<p>Amen. All those "facts" moviebuff champions are no more important than trivia. They cannot adequately characterize or measure the value of the UChicago socio-academic experience, and thus should not purport to.</p>
<p>Tarhunt:</p>
<p>Thank you for letting us know that you are a psychologist. We can all see clear now. I have a lot of respect for a profession that has one of the highest suicide rate among all professionals. The stress must be unsurmountable.</p>
<p>I have simply stated what I have come to know from my own experiences and from many others that I am in contact with. It is just too bad that some of you can not handle "the truth". You have made too many assumptions already.
This is not about "trolling the thread" nor "taunting people from my safety school". I have expressed my opinion and it is just too .........bad that some of you can not handle it. I am glad that you can continue to feed on each other.
Enough said already.
BTW, daenerys, I loved that quote!!</p>
<p>
[quote]
We can all see clear now.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well, up to this point, I was willing to stipulate to the assertion that MovieBuff had been accepted to Harvard. It appears, however, that he/she doesn't know the difference between an adjective and an adverb.</p>
<p>More and more curious. And ... troubling.</p>
<p>^^^^ It is just too easy. I am very happy for you! Do not be troubled for me. You already have too much to worry about, I am sure. I am really glad that U of C is the place for you. Just keep sharing that good karma with those around you! Happy thoughts for you !</p>
<p>To the prospective applicants: Visit the campus and talk to the students! It is really the only way to get to know if it is what you want or not!</p>
<p>S has had the rare opportunity of attending both a top Ivy and Chicago as an undergrad. Thus, he has a perspective that is somewhat unique since it does not rely on hearsay. He found the environments to be quite different, Chicago has a more supportive environment and cherishes continual intellectual discourse, whereas the Ivy was much more practical and focused on career. There was also much greater social pressure to wear certain clothes and on appearance in general. Both have their place for the student who wants what each has to offer. In one chemistry session S brought up a question to which the grad student leading the session did not have an answer. S said that he bet they could derive the answer and went to the blackboard. He turned around and saw the rest of the class and the grad student staring at him. Finally one third year student from the school asked him, "Why do you care? A question like that won't be on the MCATs?" S was taken aback. At Chicago when something like that comes up, there is a race to blackboard and if the answer isn't discerned, it carries on after class, and often to the dorm, or even to parties. (It all must sound like trivia to outsiders.) S spent a great deal of time talking with many students from the school and came away with an even greater appreciation for Chicago and the education it provides than he did prior to spending the academic term at the Ivy. He felt that the students there were by and large missing out on the thrill of education and were instead, often quite excitedly, focused on career and the future. School was a step in a career path. Whereas at Chicago, with exceptions of course, the joy is more in the moment, and in the struggle to understand.</p>
<p>idad, for our benefit, could you name the Ivy. thanks</p>
<p>idad, thanks for an excellent post! i think that is exactly why i want so much to come to the u of c (:</p>
<p>Very interesting example, idad. It illustrates how important individual experiences are. I am sure that a similar real life incident occurs frequently at every college, in some particular department, or in some specific class. Class interaction is shaped by those who participate, from the instructor to each individual student. I am sure you do not mean to imply that every class at Chicago is about that particular experience. Your example can be applied even to a high school class (anywhere) where the junior asks "Why do you care ? A question like that won't be on the SAT? " A student's experience in a particular class will vary tremendously depending on the instructor and on those who are taking it. It could be more or less challenging. It could be more or less stimulating. The key is to be able to enjoy it and make the most of it. Just like you said, for a good student there is nothing like "experiencing the thrill of education". And if useless trivia can contribute to the thrill as well, so be it.</p>
<p>I would prefer not to name the school. My intention was not to directly compare one school to another, but to point out the Chicago difference as experienced by S. He made many friends there and continues to communicate with them. His experience with other students did extend beyond his classes to those he met at the dorm, dining halls, and social gatherings. He found the overall culture quite different. He ran into another U of C student he knew who said to him, "The thing I miss most is seeing a somewhat overweight, hyper–nerdy kid lost in thought with his shirt buttoned incorrectly and half tucked in his pants running across campus." </p>
