The title says it all! I just finished my first quarter as a first-year and figuring that some decisions have come out, I thought y’all might have some questions about UChicago–academics, social life, dorms, traditions, you name it. I’ll try to answer to the best of my abilities. Congrats to those that got in! 
Ask away!
What’s housing like? What are the major differences between the different dorm buildings? I’m interested in things like art, musical theatre, alternative culture, video games—where do you think I’d fit in best? Also, how’s the theatre scene? (just got accepted ED and I still think I’m dreaming…this doesn’t feel real)
Sorry, a lot of questions. Thanks for offering your experience! ;v;
@springreturning That’s BJ in a nutshell (I’m a 2nd year)
Edit: Each dorm has their own culture and different room types and are varying distances from important stuff like food, classes, transportation to get the heck out of Hyde Park (welcome to UChicago but please do this occasionally), restaurants, and stores. Each dorm attracts different kinds of people, though this changes a lot.
What do you do for entertainment? Are there a lot of parties? What’s the academic rigor like? How is the atmosphere - competitive or relaxed?
@springreturning Congrats on your acceptance!! I know what you’re feeling right now–for weeks I couldn’t believe that I was actually accepted and had to keep on convincing myself that it was real.
Different dorms on campus have different feels and cultures to them. To have a chance at getting your first choice for housing (you rank your 3 top choices in the housing survey), the earlier you put in your deposit the better. Keep in mind though that you don’t also have to know your top dorm choices early–you can fill out/change the housing survey as many times as you want until May 1, I believe. There are MANY aspects to each dorm and CC posts and Uchicago websites have tons of info, but here’s a quick rundown of the different dorms:
Campus North: The newest one, just built this year. Yours truly’s home. Huge houses (~100 people), very nice facilities and house lounges. Has a 15th floor reading room with gorgeous views of the city. Baker Dining Commons is part of the building so you only have to walk like 20 ft to eat. Has a good mix of singles, doubles, and a few apartments. As implied in its name, is at the northern most part of campus, but still pretty close to everything (walk to the quad is ~10min). Very close to Henry Crown field house and Ratner athletic center. Has a bus stop (the 55) right outside on 55th st.
Max P: Some people say it’s super ugly, others like it. Good if you want to live with other people: Max dorms consist of quads, with 2 double rooms with a bathroom in between. Super super close to the Reg and Bartlett dining commons.
Snell-Hitchcock: Super small houses, known for its “quirky” people. Looks like a Hogwarts dorm, covered in ivy and built in the late 1800’s I think. According to some of my friends say that there are bees in the rec room. Right on the quad, practically in the center of campus. Also super close to the Reg. Has a nice little courtyard. One of the houses is mostly singles, the other mostly doubles.
Burton-Judson: If you want a single, you have a good chance of getting one at BJ. Right across the midway. Served by Cathey dining commons, not too far away. I’ve never been inside, but have friends who live there and love it.
South Campus (Renee Granville Grossman, but who even calls it that?): Cathey is right next to it so you’re super close to food. But, it’s all the way on the southern end of campus, as the name implies, so if you want to wake up ten minutes before class and still be on time, this might not be the best dorm for you. Also pretty modern.
Stony Island: All apartments serving four people. Very far from campus, right by the metra tracks. Eat at Bartlett, so a pretty long trek for food, but you do get your own kitchen and bathroom in your apartment!
International House: I don’t know of anyone who has wanted Int, House: most people get put there because they put their deposit in late. Also kinda far off, but not as far as Stony–close to Ida Noyes and Rockefeller Chapel. Mostly, if not all, singles. Great if you want to go to Doc films (in Ida Noyes) a lot.
I suggest that, if you can, come visit! Especially try and come to the April Overnights–you get to stay overnight in one of the dorms and attend a class. Some RSO’s also show off during this time, especially the performing ones (instrumental ensembles, a capella groups, dance groups etc). This is also a good time to check out the dorms and see if you like them, though you probably won’t get past the front desk (you can’t go inside the dorms/rooms unless someone who lives there signs you in). I stayed in Stony for the overnight and after that knew that I didn’t want to dorm there.
Both BJ and South are close to the Logan Center for the arts so they may be good choices for you since you mention you like art and theater. Also, almost any dorm will have some kind of video gaming set up in its lounges–you can find people playing super smash bros in the evening. Honestly, from what I’ve heard and seen, BJ probably has people the most like you.
