<p>As an international student, it's really hard for me to get a good grasp of schools I'm applying to..I want to know more about them..
Obviously there are tons of things to love about Chicago,,
So, what don't you like about Univ. of Chicago?</p>
<p>it's quirkiness.</p>
<p>^ So...you'd rather it was a boring, normal, non-quirky college?</p>
<p>Somehow I think that was a misread of the OP.</p>
<p>what's a normal college?</p>
<p>I'm a current student... I had a thread on things I liked and didn't a while back... let me find it.</p>
<p>The things I don't like are relatively picky. In other words, there's not much I don't like about this school.</p>
<p>Most common complaints from students:</p>
<p>1) The education is too theoretical, not practical. The college experience does not flow you into a career path, and if you want to pursue an elite career path, you're doing that in conjunction with the educational experience, not in replacement of. (Our CAPS career office, though, is amazing!)
2) The school does not have a "traditional" college feel to it the way a school like Penn, Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, et. al. have
3) A good number of "that kids," or people who know that they're smart and don't know how to take it down a notch.
4) Weather.</p>
<p>Actually, #1,2, and 4 are probably my favorite 3 things about UChicago.</p>
<p>I hate #3 and kids who are especially socially awkward.</p>
<p>The last ten weeks have been the best ten of my life so far, so this is hard. </p>
<p>Hmm...</p>
<p>As a San Franciscan with some activist roots, I am surprised at how apathetic people are here towards politics and relevant local issues. I don't mind theoretical education, but this has been a bit off-putting.</p>
<p>The student newspapers suck.</p>
<p>That's about it.</p>
<p>Stingy need-based financial aid (or so I've heard).</p>
<p>Daenerys, the U of C recently received a $100 million gift toward financial aid. See odyssey.uchicago.edu for more information.</p>
<p>Ah yes, I'm very familiar with that. But even the odyssey scholarship program, it seems, won't be able to help too much for households above the income cutoff:</p>
<p>"For those students whose annual family income is less than $60,000, the loans could be replaced entirely by grants, and for families whose income is between $60,000 and $75,000, the loans could be cut in half."</p>
<p>Alumnus’</a>; $100 million gift launches new Odyssey scholarship program</p>
<p>If only some of that could go into merit aid!</p>
<p>To go off-post slightly, how is the merit aid?</p>
<p>The U of C gives out about 100 University Scholar awards, which are said to cover about 1/3 tuition, and 20 College Honor Scholarships, which cover full tuition. Remember that these are the number of scholarships given out to applicants, not students who actually decide to attend. Scholarships will be renewed for four years, as long as students remain in good academic standing (i.e. full time students with 1.75+ GPA).</p>
<p>yes! The social awkward people are what suck...not the quirkiness</p>
<p>Like phuriku, I think the most common "complaints" are actually pretty cool things.</p>
<p>On social awkwardness: It comes in a few varieties. </p>
<p>Sometimes socially awkward people are so self-centered that they don't realize that they insult easily (this happens all the time everywhere and I don't think there's a higher occurrence of self-centered people at Chicago than elsewhere, but I do think that the Chicago self-centered tend to deviate from socially tolerated norms a bit more).</p>
<p>Other times, people don't pick up on more subtle cues, such as when a conversation is over. These people are not as aggravating as those who are self-centered, but it can be a little frustrating.</p>
<p>Other times, people deviate from the norm and are pretty shameless about keeping their personalities on a leash. Think funny hats and pajama pants and such.</p>
<p>But most of the time, people are just people. They don't wear a giant, flashing, "I GO TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO AND IT SHOWS" sign. And if anything, I think I've benefited from being around some socially awkward people. Being the introvert that I am, I get embarrassed in social interactions pretty easily. It's very hard to get embarrassed here, and if you do happen to embarrass yourself, you always know that they've seen worse.</p>
<p>so many goddamn nerds</p>
<p>The weather. You can pick me out on campus because I have more layers of clothes on than an onion.</p>
<p>that'lll probably be me next year....if i get in :D</p>
<p>For current students, could you comment on: safety, music opportunities (for fun, not as a major), strength of non-math and science fields?</p>
<p>Safety has not been a big deal (coming from San Francisco). Transportation in the evenings is good, so walking alone at night off the quads is both stupid and unnecessary. Nothing has happened to anyone I know here, though there are rumors of the occasional mugging.</p>
<p>Music? I don't know it as well, but people start bands, there are half-a-dozen or so ensembles run by the music department, and some a capella groups, at the very least.</p>
<p>Heh... non math/science? We invented sociology in its modern form, nearly the same for economics. The Oriental Institute and its connected departments are a powerhouse in archeology and ancient languages (a friend is taking Akkadian from one of its early interpreters). I think classics and poli-sci are strong. I know less about the other Humanities departments (English, visual arts, film, comp lit...) from a broader perspective, though I think but the students I know in those majors seem satisfied.</p>