Call it UCDS (UChicago Derangement Syndrome). You don’t catch it until you’ve endured four years of torment and bliss on the south side of Chicago. Sometimes your symptoms express the first part of that experience, sometimes the second. There are, however, no remissions and no feverless intervals. If only a sufferer could do as R.M. Hutchins recommended in another context: Lie down and let it pass.
@hebegebe : Congratulations. As for the navel-gazing, my younger child just got married to a Chicago classmate, so there were a lot of young Chicago alumni present. The wedding toasts included a discussion of Durkheim and musing on the merits of pursuing knowledge for its own sake. There was another couple there from the same class who had gotten married last May in Minnesota, where they live. I asked them if the toasts at their wedding were so UChicago-ish, and they said, yeah, pretty much.
So, yes. They don’t obsess at all about Chicago’s status relative to other colleges – that seems to be the province of two or three posters on this board – but they think a lot about what the University of Chicago stands for.
Hebegebe: Congratulations on sending your daughter to UChicago. I hope she has a wonderful, fulfilling, and productive 4 years. Regarding the navel gazing: I suspect that since she was admitted to the University, she probably is somewhat of a navel gazer already! 
Re faculty recruitment, here are some examples of Columbia’s bonus from being in NYC:
Recently, George Chauncey, one of Yale’s most popular history professors, decided to leave Yale for Columbia, citing proximity to research opportunity in NYC. You can see the story here: http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2017/01/25/chauncey-gregg-to-leave-yale-after-11-years/
A promising Chicago graduate student in Sociology, Sudhir Venkatesh, chose to accept a tenured spot in Columbia’s sociology department (although he’s encountered some controversy since), and noted in a book the draw of “being at an Ivy League University in New York”: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/nyregion/sudhir-venkatesh-columbias-gang-scholar-lives-on-the-edge.html
Just showing NYC’s pull - one of Chicago Law’s top scholars, Richard Epstein, left recently to join NYU’s faculty. As I understand it, being in NYC was a big draw: http://www.law.nyu.edu/news/ecm_pro_059743
These are just a few examples of professors choosing to go to great but perhaps less pre-eminent programs at Columbia (or one at NYU Law) over pre-eminent programs elsewhere.
Again, I’m not saying this happens all the time, but NYC undoubtedly gives Columbia a boost that other schools don’t have. I also think it makes recruitment of high profile international faculty/students/higher ed people easier. NYC is one of the biggest selling points around, and Columbia has a lock on it.
(Further, being in NYC just makes it higher profile - major people across all industries pass through NYC all the time, so it’s easy for Columbia to piggyback on that - be it for lecture series, visits, etc. That’s not to say Penn and Chicago and Hopkins and NU don’t do a great job, it’s just that NYC is a big X factor. This should be fairly self-evident when looked at thru these difference lenses (students, fundraising, faculty recruitment, etc.), no?)
It’s why I’d give Columbia an edge in standing over most other places.
@Cue7 I shouldn’t be encouraging you, but I’m curious: Why do you never give any weight to the relative prestige or size of university presses? Chicago has always claimed to have the largest of these in the U.S. (and Wikipedia confirms this). I would think that would be a significant source of prestige, you could even say branding, especially inasmuch as Chicago’s press is not only the largest but is especially known for scholarly journals and scholarly books of particularly high quality and significance. On a more pedestrian level consider the venerable and many times revised Chicago Manual of Style, which began life as the University’s in-house manual for dissertation writers and rapidly became accepted by most of the nation’s universities for that purpose. Going further down the brow-scale, consider the ubiquity once (though often mocked and now extinct) of the Encyclopedia Britannica, which was on the shelves of my house in small-town Texas as a youngster, and the Great Books of the Western World (not in my house - that salesman never came to the door), both forever associated with the University of Chicago. My own favorite press publications will, however, always be Norman Maclean’s two little books, the first of which (“A River Runs Through It”) became the first work of fiction ever published by the press (after every other potential publisher had rejected it).
My point here is that every time a book or scholarly publication emanating from the University of Chicago Press is picked up, examined, bought or read; every time the press’s most recent offerings are glossily publicized; every time a review of a Chicago-published book appears in the Times, the New Yorker or NYRB - someone is reminded of the university from whence it comes and associates that university with pre-eminence in scholarly endeavor - the very thing a university is supposed to be all about.