I don’t know too much about theater (sorry!) but I do know that UChicago has the University Theater (UT) that anyone can join in some way, so be sure to check them out! They do student run productions each year that you can audition for, or do set/tech crew. The university also has a professional theatre company on campus (Court Theater) right by Max P and North and right by the Smart Museum (has collections of art that include paintings, photos, etc) that you can go see.
@doorrealthe Different people do different things for entertainment. Some people go to frats, some people play board/card games, some watch netflix. Many are part of the variety of different RSO’s on campus. Lots of weeks there are so many things that I want to do outside of academics that I realize I won’t have time for all of them. On weekends there are always things going on–on campus, downtown. Every day there’s a movie playing at the max p cinema at Ida Noyes. When I have some downtime I usually either attend one of my RSO events, watch something on my laptop, or read. Sometimes there will be a concert or some special event I’ll go to–many are free or super cheap.
There are parties and there are people that party, though you definitely don’t have to if you don’t want to. Frats host parties, for example, every Wednesday some frat hosts a party called bar night. People hold parties in their dorms. I know some people that go out three or four times a week and yet take super time-consuming and challenging classes. I know other people that don’t party at all. It’s not a big party school like other colleges, but they do exist.
The rigor of course varies depending on what classes you take and sometimes what professors you have. Honors analysis will be much more rigorous that most other classes. All classes, though, will be rigorous in the sense that it’s pretty difficult to get an A if you slack off. I’ve been told that major classes get harder as you go on and take more specialized classes. Also, just because a class isn’t the “honors” version doesn’t mean it’s not rigourous–i.e. just because you take calc 150’s instead of 160’s, for example, doesn’t mean that your classes are going to be easy. That said, I have not found the classes competitive at all. You may get one or two people like that, but I’ve found people generally very willing to work with and help each other–most form study groups. I personally became close with a group of people in one of my classes and we all went to office hours and did homework together. I haven’t seen any people competing for higher GPA’s or or refusing to help each other. It’s a really great environment where everyone just wants to learn.
@aykt4245 Thank you so much for all this information -
Just submitted the deposit. Ah, the campus atmosphere sounds amazing! It was beautiful when I visited back in October— looking forward to visiting campus again in the spring. I’m currently binge-watching all the videos on UChicago’s youtube account!
What else do the April overnights consist of? Did you just hang out/go to a party with any current students at any point? Do current students sell those self-deprecating t-shirts?
Also, do you remember how soon after being accepted you received your goodies and acceptance in the mail?? I’m so pumped for more Chicago gear 
@quoderatuhhh On overnights: Sometimes they do sell some t-shirts but to get most of them you have to actually be a student here. Some people do like to use prospies coming as an excuse to get drunk (and get the prospies drunk) but giving high schoolers alcohol is absolutely capital letters Not Allowed and RAs try to minimize it as much as possible. The overnights are structured so you spend most of your day (until 5 or so) doing structured UChicago things or just wondering around campus. In the evening you get to hang out with your host and your host’s house.
Your goodies will come soon. Don’t worry.
@quoderatuhhh HydeSnark has pretty much summarized it all right there. I personally did not go to any parties during the overnight, but I know that some people did, though as was pointed out, it is not the wisest decision as a prospie (if you get caught/do something unwise they can revoke your acceptance). During the two days you have a chance to sit in on a class that you pick beforehand (there’s a HUGE list of available options, though it’s best to fill out the form early because classes fill up) and also go on a tour of something. There are also different activities throughout the day, for example, a board game night in Rosenwald. In the late afternoon you get picked up by your host and go to your dorm. After that it depends on what you want to do and what your host does: my host had to go somewhere that night so I wandered campus and did some of the activities. A different student kindly let me into the Reg so I could walk around and wander amongst the bookstacks. That day was also study break in the evening for the house I stayed at so I got to enjoy that too, meet the RH’s, and mingle with other students from the house and other prospies.
You get A LOT of free goodies throughout your senior year, overnight, and o-week. I believe most of my acceptance goodies (scarf, t-shirt, post-its, pen, etc) came in January (I was an EA admit). During the overnight they gave us a free t-shirt and nice metal water bottle. During o-week and the first weeks of the quarter (especially the RSO fair) you can get lots of free things like t-shirts, water bottles, stickers, food, you name it. If an organization or RSO wants you to come to their event, they will almost always bait you with the phrase “free food”. The Uchicago bookstore will also most certainly give you a coupon/discount on spirit wear during o-week. In short, there are a lot of chances to get goodies!
