Edit: ADA is a notable and logical exception. Though I wonder if in those cases Housing would offer a room in South/North/Max P as a reasonable accommodation. I believe ADA requirements for B-J are looser due to the building’s age and landmark status, or it would’ve been torn apart years ago in order for elevators to be added.
I believe the window units are installed in RH apartments. RH apartments host the occasional large-group event (our house does a weekly study break there - not sure where other houses hold theirs), and without A/C a small apartment with 30+ people milling about can warm up quickly.
The RDs, Andrew and Patty, host a few study breaks every quarter and offer tea, coffee, and snacks every night during finals week. Their apartment also has some form of circulated air, for much the same reason as RH apartments.
@coldbrew22 : I would recommend you put things in perspective. A couple hundred dollars or 1.5K is a tiny fraction (<3% ??) of the total amount of money you are required to pay UChicago in a year. Walking 0.7 miles one-way to the closest dinning hall in freezing cold is part of the package, just like core curriculum. You can’t fight with the school, just like you can’t fight with the government. UChicago is known to force students to sign documents to leave dorms if they develop mental problems. If you are not satisfied with the school now, it is too late. It is better to encourage your kid to look past this and focus on the positive side. Why did you choose UChicago in the first place? UChicago is not forthcoming with a lot of information. If you choose to believe them in the first place, you better continue to believe them now. If your daughter was affected by your attitude, it is hard to imagine that she would have an opportunity to be successful there. In that case, you stand to lose 20+K in a few months.
^Um, some of that sounds a bit hyperbolic. Anyone with “mental problems” is probably not mentally sound when they are “forced” to sign documents so that wouldn’t even fly. Unless you can provide a specific example, @nrtlax33, most are going to dismiss this as nonsense.
Also, bill of well over $20,000 (before any F/A) due on the 26th so not a few months - more like a little over a week.
All administrations are known for being shady so UChicago isn’t alone. My brother has great stories about H from his time there.
A couple hundred or $1.5 k might seem like a small percentage of the total cost but it can mean the difference between loans or work study or a part-time job, and not having to do so, for some students. The money would be real. Whether the problems justifying the money are real or merely blown out of proportion is another matter. Brew will find out soon enough as Move-In is coming up!
BTW, peeps, Seminary Co-Op FINALLY has the course books up! Order away! Last year D and I arrived on campus a day early and picked them up at that time. She had already set up an account and purchased them online.
You have to decide who to believe. However, in this case, I choose to believe the poor prosecutor from Arizona.
So UChicago is not asking students to pay on a quarterly basis? I thought dividing 70K by 3 is about 23K. BTW, Brown learned from other schools and required freshman to sign up for the most expensive meal plan starting this year. Fortunately, my kid is a sophomore now. So @coldbrew22 , I hope you feel better when you hear you are not alone. However, Brown freshman kids only need to walk up to a couple hundreds feet to the closest dinning hall.
The issues with mental health leaves of absence are real. A lot of the problems stem from poor communication and a weak understanding of university policies on the part of university staff. This account by one student provides some examples:
On the other hand, colleges are understandably wary of treading lightly when a student reports suicidal actions or ideation. When the worst-case outcome is a dead student, “wait and see” is a risky approach.
Either way, in the absence of systematic data, a lot of the reporting on this rests on anecdotal evidence - mostly from people who feel strongly enough that they’ll agree to speak with reporters about it. Because of HIPAA protections, it’s virtually impossible for a reporter to find a sample of students that isn’t self-selecting.
Even with the students they do find, reporters make choices in running some quotes but not others. I personally know some of the people Farrow interviewed, and the full story - as they themselves describe it - is more complex and nuanced than his editing lets on. Too complex for a six-minute segment, at any rate.
This problem isn’t unique to student quotes. One of the experts interviewed by the Today Show posted his own take on the issue - and called the quotes Farrow ran “heavily edited and misleading.”
Until we get better data from the colleges themselves or from the government, it’s hard to know the scale of the problem with Leave of Absence policies, or the areas where these problems are most acute.
Here’s an excerpt from the College’s Involuntary Leave of Absence policy.
I assume this is the document a student was asked to sign. If they hadn’t signed it, the University probably would’ve gone through the process for an involuntary leave of absence.
There are definitely problems with the way this policy is implemented. At least one RSO is working with the administration to make this process more transparent and flexible - and there’s a recognition on the University’s part that they have room to improve. We’ll see what comes of that.