This thought about the Press just came to mind as I purchased the new Thoreau biography, which is hot and being reviewed everywhere. Once upon a time (when the Press building occupied what became the bookstore) recent offerings were prominently displayed in a showcase on Ellis Avenue, continually being peered into by students, professors and visitors alike. As a student I used to lament that there wasn’t time or money enough to purchase and read all these delectable offerings, do my course-work, hold down a part-time job and try to have a quasi-social life. But that the University of Chicago Press was a mighty publisher of books was a big part of the general ambiance and allure of the University itself.
You would appear to assign small value to this aspect of a university. Why?
@Cue7 you are so grand at attracting attention … yes, Columbia leverages NY to the hilt. When NY is in good shape, Columbia benefits. When NY is in the toilet, as it was in the seventies and early eighties, Columbia suffers. But even now during the NY boom, Columbia is not winning. Columbia Business School has been dropping and is now at the cusp of the top ten. this is astounding given Columbia B schools Wall Street proximity. Chicago Booth is either second or third. Chicago Law has again just overtaken Columbia Law. Chicago also leads in most key academic fields except medical sciences. Now the interesting thing is that both schools’ colleges are very similar. They are highly intellectual. They have rigorous core requirements. They provide their undergrad with fabulous cross departmental and graduate school course opportunities. Columbia’s zenith was in the fifties, when many viewed it as Harvard’s clear competitor. Columbia, like Chicago, however still manages to be a leader in Nobels
Sorry to go a bit off-topic but . . .
Today I had the pleasure to walk through the UChicago campus for the first time in 25 years. Blown away by the positive changes I saw. For all you young people about to pick up your Hum and Sosc. books, this is not your father’s Seminary Co-op. However, they did manage to preserve much of the charm of the old location (which was the basement of the theological seminary, now the Econ. Dept). Historical note: the wooden chairs are exactly where I expected them to be. Prepare to lose yourself in those stacks. My D17 wants to work there.
The medical complex is gi-normous compared to what it was and North Hall was striking. Even the orange/pink of Max Pav. looked inviting. What a contrast to how those areas appeared in the early 90’s!
There has been active beautification in the past 25 years. We used to be able to drive west on 58th from Woodlawn and right into the main quad but that’s all been converted to a pedestrian mall. Smart, given the significant increase in student population. The gardens on the Midway in front of Social Sciences weren’t there before, either, nor were the playing fields (we certainly played on the Midway - mainly Chicago softball - but no formal rink or soccer posts existed IIRC).
Best of all, the community didn’t disappoint in the least. As we ventured down the street immediately after parking, two young students passed us discussing “how the data looks.” My daughter wanted to know if I had arranged that little scene. We saw parents and lots of students, never mind that it was still relatively “quiet” compared to the bustle of Move-In. Two instructors strolled by, discussing their upcoming classes. In front of the Robie House a tour-guide was describing the fascination that the Germans apparently had for Wright’s architecture. Learning and inquiry were all around us. My D loved it.
An exploration of the neighborhood in a bit more detail revealed that Giordano’s had also moved, but not very far. Pizza still excellent but that was to be expected. Couldn’t find Falcon Inn (best greasy thin-crust pizza in HP at one time) but I think another 'za place might have opened up there? 53rd just east of the Metra tracks. Can’t believe Mellow Yellow hasn’t closed down. New Lab School campus is stunning.
We saw a few students walking through Washington Park and one or two walking down the street in Kenwood. Again, it’s still pretty quiet (soon to change).
Post #106
@JBStillFlying I can’t agree more. The cheerful and classic campus right now is infinitely more attractive than the dreary and drab campus in the 1980’s.
I don’t think that is off topics. I seriously doubt the U of C I knew in 1980’s would have gotten in top 5 of the undergrad ranking.
JBStillFlying --Glad your experiences so far are good. Best of luck to your daughter. I agree with the changes made to the campus and neighborhood. Since my son started in 2013, UChicago finished the new economics school (the “Money Church”) where the old Theology school was housed extending the walking mall along 58th all the way back to Levi Hall, the North Campus, the Molecular Engineering building, the playing field along 60th, the new Lab School buildings, and a few other smaller projects. For me the best transformation was the completion of the Economics school and the extension of the walking mall.
As I’ve said on this board before, and as someone who has visited most of the Ivy campuses, Duke, Emory, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, and many others, the combination of truly interesting and historic architecture along with the urban intellectual ambience of the UChicago campus is very appealing and, I think, unique.
I’m hoping that the construction of the Obama center will somehow continue improvement of the Hyde Park and Southside neighborhoods and ambience. Not just gentrification (which is a separate and worthy topic), but true improvement in safety, education, and overall quality of life for all residents. This would be a big win not just for UChicago, but for the whole city of Chicago.
