<p>chicago probably offers one of the best (if not the best) undergraduate educations in the world. it has a great medical school (important for me), great research opportunities, incredible facilities and famous, caring faculty. </p>
<p>but i cant help but be off put by the social life, and i hope im not the only one. when the jokes are, "where fun goes to die" and "the tests have more curves than the girls", i think its natural to have some hesitation. </p>
<p>i havent visited yet, and i feel like a visit will help either confirm or alleviate my fears, but i was hoping some current students or prospective students who know about the school could help me out? im not looking to go to raves every night, black out and wake up in wrigley field. but im hoping there are times where people get laid back, drink, and do stupid ***** (cause were kids and we need to do that sometimes).</p>
<p>All are perfectly valid questions (though your mentioning of the Medical School really has nothing to do with UChicago’s Undergrad programs). I’m an admitted student (EA), but have also grown up near UChicago’s campus and have many friends who attend UChicago themselves. From my perspective at least, it seems that UChicago is, as time goes by, shedding its “where fun comes to die” image. Certainly there are people who will choose to spend most of their time studying and working. But, just at other colleges, there are people who will go out and have fun as well. Personally, I know that there are frat parties every weekend (and you don’t have to be in a frat to go) and most likely some during the week as well. </p>
<p>I would certainly suggest you come to visit during Admit Weekend and possibly stay the night in a dorm because you’ll have a better sense of what the other kids are like over here and also a better idea of the social scene. I think, in the end, it really comes down to who you choose to become friends with and who you hang out with. Like any college, there are plenty of options at UChicago.</p>
<p>No one actually thinks that UChicago is “where fun goes to die”, it’s just a really successful t-shirt fundraiser. It is true, though, that many students there find self-deprecation funny / worthwhile to wear as a t-shirt.</p>
<p>I mean, it’s a college… if you take a few thousand 18-22 year olds and stick them together, would you really expect people to just not interact with each other? And when you give them access to a liquor store two blocks from campus, of course drinking will happen… :P</p>
<p>Hey, I’m in the exact same boat. I visited and ended up going to a big frat party with my hosts last night. I wouldn’t worry at all watson, if you want to have the option of partying or hanging out and doing stuff like that, you will have that option.</p>
<p>thanks franstar… that actually helps a lot @haridam yeah ill be visiting on one of the overnights, hopefully ill get a good sense of what its like then</p>
<p>Watson, when I went on an overnight I was really lucky. I got sweet roommates that showed me around everywhere and took me to a bunch of cool things (super fun frat party). They basically all had the same social mentality that I do. If you don’t get a good roommate, however, don’t worry. I saw some people who had roommates that I wouldn’t have been as comfortable with. The overnight visit was super informative and for me it certainly solidified my love of UChicago. Just know that once you get there all of the things you want to do will be available for you. I mean hey, we sound pretty similar as far as our interests are concerned (Medical school and Research) and I can certainly see myself at UChicago. So while you should definitely try and get a better view of the university yourself, I would keep in the back of your mind that your experience while there is highly variable, and dependent on what YOU want to do.</p>
<p>Current student here; honestly, you have nothing to worry about. While the school is certainly quieter then most other colleges, there’s large open frat parties almost every Friday and Saturday, plus smaller frat events on Thursday. If you prefer smaller settings and are suitably well connected, a wide range of apartment and RSO functions run all week long. In my dorm, a survey I did revealed approximately 82% of first years drink, while 50% use other mind-altering substances. While that’s on the heavier side, by no means are those figures outliers: if you want to experience a healthy, party-oriented social life, it’s certainly available. From visiting my friends at a range of other schools, from ivies to big state universities, it seems that the only major difference is that those places have more parties during the weekday, and their parties are far more likely to be closed (I.E. limited to a guest list). Drinking on a Monday night is hardly a smart idea anyway, however, and it’s a pain to either cross-dress or befriend large numbers of frat brothers to get on guest lists, so I don’t think not having either of those features really impedes the social life here.</p>
<p>Please allow me to give you the balanced perspective that no one else on this forum is probably going to give you.</p>
<p>The social scene here is decidedly LACKING, if you have any real context.
Yes, there are “frat” “parties” (the quotation marks speak for themselves). If you have ever been to a real party, they will disappoint you. Because most students here were kind of losers in high school, their standards have been set pretty low though.
It’s basically the same people that go to every frat party.
Bar night (wednesday nights) has a better mix of people and is on the hipster side, and that can be fun sometimes. I’m pretty sure I’ve never actually been to a decent party at this school – but hey, ignorance is bliss in this case. As long as it’s all you’ve been exposed to you’ll probably think it’s all right.</p>
<p>Essentially never. There are some groups of depaul (and possibly loyola) students whom I used to see visiting at parties, but it’s been a while.</p>
<p>I agree that I wouldn’t hype up the frat parties too much (I got bored of them quickly), but if you’re looking for “times where people get laid back, drink, and do stupid *****” I doubt anyone would disagree that that totally happens.</p>