RelaxedParent

Antonia, thanks for your help. If I may, I have another question. UChicago has invited my daughter for a campus organized visit, for dorm room overnight stay, class room visit (while it is session!), and other meetings. These organized meetings are Apr 16/17 and Apr 23/24. My question is whether it is worth participating in this organized session or is it just enough to schedule an ad-hoc over night stay and class room visit? Please provide your suggestion. Thanks.

monkeyjoint

Hi, I'm also a current student at Chicago and I just want to say congrats to everyone!

As for RelaxedParent's questions...

Indian dances: There is a registered student organization for both bhangra and raas. There are noncompetitive aspects and competitive teams within these organizations, depending on skill level (you have to try out for the competitive teams) and whether you want to travel to other colleges or perform just around Hyde Park. There's also the South Asian Student Association, which puts on an Indian cultural show each year and includes lots of dance performances.

As for the April overnights, I'd personally suggest your daughter to attend the college organized ones because there are additional benefits than just scheduling an ad-hoc visit. The April overnights are a great way to get prospective students acquainted to the campus because during these visits your daughter will meet potential future classmates. Furthermore, there's probably a better chance of interaction with current students since we're expecting hordes of prospies and will (hopefully) want to show the best side of ourselves. There's also additional information sessions scheduled during this time and (I think most importantly), a chance to explore the social scene on campus.

RelaxedParent

Thanks for your suggestions. By the way, your note "will (hopefully) want to show the best side of ourselves" is interesting! hmmm...Yes, my daughter is excited about UChicago.

JOKER23

Does UChicago do the same thing that harvard does, you know were they pay everything if your parents gain less than 60K

SoWhat?

Hi there.
When I go to a US University, I want the typical college experience- work hard/party hard. (Probably party harder…haha!)
Well, how do you like the parties at UChicago?
I heard and read (e.g. Princeton Review) some bad stuff about the UChicago Social Scene.
90%nerds and ultra competetive....
Is that true?

And how do you like Chicago? Is it a long way to the hot spots from UChicago and are there any buses or tubes that go there?(I certainly do not want to buy a car....)
I’m gonna be 21 when I start studying and I wonder if there are many students who are as old as I am? By the way..
Clubbing and drinking is prohibited under 21 in the US, right? So will my classmates have problems going out on the WE?


THX a lot, SoWhat

Me.Antonia

Hi there.
"When I go to a US University, I want the typical college experience- work hard/party hard. (Probably party harder…haha!)
Well, how do you like the parties at UChicago?
I heard and read (e.g. Princeton Review) some bad stuff about the UChicago Social Scene.
90%nerds and ultra competetive....
Is that true?"

--> To be honest, we may not party as hard as, say, some of the larger state universities. But here you can party as much or as little as you want. Some people party all the time, some never do. So while it's not a campus where everyone gets smashed every night, some people do (and some don't). We have a reputation for being very anti-social, but that's outdated and false . And it's not academically competitive--the person next to you in class will almost always be more interested in working together to understand the materials better rather than sabotaging your grade.

"And how do you like Chicago? Is it a long way to the hot spots from UChicago and are there any buses or tubes that go there?(I certainly do not want to buy a car....)
I’m gonna be 21 when I start studying and I wonder if there are many students who are as old as I am? By the way..
Clubbing and drinking is prohibited under 21 in the US, right? So will my classmates have problems going out on the WE?"

-->Chicago is a very fun city. Getting to downtown with public transport (buses, subway, trains) takes only 20-25 minutes; add 15 minutes or more to get to some of the other neighborhoods. But it's fairly simple to figure out how to get around, and there are lots of great places to go.
I think a fair number of the international students are a few years older than the average US students...several that I know are in the 20-22 range (and are first years); some US students are that age as well. So while most first years won't be as old as you, some will, and of course the upper year students will be close to your age (and it's common for people of different years to mix).
About the clubbing and drinking: Your classmates who are not 21 won't be able to go to bars or clubs, but on-campus parties happen all the time and they do not check ID so underage students who want to go out (mostly 1-2 years) will go out all the time on weekends, but mostly to on-campus events (frat parties, apartment parties, dorm-room parties, etc.) You'll still be able to party with them no problem. Just not at clubs in the city.

Me.Antonia

The financial aid office is a very mysterious place that no one understands. Your admissions counselor is a much better source on this one.

SoWhat?

