<p>I think it would be kind of cool to see why peple are interested in Chicago. Maybe a post of our why Chicago essays? Yeh?</p>
<p>Okay, I'll go first. But if I'm the only one, I'm going to feel awkward.</p>
<p>They have the time, the time of their life
I saw a man who danced with his wife
In Chicago ... Chicago ... Chicago, Chicago
Free and easy town, brassy, breezy town
Chicago, “The Joker is Wild”</p>
<p>Let that wind blow left and right, through maple leaves and drying laundry. If I stand correct, it has a smell to clear. The name Chicago derives from the Native American word Eschicagou which means either “skunk” or “smelly onions” and so the people of Chicago cry “Bring on the draft and gale!,” “Hopi, let me hear your aeolian song! (for you poets and artists),” and “Where’s my Febreeze?” Does not the smell of onions and skunks persist long after the original blow and permeate its victims through and through? There is Wrigley Field in the north, Little Italy in the west, and the University of Chicago in Hyde Park in the south. Yes, there is something in the atmosphere of the University of Chicago- the smell of green and budding ideas sprouting from knowledge and the love and excitement of learning- the scent of Crescat scientia; vita excolatur. I have learned for learning’s sake and played for fun’s sake. And I have seen the two merge into red passion. As curiosity and love takes its natural undaunted course, these interests will grow fearlessly and energetically, widening the scope of my understanding and knowledge. Having been fed, it will continuously spread into uncrossed regions and pose unfounded and founded questions from which yet more questions shall stem. Answers will need to be given and perhaps challenged. Possibly a student from the University of Chicago will frown a bit, rub his temples thoughtfully, face the questioner, and supply a new perspective, sparking a night-long discussion filled with cafe mocha, talks of divided government, the etymology of the English language, and, of course, the cultural influences on the Civil War. It is because of this intellectualism that I fell madly and incurably in love with the University of Chicago. And how could I not? Its academic ethos, scavenger-hunt tradition, neo Gothic and grotesquely wonderful gargoyles, and, especially, its high value in education astounded me with the feeling that I belonged and that it was there for students like me. Andrew Abbott said “There are no aims of education. The aim is education. If—and only if—you seek it…education will find you. Welcome to the University of Chicago." Ah, as it has always been, it is there—to education—that I travel. It is there that I shall run after. It is there where I shall grow. The growth will not be only in mind but in spirit, understanding, and skills. After realizing how much this philosophy enveloped my thought, I searched every nook and cranny for more information, eager for a piece of mail telling me more about the University. Emails, letters, and guides informing me about the nationally ranked political science department, the two different curriculums for chemistry majors, and the riches of resources and life in the city of Chicago itself left me breathless and giddy. This haven for minds thirsting to know seemed too good to be true. I dreamily imagined potential future classmates with whom I might have the opportunity to learn with and from, a wild array of stimulating yet demanding classes and lectures to attend (where I shall toss my head in euphoric misery), and the benefit of working with others whose common love for learning is massively encouraged. All the things I love about Chicago can be summarized in a single word- home. It is where students, all guided by the supreme principle that the goal is education, are united to share in the electricity of intellectualism and ideas present in every mind, word, and air particle of the University. It is where this flow of energy reigns over the atmosphere challenging every thought and enriching every intellect. Nay, ‘tis no odor of smelly onions that drift through these woods but, in truth, green ideas and vibrant passion that spread in multitude. And I will sing “Blow, wind, blow with fierce and might to coffee shops and crowded bus stops.”</p>
<p>Here's Mine </p>
<p>Skimming through what seemed like a riptide of college brochures and letters, one crest, one name always sparked my attention: The University of Chicago. By attending, not only would I spend four years living in my favorite city, I would spend them at a truly world-class institution. </p>
<p>I hope to work internationally, in either diplomacy or journalism. Chicago?s International Studies program, along with its French program, gives me the opportunity to follow my interests leading to the discovery of my ideal life after convocation. Other options, like study abroad, FLAG-supported summer language programs, and studying at the Paris center, place me in the middle of cities around the world, truly immersing my body and mind in other cultures. </p>
<p>Personally and academically, I love a challenge. Chicago?s ten-week courses will supply just that. I will be able to dive in and immerse myself into my classes, studying hard, thinking critically and finding meaning in the material. The application process itself has been a tricky slope and, I feel that I have successfully accomplished the challenge of the ?Uncommon Application.? Life at the University of Chicago will allow me to receive an extraordinary education, to pursue my goals, and to grow into the person that I am destined to be.</p>
<p>I also want to be a journalist, and I've been struggling to choose between Medill (Northwestern) and Chicago. Did you know NYTimes op-ed columnist David Brooks attended Chicago?</p>
<p>I'm interested because of Chicago's awesome math department.</p>
<p>Chicago has no journalism school, if you didn't know. You can certainly get an English degree and then get a job with a publication or go to grad school for a journalism degree.</p>
<p>oooo I love david brooks!! well, i'm sure you can get a job at the NYT from Chicago if you want. Brooks isn't necessarily a journalist</p>
<p>(to the tune of Kokomo - Beach Boys)</p>
<p>A maroon maybe soon, I hope to learn
From the Core, and there’s more that’ll be in store
Embryo, I will grow, soothe my need to know
Maybe soon</p>
<p>Where does fun go to die?
