<p>Is attending undergrad there really that hard? So far, I'm only hearing stories about how its hard classes are making students suicidal and quotes such as "if your GPA is higher than the number of hours you sleep every night, you know you're doing well." UChicago is my top choice and I feel like I'd fit in there, but is it really that unbearably challenging?</p>
<p>ive just heard from one girl that she always feels like she never knows whats going on in class when everyone around her seems to know</p>
<p>Chicago is pretty savvy in admissions: be confident that, if admitted, you can handle the work. Don't be intimidated by students' perverse pride in the rigor of courses.</p>
<p>The Adcom must know what they are doing. Freshman retention rate: 97%</p>
<p>Yeah, they must really know what they are doing. 97% isn't too shabby at all. </p>
<p>I'm very much the same. So far, UChicago is my "dream" school... so I've been really wondering about how hard the classes really are, in comparison to what I can actually handle. I'd love to go there, but I'd also love to know what in the world is going on. I feel like the people that go there appear to be people I'd love to get to know and be around for the next 4-5 years. I want a more academic environment, and I really think that UC is a place just like that. But like I said before, I want to understand what's going on!</p>
<p>well, like previously mentioned, I think if the college accepts you, then you should be able to handle the workload. Though I think colleges like UC will push you academically if you're the kind of kid who got by on mostly brains and not much hard work in high school. Anyway, there was a blog about this a while ago on the university's "uncommon blog" if you want to check that out. just search "uncommon blog" on uchicago's search tool ^_^</p>
<p>My best friend goes to U of C, and he says that the work is manageable and that most of the hype around the school being so hard is just based on the past classes not so much in today's classes. He says if you put in the work you can get an A. If you dont then you have to settle for a C or B</p>
<p>Much of attending a school is adapting to the campus culture, in my opinion. A 97% freshman retention rate suggests that the University of Chicago is admitting students that can handle the academic workload demands, do handle the academic demands & want to integrate into the academic culture of the Univ. of Chicago.</p>
<p>"Don't be intimidated by students' perverse pride in the rigor of courses."</p>
<p>x100000000000</p>
<p>The only time I've felt miserably stressed out due to academics was in my first quarter, because that's when you have to get adjusted to the perpetual storm of reading and writing that characterizes the quarter system. But once you're used to it, it's not bad at all - you become accustomed to relaxing in the midst of being busy, which is hard to do at first, but comes pretty naturally after a while. You just do the work instead of being worried about it.</p>
<p>S that takes four classes with a 4 hour lab, reports that he goes to class about 15-16 hours a week. I said good, lots of free time since high school was 8 classes and 35 hours a week. Not exactly, since then he said a typical set of math problems might take 9 hours for two good-at-math people to do. He wasn't complaining and I don't know how many of those he has to do every week. In any case, he's handling the work load just fine.</p>
<p>If you manage your time right, classes won't be a problem at all. (Of course, the problem is, most people don't know how to manage their time.) I'm taking 3 math classes this quarter (which, according to evaluations.uchicago.edu, are among the most time-consuming of the College) along with independent research under a professor. I dedicate 1 day a week to school work, and 6 days a week to research, and I have no trouble keeping up with my classes or thoroughly completing my problem sets.</p>
<p>I heard Chicago is called 'where fun goes to die', not necessarily because of its workload but because of the un-legit party scene. </p>
<p>The one cool kid at Chicago: Hey, I want to get trashed tonight.
His roommate: No, let's play board games and drink apple juice!!!
His roommate's friends: Yay! Let's chug apple juice and pretend to be dumb frat people.
The one cool kid: Uh, yeah. One ticket to Northwestern please!</p>
<p>
[quote]
My best friend goes to U of C, and he says that the work is manageable and that most of the hype around the school being so hard is just based on the past classes not so much in today's classes.
[/quote]
My take is a little different. Chicago is a school with a lot of academic rigor. It's also a school with very tough admissionsl; if you get accepted and work hard in almost all cases you'll do fine. "Work hard" does not mean 24x7 studying ... but it also dos not mean party time starts Wednesday night and runs through Sunday. The expectations at Chicago are much higher than the vast majority of colleges ... but are quite doable if academics is a true focus. That said when friends come back for break and trade stories Chicago will sound tougher than most other schools ... it is ... that doesn't mean it's unreasonable for the kids that get admitted though!</p>
<p>My first-year student took two very tough courses and a HUM last quarter and did quite well. He works ~10 hours/wk at a job, is involved in a couple of ECs, and does most of his HW/studying between 9-5 so he has time to hang out with folks in the evenings. This quarter he's taking four courses and I haven't heard any complaints yet.</p>
<p>He loves the work and is glad to be finished with the stupid, petty HW assignments from HS, so while the work is challenging, he is digging right in.</p>
<p>The folks who get accepted are capable of the work -- S constantly tells me how many amazing, cool people he has met and they are all incredible at something.</p>
<p>In a number of areas, including math and some science tracks, a student can choose various "levels" to tailor the workload to one's interests. For instance, if you really, really like organic chem, you can take honors 2nd and 3rd quarters, but no one forces you to do so.</p>
<p>Based on feedback from my D, who graduated in June, one of the pluses of Chicago (but also a plus shared by many other top universities) is the ability to find classes at a level to suit one's desires. </p>
<p>Even the core offers multiple ways to complete it, so the challenge is to find the routes that work for you.</p>
<p>Agree w/newmassdad. I will add that profs at Chicago are very flexible about placement.</p>
<p>I think pretty much everything I would say has been crucial, but three more things:</p>
<p>1) A school cannot "make" somebody suicidal. Students who commit suicide while attending college usually have pre-existing conditions... like, say, a history of depression and previous attempted suicides throughout middle and high school. If somebody is so, so, so, so, so unhappy here but is generally mentally healthy, he or she would be able to make the rational decision to transfer out. 3% of students choose that route. </p>
<p>2) If somebody truly, truly feels out of their league, then that person is either a) not talking to other students who similarly feel challenged and sometimes flustered (as in, I know a lot of students who bond together in the face of o-chem or honors analysis), b) in the wrong section, c) in the wrong major. As others have already stated, every student who is here can be here and can belong here. And yes, some of those students do hardly any work. Some pay consequences and some figure out how to avoid them.</p>
<p>I would say something like 90% of students -if they are willing to buckle down - can get passing grades (most will get respectable ones). However, the biggest killers seem to be students who are A) not interested in a structured learning environment (e.g. tests, papers with due dates, required discussion sections) and B) refuse to choose a major where they can plausibly do well (e.g. the presumptive English major who is moved by the beauty of math in entry-level calculus and decides to impulsively go all in).</p>
<p>^ 90%? What about the other 10%? :)</p>
<p>Seriously, I think you may be estimating low. I doubt that anyone admitted can't get decent grades, at least based on ability and past performance. Whether or not things intefere, such as physical or mental health issues is a different story, and one we all should keep in mind.</p>
<p>OTOH, I kinda laugh when I imagine that english major bashing his/her head against a math problem set!</p>
<p>My presumptive English major was so moved by the beauty of math in entry-level calculus that sometimes she did the problem sets (and sometimes not). And that was giving tons of consideration to the really very good-faith efforts of the teacher to find ways to engage her (and others) in the beauty of math. She flirted with failing, but ultimately decided to do enough work to get a C.</p>