<p>Hi everyone,
I am a current student at the university of chicago. Seeing as how so many high schoolers are looking at this university at the moment at the moment at figured I would give my opinion. I strongly dislike this university. The student population forms a toxic environment and in bureaucratic beyond belief. It is not that the university is "where fun comes to die" because there is indeed much partying, to the point of substance abuse as a coping mechanism. Needless to say some people love it here and speak great things of it. You may love it too. Then again, you might dislike it as much as I do. Just letting you all know</p>
<p>What do you mean when you say that the student population is bureaucratic?</p>
<p>And could you elaborate more on what exactly you dislike about the school? What’s toxic about the student environment?</p>
<p>I haven’t enrolled yet, I’m still looking around and reading students’ opinions of the school, so any insight you can offer would be helpful.</p>
<p>Elephantmap4, could you elaborate a little bit more on how you feel UChicago is a “toxic environment”? It would nice to get a sense of your perspective: your temperament, what you thought it was going to be like, how it is different than that, etc.</p>
<p>@elephantmap4. It is hard to believe, if I may, that you are a “Chicago” student (as you claim) with the number of incoherent grammatical mistakes that even 5th graders would not make…this being your very 1st post…if I were a betting man…you may be one of many “Chicago haters” out there in the universe…who is “pretending” to be a Chicago student…</p>
<p>…you remind me of another so-called “student” at the Columbia forum who likes to spew venom needlessly…about Columbia</p>
<p>gravitas, to be fair, he does not have to be a native English speaker. There are several posts in the class of 2017 thread that are replete with grammatical errors (I even took the liberty to point out a few before being informed that the authors were not native speakers of the English language).</p>
<p>^^I would say that most of the posts that have grammatical errors are from non-native speaking “parents” on these forums and not the high functioning “students” whether they be foreign or not…I would say that those high achieving students from US or other countries speak and write very well overall…one cannot survive a Chicago education from beginning to end without knowing how to write well…if you cannot write well…you will be miserable at Chicago…or for that matter at any of the elite top schools…</p>
<p>…this is why I am suspicious…</p>
<p>■■■■■, most of trolls write one paragraph and disappear. The generalization of OP made him more of a ■■■■■.</p>
<p>^^you took the words right out of my mouth…</p>
<p>So far there’s no way to know for sure if the OP is a student or not, though the grammatical errors and huge generalizations are suspicious. For now, I’ll pretend that the OP is not a ■■■■■, because this is a message that can be helpful to many people. </p>
<p>OP, I’m sorry that you’ve had such a horrible experience so far. I hope that things improve and if not that you can transfer to a school with an environment that will suit you better. Be warned, though, that college can be very tough at first. It may very well be that your grievances stem from negative aspects that can be found in most colleges, and if that is the case then transferring wouldn’t do you much good…you need to make sure that these are qualities specific to UChicago and not just the general college experience. Again, I do acknowledge that UChicago is not for everybody, that is why I strongly encourage prospective students to visit and talk to as many current students as possibles. You SHOULD go into detail about what you don’t like about UChicago, for the sake of others who would not like it here either due to similar reasons. I also strongly encourage you to seek counseling services and/or report your complaints to the administration, they very well may be problems they are obligated to deal with.</p>
<p>I’d agree that it’s either a ■■■■■ or someone in serious trouble venting, but either way the post certainly isn’t helpful. It’s too unclear. I’m not sure what the toxic student environment is supposed to mean, or how the school might be more bureaucratic than any of its peers (or was the OP still referring to the students here? that would be an interesting claim…). And while I’d agree there are enough parties to undermine any literal interpretation of “where fun comes to die,” it’s definitely not true that abnormal substance abuse is a significant problem.</p>
<p>“Hi everyone,
I am a current student at the university of chicago. Seeing as how so many high schoolers are looking at this university at the moment at the moment at figured I would give my opinion. I strongly dislike this university.”…yawn.</p>
<p>UChicago has a 99% first-year retention rate–that is as high as it gets–tied with Yale and Columbia. Every other major university has a lower freshman retention rate. UChicago may not be for everyone–just those who want the best undergraduate education. And 99% of the students come back for more. Other universities should be so lucky.</p>
<p>Other schools offer a comparable education, and are better suited for certain students. What if, for example, a student decides that he/she is highly interested in engineering, can not stand cold weather and wants a school with amazing sports? In such a case, I would not hesitate to point them towards Stanford or Duke instead of UChicago. Another student who prefers living in a more natural environment and is dead set on Art History would be better served at Williams. I don’t think such people would necessarily be absolutely miserable at UChicago, but there are other colleges where they would thrive more.</p>
<p>Just sayin’. I’m currently a first year, and I haven’t gotten this sense at all.</p>
<p>Most of my friends do drink and enjoy partying as a way to let go at the end of a stressful weekend, but none of them do it in an unhealthy way. And there are people who don’t drink (myself included), and don’t at all feel alienated from those who do.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what s/he means by “toxic environment.” But I don’t see how that can describe any dynamic here.</p>
<p>^ This. As a first year on the flip side of the partying scene, I can say (nearly) everyone seems quite happy to be here. Nor is the workload particularly hard - “where fun goes to die” is an outmoded slogan.</p>
<p>Come on, do not feed the ■■■■■. The OP had his only one posting bashing some school and disappears. It is a ■■■■■.</p>