<p>I am from New Jersey (Central New Jersey- and yes, that is a thing), and I was wondering what kind of culture shock I would experience if I came to UChicago, and at what magnitude? I am a prospective freshman applicant, so I am just getting a feel of all the institutions which seem to be fitting. It is sort of hard for my family to visit UChicago since my father and myself have work during the weekdays, and it is about a 12 hour drive (making a short weekend visit unlikely). Regardless, I am going to try to work something out with my family.</p>
<p>I know plenty of people here at UChicago from all over NJ, especially north/central NJ. I’m not quite sure what you expect to cause culture shock… is there anything specific you’re concerned about? There certainly won’t be a midwest vs east coast type of shock. Rather, any culture shock will probably be associated with the traditional move from HS to college, possibly exacerbated by rigor of the university’s curriculum.</p>
<p>Aside from that, the biggest thing about moving from (I’m guessing?) a suburban to an urban area is probably going to be getting used to public transportation, but that’s not unique to UChicago.</p>
<p>Is it the neighborhood? The campus is a good ways from downtown. There is a lot of green space to the west and east, and then the lake, and an unusual park that connects the two. (Part of the old World’s Fair.) The surrounding area is mostly no-rise residential.</p>
<p>I have never travelled as far west as Chicago, so I was just curious (the most south I have gone in the USA is Florida and the most North I have gone in the USA is Niagara Falls/Boston. I am not scared of trying new things, but I was just testing “fit” if that makes sense (also, it may be worthy to note my parents are a little nervous about me considering a college that is outside of their comfort radius of a 7 hour drive).</p>
<p>There is nothing to be scared of, its like live in Brooklyn or Queens, you get the Urban feeling. As the others already said, there are plenty of Jerseyan in U of C. My D’s BF is from Westfield and he has been there for 5 years and did really well.</p>