The University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is really a fantastic place to receive an education, strong in several departments including the arts and humanities, social sciences, and sciences and mathematics.

The coursework teaches you how to read and write very well and emphasizing thinking and the big picture while you learn the details. The core curriculum is not nearly as bad as one may perceive it to be as it can be easily finished in the first year / nor is it much of a GPA depressor.

Lots of activities to go to during the weekend, especially performing arts events + the city of Chicago is majestic with an eerily on-time, extensive transportation. Moreover, faculty is unmatched + there are plentiful of student resources available, buildings are awesome, a private U of C police department to ensure safety.

2nd Year Male -- Class 2011

Education Quality: A+, Social Life: B

So there are two main parts to your COLLEGE EXPERIENCE, right? Academic and Social (of course the two are never completely separate). Anyway, I think UChicago's Academic reputation is not that disputed. It's a ton of work, but it's worth it: you are surrounded by very intelligent people and thus a high level of performance is expected of you.

People make the "but all the theoretical stuff I learned didn't help me out, it was a waste of time and money" argument, though. I can't say anything conclusive about that, personally, since I haven't graduated. But I think that's one of those things where it is pretty obvious that you are not learning the most practical things here, so if you are not into that don't go. But don't whine about it having known this and still choosing to attend.

So, in lieu of this, I'll focus on the SOCIAL ASPECT, since this is up for much more debate.
I guess there are a lot of people who will tell you about all the "wonderful" opportunities hyde park/chicago/the university offers you in terms of activities, like scav hunt, or various clubs. People will tell you how it's cool that you can go downtown and see a play, or whatever.

I don't know about any of that stuff. What I do know, however, is that UChicago has been incredibly fun so far. And not because of dorm life, or even so much because of Greek life (even though the occasional frat party is always fun), or even because it's "enjoyable" to sit inside and just talk with people and discuss politics or whatever.

This place is fun because on the weekends you can go to the most absurdly awesome parties and go to them with some of the smartest people you've ever met. And then, during the week, you just study as much as you can and try and cope with the workload.

I'm convinced that people who say that they had no fun whatsoever and that no one was cool or interesting was, and this might sound a bit harsh, just not COMMITTED to FUN. Fun won't seek you out. There are a lot of un-fun kids here, and that's great for them that they like to study (seriously) but if you want to have fun you have to really go for it.And don't worry that the "fun" you will find will be either Greek Fun (which is still fun, sometimes) or dormlife "let's watch anime and talk to only the people on our floor and maybe throw parties sometimes" fun (which I, at least, never find fun). There are people who really like to work hard and play hard, and can maintain extensive probably not so healthy habits of all sorts and have a higher GPA and more academic renown than you ever thought possible.

1st Year Male -- Class 2011

Campus Aesthetics: A+, Innovation: F

The U of C was absolutely the best possible place I could have gone for my undergrad education. I may not have been trained specifically for a particular job track, but I learned how to think, a less common skill than one might hope. In other words, my education involved working my a** off to produce papers and discussions that were carefully constructed and contained important, original thoughts. Not that I always succeeded, but the process gave me the ability to look at any problem and take it apart into components and then figure out a solution. It doesn't matter what field I've gone into, those skills sell.

Socially, the U of C is not the place to go if your dream in life is to be a sorority sister/frat brother at a campus with a bustling greek life and sports culture. There is however lots of drinking, so hey, if that's your bag you'll be fine. For people whose idea of a good time is more along the lines of:

-heated discussions about just about everything under the sun (including the 80 aesthetically pleasing ways to tie a tie)

-something wonderful called Scav Hunt, in which people spend 4 days not sleeping and constructing things like a breeder reactor (really) or acquiring a (real) passport with entry stamps from all of the countries in the Axis of Evil

-Giordano's pizza, drink of choice and good anime
-wandering around Chicago to such places as Too Much Light, the Music Box for movies, Shiroi Hana, Belmont in general...

-Doc Films. Enough said.
...and the list goes on. The point being, if you want to have fun, you can, it's just the intense cerebral form of fun enjoyed by a bunch of smart people constantly under pressure to perform at high levels.The best part of Chicago is the personal satisfaction that comes at the end when you sit at graduation looking at the first and second year ushers and thinking, "Ha. I made it." Then, when you run into the occasional person who knows where the U of C is and is impressed, it's like being part of a highly elite club. After all, everyone and their dog knows Harvard, but you can tell the really interesting people by the fact they're impressed at your Chicago degree. Seriously.

Alumnus Male -- Class 2000