<p>I really like U Chicago when I visited. In fact, it was the first application I completed; I was so excited!</p>
<p>However, senior year is here, and I'm realizing how important it is to have time away from school work. I feel like if I attended, I would have no life other than school work...</p>
<p>You'll have time away from schoolwork. Just ask my housemates at the end of the hallway who are laughing loud enough for me to hear it and have been doing such for the past half hour. Earlier tonight my other hallmates and I collected in somebody else's room impromptu and we had lots of laughs as well. And I'm on CC right now, don't I have better things to do? (The answer to that depends).</p>
<p>Don't use senior year as your ultimate measuring stick for the rest of your academic life. Senior year was, for me, messy and stressful and miserable and boring, and I think a lot of people who have survived senior year would agree.</p>
<p>You come to the University of Chicago BECAUSE you think schoolwork is fun, and school=fun is an essential precondition to being a happy and successful U of C kid, but of course it's perfectly natural not to like school when it means that all of your friends are drones about it (as was my personal experience). </p>
<p>If you're unsure about how you'll feel come April, toss in a variety of schools on your list with a variety of reputations. Then you'll know you'll have your bases covered come decision time. You're not making the essential decisions right now, unless you're applying ED.</p>
<p>S is finding plenty of time for school work, a job and socializing. He loves his classes, so they don't feel like work, he loves to hang out and talk with all the amazing people he has met, and he found a great job that allows him flexibility and a 'home away from home.' He is VERY happy at Chicago. We'll see how he feels come 8th-9th week, but right now, he has been actively working at carving out a balanced life for himself.</p>
<p>S had an incredibly hectic eighteen months (starting in Feb. of junior year), and I don't think we realized how crazy it was (and how long it lasted) until he finished his summer job in mid-August, came home and slept and vegetated at the computer for a solid month before leaving for O-Week. He really needed to recharge those batteries.</p>
<p>How far are you guys from the school, by the way?</p>
<p>anyone? because that is what concerns my parents.</p>
<p>What do you mean how far?</p>
<p>As in, how far from home is U Chicago for you guys?</p>
<p>Three hours by plane. State flagship U is 5 hours away driving. S figured that if you have to fly, they are all more or less the same so, distance from home wasn't a consideration.</p>
<p>Ah, I'm on the east coast, and my parents are feeling like I would only come back at Christmas and summer.</p>
<p>You might only go back for Christmas, spring break, and summer, though a lot of East Coasters manage to squeeze Thanksgiving in. And some even manage to squeeze another long weekend in. But there are only 2 days off at Thanksgiving, and finals are right around the corner. And in general, the quarter system doesn't give a lot of time mid-quarter travel. My daughter thinks that staying for Thanksgiving is fun, even more fun that going home with friends whose families live near by.</p>
<p>I see. What would you do over Thanksgiving at the school?</p>
<p>We are on the east coast -- 11 hours drive, 2 hour flight. S is coming back for Thanksgiving, winter break and spring break. We told him if he wanted, we could get him home for a weekend, but I doubt he will take us up on it. (Having too much fun!) If Thanksgiving is too crazed with travel and upcoming finals, perhaps we'll go there for turkey next year. </p>
<p>My guess is that students get together and cook, esp. in the houses with nice kitchen set-ups. There are also >10% international students, so a lot of kids will stay on campus in November. It would probably be a great time to explore Chicago, catch up on sleep, get some work done.</p>
<p>Houses host Thanksgiving, and there's stuff at Hutch Commons.</p>
<p>In all seriousness... distance should NOT discourage you, and I can say this coming from one East Coaster to another.... my parents preferred I go to a school 5 hours away by car because that school was "in-state" while Chicago was "far," but it takes me fewer than 5 hours to get to Chicago.</p>
<p>I have a friend who is from Alaska (a town that would make Wasilla look like Chicago) and it takes him about 11 or 12 hours to get home. Doesn't stop him.</p>
<p>You can find airplane tickets for roundtrips between Chicago and the east coast for less than $200. Tickets for the Thanksgiving weekend would probably cost twice as much.</p>
<p>Thanks, guys! Sorry to bother you with all of these things...</p>
<p>Agree on plane tickets. S has flown out to Chicago for $69 each way during off-peak times when he was visiting campus; Thanksgiving is $278 R/T, and we considered ourselves lucky to have found that rate in September. It is a non-stop flight for S and frankly, it doesn't feel like he's THAT far away.</p>