@aykt4245 North is my #1 preferred dorm right now, but I’ve heard that the house culture isn’t very strong compared to, say, Max P or even South. Could you provide some insight on that? I love North’s exterior and interior but I don’t want to live somewhere with a poor house culture 
@mylhu1011 Yea I’ve noticed this…of course since all the North houses used to be satellite dorms, each house can keep some traditions, but with the renaming and move many of the traditions got lost. For example, they had to change their house mascot and colors. Of course, fun house activities and participation in IM sports, along with certain traditions that the upperclassmen decided to retain, remain, but it’s really hard to do things really together as one house because they’re so huge–for example, for our o-week trip to downtown, we had to split up into 6 or so groups, and that was before all the upperclassmen came. I don’t know how scav will go down yet. I don’t think that everyone in the house can fit at our house table in Baker at the same time, so we obviously don’t ALL eat together, but there is a duration of time in the afternoon and evening when you see house tables fill up and you have a chance to eat and talk with people you may usually not. That said, I can honestly say that I don’t know everyone in my house and have probably not even talked to some of them. In fact, sometimes I find out that people are in my house by being in the elevator with them and noticing they get off on one of our house floors (each North house occupies 3 floors). Of course, opinions can differ depending on what house you’re in–my friend in a different North house says that they’re all really close with each other. Also keep in mind that, at least in the case of my house, more than half of the people are first-years, with only a handful of second-years and maybe one or two fourth-years. I already know of first-years who are planning to move off-campus next year. Personally, I’ve noticed that there are certain groups who mingle within themselves–for example, the sports people hang out and talk with one another, and the chinese international students frequently eat and play games together. House meetings are usually sparsely attended with maybe half the house there. It’s definitely a different feeling than other houses. Of course, this has the possibility to change–after all, house culture is dependent on the people, but that may take some time considering how new they are.
Hope you don’t mind my 2 cents…
DD is in a large house (100 people) in South. They have a pretty tight house culture despite the size. However, lot of the traditions have been in place for some time so pretty easy to continue. Loves her house and housemates and plans to stay. Probably not surprising that the new houses in North will take a bit of time to gel. Also probably depends on the level of involvement of the RH and RAs (DD’s house has 2 RAs).
Im a newly admitted student and I’ve been looking at the houses latety and smell Hitchcock really stands out as somewhere I want to be. I always hear that they’re the “quirky” dorm but what does that really mean ? What are they like other than really into U Chicago ? Also if you can answer this, what’s up with all the different math courses. I plan on majoring in math and I’ve done a pretty large amount of math during high school but they’re so many option of what to take. What’s the difference between honors calc, analysis, honors analysis, etc. I’ve finished up through differential equations and some self study analysis so I don’t quite know where I fall. Thanks !
@ihs76 Don’t mind at all! I totally agree–the RA’s and RH’s make a big difference–they need to get everyone in the house excited about traditions and being involved with the house.
@Conair94 Congrats on getting in! I don’t know too much about Snell-Hitchcock because I have met very few people from there–after all, it’s a pretty small dorm. But from the people I’ve met, I wouldn’t say that they’re all that different from other UChicago students. One thing about Snell-Hitchcock is that they’re super super into scav and will go all out–pulling consecutive all-nighters and working ferociously to win. From what I’ve heard it’s a pretty tight dorm, but by “quirky” I guess people can mean they have a very intense house culture–one of my friends visited SH, got asked if she was right or left-handed, and when she said left the person just left the room.
Regarding math–math placement is always super confusing cause they just changed a few things this year. It’s super rare for uchicago to take any transfer credit if you took courses at a community college for example so you have to show them what you know by taking tests.
Basically, the first thing you do regarding math placement is take the online math placement test in the summer. Every incoming first-year, regardless of major or AP credit, has to take this. This basically tells the college if you place into 1) the 150’s, which is the “regular” calculus sequence or 2) 130’s, the calc sequence for people that need a little more prep in precalc. Since you’ve done extensive math in high school, this test should not be a problem.
Now, UChicago strongly recommends that if you have taken any form of calculus in high school that you take the Calculus Accreditation Exam, which you have to do during the summer in a certain time slot. Basically you need to find a person that can proctor the test for you (i.e. a teacher or someone who’s not related to you), pay some amount to get the exam mailed to the proctor, and take the exam and send it back within the time window. UChicago should also offer this test on campus before o-week for people that can’t find a proctor. This test can place you into a higher math course than your placement from the math placement test or your AP scores. It’s no calculator and tests pre-calc, calc, and some analysis at the end.