It’s a place called U Chicago
That’s where I wanna go to get into it all</p>
<p>There’s more classes done
Benefits of the quarters system
While educators teach
To the beat of a different drum
‘Cause its U Chicago </p>
<p>A maroon maybe soon, I hope to learn
From the Core, and there’s more that’ll be in store
Embryo, I will grow, soothe my need to know</p>
<p>Ooo Up at the U of Chicago
Where people care
Not grades but what they know
‘Cause their future will show
Skills from U Chicago</p>
<p>Thoughts will unbind, that life of the mind</p>
<p>Hyde Park is pretty
And students and staff are witty
Rockefeller, founding feller, adds to the history</p>
<p>With the Mathematics -
Friedman School of economics,
Intellectualism
Of the premium academics
Up in U Chicago</p>
<p>A maroon maybe soon, I hope to learn
From the Core, and there’s more that’ll be in store
Embryo, I will grow, soothe my need to know
Ooo I wanna go down to U Chicago</p>
<p>Weather is great
Cause lots of bugs don’t grow
And there’s no Ocean to go
Heavenly U Chicago</p>
<p>Gravity of the Windy City</p>
<p>Everybody knows
At a place like U Chicago
Now, if you want to go
And study, well, anything
Go up to U Chicago</p>
<p>A maroon maybe soon, I hope to learn
From the Core, and there’s more that’ll be in store
Embryo, I will grow, soothe my need to know</p>
<p>Ooo someone take to up to U Chicago
With all smart kids
This beach boy knows
Exactly where he wants to go
It’s U of Chicago</p>
<p>Hahaha I like it Mike.</p>
<p>naturefreak, that essay is incredibly strong. i loved it and if i was an adcom and your essay was the first piece of your application i read, i would admit you automatically haha (i'm sure you probably have good stats anyway)</p>
<p>Mine is really short compared to the ones posted here. I guess I took the "one or two paragraphs" guideline to heart... hopefully that doesn't hurt me too much.
[quote]
I have an almost childish desire to become an educated person, and by that I don’t mean “someone with a university degree,” but the kind of person who can speak with authority on subjects from science to politics, quoting classic literature off the cuff, entertaining at parties with firework displays of razor wit and dazzling repartee. Maybe I read too many novels, picking up ideals as I go, but I don’t want to be a modern-day Madame Bovary. My other fantasies are much less romanticized: sitting up late drinking tea and discussing tonight’s reading, working alongside a renowned professor in a chemistry lab, passionately debating economic theory in class with people who’ve actually read the books they’re referencing (and not the SparkNotes), bundling up in coats and scarves to go out in the snow, studying in coffeeshops all afternoon and being interrupted by someone who’s just as absurdly captivated by the material as I am, or even going on the most ridiculously (brilliantly) convoluted scavenger hunt ever conceived.
[/quote]
And the last sentence was nauseatingly cliche, so I'm not going to post it, but you get the gist of it.</p>
<p>Before entering high school, I had grown up with the disheartening belief that my love of learning could not be satisfied in the traditional school setting. For me, it felt like history classes merely consisted of a pure memorization of facts, math classes were centered on a direct regurgitation of formulas, humanities classes repeatedly stressed the mechanical 5-paragraph essay, and science classes revisited the fundamental makeup of an atom again year after year. The lack of passion displayed by my instructors when teaching their subject of ?expertise?, the lack of an analysis and application of ideas present in all components of my public school?s curriculum, and the lack of genuine intellectual engagement among my peers in every classroom made me truly wonder if my daily bus ride to school was an exercise in futility. </p>
<p>Thus, crestfallen but optimistic, I advanced on to high school where my patience was immediately rewarded. I discovered a counseling department that was willing to cope with my individual academic needs and help me find and enroll in courses in which a teacher?s obsession with lecturing would be exceeded only by his or her student?s enthusiasm for learning. The tightly-knit community of AP students and teachers that I have had the opportunity to interact with throughout high school translates over to my college search and my belief that the University of Chicago is an ideal fit for me.</p>
<p>I long to go to a school which will give me the tools that I need to critically question and examine the world around me. I desire to attend an institution in which the professors are more than willing to let their students indulge in their lifelong love affair with their academic discipline of choice. I yearn for a university where intellectual discussions don?t die when class is dismissed, but are rather revitalized by students later in a dining hall or a coffee shop. I wish to experience the ?Life of the Mind? firsthand: the one-of-a-kind Core curriculum, the plethora of Noble Laureates, the interpersonal residential hall community, the watchful stone gargoyles, and of course the obligatory Scav Hunt. I would like to experience the best of both worlds-the educational and social perks of living in the shadow of a world-class city like Chicago as well as the added intimacy of being a part of a suburban community in Hyde Park that prides itself on carrying on the university?s spirit of discussion. I want to know when I eventually graduate from college, that those last four long, sleep-deprived years of my life were filled with a lifetime?s worth of truly unique memories and experiences that have shaped who I have become, both as a scholar and a person. </p>
<p>I want a University of Chicago education.</p>