xsunshine12

I am an admitted student and currently strongly considering going to U. Chicago. I really do see myself taking part in the intellectual life at U. Chicago that I hear so much about in addition to enjoying all the opportunities to pursue other kinds of interests. I have also heard a lot about the demanding workload there. I would really appreciate it if you help describe to me what your "typical" day at U. Chicago consists of and whether the workload is truly that overwhelming. Thanks.

Me.Antonia

Most classes here are MWF, MW, or TTh, so my mw's are different from my tth's. But here's an example (as in, here is what I did/will probably do today):

Monday:
8.30: Wake up to my roommate getting up. Fall back asleep.
9.30: Wake up to my alarm. Snooze.
9.40: Get up. Shower, dress, last minute Russian homework or Dostoevsky reading, oatmeal in my room (thank you, illicit hot-water heater appliance).
10.20: Walk leisurely to Russian with a few friends from BJ to Cobb.
10.30-11.20: Russian. Conjugate some verbs, converse about the idiotic characters in the videos we watch.
11.20: Powerwalk from Cobb to the BSLC (bio building). Wave at tons of people.
11.30-12.20: Bio Topics class--"The X Chromosome and Its Degenerate Counterpart, the Y" (one of many classes for nonmajors.) Tre cool class about sex biology. Taught by an adorably nerdy septagenarian dude.
12.30-1.15: Lunch in the BJ dining hall at my house table. Today we discussed such varied topics as the in-house Assassins game, imagining music, and what it would be like to have an AI computer friend in your brain that you grow up with. And the disappointing mac'n'cheese.
1.15-2.50: Go back to my room. Fool around on the internet, talk to prospective students, figure out my schedule for the week, hurriedly try to finish the Dostoevsky reading (Crime and Punishment, 150 pages) that I should have done last night but mostly blew off in favor of watching old episodes of Buffy.
2.50: Head back across the Midway to the gorgeous Harper Memorial Library for my awesome Dostoevsky class.
3.00-4.20: Dostoevsky. Cute professor+British accent+some of the world's greatest literature+a bunch of my friends=AMAZING. Stare raptly for an hour and a half. Take lots of notes that may or may not be comprehensible later.
4.20: Head to the Reynold's Club to do some theater business and meet up with friends in Hallowed Grounds, one of the sweet coffee shops on campus. Try to sit in a squishy chair and get Kant reading done. End up either chatting with friends or dozing.
6.30: Return to BJ for dinner.
6.30-7.30: Delicious BJ food. Sorta. But good company and good conversation.
7.30-10.30: Try to finish the Kant (40ish pages), make flashcards for Russian quiz Thursday, get caught up on Dostoevsky. Probably will achieve half of these objectives, interspersed with lots of chatting, internet surfing, facebooking, etc.
10.30-11.45: Go to Ratner. Half an hour elliptical, half an hour weight training. Return home with lots of endorphins and sore muscles.
12.00-1.15: Work, this time away from the computer so as not to be tempted. Report to my commander for Assassins. If I managed to get stuff done earlier, watch old episodes of Buffy/Dollhouse/The Daily show.
1.30: Bed.

As for the workload, I'd say it really depends on the day and the week. Sometimes you'll have two papers due within a few days of each other or a paper near a midterm, but other weeks will be oddly free. I don't tend to really do much work daily; usually there are two or three days a week (Tuesday and Wednesday esp.) where I work pretty seriously and the rest where I spend a lot more time goofing off, on the web, watching movies, hanging out, having rehearsals for music/theater, giving campus tours...I usually work a bit each day, but not terribly much (As I said earlier, I get off topic pretty easily. On my big work days I'll usually go to the library).

Also, my T/Th this quarter is totally awesome because I only have class from 2-4.30 (Russian drill session, Hum class) and then I'm totally done, so I have the morning to give a campus tour/be productive/be unproductive.

Hope this helped! Each day here is a bit different for me (Friday and Saturday tend to have the word "party" somewhere), but my Mondays are pretty standard.

miggy01

Hi Antonia! I love reading this thread, lots of good insight.

My dad just mailed in our financial aid appeal in the hopes of lowering the parent contribution. Do you happen to know how often these result favorably? Maybe you had an experience appealing or know someone who did.

Also, please convince me as to why your residence hall is the best

Me.Antonia

I unfortunately have really no idea about the mysterious realm that is the financial aid office. No one does. Some people have very good results and are extremely happy with their packages; others do not. From what I've heard, it's kind of a crapshoot...good luck though!

Ah, my residence hall. Burton-Judson, BJ, "the Beej"...is totally awesome and pretty much the best. Reasons:
1. Proximity to main quad--it's a lovely 5 minute walk to campus, which, while not quite as convenient as Max or Snell, is still pretty good, especially in Fall and Spring.
2. Attached dining hall. No treks across campus--it's right there. Brunch in PJs is therefore feasible.
3. Lots of singles and all doubles are two room suites. The singles can get pretty large, especially the ones that upperclassmen (and thus, you in one or two years) get, and some of the doubles are freakin' enormous. And being able to have a roommate but still your own room (or a communal bedroom and communal desk/study room) is GREAT. Speaking from experience.
4. Small houses with super-tight-knit communities. The value of this cannot be overstated.
5. General Nerdery. Pretty much self explanatory. We're nerds, but not in a creepy way. We still know how to have fun.
6. Communal bathrooms. Now, this may seem counter intuitive, but I am quite happy to take showers in flip flops just to avoid having to clean my own bathroom.
7. Generally beauty. It's basically a castle. Awesome. Lovely courtyards, old stone, ivy, the works. And the Midway, which is lovely for soccer, frisbee, ice skating, and the like.
8. Proximity to Law School (and thus Law Library and thus study space, cafe, and a hidden ATM).
9. Proximity to South Campus Residence Hall. BJ rooms are only singles and doubles and therefore less suited to parties. It used to be that for non-frat parties, you had to go all the way to Max, the Shoreland, or an apartment for a party. Now they will be right next door, along with all the awesome former Shoreland members. This. Will. Be. EPIC.
10. The most awesome people on campus. Did I sort of cover this earlier? Doesn't matter.

