<p>I'm an EA admit (yay!) and I'm thinking about going to one of the Snow Days, specifically the Social Sciences one. The one I'm looking at is on a Thursday, and I'm planning on doing an overnight as well. Would you recommend this? Do you think I'd get a good sense of the social life from a Thursday visit, or should I just not do the Snow Day thing and visit on a Friday or weekend or something? Thanks :)</p>
<p>Depends on what kind of social life you want to test out. Visit Thursday for a “typical” UChicago day of work, downtime, RSOs, general socializing etc. Visit Friday (or Saturday) if you want to convince yourself that this isn’t the place where fun actually comes to die. You can enjoy yourself either day, but they’re two totally different experiences.</p>
<p>Perhaps if you tell admissions you want to spend the extra night they’ll find another host? To my understanding they put visitors in the same house, so if anyone else is staying that night it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. There’s also a large overnight session for everyone in April you could hold out for.</p>
<p>Either day would be fine, but if by “getting a good sense of the social life” you mean partying, you want a Friday/Saturday night. Otherwise a Thursday would be fine. I don’t know if the admissions office lets students overnight on weekends, though.</p>
<p>Yeah, I mean parties. Haha. I just need to assuage my fears about the social life, because everything else about UChicago seems perfect.
I just checked the Overnight calendar, and the Friday after the Snow Day is also available, so I guess I’ll just stay for 2 nights…? Do weekends at most schools start on Friday nights then? Because I was also considering visiting Northwestern or doing an overnight after UChicago…</p>
<p>Yeah, there’s partying. A considerable amount of partying. If you’d actually get something constructive/college-related from this Snow Day (I’ve never heard of it; what is it? A new overnight program?), then do that; don’t worry that there won’t be partying if you come here.</p>
<p>The thing is that alcohol consumption and the like are prohibited when you’re prospie-ing, meaning that if you get in any sort of trouble (god forbid) this would threaten your admission. So I’d focus on other stuff for the overnight and save the getting into trouble for college.</p>
<p>I know my house hosted 6-10 prospies (not yet admitted) on a weekend night this past quarter, though I don’t remember whether it was a Friday or Saturday. You might be able to do UChicago Thursday and Friday and Northwestern on Saturday, but if you haven’t been admitted to Northwestern then wait until the Spring. There’s no reason to visit a competitive college over night unless you’ve already been accepted.</p>
<p>OxalisWombo - yeah, good point. I won’t be partying or doing anything that would jeopardize my admission, but I still kinda want to see the social scene for myself before committing, you know?</p>
<p>dunbar - my reasoning for visiting Northwestern was to kinda kill 2 birds with one stone, so to say. I’m just scared that if (and it’s a big if) I am admitted to both, the admit weekends will conflict or something. I guess the main reason I want to do the visit in February is to decide which one fits me better - NU or UChicago.</p>
<p>BTW, what exactly happens during an overnight…never been to one. And I’ve also never actually visited any college - what should I look for in terms of “fit”…?</p>
<p>That’s fair I suppose. They’ll both have admit days in April, so if you do get in to Northwestern you could pick one of the weekends and go to the other school while you’re there. But then again that may be a busy time for you. </p>
<p>Visiting schools allows you to meet and interact with current students, see if the campus/city is a place you where you would want to live, gather more information abut classes, activities, social life etc., but most importantly it gives you a sense of the general atmosphere/vibe of the school. Overnight visits allow for more focused interaction with current students, so you’ll pick up a good deal more information than you would if you only took a tour and went to an information session. </p>
<p>On the other hand, i would be careful not to be too overly influenced by any overnight visit. Your student hosts could be the most antisocial people on campus, or they could be dealing hard drugs out of their dorm room. And while some students may integrate you into the social portion of their day pretty fluidly, there are others who may feel obligated to stop doing other things and leave time for you, which can lead to a lot of sitting around/subdued activities (even if this isn’t what they normally do). The important thing is to learn more about the school during the extra portion of your stay while putting your experience into context as best you can.</p>
<p>Okay, I just reserved overnights for both Thursday and Friday…will I be with the same hosts/staying in the same rooms? And what do you do during an overnight?</p>