<p>S also had this to say, "I was in the cafeteria one day when a student of the school came up to me and said, 'You could be really handsome if you dressed better.'" S was wearing the U of C typical pants and a t-shirt. From then on he noticed all the designer shirts worn with the "collars up."</p>
<p>As to useless trivia, S was in a dining hall at the Ivy where happened to run into a 4th year working on an honors thesis in philosophy. The guy was explaining what his paper was about to another student. S listened and then pointed out that similar concepts were first described by the Greeks and went on to discuss the probable foundation for the approach taken by the philosophers he heard described. They guy became very interested and wrote down a list of possible references and and said he never realized the Greeks had done this. He than asked if S was a philosophy concentrator. S said no, he just picked it up listening to, and participating in, conversations about the philosophers and there ideas at parties and around the dorm, and from what he learned in the Core as a first year at Chicago. Who knows, one persons trivia can be another's honors thesis.</p>
<p>idad, i can not help but to grin...., just a little. Perhaps you should consider starting the thread "Life according to S- experiences". There seems to be so much to learn from him and he has so much to say!</p>
<p>idad, I really appreciate your comments, today as always. </p>
<p>I thought some of the UChicago students might be interested in two anecdotes of mine. A couple of months ago I was having lunch with an old friend who was passing through town. This man has an undergrad degree from Stanford and a PhD from Yale. He is a full prof at a top-ranked private. Since he has no kids, he is totally unaware of USNWR, PR or any other ranking method. When someone else at lunch referred to the "fact" that U Chicago ranks below some of the Ivy league schools, including the one from which he received his doctorate, he was very surprised. He said UChicago, in his opinion, is easily the equal of any other university in the United States. Second story: last week I ran into a colleague at a concert. During intermission, he asked if my son had decided on a college, so the subject of the Univ. of Chicago came up. When my H started squawking about the price tag, this man told him he thinks the Univ. of Chicago provides the best undergraduate education in the country. He has an undergraduate degree from Harvard, and a PhD from the Univ. of Chicago.</p>
<p>If you don't like the stories, MovieBuff, then leave this forum and go watch some old Three Stooges or something.</p>
<p>Another older adult perspective:</p>
<p>In the world of competitive grad and professional schools, and the places where the graduates of those schools go, the University of Chicago is seen as a top-ranking, world-class institution. And no one confuses it with UIC, because no one knows that UIC exists. As for not being an "Ivy", there are some realy differences among the Ivies, too, and several non-Ivy schools that are in the same class as the Ivies. Overall, I think it's safe to say that attending Harvard clearly has a bigger "Wow!" factor, but it's not at all clear that attending Dartmouth (or some other Ivies) or, say, Duke does. (Which is not to slam Dartmouth or Duke at all. They are widely recognized as great universities. Like Chicago.)</p>
<p>The Chicago campus is not at all un-pretty. There are prettier campuses, sure, but I like it a lot -- more than Penn, Columbia, Stanford, Brown, Dartmouth, Georgetown, to name a few of its competitors with which I am familiar. Its brand of faux Gothic predated Yale's by 30 years.</p>
<p>The academic caliber, prestige and quality of a U of C education has never been questioned by anyone in this forum. Ivy League or not, it is at the same level just like so many other excellent universities. </p>
<p>Midmo, perhaps I need to remind you that this forum was started because of someone's perceived notion that U of C has a problem as far as name recognition. Every one is entitled to their own opinion, including their anecdotes. It is perfectly understandable to have a little resentment when one's alma mater is criticized. It is interesting how the posts are becoming more defensive about how great the school is when that has never been brought into question. I felt all along that the only way of getting to know a school, is by visiting it -not on a week end- but when the students are there. That is what I keep encouraging everyone to do and that's how I plan on narrowing my final choice.</p>
<p>To me, this whole experience has been a tremendous eye opener. Some of the schools which I was certain I was in love with, totally turned me off after I visited them. One's personal experiences are what count.</p>
<p>Personal anecdotes are just that. Personal. They do not necessarily become gospel nor will they become other people's anecdotes. In scientific journals not much gets published on the basis of anecdotes, but maybe you already know that as well.</p>
