<p>I've recently been getting alot of info from the University of Chicago, they even sent me a t shirt. While looking into the school I've heard alot about while it's the #9 school in the world it is also not a great experience. Could anyone with any knowledge of the school give me their take or observations?</p>
<p>Read postings of unalove and 2manyschools to get insightful, balanced views, in my opinion.</p>
<p><em>pops in</em></p>
<p>Kind of an honor to be called “balanced,” as I’m kind of gushy about Chicago. But I was born from and are related to people who would have made for pretty unhappy Chicago students, plus I live with people who would have never been happy with the academic philosophies and offerings.</p>
<p>Please please please pretty please don’t choose a school based on rank. I think Chicago was somewhere in the deep teens or twenties by USNWR when I applied, last I checked it was down to the high single digits by the time I graduated. My life has not been enriched by the fact that Chicago is now a higher ranking school and the school did not transform based on its rank. </p>
<p>So turn this question away from Chicago and back to you-- what are YOU looking for in a college experience? To what extent will Chicago be able to give it to YOU, to what extent are the other colleges out there better for YOU?</p>
<p>While I appreciate your response unalove I’m also kind of suspicious that you didn’t even read the question. By asking this question I’ve already used your advice before you gave it.</p>
<p>Well, to be fair, your question was kind of general. A better way of getting students’ takes or observations would probably be browsing various old threads, then asking questions on the more specific issues you want to know about. This is what kaukauna was suggesting. </p>
<p>I’ve enjoyed my experience at this school very much, but I’m probably not going to bother to sum it up in 300 words or so every time a post like this comes along (nothing personal). When you say you’ve been getting info in the mail, or that what you’ve heard so far is just that it has a high ranking and isn’t “a good experience,” that makes it sound like you’re just beginning to look at Chicago. Chances are (for you or any applicant at that stage), you aren’t even going to apply. </p>
<p>Having said that, I’ll weigh in for you here. The U of C is not a place where “fun comes to die.” I can’t stand that slogan (or the shirt that goes with it), and many of my friends can’t either. The academics are serious, probably a little more so than at peer institutions, but not unmanageable. You will be busy, but you can have a life. First year life is largely tied up with house culture; by second year that tends to be less of a draw; third and fourth year almost everyone lives off campus. The neighborhood is cheap and nice, and in my opinion this makes for a good atmosphere. People with an independent streak fit in especially well, but others do too. The school is slowly moving away from this; more people are interested in things like business now. Still, you will grow here. Hyde Park is an intellectual community like no place else.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input, believe it or not they’re sending me one of those T-shirts in the mail. I really want a college where it’s pretty academically rigorous but it cannot be 24/7, I think what I need is the time and opportunities to really know my peers. Would this describe University of Chicago?</p>
<p>Unalove has over 3k well thought out posts. She was there, went away and came back. Her perspective is excellent.</p>
<p>I’m sure she knows what she is talking about, do you have anything you would like to add about University of Chicago?</p>
<p>I’d agree with dunbar’s synopsis, but I would say that there is a reason I am finding your current question frustrating: there are people who work hard at every school and people who don’t work hard at every college. You could go to the University of Chicago and be in the library more evenings than not. You could also go to the University of Chicago and be going to lectures, events, parties more evenings than not. College is truly a maddeningly “choose-your-own-adventure” experience.</p>
<p>Take, for example, one of my good high school friends, who got into a school ranked #14 at the time and turned it down for a school ranked… hmmm… I don’t know it’s rank, but I think it’s in the deep 70s or lower. In other words, admitted to a school that has a callout in “cc top universities” and went to a school that doesn’t get a lot of attention. There was no merit money behind this decision, no honors program, it just came down to a matter of fit- this school was a better fit for my friend academically and socially.</p>
<p>This same friend did two majors and an extracurricular that amounted to a part-time job in college. I have friends who went to Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Penn, Swarthmore, Vassar, you name it-- this friend worked harder and slept less than all of those friends. (Not to mention the college he attended has a reputation for being a party school! Ha!) </p>
<p>Fast forward some years, we’re all college degreed in our mid to late twenties, friend is still working harder than my grad school friends. Oh, and he has the job of his dreams that he’s wanted since boyhood, he makes a lot of money, he’s fairly famous. And he’s married to his soulmate, whom he met (guess where?) in college.</p>
<p>I like telling stories about this friend for lots of reasons- but first and foremost, to underscore that there’s more variation in workload AMONG STUDENTS AT THE SAME COLLEGE than BETWEEN COLLEGES. I collect syllabi from various colleges for fun, so I have as evidence-based claim as one could find on here.</p>
<p>I do not think you should apply to a school just because you think it has good academics; I think you have to like the school itself. I don’t have an intro “lists of lists” to read, unfortunately, but maybe I’ll try to find some “best ofs” and compile them for browsing as “information on University of Chicago for n00bs”. But yes, this forum spans many many years and has many voices on it. But if you want, you can just keep launching questions about UChicago out there and people who are me or not me will try to point you in the right direction.</p>
<p>(And if you’re asking about my personal experience, my weeknights were to me a balance of schoolwork and lectures and club events, with some mid-week socializing and drinking mixed in. Weekends were a little toned down for me- sometimes a party or two, sometimes just hanging out, sometimes doing some extra work, sometimes going out and exploring Chicago. And I slept 8-9 hours every night throughout college and graduated “with honors.”)</p>
<p>And if you’re asking, “What makes the University of Chicago University of Chicago?” I’d answer that the kinds of people who attend/attended UChicago are the kinds of people who will have long discussions on facebook threads, and their comments will be several paragraphs long and include citations (on facebook.)</p>
<p>That is to say, I think what makes Chicago (and continues to make us) distinct is that students play like they work. I have many friends who are very intelligent and not Chicago people, but when they are on facebook, they’re looking to just be on facebook. On the other hand, a casual mention on facebook on Private Manning or Sheryl Sandberg, and my college friends are ready to discuss, debate, ponder, and reconsider their opinions. I think it’s a personality thing, it’s an “intellectual” thing, and it builds a sense of community.</p>
<p>And this community is not distinct to my college friends-- not too infrequently the “Overheard at UChicago” facebook group descends into meaningful (or sometimes silly) debate, one of my favorites being the semantic differences between “Overseen” and “Overheard.”</p>
<p>And remember, this is what Chicago kids are doing <em>in their free time</em></p>