<p>One thing to make sure you do: Talk to lots of people, since any one perspective may be totally skewed.</p>
<p>I was recently accepted into both University of Chicago and Michigan. I plan to major in finance. Which of the two is better? UChicago is rather grade deflated compared to Michigan so I worry a little bit about exit options. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>bradgenes,</p>
<p>If you want to major in finance and are concerned about maximizing your objective GPA score, definitely go to Michigan. It doesn’t sound like UChicago is your kind of place and you’d probably be miserable there, especially considering that UChicago doesn’t even offer a finance major.</p>
<p>How much of a problem would drinking/smoking be at an overnight if you do a bit, but not anywhere near getting drunk or blazing?</p>
<p>I personally am extremely against alcohol and drugs; but I’m wondering in the sense that if the university doesn’t seem to care about its students drinking or smoking…would it really lead to getting acceptance rescinded if a prospie did just a little bit, but nowhere near dangerous levels? Seems hypocritical/counterproductive.</p>
<p>Obviously the University would only know about your drug or alcohol use if you were hospitalized because of it or if you got arrested for doing something seriously objectionable in public. It’s not likely that you’d get busted for it, but it has happened before and it has endangered the acceptances of some prospies. That’s just something to keep in mind if you’re going to the overnight with the intention to party.</p>
<p>(By the way, it’s not that the University doesn’t care about the students’ smoking or drinking. The UCPD and resident heads turn a blind eye to drinking behind the closed door of a dorm room, but in public places it’s not allowed if you’re underage because it is still, in fact, illegal. Although you can usually get away with it, the University itself never permits the use of illegal drugs, even behind closed doors.)</p>
<p>I posted this question in another thread, but I’ll just put it here too:
Is the social atmosphere during the winter the same as during the spring? I do know some people who get slightly depressed/antisocial during winters, and was just wondering if that generally occurred at UChicago/would impact the “feel” of my visit.
Thanks :)</p>
<p>Is anyone here going to the April overnight? What exactly do you do at the admitted weekend thing in April? Would current students say the experience overall was worth it? The problem is, I’m not entirely sure what I’m looking for… I know every school has some element of “party-ness” to it, but I’d rather have less than more. I never really considered staying in a dorm until I got into UChicago… Idk, will the April overnight for admitted students be worth it? I think that’s what I’m getting at…</p>
<p>@thepseudoindie : The season shouldn’t make any noticeable difference. We are Chicagoans. We are used to the cold. Students will do different things with their free time depending on the season, but that’s a given.</p>
<p>@mam1298 : I’m sort of confused by your post; it’s a bit rambling. You want to know if the overnight will be “worth it”, but then mention something about parties. Let me touch on a couple things:</p>
<p>“Would current students say the experience overall was worth it?”
If you want to come a bit closer to understanding what going to UChicago is like, there is no alternative to the overnight. Visits and tours can only tell you so much, you know? (I should include the obvious caveat: your experience at the overnight should be taken with a grain of salt the size of the moon.) If you’re deciding between UChicago and another school, and it’s going to come down to fit, then the overnight comes very highly recommended. If your college choice will come down to finances, or if you’re set on Chicago anyway, don’t feel like you have to go.</p>
<p>“The problem is, I’m not entirely sure what I’m looking for… I know every school has some element of “party-ness” to it, but I’d rather have less than more.”</p>
<p>Every student has his own preference, but if you don’t want to party you don’t have to. I’ve never partied and am perfectly fine here socially.</p>
<p>“I never really considered staying in a dorm until I got into UChicago.”</p>
<p>You do know that participating in the house system is required for your first year, right? And you do want to be in a house for your first year or two, trust me.</p>
<p>I don’t know what you want from the overnight, so I can’t really determine if it’ll be “worth it” for you. PM me if you have any specific questions for me.</p>
<p>Yeah, I realize my post was a bit jumbled and I was just going off on some tangent. That’s kinda how I feel about college right now. If I do attend UChicago, I will have to stay in a dorm all four years, which is fine. Your post, however, was helpful, and I thank you, @OxalisWombo</p>