<p>Is the workload at Chicago even more challenging than other comparable top schools (Northwestern, Brown, Cornell, Stanford etc.)?</p>
<p>For some reason, I get the sense that the first year Core would require even more studying than at similar schools, maybe because of the bad social life reputation. I know it depends on the major (I was accepted EA and I applied for Econ).</p>
<p>Could anyone give me an insight on how much they study compared to friends in comparable schools? More? About the same? Less? </p>
<p>Hmm, I really can’t compare to other schools, since I’ve only ever attended UofC. But I can tell you that the workload is entirely manageable; I took 4 this first quarter, consisting of Hum, Sosc, Calc, and Arabic. In addition, I’m involved in Model UN and a couple other RSOs, as well as playing a sport. It’s certainly challenging, but not so much that I don’t have a social life; most of the students here do, and those who don’t have one do so because of their choice. Rest assured, fun does not die here, it simply takes on many varied forms.</p>
<p>I’ve actually seen a wide range of workloads among my friends. Some of them study all day every day, and the only times I see them are when they come out of their rooms to make tea so they can stay up late and study. There are others who party four nights a week, and are content with whatever work they happen to get done in between. It also varies by week. During a week a midterm and a paper, I worked more and socialized less. But the plus side of having an insane week is that the one that follows is relatively stress-free.</p>
<p>The workload you have really depends on how you manage your time. I’d recommend taking four classes the first quarter, since it sets you up well for fun electives later, and it forces you to actually get your work done. That way, you don’t have time to procrastinate.</p>
<p>I was really worried about the workload going in, but I don’t feel as though I’ve really worked that hard. I had at least a few hours each day to devote completely to socializing, and I even managed to go out to dinner on the north side during finals week the day before I had three papers due. People will complain about the workload, but unless they’re taking a bunch of honors courses, they’re exaggerating.</p>
<p>This has been said before, but “bad” is in the eye of the beholder.</p>
<p>If you are looking for frat party blow-outs four times a week, then yes, Chicago has a miserable social scene. </p>
<p>If you are looking for something laid-back, toned down, big parties from time to time, smaller parties in between, some just hanging out, then Chicago can be excellent. </p>
<p>And as had been said before, the work will expand or collapse based on your needs/desires. </p>
<p>Am I the hardest working of all my friends from high school who attend different colleges? Hardly. One of my good friends gets 4-5 hours of sleep a night because he’s so involved with work and with other things-- he’s at a non top 50. Another one of my friends is a triple major at a top 30, and another loaded on credit hours at a school with a party reputation. My grad school friends sometimes brag that they took a harder class in undergrad or were assigned more papers and longer papers in undergrad, and they went to schools that don’t have Chicago’s reputation.</p>
<p>tl;dr – there’s a lot of overlap in academic rigor/workload among colleges and universities in the United States. You just have to sign up for it. Many Chicago kids do.</p>
<p>agree with above poster. this is the case with many college students, but obviously if you procrastinate your work it’s going to seem tough. just manage your time well, and the course load is nothing to sweat.</p>
<p>I find the work to be more difficult both quality and quantity-wise than high school but I have way more time to complete it in. In high school I was always pulling all-nighters and here at UChicago the only all-nighters I’ve pulled are voluntary ;)</p>
<p>Also, the class that I had the most work in (Chinese Drama) was also the class I enjoyed the most. So just because the class incorporates a lot of work doesn’t mean you will resent that work…</p>
<p>Yeah, it’s more of a personal opinion I’ve formed based on anecdotal evidence I’ve seen from my area(s) of specialty. Not intended to be a factual, evidence-based assertion.</p>
<p>It’s extremely manageable, there isnt any grade deflation either, grading is very fair. I have time to go downtown once or twice a week and to socialize a lot. Don’t do a major just because you think it will help you get a good job. If you dont enjoy something then it will be harder for you to so well in it.</p>
<p>(1) what classes you take. You want math honors analysis? You’re gonna work your b**t off. You want to take a language you’ve never taken before? It will be fun but also challenging. Honors OChem? Okaaaay.</p>
<p>(2) What kind of grades do you expect? Graduating with honors is pretty easy - in June 08, 2/3 of the graduates had honors (I counted during that long period when they read off every name…). You want a 3.5 GPA because you’re premed or prelaw? Maybe you’re going to work harder. You want a 3.7 because you’re thinking PBK (top 10% or so) or want to be an i-banker (are any left?) or McKinsey consultant? Plan your free time accordingly.</p>
<p>In other words, as others have said, it is really up to you. Consider too, that outside med and law school, post grad education does not care all that much about overall GPA. More on this another time if anyone cares.</p>
<p>2 weeks ago, I would’ve told you that Chicago had one of the toughest grading policies in the states. I was by far the most active student in Hum class and I was expecting a B+ at best, I had a 60% average on my math HW and knew that meant an automatic 12 point deduction from my quarterly average. However, now that I actually got my grades (which were above what i expected), I know for sure that grade inflation actually exists at Uchicago. I’d say its probably still about 1/3 of a letter grade (ex. A- instead of A, B+ instead of A-) less compared to the top ivies (based on communication with my friends who go there). But considering the minimal amount of time I put into school work (Only 5 hours for every paper in a class i got an A in), so much of the grade is up to you. I still think a 4.0 is unreachable at Uchicago but a 3.8 or 3.9 now looks like it’s definitely manageable if you pick the right courses and get easier professors.</p>
<p>I agree that some weird things happen on grades. I feel that the grading is generally fair. I got a wonky low grade on one of my five papers this quarter, but I deserved all the other grades I got. There was one grade for an unnamed class where I got a grade so high that I don’t even think it was possible. Generally, you’ll get out of it what you put into it.</p>
<p>S1 directly compared his coursework in Mandarin with that of a friend taking similar courses at Stanford. Chicago did require more work and moved much faster. It is not only the amount of work, i.e. reading, problem sets, etc., but what is expected to do with what is read that S1 maintains was different from his course work at Harvard for a term.</p>
<p>It’s very easy to get and maintain a good GPA during your first year. GPA tends to drop rapidly during the 2nd and 3rd years. Other tough schools, such as MIT, have the first year pass-fail. Chicago, as compensation, has Core courses in which one may easily obtain a fairly good grade (although these classes are still appropriately difficult and effective, in my opinion).</p>
<p>Whether or not it is harder to get better grades is a more difficult question, but I’m fairly certain that in many subjects, Chicago’s workload is just more rigorous. For instance, Berkeley’s and Columbia’s Japanese programs are posted online, and I’ve had a chance to compare them to Chicago’s program. What Berkeley and Columbia were covering in 4th and 5th year Japanese, Chicago had already covered by 3rd year. In addition, from the overall quality of student work, the writing ability of the top 50% of Chicago’s 3rd year Japanese class is MUCH, MUCH more advanced than the top 50% of Columbia’s 5th year Japanese class, based on the class essays of Columbia’s 5th year, as posted on their website.</p>
<p>As I said earlier, it largely depends on the field of study, but from what I’ve seen in my two areas of specialty (East Asian studies and mathematics, in particular), Chicago’s courseload tends to be much harder than its peers at the upper levels of instruction. At lower levels, it tends to be about the same as its Ivy League peers, maybe slightly harder.</p>
But I can tell you that the workload is entirely manageable; I took 4 this first quarter, consisting of Hum, Sosc, Calc, and Arabic. In addition, I’m involved in Model UN and a couple other RSOs, as well as playing a sport. It’s certainly challenging, but not so much that I don’t have a social life; most of the students here do, and those who don’t have one do so because of their choice. Rest assured, fun does not die here, it simply takes on many varied forms.</p>