^^This explanation about the involuntary leave makes total sense and no doubt all sides of the issue can be improved. We know at least one student who needed to take leave from UChicago for mental health reasons and under no circumstances was she forced to sign anything. In her case it sounded voluntary but it might not have been . . . the parents had to show up on an emergency basis and she might have spent time in the hospital as well. It was very scary. No parent or student wants to go through that. When emotions are running high and there are housekeeping details to complete with admin. I can totally see where people will walk away with a sense of bad experience. But that’s not the same thing as making students sign stuff they don’t want to. Sounds like you have a choice but the university reserves the right. That was true, btw, at my own college many years ago. It’s probably true at all colleges and universities.
Our friend’s kid did return and graduate so there’s no indication that a mental health emergency bars you from the university for good. Each circumstance is different, no doubt. That hadn’t been mentioned but thought I’d toss it in there.
@nrtlax33: yes you pay by quarter. First quarter bill due 9/26. All in for a returning student is more than $24,000 before any offsets (merit, FA, etc.).
While we’re on the topic of health emergencies etc. Parents should consider having their over-18 kids sign a healthcare POA and HIPAA release. Without them, you could have trouble getting information from medical professionals about your child’s mental or physical condition, etc. My brother had a bad experience in this regard with his daughter, so we are not taking any chances.
^Good point! The “paperwork” shows up on the student portal as a “to do” so remind your kid to go over it with you before he/she moves in. The ones I’ve seen are pretty detailed such as deciding whether you can let the dean on call be notified or visit you of hospitalized etc. in addition to releasing parents etc. for notification.
My niece just started college a couple weeks ago (another elite private) and I think her move-in was about to be delayed because no one had signed the HIPAA release forms! Got a frantic text from my sister-in-law asking me what all this was about LOL.
“BTW, peeps, Seminary Co-Op FINALLY has the course books up! Order away! Last year D and I arrived on campus a day early and picked them up at that time. She had already set up an account and purchased them online.”
@JBStillFlying - Would you recommend buying books now? My son said most of the kids he is talking to are waiting until they go to first class…I know his HUM and Calc won’t change so it seems like he should buy those…
@caymusjordan While I’m not JB, I can tell you that the calculus books tend to be fairly constant across years. There is almost certainly a supply of used books in the wild, usually available for a fraction of what any bookstore is charging. I would post in the UChicago buy/sell groups on Facebook, and maybe your kid’s house Facebook group, to see if anyone’s selling a copy.
Nobody will assign P-sets on the first day that are due the next, so your kid can look for used books and buy a textbook at the bookstore a day or two later if nobody’s selling.
Amazon also has rentals for some textbooks. I used a rental last quarter for one of my PhySci classes and had a good experience.
HUM is going to use some of those books right away - usually in the order listed in the syllabus, if that’s online. Others won’t be needed for weeks. So students can buy the first book from the Sem Co-Op, hunt for used copies, and buy the rest a few weeks later if need be.
The main thing with course books is to make sure they’re the right edition - using anything else will get old about 5 minutes into the first seminar of the year.
@caymusjordan those planning an add/drop might want to wait, but you also don’t want to get behind on any material you know you will be studying for the quarter. D’s schedule is set so she bought all her books early just to get it out of the way (they will bundled and ready for pickup the day she arrives) and also to make sure she at least has the weekend to read anything that might have been assigned for first class. I’d recommend checking Canvas for the course syllabi or any communications from the profs - don’t recall that she was required to read anything before the autumn quarter started last year - winter quarter definitely had something assigned over break (I think for Sosc).
Last year she purchased her calc. book on amazon and saved a lot of money.
Addendum to above: want to reiterate @DunBoyer’s point about purchasing the correct edition. This info. has been posted on previous threads but: some Hum/Sosc. (probably Civ as well) profs will require that you get the exact edition specified just to make it easier when citing the source. Many of these will be available in other editions on Amazon or equivalent but it’s best to purchase what’s specified. If you find it cheaper elsewhere, double check the IBSN/SKU to verify it’s the same edition.
Sem. Coop also offers used when available so D will click that option in order to save money.
Ordered all Hum and Civ (most on Amazon for less than Seminary) and was sure to double-check the IBSN numbers. He will wait on Sosc since he has heard he should drop one of the three and he did not get his first choice. Calc does not have course materials listed as of yet…
Re: the 151 book - there’s at least a possibility someone in his house will have a PDF of the book. My understanding is that one has been floating around for years.
I used a paper book, because I don’t like working on a screen when I can avoid it (and the research says it isn’t great for concentration), but everyone has their own tolerance for spending extra to have a hard copy.
Thanks for all the info everybody. My S’s class is calc 15200 44. Do you know what the 200 44 stands for? Also, how does he return the rented books to Amazon next year? Just send it via snail mail I’m guessing?
And yes, Amazon uses snail mail. They’ll give you a packing slip you can print out.
If your son rents the textbook for multiple quarters, Amazon may charge an extension fee. I would look at the exact dates involved (I think the return deadlines are fitted to the semester system), and the costs this entails before renting anything.