My son and his then-fiancee (since married) did a professional photo-shoot for their engagement pictures all over the Chicago campus and the Point last spring. It looked like Heaven.
I still remember the beauty of the main Quad last June when I attended the spring convocation. It was a lazy Saturday afternoon and most people had left. We walked around the campus again and visited some famous buildings inside. It felt like a true ivory tower in a good way.
Standing in a very long line at the bookstore I was able to chat with a couple of other parents who claim to be in the know on enrollment numbers. The magic number is close to 1800.
All of the foregoing very inspiring. O to be young again at the University of Chicago! Well, I and four BJ friends of Class of '67 did some schmoozing last spring with some BJ Class of '20’s. The esthetics of the campus and neighborhood were all that has been claimed, and we also sensed improvements to student life. However, more importantly, at least for us, the kids themselves are what they have always been - smart, it goes without saying, but with an indefinable something beyond smartness. Call it UChicago independent-mindedness (sometimes misnamed quirkiness). My friends and I all said afterwards that we could easily see ourselves if placed in a suitable time-machine fitting right in to today’s College. (What our new young friends thought is not recorded.)
Re: post# 111
Wowzer! The yield should be in the 80’s then or close to it. I can only think of two other universities with the yield higher than 80%.
Really hoping that we hear the actual numbers at Convocation tomorrow.
Signed, sealed and delivered our child to Uchicago today. Here a few totally subjective observations. There is a palpable sense of energy and excitement on campus. A well perfumed odour that UChicago has become the “it” school permeates the air. But unlike three institutions from which I hold degrees Harvard, Columbia and Cambridge, folks are remarkably down to earth. I have not seen any attempts to impress with money, contacts or titles. See Columbia, Harvard and Cambridge respectively. Just friendly and excited whip smart kids. This even goes for the graduates of elite private high schools we have met. The Uchicago seniors we ran into were mature, focused and already knew their post graduation plans. The old Uchicago I have heard about seems to have been blessedly superseded. Undergraduate education should not produce ascetic Fakirs. The campus is spotless, gorgeous and feels very safe. Could not be happier. Best to all even my dear BFF @Cue7.
I am jealous of all of you that are on the campus. My wife and D are there but I am at home with my son.
I’m hoping we continue to get reports from the front lines from those now engaged in combat (or, more accurately, providing support to the true combatants). Vignettes and anecdotes beat stats!
I have been lucky enough to spend the better part of the last month in and around Hyde Park with my son. We have explored much of Hyde Park and I can say I am very pleased with his choice.
I concur with the general comments regarding the buzz about campus. It’s been interesting to see the beautification projects as UChicago literally and figuratively rolled out the green (sod) all over the campus.
Some random observations / interactions :
Campus is pristine and produces post card quality pictures with ease. At night, the crickets drown out most city sounds, well before first years arrived.
I spoke with Dean of Students, Jay Ellison, and told him we felt UChicago’s Career Advancement was the main differentiator from its peer institutions and what pushed us to EDII. For those that are not aware, he came from Harvard a little more than three years ago. Seemed genuinely interested in our discussion and did say UChicago’s CA is second to none and will continue to be further strengthened and developed. 2,000+ interns and paid research positions last year.
I’ve eaten in North a handful of times and today was the first at Bartlett. Happened upon a conversation with the GM of the dining halls and was surprised to learn about the burgers being made from grass fed beef, chicken from small farms in Iowa, vegetables from local farms, sauces from local co-ops. Food is good with many choices and on par with its peers.
If you want a change, simply wander around Hyde Park, as it has many local establishments and all the chain restaurants a teenager could want/need including Five Guys, Chipotle, Starbucks, Baskin and Robbins, etc. if you like chocolate/fudge stop into Kilwins off 53rd - chocolate covered everything. We ate at Harold’s, Ja’ Grill, Sit Down Cafe and Cedars multiple times as well as many others. No complaints.
Hyde Park is an absolute gem.
It’s Giant Cicada Killer Wasp season, but they are mostly harmless to humans.
Spoke to a dozen or so RA,RH over the last couple of days and all seemed extremely happy to welcome the incoming class.
Son has gone to Sox, Cubs and Bears games as well as Michigan Ave via uber to METRA/CTA and had a great time with no issues.
Spending the last month around campus and talking with random students, parents and service/support staff has been a pleasure.
I was drinking the Kool Aid before, but absolutely punch drunk now.
Good Luck and best wishes to the class of 2021.
The cicadas seem particularly loud this time 'round. We haven’t met any wasps - are too busy noticing all the super relaxed grey squirrels walking across the street in front of my car. Yes - they walk. Must be very used to humans.