<p>How hard exactly is UChicago's workload compared to peer schools like Penn or Columbia? Are we talking cutthroat 80 hour study weeks just to get B's? Or are we talking put in an hour or two every day to learn the material gradually over time and get good to great grades? Any current students want to chime in? My friend who's a junior said that you can make your schedule as easy or as hard as you want and it's not that hard to "play the GPA game" if you talk around and peruse course/instructor evaluations. </p>
<p>I also got accepted at Brown, though I'm leaning toward UofC with plans to major in econ or chemistry. If you can, please compare UofC to the likes of Brown in terms of workload. </p>
<p>Honestly, would any school actually want their students to study 80 hours a week? That’s detrimental to all things social, extracurricular, and spiritual.</p>
<p>^ Agree that there is a fine balance between pushing students to excel and crushing them . The problem seems to be the mystery surrounding Uchicago’s degree of balance and the hype of “rigor” vs " new changes in approach to make it a better experience for undergrads"’ . I am still confused as to how much it is possible to change an established instituitional philosophy that suffering is the way to learning. </p>
<p>While market forces and need to rise up in the rankings may make the administration sympathetic to the undergrads is it that easy to institute change ? There are web reviews that there are professors who blatantly state that they prefer working with their graduate students on their website. While learning for learning’s sake is fantastic the prospect of spending 60000+ dollars a year for four years and potentially ending up with no job prospects because one has no marketable skills is frightening- unfortunately education now is practically unaffordable for the middle class. I am not sure what to believe regarding Chicago’s assurance that things are changing for the better for undergrads. There is still concern that the curriculum is heavily based on theory and research focused even for students with declared intent to take the preprofessional route leading to low GPA. I am also worried about advising being geared more towards academic careers. Not sure about job placement results by majors after graduation- there is very little information as to details.</p>
<p>I am not a ■■■■■ and have been following these threads closely as the parent of an accepted student who loves the student body , is keen on attending the school but who is being cautioned by us to make sure that he fully knows what he is in for. After paying through the nose it would be disastrous if all the suffering actually translated into nothing- please do not mistake me - I am not talking about my child becoming a billionaire - he has no interest in business or I-banking. He is interested in public service but would also like to keep professional school as an option should his idealism not translate into dividends in the form of a fully satisfying career. What a sad state that the joy of being accepted to a fine institution is shrouded by so much speculation and agonizing! </p>
<p>Hey Dsnconfucius: I was in your shoes last spring. Have you seen these? I cut and pasted them because your son is interested in public service. Good luck to you both.</p>
<p>Kaukauna,
Thank you ! The links were useful.
OP,
Did not mean to hijack your thread. You seem to be asking the same question regarding Uchicago’s workload that is the object of so much speculation that it set me off.</p>
<p>From my attempt to research this issue I do hear that the core may make it a little difficult should you decide to change majors. Additionally the quarter system apparently is fast paced adding to the rigor of the workload. We have been warned that there is a heavy focus on theory that is probably good if you intend a career in research or academia but potentially stress inducing if you are pre-professional. We were also warned to be wary of the academic advising as they do not realistically forewarn you regarding a stress inducing work load . hope this helps.</p>
<p>I don’t think the core makes it difficult to change majors as all majors require the core. As far as I have seen, the main difficulty would be changing into a science major which requires an intro sequence that only starts in the fall. So if you don’t start the first quarter, you would probably wish you had. If you don’t start the first quarter of the second year, that major may not be possible to complete in 4 years.</p>
<p>The quarter system is fast paced, but the 42 courses required for graduation can be achieved by taking 3 courses for 6 quarters and 4 for the other 6. Schools on the semester system tend to require 4-5 courses at a time.</p>
<p>My S’s adviser warned him not to take honors calc even though he placed into it.</p>
<p>As a chemistry major in the college, I agree with the sentiment that you can make it as hard/manageable as you want it to be. Chemistry is taken pretty seriously here (it’s one of the most structured majors that requires many credits to fulfill). That being said, I have found chemistry here to be very rewarding (more so then the classes I look at local colleges when I was in high school). As a chemistry major, you will be exposed to the “why” chemistry works – chemistry here extends beyond simple memorization. If you do opt to take general chemistry your first year here, in the winter, you will learn the derivation of the Hamiltonian operator (used in advanced physical chemistry) using multivariable calculus and linear algebra. I doubt that chemistry is easy at any school and UChicago is no exception. However, the chemistry department is extremely supportive of its students offering research to first-years and structured discussion sections to help explain difficult concepts that are covered in class. Classes are curved fairly here with higher curves in the honors sequences. There are specific practices built into the chemistry classes that help students succeed. </p>
<p>I was accepted to Brown as well and felt that as a chemistry major, I would have a more rewarding experience at the University of Chicago. PM me if you have any other questions.</p>