<p>2 things
1) What is the typical amount of hw each night at U of C? I was admitted and am deciding either U of C or Northwestern. I want to be able to have some amount of fun while in college. I know I can handle the work (i hope so at least) but I love to get involved as well. I also have to do that work/study program as part of my aid package. Is this doable? </p>
<p>2) I've been hearing lots of sayings and myths concerning U of C and it kinda scares me. Is the 1/3 graduate, 1/3 drop out and 1/3 commit suicide thing just an old myth? Is U of C really "the place where fun comes to die" ? I don't want a party school but I don't want to completely break under intense pressure and I definitely don't ever want to think about suicide of course. Is it really that horrible?</p>
<p>I visited the campus today and it is sooooo beautiful!! I will most likely major in history, but I really would like to talk with advisors before declaring and picking classes.</p>
<p>I’ll answer 2) for you since it’s mostly myths. The 1/3 motto seems more or less a BS line. If a third of the class were killing themselves, there is something fundamentally wrong with the school. And I’m pretty sure Chicago has one of the highest rates of students going to graduate schools in the country (unverified, but should be strong anyways).</p>
<p>‘Where fun comes to die’ is part of Chicago’s self-deprecating humor. I’m pretty sure that’s no longer true, and how can one have no fun in Chicago? It’s such a unique city.</p>
<p>1) There CAN be a lot of work, particularly in your first two years as you make your way through the core. But I swear, you’ll come out of the core knowing things that you never even thought you’d be learning, but will be all the better off for having done it. If you decide you just want to blow off your homework, that’s fine - you’ll just have trouble passing classes.</p>
<p>2) You’re right, they’re just myths. There aren’t any huge frats, but there’s definitely a lively social scene at UChicago. Plus, c’mon, you’re IN Chicago, one of the best cities in the country. I encourage you to keep this in mind also - Evanston is not Chicago. Evanston is a suburb that’s a train ride away from Chicago.</p>
<p>If you’d like to be exposed to all the best aspects of what Chicago, the city, has to offer, I’d heartily advise UChicago over NU.</p>
<p>1) Here’s my daily routine for last quarters hw
Do an hour of daily Chinese hw at 10am between classes, do more chinese Hw at night if not done (2x per week for 1 extra hour each)
Read things for about an average of 1.5 hours each weekday for Hum and Sosc class
Write a paper each week for Hum or Sosc (usually done Fri-Sunday, takes 4 hrs for 3 page,5 hrs for 5 page)
Do a problem set for Math class each Sunday night for 3 hours (realistically this number should’ve been around 5hrs- 10 hrs I think which is why I didn’t do too well on finals)</p>
<p>Also I’m strange in that I don’t really cram for my midterms, so around those times its only about 3 hrs extra per week.</p>
<p>So adding up is
7 hrs Chinese + 7.5 hr reading + 4 hr paper + 3hr math hw = 21.5 hrs.
That number doesnt seem too bad does it? Considering class is max about 15 hrs for 4 classes you don’t even have a 40 hours workweek.</p>
<p>If you’re a history major, you’ll likely have a lot of reading and many long papers to write (1-2 per class, long being 5-15 pages).</p>
<p>For your first year, plan to have a few hours of homework due for each day of classes. HUMA classes will amount to about 1-2 hours per class. SOSC and CIV will have a little more; most science, math and language courses will have as much or less.</p>
<p>Again, as you approach courses for your major, prepare for a lot of reading (2-3 hours per class) and a larger paper due at the end of each class, or perhaps two smaller papers for each class.</p>
<p>I have never heard the 1/3 joke, but it definitely isn’t true.</p>
<p>So, out of the Hum core classes, I understand that Intro to Hum probably has the most writing. Which class requires a moderate amount? (Not a paper a week, but perhaps a paper ever 2-3 weeks).</p>
<p>All the other humanities classes have 3 papers per quarter (to my knowledge) with the exception of 3rd quarter (not required) where some teachers only have you write two papers. Intro to Hum I don’t believe will even be offered next year, anyways…</p>
<p>S1 (a second year) has had three papers a quarter in his HUM and SOSC sequences. Has not found the amount of reading onerous, though there are some HUM/SOSC sequences where this is more of an issue than others. He did not look for the classes with light reading loads, just the ones that appealed to him and that others recommended. As far as intro FL goes, keep up with the assignments and you should be OK.</p>
<p>Where he does spend a good bit of time is on problem sets for math, but he is a math major taking advanced stuff, so it’s to be expected. (That’s the fun HW to him, too.)</p>