Now, if you have AP credit: If you have a 4 on BC calc or 5 on AB you can start with 152 without taking the calc acc exam. If you got a 5 on BC, without taking the calc accrediation exam, you have 2 options: 1) start with 153, the last course in the reg 150’s sequence. Since you’re a math major, I don’t think you’d want to do this. 2) Start with Honors Calculus–the 160’s. Lots of math majors take this. The 160’s is a 3-quarter course that’s basically an introduction to analysis. In short, you take all that you learned in high school calc, prove it, and see how math works. Lots of people love this course. There are 2 variants of honors calc: a) the regular version that’s like a normal math class with lectures, homework, and exams. b) the IBL (inquiry based learning) version. This is a super time-consuming and challenging course, though if you love math you should like this. Basically, every week you get a “script” of lemmas and axioms and you have to use those to prove everything on your own. The prof calls on people to present their proofs and you critique one another. All your “journals” are typed up in LaTex. I don’t think there are any midterms or anything, just a final exam that I’m pretty sure is oral. It teaches the same stuff as version a), but you discover and write the proofs on your own instead of just being taught them.
Now if you don’t have any AP credits or want to go higher than your math placement you have to take the calc accreditation exam. Depending on how you do there are a few options:
The most common thing I’ve seen people do is taking the honors calc sequence first-year and then doing either analysis or honors analysis second year.
Of course, if you’re not happy with your placement, you can always talk to John Boller or Jitka Stenhova (the two big people in charge of math placement). They can be accommodating if you want to move up in placement. For example, if you placed lower than you expected to in the calc acc exam then they can take a look at what happened and go from there.
Here are some links that may be of some help to you about common math sequences, calc and honors calc:
https://math.uchicago.edu/undergraduate/course-info/calculus-guide/
https://math.uchicago.edu/undergraduate/course-info/common_sequences.pdf
https://math.uchicago.edu/undergraduate/course-info/16100-16200-16300/
During o-week Boller and Stenhova held an info session on math placement and addressed many people’s questions so it’s helpful to attend that. They also gave out free sandwiches and dessert 
Thank you very much!! That is a lot of options but I’ll figure my math track out. I think the honors calculus IBL sounds really interesting so I’ll look more into that. Honors analysis sounds pretty crazy so I won’t worry about placing into that first year and just trust where they put me
@Conair94 Sounds like a good plan! If you’re interested, here’s an example of what honors calc IBL scripts and assignments look like:
http://math.uchicago.edu/~boller/IBL/
http://www.math.uchicago.edu/~mcreek/fall_2015/math_16100/index.html
They’re class websites from when different teachers taught the course.
Here’s also I guess some kind of a memo on what the IBL method entails:
http://math.uchicago.edu/~mcreek/winter_2016/math_16200/documents/ibl.pdf
It was written by a professor that taught the course.
And yea honestly if you’re unsure about placement when o-week comes, talk to Boller. He can talk through your math history and goals with you and give you a recommendation for what class to take.
@aykt4245 - can you comment on this question? Thanks!
@Lea111 If your major doesn’t require any math besides the core requirements, then a BC 5 should fulfill your core requirement for math. In terms of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, you then only need 2 quarters of bio and 2 quarters of physical sciences to complete this section of the core since you have your 2 quarters of calculus out of the way
Also, if you still have any confusion about the core requirements and credit before you get to campus, your adviser should be able to help you out with this during o-week–you meet with them two times I believe in a group to discuss class selection and then once more to register for classes. They should give you a worksheet about core requirements and have you fill out a planner for classes to take.
I’d like to hear more about the dorm choices. When I went to the U of C many years ago (I’m so old I still call it the U of C) I lived in the Shoreland, which was a grand old hotel on the Lake. That sounds cool but in fact it was too far away from campus for you to feel like you were part of the university community. The kids at Woodward Court and Pierce all seemed much better connected to campus life because of their location, even though their dorm rooms were tiny and crummy.
So I’m trying to read between the lines here. For example, when you say that Snichcock is “quirky,” does that mean "fun and unique or “painfully nerdy and antisocial?” Is there any appreciable difference in feel between, say, Max P, North and South? Do the kids at South and B-J feel as connected to campus as the kids at Max P and North? Does I-House feel like a normal dorm, or does it have too high of a grad student concentration to have a normal social feel? And do freshmen ever get sent to Stony Island (that seems like another Shoreland situation to me, not good for freshman).
Thanks for any further insight you have.