<p>I think I know what you mean by the “college experience,” but I would counsel you against letting your pre-conceived notions about the typical “college experience” influence this decision. In the grand scheme of things, 4 years is not very long. But these are critical years because they will shape the rest of your life–how you think, who you’re likely be friends with, what you’ll do for a living, etc. </p>
<p>“Happiness” is a strange thing. Is it possible that kids who spent 4 years going to frat parties, drinking cheap beer, going on spring break to cancun, and otherwise never leaving their sheltered suburban experience were “happier” than I was in college? Sure. And that is the typical college experience, and that is more likely to happen at UIUC vs. Chicago. </p>
<p>You could also slip me into a drug-induced coma and pump me full of prozac, but I’d rather experience life (and all of its ups, as well as its downs). “Stupid but happy” just isn’t for me. To most people, esp. 18-22 year olds, “happiness” really means being in their comfort zone, getting drunk/laid/etc. and not working very hard. That’s why, to me, life isn’t about “happiness” but about experiencing all our world has to offer. That necessarily will take you outside of your comfort zone and expose you to some things that don’t make you “happy”–hard work, homeless people, Montezuma’s revenge, etc.</p>
<p>On to the questions themselves…</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The social life, at least when I was at Chicago, was actually pretty good (and I’ve heard that, if anything, it’s gotten better). I had no problem finding people to go out with, although there was definitely a lot less of it on weekdays than on your typical college campus. There is also definitely more studying than on your average college campus. But the fact remains that you are in one of the world’s greatest cities; if you can’t find something fun or interesting to do there, you’re not trying hard enough. I would instead compare the two schools as that between traditional college fun (i.e., drinking at frat parties, eating buffalo wings, going to football games, etc.) vs. cosmopolitan/mature/nerdy fun (i.e., going to jazz clubs, trying Ethiopian food for the first time, discovering you actually appreciate modern art, etc.). </p></li>
<li><p>Yes and no. For the most part, a highly motivated UIUC grad can do just about whatever he/she wants. Trust me when I say that in the past year, there was likely a UIUC grad starting at Harvard Law, one working for a publisher in New York, and one working in finance in San Francisco. It’s also true, however, that far more UIUC grads go to school and get “lost in the shuffle,” so to speak. At the end of the day, I honestly believe that any individual 18 year old’s chances of becoming a successful ______ (and that blank will likely change 2 to 27 times before they graduate) are a lot higher at UChicago than UIUC. Are there successful UIUC grads in just about every field? No doubt. Is the percentage of successful grads in each of those particular fields (I guess with the notable exception of engineering disciplines) higher for UChicago grads? In my experience, yes.</p></li>
<li><p>I’m not you, and I don’t know nearly enough about you to venture an educated guess. I know me. And I don’t think I’m some unusual, nerdy guy. My four years at Chicago were incredibly difficult, sometimes miserably so, but ultimately very fulfilling. I wouldn’t trade them for any other college experience. And note, I did have a somewhat more “typical college experience” when I went to law school at Michigan. I went to football games, went drinking on Tuesday nights, and so on. Was it fun? Yes. Am I glad I did it? Yes. If I had to choose one experience vs. the other (i.e., have only gone to Chicago or Michigan), I would not hesitate to choose Chicago (although I’m glad I got the opportunity to try both).</p></li>
</ol>
, who are you??</p>