For those of you familiar with UChicago undergrad as it is now (versus 10+ years ago), is it really so cutthroat? When you mention this as a school under consideration, the first reaction always seems to relate to its cutthroat learning environment with advice to apply for grad school but definitely not for undergrad. However, often this is said by older people who may know an older UChicago. I know it is a school full of very smart people but could a hard working student interested in liberal arts do well or would it be four years of never feeling good enough. Thank you for your guidance.
Have a child that recently graduated from UChicago, and it’s not cutthroat at all. Students compete only with themselves. Maybe it’s different for pre-med students, but there aren’t that many of them there.
That said, the coursework is demanding. And with the quarter system, it’s easy to get behind quickly. If you are a natural slacker who is used to getting by just on brains, or prone to procrastinating, it will be a wake-up call.
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It’s really about how it suits you: are you somebody who gets stuck into their work, who is strongly self-motivated, who actively enjoys serious learning? If so, you’ll be grand. As @hebegebe says, it’s about students whose natural temperament is to push themselves, not about competing with other students.
That said, depending on the school you come from, it can be a jolt. IF you are one of a small handful of hard-driving, intellectually stimulated students in your current school, going from being ‘special’ (for better or worse) to being ‘typical’ can be a mixed bag. On the one hand: you have found your people! on the other hand: you may have to re-think some of how you think about yourself. Students who are used to easily being an academic superstar in a shallow pool sometimes struggle with finding that they are now working hard to stay in the middle of the pack once they are in the deep end. Coming to terms with that is actually quite a healthy thing! Instead of ‘never feeling good enough’ it can be enjoying being with a group of real peers. It’s rarer in life than you might realize- which is also a big part of why those friendships often last for decades.
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My child is a current student, political science major. The above comments are accurate. She felt some ‘imposter syndrome’ at first, but within her first quarter there she found her footing and has done well. She has not found it to be competitive and easily found study partners to work with. Staying on top of the work and going to office hours has been key for her, so I guess that effort does pay off! Your student already is hard working which is great, but you know best what your student’s feelings will be. My child, a self described ‘nerd,’’ absolutely loves it there!
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Well said, @collegemom3717 collegemom3717. My daughter did well at UChicago - she is graduating with a 5 year BS in Econ/Public Policy and MPP in June. She worked hard, but it was not an academically competitive atmosphere in her opinion. People are very willing to form study groups, etc. She, too, used office hours and learned you have to keep up from day 1 of each quarter as the quarter system is fast paced. She recently said to me that she felt much less academic pressure at UChicago compared to high school. People at UChi don’t care about other people’s grades or GPA. Everyone is just working hard.
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One more parent who echoes the views of the other parents here. My D graduated in June. As a general rule, no one asked her and she asked no one about grades. Classmates were always willing to help and there are office hours and tutoring sessions fairly frequently available (especially for core courses). My daughter enjoyed the intellectual curiosity of her classmates and absolutely loved the class discussions and the different viewpoints people brought to class, not to mention the variety of classes available. As others have said, it is a lot of work and the quarter system means that everything happens faster - mid-terms, finals, papers, etc. But, for the right kid, it is amazing - definitely doesn’t need to be four years of never feeling good enough; rather, can be four years of feeling great! Good luck!
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A hard working student could definitely do well at UChicago. In fact, many, many current and past students do.
I graduated from UChicago ~10 years ago and did well. That was a “transitional” period where the College was changing rapidly. I was not a pre-med at the time but went into medicine after college. While I was there, a sizable student population was already getting GPA >3.6. A few students were already sitting at >3.9. Now I’d imagine it’s even more of a case. At the time, a 3.8 was Phi Beta Kappa (top 10%) in my major, but now I think you need an even higher GPA because the overall GPA is definitely trending higher.
I would venture to guess that the College now is even more enjoyable and less stressful than when I was there.
Also echo what other posters here have written. We did not ever talk about grades when I was there. I only found out my relative performance when I was awarded Phi Beta Kappa and how others did on their Linkedin profiles a few years after graduation.
Just focus on your learning, and the grades will follow.
If you’d like more details, shoot me a private message.
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I attended in the 1980s when the acceptance rate was 40%. While the social life wasn’t like at Northwestern or Michigan, I wouldn’t describe it has cut throat. I was there when they adopted +/- grades and that made a major difference. It was hard to get an A but not that hard to get a B+. Few failed. The big difference is that The College was small back then. We had 720 in my class. We felt part of a predominantly graduate university but for many, that was the attraction of the place.
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