THX Me.Antonia

Can you also tell me anything about greek life?(And I know literally NOTHING about it!)
Does UCHicago has a good public transportation system? (Running 24/7?)
I live in Hamburg right know, and people say, that Chicago is very similar to Hamburg.
(Weather sucks, friendly people, <3 electro music, never sleeps/partying until noon,)
Is that true?

monkeyjoint

Greek life: There are 3 sororities and 12 fraternities on campus, and around 15% of the student body is involved in Greek life. Basically, the frats are there if you want, but if you're not that kind of person, the most you'll see is a few people walking around with their Greek hoodies/bags/t-shirts. I'd say that there's a certain "theme" to most of the frats, and some frats have long-standing traditions (i.e. Alpha Delt has Bar Nights every Wednesday nights). If you're just looking to go to their parties, there's usually at least one big party at least one frat every weekend.

Transportation: The university has an EXCELLENT public transportation system (then again I'm from Michigan so anything is better than nothing). The University has a contract with the Chicago Transportation Authority to have two public bus routes servicing around the campus, which are free to university students. In addition, there are four shuttle routes that depart from the library to the different parts of campus late at night. Finally, there is also the Safe Ride van that will pick you up anywhere and drive you anywhere around Hyde Park for free. It operates from the evening to the wee early hours so you won't ever have to walk back to your dorm at 2am if you don't want to. As for getting into downtown, there's public transportation by bus, the "L," or a combination, and the Metra, which is a commuter train that runs by the lake and will drop you off at Millenium Station. Taxis cost around $20 to get from Hyde Park to downtown.

Meggs09

Does Competitiveness get too intense?

armistice

Are you the Antonia mentioned in a recent blog post (the one who won the Truman scholarship)?

Me.Antonia

Oh, goodness no. Antonia's actually my middle name. But I do know the one who got the Truman scholarship. She's an amazing person.

Me.Antonia

Q: Does the competitiveness get too intense?
A: I have always found the academic community to be very supportive. Students really aren't competitive about grades/grading on the curve, and genuinely want to help each other and collaborate and learn. My friend is in a rather large Chemistry lecture which is graded on the curve. There's one kid who consistently sets the curve in the class on every test. Instead of trying to keep it that way, he holds study sessions with any student in the class who is struggling, no matter whether or not it might have a detrimental effect on his grades. So people really aren't competitive in that respect. People don't really care what grades you get--it's not something you ask unless you're trying to improve your work (example: So I got a B on a Humanities paper and my friend got an A-; I might ask in that case to see their paper to see what I could improve upon. This person would probably help me unless they were super shy about having other people read their writing).

To sum it up, there isn't much of a competitive aspect for grades here. It's very much a collaborative spirit, where the goal is learning and enrichment.

(sorry it took me a few days to reply!)

jsmom

Me.Antonia- my son is currently a HS junior very interested in Chicago. You mentioned going to Chicago Symphony Orchestra - does the university offer discounted tickets to the arts for students? Also, he is interested in double majoring in math and music and wants to be involved in orchestra at school and ensembles. Can you tell me anyting about either dept and how difficult it is to double major? thanks!

Me.Antonia

Your son actually sounds just like one of my housemates--he's a genius math major type but also incredibly musical. I don't know whether he's going to pursue music as a second major, but double-majoring here is certainly possible, and while the math major is large-ish, the music major doesn't have too many requirements, so a doubling wouldn't be too hard. As for the departments, I know that the math department is phenomenal. The music department is smaller and not performance oriented (although they are building a new performing arts center, which is AWESOME), but it's very very good for the academic study of music, theory, history, and it's apparently a very good place to study composition. Hey, if Phillip Glass did it at U of C...

Chicago Symphony--the university itself doesn't offer student tickets, but for most concerts the CSO has student tickets from 10-15 dollars. Also, when you're in housing, your house or sometimes dorm will sponsor Symphony trips where they will subsidize some of the costs. I've gone to the symphony a few times, (Mahler 4, Bruckner, etc.) and the CSO definitely deserves its reputation as one of the greatest symphonies in the world.

As for performance opportunities on campus, I don't know what your son's particular musical interests are, but there are A LOT of a cappella groups (men, women, and mixed), large choir groups, two orchestras, a wind ensemble, a New Music ensemble, and then lots of smaller chamber ensembles (and I'm sure I'm missing some...). I'm a member of the University Symphony, which is the larger performance ensemble, and they're really quite good (although the conductor is occasionally a bit crazy). We play a lot of bigger works--this year we've done things like West Side Story, Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphosis, Sibelius I, and we're doing Brahms 4 soon. We also often have big-name people perform with us. Our upcoming concert is with Edgar Meyer, who is one of the most famous string bass players in the world right now. So the Symphony's a really fun program, and the time commitment isn't too heavy, which is nice.

If you or your son have any further questions about any of these things, feel free to ask!