Will I fit in?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

<p>I am sure this rather silly topic has been discussed ad nauseum, but it's important to me.</p>

<p>I should be writing my final paper on Buber and his "I-Thou" relationship (yes, final paper -- we end early here), but caffeine can only hold my concentration level for so long during the middle of the day. The truth is that I was recently accepted as a transfer student to the University of Chicago and I find myself alternating between being ecstatic about heading to Hyde Park and simply being relieved at the thought of leaving my current situation. But at the crux of it all, I see no university more befitting my natural disposition than the U of C. I would pick the University of Chicago over College X and University Y, ceteris paribus.</p>

<p>I currently attend a Top 20 school that is, in sum, the very opposite of UChicago: it is the yin to Chicago's yang, in a manner of speaking. The students here party in the Greek system too much, but care about the world at-large too little. They drink a lot, but don't engage intellectually enough. I remember telling some of my closest buds about my naive college fantasy of staying up with friends until the wee hours of the morning talking about Foucault and insanity or Hume and primary propensities while our plans for the evening are absentmindedly digested and proverbially pushed to the wayside to make room for genuine conversation. After a year of being starved of this fanciful ambition, I am convinced I will find it at Chicago (and, to some extent, I have transiently tasted it during my brief visit last year). I see nothing wrong with the social scene; I have no problem with the Core. I love the humanities, specifically literature and modern philosophy. I've always looked at myself as an individual who never really belonged to a structured demographic whether it be a certain social clique or a specific religious adherence. I guess that's why I love the whole notion of the "life of the mind"; I feel that it's through academia and the pursuit of knowledge that I really derive meaning for my life. In so many ways, I am drawn to this University and to the city of Chicago. </p>

<p>I concede that in the grand scheme of things my qualms are a bit superficial and incongruous with the U of C mentality, but these concerns of mine persist nonetheless. My biggest worry, of course, is that I am too normal. It seems as if U of C students enjoy studying absolutely everything and could care less about practical money-making endeavors (see: investment banking) as eventual careers. I am sure that it's a gross generalization, but if it's true, I am the anomaly. To put it bluntly, I have no interest whatsoever in the hard sciences. I did well in my past science courses, but it simply does not appeal to me and I will (perhaps blasphemously) admit that I would not lose a moment's sleep if I did not have to take another science course again. In short, I don't enjoy studying absolutely everything. My second concern is probably the biggest one. I know that I want to do investment banking; I've worked very hard this year to secure a great bulge bracket investment banking gig and I'm excited to start this summer. However, I now realize that my "pre-professional" desire is perfidious to my academic and intellectual inclinations! The horror. I guess my question is this: are there students like me who have a deeply rooted curiosity for intellectual growth as well as a well-defined vocational (for lack of a better word) outlook on education? Surely these two aren't contradictory and mutually exclusive, are they?</p>

<p>Please keep in mind that I am a transfer student, so the notion of "fit" is exceedingly significant to me. My heart is 100% sure I'd be happy here; my mind is about 83%. I eagerly await your responses that will indubitably champion the mind so that it does not lag.</p>

<p>Any advice and thoughts from the usual suspects (unalove, uchicagoalum, etc.) as well as other UChicago students are welcome.</p>

2

<p>Go forth and transfer! You will certainly find plenty of heady yet professional types around. And no, you don’t have to like everything academically, so long as you are willing to get through. Personally, I felt I had beaten biology with a stick with a 7 on the IB higher level examination and a 5 on the AP, and hence was really turned off to the biotopical requirement. The key to the quality of life element you are seeking will be to get into an upper class dorm that is known to have a more intellectual bent. I think BJ is the best insofar as you can linger as the house tables longer by virtue of the proximity to your study space. </p>

<p>Congratulations on the BB landing; you are pretty much a lock to continue on to high finance out the door.</p>

3

<p>You'll be fine. There are a lot of pre-professional students here as well as a pretty large population of finance-hopefuls. The issue is when a student who looks at Chicago is primarily interested because the econ program is so highly regarded and is primarily turned off by the hard grading. </p>

<p>There are certain dorms which hold a lot of transfer students, but I do know transfers who have lived in other houses on campus. Depending on what you're looking for, you may want to see whether you can get into a dorm that holds both underclassmen and upperclassmen. Then you'll be sharing space with lots of students taking core classes for the first time like you will be, which will likely lead to more intellectual discourse and discussion outside of class hours.</p>

<p>Congratulations on your acceptance and your summer job.</p>

4

<p>Shoot me a PM, I transfered here last year and would consider myself someone who thinks like you to an extent.</p>

