<p>What are some of U. of Chicago's stronger undergrad departments? weaker ones? I heard that the location is kinda scary...is that true?</p>
<p>I live in Hyde Park and would say that the campus is very safe. There are bluelight phones all over the place (these are safety phones that connect directly to the campus police), campus police frequently patrol, dorms require codes to enter, etc. All in all a pretty safe place to live. I wouldn't recommend walking alone at night, particularly if you're a female. But you have to take into account that UChicago is in a city and behave yourself accordingly.</p>
<p>obviously, econ is strong.</p>
<p>I doubt Chicago has weak departments except, perhaps, in the fine arts. As Chronicidal has pointed out, economics is probably the most famous department there, but the hard sciences are also very strong. Ancient Near East studies rank at the top, as do many languages. The humanities and social sciences also tend to be very strong. Chicago claims to have invented sociology, I believe. There is no undergrad business or engineering school, IIRC.</p>
<p>As for the neighborhood, South Chicago is not the safest area in the US, but the University of Chicago is an island unto itself. East of the campus, the residential area is affluent and quite lovely. For about one mile north, the same can be said. West and South of the campus, the neighborhood becomes a bit less desirable very quickly. Basically, unless you are very stupid and go where you shouldn't go, you should have no trouble.</p>
<p>The University of Chicago is not for everyone; not by a long shot. The students who are supposed to thrive there are those who seek real intellectual challenge. It's as close to an intellectual boot camp as anything the US offers.</p>
<p>The University of Chicago is awesome. In my opinion, it is #1 (by a hair) in the Midwest. Anybody who knows me will tell you that's quite an endorsement coming from me.</p>
<p>Anyway, Chicago's strengths are:
-One of the finest academic institutions on Earth, one that excells in the Social Sciences, Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Humanities and International Studies.
-The image of the school as an academic powerhouse in most intellectual centers is legendary.
-A very gifted and intellectual student body.
-A beautiful campus
-Proximity to Chicago, my favorite city in the US.</p>
<p>The University of Chicago's weaknesses are:
- Not so much a weakness, but Chicago has no college of Engineering and it does not offer Business to undergraduate students. Most Chicago student and alums would never want such professional programs offered at their university anyway. Like I said, not so much of a weakness.
- Although the campus is beautiful, it is not lively.
-There isn't much school spirit.
-Although it is very close to downtown Chicago, the areas around campus leave much to be desired. However, I would not go so far as to say that they are scary or dangerous.</p>
<p>The quarter system and lack of grade inflation can be a plus or minus. </p>
<p>In addition to the programs Tarhunt mentioned, Chicago is far and away #1 in Paleontology. </p>
<p>Anthropology #1
Art History #10
Astronomy #5
Chemistry #9
Classics #7
Comparative Lit #12
Ecology/Evolution #1
Economics #1
English #10
French #16
Geology #7
History #8
Linguistics #6
Mathematics #5
Molecular Biology #11
Music Theory #2
Organismal Biology #11
Philosophy #11
Physics #7
Political Science #6
Psychology #18
Religion #1
Sociology #1
Statistics #4</p>
<p>These NRC rankings are over 10 years old, and the replacement is due this year.</p>
<p>Have some of you even BEEN to Chicago? <em>skeptical</em></p>
<p>I've lived in Chicago all my life, went to U of C for a Saturday math program and can attest that the surrounding area is safe. Anyone who says otherwise believes the hype about Hyde Park being scary. If you really want to see if it's 'scary' or not, go there yourself, because it isn't!</p>
<p>Second, Chicago is the best. So, you really can't lose with going to Univ. of Chicago. You get one of the greatest cities with it. =D</p>
<p>Are you kidding? I lived in Ann Arbor for 6 years and in Kalamazoo for 2 years. During those 8 years, I spent at least 20 weekends each year in Chicago. I love Chicago. 6 of my very favorite restaurants are in Chicago. Hell, I flew my then-girlfriend from the Middle East all the way to Chicago to propose to her! LOL!!! </p>
<p>Seriously though, Hyde Park is definitely not scary, but I would not go so far as to say it is safe. It is not dangerous either. I would say it is an average area. I had many friends at the UofC and none every had any trouble.</p>
<p>The child of a friend is a graduating senior at UC this year.</p>
<p>We had lunch with him at Christmas break. He said he feels very unsafe there, quoting - "I can't wait to get the hell out of there." "I don't have one friend who has not be either mugged or chased." "My friend's girlfriend was sexually assaulted while he was held and forced to watch." </p>
<p>Let's be honest, this is not a safe area (why do you think they have one of the largest private police forces in the country and blue emergency phones everywhere?). Certainly my information is anecdotal from one student, but I find it more credible that university crime statistics.</p>
<p>I am not a UC basher - my son was accepted EA and it was his first choice. But prospective students should be clear, as hard as the school tries to say otherwise, safety is a major concern.</p>
<p>SBDad:</p>
