antipathy and cynicism towards sports is a little strange. He seems to be on a genuine crusade against them.</p>
<p>And for j10cpc5000, I do a lot of college-level work at my school, seeing as how CEGEP (in Quebec) was created to bridge the gap between high school and university. Don't forget that in university you're spending only half the time in class as you spent in high school, and there's a lot less busywork. Yes, it balances out and you have to work harder, but it is not an incredibly difficult change for the mature and well-prepared. Of course, Chicago is an exception, but even still...</p>
<p>"Regardless, newmassdad's general antipathy and cynicism towards sports is a little strange. He seems to be on a genuine crusade against them."</p>
<p>Yup. What a waste of resources and time, to focus on...never mind.</p>
<p>"Like many other parents, I would have preferred my son attending an Ivy League School but only for the prestige, not the education. "</p>
<p>Sigh. Let's look at what's important in life for a minute, by looking at the end of it. I lost my mother to a stroke last summer. Although her body was failing, she kept her mind until very nearly the end. Her books surrounded her - poets, philosophers, scientists, politicians. The education of her youth - Creighton (attended classes with the nuns) and Northwestern - was with her until the end - volumes of poetry, the classics, history. The spiritual, intellectual and artistic <em>world</em>. Counting coupe with a diploma with a more presigious name pales in comparison to that.</p>
<p>There is no doubt in my mind that Chicago is superior or equal to any University in the world in terms of academics. What makes Harvard famous is because it is almost like a country club for the rich and powerful to send their children.</p>
<p>I'm going to join the Chicago martial arts team. I currently lift an hour a day and practice for another hour. It is not enough for me to be a professional but it definitely makes me more active than most people. So don't think that I'm just a nerdy person. But I really doubt I could workout 2 hours a day at Chicago. I will be working so much in class and at work. </p>
<p>And I agree with Ohio_Mom; your mind will last many times longer than your body so it would be smart to invest in it.</p>
<p>And the people that combine athletics with academics are on the right track, too - keeping the body in shape to support the mind!</p>
<p>If you make a regimen or join a team you are more likely to schedule your time wisely. I know that I use my time better when my sport is in season and it takes more of my time.</p>
<p>dd specifically avoided those kind of ra-rah school spirit schools (and was ever somewhat discouraged by the GC from looking at Penn or Northwestern, for instance.) He said she should look at schools that attract more outside-the-box types, to use a cliche. Anyway she is very sporty and plays on 3 Varsity teams, and hopes to play at Chicago.</p>
<p>"sports...It's just as much part of the college "experience" as frats or pizza at 3AM." These types of things are so far down the interest/priority list, they don't even register as the least bit desirable. So maybe she is a Chicago type after all.</p>
<p>Perhaps I've been misinterpreted--obviously you go to college to study, first and foremost.</p>
<p>But how can you expect to create any lasting social relationships if your only interactions seem to be in study groups? I really don't think it's too much of a contradiction to be the Chicago-type and still party and have conventional fun. Learn when you want to learn, study when you have to study, and relaaax when it's time to.</p>
<p>JPPS1,</p>
<p>"But how can you expect to create any lasting social relationships if your only interactions seem to be in study groups? "</p>
<ul>
<li> Like you build relationships sitting in bleachers somewhere yelling your guts out?</li>
<li> did you ever stop to think that some schools (maybe not the ones you want, though) have activities other than spectator sports? Like improv at U. chi. Or music, or doc films.</li>
<li> yes, sports is part of the college experience. But some of us prefer to DO sports, rather than WATCH sports. So please, tell me how WATCHING sports is any different from, say, watching a movie? Seeing a musical performance? Watching drama?</li>
</ul>
<p>That last post of mine was not made in regards to sports. I am a sports fan, and thus I would prefer if Chicago had a D1 program.</p>
<p>However, there seems to be such a wave of resentment here against traditional avenues of teen fun...not even as mild as merely prefering alternative activities, but to the point of shunning anything remotely "popular."</p>
<p>Look, I think it's cool that Chicago has all sorts of cultural activities on campus. But you can't live your whole life with having a visit to the museum rank as one of your most daring or fun experiences.</p>
<p>And I hate your elitist attitude towards me, like I don't belong at Chicago because I like to party and follow sports. I did apply EA, after all, so obviously I do find an attractive aspect to the school. With 1000 other kids there, I expect to find a few like-minded individuals, and if I don't, I can always transfer.</p>
<p>I'm still very much attracted to the school, but some posts here are turning me off to the people.</p>
<p>In any case, you'll have the opportunity to join a very "ra ra" group of Cubs fans.</p>