<p>There are PLENTY of students like yourself who dream of working a 100 hours a week and have exciting intellectual interests. 2 weeks ago, when Training the Street came, there was a room full of about 150 of them.</p>

<p>Go ahead and transfer, you won't regret it.</p>

5

<p>Give me a break. Given that you could write what you wrote above, if you have to worry about something you should worry about whether you are going to feel comfortable at an investment bank. You will fit in fine at Chicago. Smart, intellectual people like to have interesting, well-paid jobs, too.</p>

<p>(You will probably do fine at an investment bank, too. Just as there are people with practical ambitions at Chicago, investment banks are full of closet intellectuals.)</p>

6

<p>Thanks for all the replies. Any other words are appreciated.</p>

7

<p>
[quote]

writing my final paper on Buber and his "I-Thou" relationship

[/quote]

[quote]
But at the crux of it all,

[/quote]

[quote]
befitting my natural disposition

[/quote]

[quote]
ceteris paribus.

[/quote]

[quote]
my naive college fantasy of staying up with friends until the wee hours of the morning talking about Foucault and insanity or Hume and primary propensities while our plans for the evening are absentmindedly digested and proverbially pushed to the wayside to make room for genuine conversation

[/quote]

[quote]
perfidious

[/quote]
</p>

<ol>
<li>i think you will fit in. </li>
<li>your post was fun to read aloud in a british accent and i believe you might be from the victorian era </li>
<li>your worries of being "too normal" are irrelevant because you are quite far from "normal"; do you really think that we skip parties to talk about Hume? i mean, this is not dead poets society. most of us are just having a fun time before the inevitable business/law/med/finance turn</li>
</ol>

8

<p>
[quote]
2. your post was fun to read aloud in a british accent and i believe you might be from the victorian era

[/quote]

haha that's great</p>

9

<p>Hah, I'm a bit more colloquial than this with my conversational rhetoric and day-to-day exchanges. I suppose the above post was more of a bullpen session for my brain prior to undertaking the paper than anything else. </p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

10

<p>I think we carry the "normal" front pretty well. Most people here don't really stand out for being deviant from society, though I do notice a lot of tortoise-shell, oversized glasses and a lot of smokers gathering right outside of Cobb before and after classes to gossip (before class) and to talk about what went on in class (after class). My friends and I call them "The Cool Kids of Cobb High" in the sense that many of them are nonconformists in an extremely conformist, Urban Outfitters/ American Apparel kind of way. And we also have some frat boys and sorority girls. I don't think I need to explain how they might be considered "normal."</p>

<p>(For the record, I adore many of the Cool Kids, frat boys, and sorority girls, but I do like to poke fun of them, in at least explaining that the cross-section of students that go to the U of C tends to mirror some of the cross-sections you're already familiar with).</p>

<p>I think you'll also find that these "normal" kids invest a lot of time, thought, and energy into what they are doing in the classroom and will talk about what they are doing in the classroom outside of the classroom, or will talk about what they are doing outside the classroom in the classroom, or will even sometimes talk about what they are doing in another classroom in the classroom.</p>

11

<p>omg wat a sexi post</p>

12

<p>No worries! You will fit fine :D
btw, I enjoyed reading your post. i hope i could write like you, since i'm a horrible writer..</p>

13

<p>You sound like a perfect candidate for Chicago. Btw on the more mundane job front, I happen to work in your intended profession; one of my Chicago classmates is the co-president of Goldman Sachs, another is a very senior partner there and a third runs Credit Suisse. Being close to the world's top rated b-school does not hurt either.</p>

14

<p>Ha -- At Harvard Law School, Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, was in my class and section. I actually knew him quite well back then. Nice guy, but I don't think it ever crossed anyone's mind that out of everyone in that class, he'd be the one who'd end up making $50 million per year!</p>

<p>By the way, my son, who starts as a freshman at the U. of C. this fall, may have no interest in an investment banking career, but he is very much a humanities/social sciences person who would happily sit around talking about literature and history and art all day and night, and also has no interest in the hard sciences. I suspect that he will fit in quite well, and I am sure you will too.</p>

15

<p>haha. i'm an incoming freshman and I must say you sound very much like me(though i doubt I could write as well as you). I'm glad there will be people like you at Uchicago.</p>

16

<p>Judging by the recruiting of UofC grads by IBs, top consulting firms and such, and by internship success, there are quite a few UofC undergrads interested in same, and having financially rewarding careers. </p>

<p>Too bad my D is not one of them. She turned down an internship (18K for the summer!) at a top consulting firm to do nothing this summer....</p>