<p>I don't find what you wrote to be credible. Perhaps there is a young man who said this to you. If so, this sounds like a very fearful young man, indeed. There are many people like this in the world. They see an aircraft go down and refuse to fly, despite the stats that demonstrate that driving is more dangerous than flying. There is a terrorist incident somewhere close to Europe and they cancel their vacation plans, a la the Achille Lauro. They see young black men walking down the street on Fifth Avenue in NYC and lock their car doors.</p>
<p>I would heartily agree that anyone like that should attend only schools in the wealthiest of suburbs where they will not be subject to any of their fear triggers.</p>
<p>Having said that, I did a google search for "rape" and "University of Chicago." For news, I came up with almost nothing. For the Web, there were many pages (as usual), but most dealt with scholarly work on the subject, information on date rape, and the like. I found nothing about the incident your young friend is said to have described, and I cannot IMAGINE that such an incident would go unnoticed by the media. It's tailor made for screaming headlines.</p>
<p>I have a child at the University of Chicago, so I gave him a call just now and asked if he or anyone one else he knew had ever been chased, mugged, or in any other way frightened on or near the campus. He said that he didn't know of anyone, but that some kids had thrown snowballs at him while he was hiking to the El stop on 63rd.</p>
<p>The fact that you trust anecdotal information from an unreliable source over crime stats caused you to write this, I'm sure. Personally, I feel that anecdotal evidence quite often distorts reality, even if the anecdote(s) is true. But, it is certainly true that anecdotal evidence is more visceral than statistics, and tends to have a greater effect on behavior. This is not in doubt, and has been amply demonstrated right here.</p>
<p>Here's U Chicago's crime data. There were 2 rapes in 2003, 0 in 2004, and 2 in 2005. Both of the 2005 rapes occurred in on-campus residence halls.</p>
<p>kemet:</p>
<p>Thanks for the link and the data. By comparison, the University of Virginia is about 50% larger than the University of Chicago. It's in a suburban-style small city. It had 23/23/20 rapes in 03 through 05 on campus.</p>
<p>All I have done is relate to you something I was told my someone who has attended the school for four years. You are incorrect, however, when you state that this is an unreliable source. This young man is very honest and his parents have also confirmed his experiences. In addtion, I would not call this student reactionary as portrayed in your terrorist examples since he did not transfer, but spent four years there.</p>
<p>The rape incident I referred to occurred off-campus, late at night, near Shoreland. The students were not being smart and paid the price. It would not have been reported in campus crime statistics. And as I'm sure you know, rapes are greatly under-reported nationwide due to the trauma of proceeding through the court process as a victim.</p>
<p>All I am saying is that crime is an issue at UC and that students need to factor that in when looking at all the great things the University has to offer.</p>
<p>SBDad:</p>
<p>So which is the more dangerous place, the University of Chicago or the University of Virginia?</p>
<p>I don't know anything about UVA nor do I know any students who go there, so I can't make that assessment.</p>
<p>So, the actual data don't matter to you?</p>
<p>wow, now I'm slightly concerned. I should probably schedule a visit sometime...</p>
<p>A quote from the website linked with crime stats:</p>
<p>"The crime data reported by the institutions have not been subjected to independent verification by the U.S. Department of Education. Therefore, the Department cannot vouch for the accuracy of the data reported here."</p>
<p>If you are asklng if I would make my assessment of the saftey of a school based soley on this type of data, no I would not. Would it be one factor in my conclusion, yes it would.</p>
<p>I would agree that is especially important to visit UChicago, talk to current students and form your own opinion.</p>
<p>SBDad:</p>
<p>The fact is, what you know about this situation is limited to the maunderings, almost certainly exaggerted, of a single, cowardly young man. From this single source, you make the sweeping generalization that the University of Chicago is not safe. </p>
<p>The CC boards are absolutely littered with this sort of stuff. One person writes about a single incident at a single school, and the next thing you know, the entire school is impugned. It's silliness at its height.</p>
<p>I have walked for many miles within and outside the campus of the University of Chicago. I would not go south of the UC buildings south of the Midway Plaisance. I would not go very far west of the hospital. I would happily travel east to the lake or north for about a mile to 1.5 miles. Within those boundaries, the place looks and feels like any suburb or upscale city neighborhood I've ever visited. Unless I knew where I was, I couldn't tell the difference between the residential neighborhood east and north of the UC from the nice neighborhoods surrounding Northwestern or, for that matter, just about any other school.</p>
<p>Child #7 is at the UC. He says he's never talked to anyone who is afraid of the place or "can't wait to get away from there."</p>
<p>Absolutely ridiculous.</p>
<p>I would also add that sometime perception can be very different from reality. LA downtown is fairly safe these days based on crime statistics but many parts of it still look run down. Old school thinking or subconcious racism may make someone feel unsafe if he/she sees the residents aren't predominantly whites or asians.</p>