<p>It is unfortunate that U of C has such a problem with name recognition. Hopefully it won't stop from attending those who find it a "fit".</p>
<p>As far as your last insulting and rude comment, I will not bother to dignify it with an answer.</p>
<p>MovieBuff, I agree that in an ideal world, every 12th grader would have the time and money to make a lengthy visit to every college she or he had been admitted to. The reality, though, is that many students are forced to rely on stories, anecdotes, surveys and even the opinions of strangers on public forums to get a "feel" for some campuses. (I'm sure you realize that the parents on cc are not a good sample; I'm amazed when I read some of these stories about how many campuses were visited before decisions came out, and how many more will be visited afterwards.)</p>
<p>Your posts seem designed to denigrate the reputation of UChicago. The charge that it gets confused regularly with UIC is pretty silly. I didn't even know UIC existed until recently. Where I live, people inevitably think Columbia refers to the flagship campus of the University of MO. If you correct them and explain you are referring to Columbia University in NY, a blank stare is the common response.</p>
<p>This may come as a shock to a lot of people, but I know a lot of long-time professors who cannot name all of the Ivy League schools. They start to falter after HYP. All of them know about the University of Chicago. Just FYI.</p>
<p>Midmo...What are you talking about??? All throughout this forum I have stated what a great, awesome and competitive school U of Chicago is. It is just too bad that they have an issue with their reputation, something that the more you post, the more you suggest to be true. Just like any school , U of C has its idiosyncracies and I just happened to mention the ones that I am aware of us because of my own experiences. Too bad that you can not handle it. The problem with the confusion about the name has to do with exactly their generic name and nothing else!! As someone already mentioned, at a graduate level and among professionals of the same field, all you have to say is ..."I graduated from Chicago" and people know exactly what you are talking about. A great challenging university!
I will take the liberty to suggest very politely to you to chill out. Too bad you can not agree to disagree and have to get all bend out shape about it. Jeezz.</p>
<p>All I have to say about this is that the people who were most enthusiastic about my attending the U of C included my doctor, a recruiter for Lehman Brothers, and a nun. The school is fantastic, and just because the everyday person hasn't heard of it doesn't mean that you won't get props for the work you do here in the outside world.</p>
<p>okay, i really dont see why everyone keeps picking on moviebuff. What he said is true, Chicago:</p>
<p>1) is not an ivy. Its not. Ivy's just a nametag, a lot of good unis aren't ivys. Chicago's one of them. I believe moviebuff never claimed otherwise. </p>
<p>2) useless trivia. Well trivia's fun, but again if you have to rote learn random facts well, that just gets in the way of 'true' learning. </p>
<p>3) the campus : it depends on the kind of person you are. If old, oxford-esque buildings are your thing, coolios. If they're not, you wont like them. Whatever, its personal preference.</p>
<p>4) UIC/ u of c mistake. It happens, and, to be quite honest, it is ****ing off. College, like everyone keeps repeating, is meant to be give you tools needed to make you a better person/ open up your mind/ give you a better understanding of what youre learning, not to get into grad school or whatever. i CARE about what college people think i went to because 88 percent of people will automatically assume they're smarter than you, and what youre saying is basically a load of uninformed crap, because they form impressions of you based on which college you went to. Its about respect. You NEED respect to get ahead in life, to promote your values, to make people listen, and thus to be a better leader.</p>
<p>Speaking of subjective, what one considers trivia falls in that category. Knowing something about a lot of interesting things may be considered trivia, but others might consider it to be "well educated." There is a group at another non Ivy, Stanford, that is pushing for more content knowledge by students not less. It is shaping up to be an interesting debate.</p>
<p>I believe that a good deal of history is lumped under 'trivia' by many. Disastrous consequences if they are in power.</p>
<p>ammarsfound - </p>
<p>"because they form impressions of you based on which college you went to"</p>
<p>This may be true when someone first meets you, but once they get to know you or work with you, it will be the other way around.</p>
<p>The UC / UIC mistake is similar to the 'Penn' one - UPenn or Penn State. If you want 'everyone' to know your school and be impressed by it, pick a top football or basketball school (instate if you can), attend the honors program and save your parents some money.</p>