That said, the other dorms are really great too, for the most part, and I've come to realize that I'd probably be happy just about anywhere, because most people are just total BAMFs here. So don't stress too much about dorms. You'll probably find a great community wherever you end up, and if it doesn't work out you can always transfer

miggy01

I'm sure all the dorms are great like you said. I just wanted to see how much you liked yours. It doesn't really matter anyway. I won't commit until after they review my financial aid appeal and give back an offer (if it's favorable), so I'll be committing pretty late. I'll take what they give me and be happy regardless.

Meggs09

How is the English Department here? I want to be a critic and eventually go into publishing.

Me.Antonia

I'm not an English major, but I have been taught (in my humanities class) by an AMAZING professor of English--he's got one of those fancy positions named after a donor and could be teaching grad classes but thinks undergrads are way more awesome so he teaches every quarter in several fields. And my RA, who is an English major, assures me that most of the profs within the department are excellent. Since we're a school that insists that everyone gets a well-rounded liberal arts education, our departments across the board are very strong, and that definitely includes English, CompLit (I'm taking a Dostoevsky course right now that I love), and the like. If you want more info, you can pm me and I can hook give you the email of some of my friends who are English majors.

miggy01

ooo, do tell about your Dostoevsky course. I read Crime and Punishment a while ago and loved it. I'm reading Brothers Karamazov next after I finish my latest Vonnegut novel.

catalan

Hello there,

I was wondering if you could tell me whether undergrad econ majors have the opportunity to do a Senior Thesis (in their fourth year)?

Thanks.

chisportsfan2335

Hokay! Antonia! So...I am in the midst of making an intense college decision between Chicago and another school. One thing I want to ask concerns the sports at U of C. Is there school spirit surrounding sports, or does it simply go on without notice? Are there intramurals? How competitive are they?

Also I am planning on attending law school after the undergrad, do you know anything regarding the services they have for helping pre-law students find their future law schools, attain internships, etc, etc

Also, I was wondering if the houses contain any special amenities which make the undergrad residents gasp, jump, and\or squeal.

Me.Antonia

According to my reading of the course catalog, undergrad econ majors do not have to write a senior thesis unless they want to earn honors in the department, in which case they must have "sole authorship of an independent research paper on a topic in economics" along with a "faculty sponsor's letter evaluating this independent research paper". The program can also accept a BA paper or project used for another major if "certain conditions are met" (probably needs to be related to econ).

Hope this helps.

Me.Antonia

I will not lie to you and say that we have the same crazy sports spirit as, say, a large state school. Some varsity sports are quite popular and respected, and people generally will go to athletic events in which friends are participating (IE I go to my roommate's xc/track meets occasionally). The biggest sports engagements, I think, are actually in intramurals. Intramurals may be more or less popular depending on which house you're in, but if they're super important to you, you can say that when applying for housing--in the "anything else we should know about your housing needs" section, it's totally cool to say "sports are a big part of my life and I want a house that is hardcore about intramurals." Most houses have a few sports that they're hardcore about; for my house it's volleyball, dodgeball, soccer, and ultimate frisbee. Other houses are hardcore about every single sport. In terms of competition, anyone can play on an intramural team, except for single sex intramural teams (many sports have leagues for men-only teams as well as coed teams). The men's league teams seem to be very competitive in terms of being skilled, but some of the coed teams are certainly forces to be reckoned with (my house volleyball team got 2nd place). Even if a team is very good in your house, though, less skilled players (read: me) can still participate. They get about equal playing time as a matter of respect, although they (again, read: me) will often understand when to switch out and let someone skilled play (as in, the last 5 minutes of the championship game). Whew. That's a lot about stuff. But intramural are awesome and fun! Yay.

Law school: there is a student group with a name probably something like "chicago careers in law" or something, as well as a huge amount of support from CAPS--Career Advising and Planning Services. They are awesome because you can walk into their office any day of the week and they will help you with your future and stuff. Also, your college advisor will certainly be huge resource. Plus the law school is very close (in my case, next to my dorm) and there are always lots of lectures and such that undergrads are free to attend.

Special Amenities: Really depends on the dorms. I, personally, gasp, jump AND squeal when I see my house children--that is, the Resident Heads' kids and pets--because they are super duper adorable. New Dorm (South Campus) is chock full of awesome features like massive glassy windows with gorgeous views, reading rooms full of natural light, lots of kitchens and apartment-style rooms, etc. My dorm (BJ) has several Steinway pianos, whereas the Max Palevsky pianos are extremely pathetic, out of tune uprights. It's also insanely pretty. Sometimes when I'm walking home I just stop short and sort of gaze at it with a dopey look on my face at the ridiculousness of me living in this huge castle-ey building. We have pool tables and ping pong tables in the basement too. Also, each house will have its own special amenities. The house next to me, for instance, has a very awesome fancy television and two or three game systems available in the house lounge. If you have more specific questions about amenities, I can try to help, but I unfortunately am mostly familiar with only a few houses.

Sorry for the super long reply. Hopefully I've conveyed a bit of helpful information! Good luck wherever you end up.

yummycheese

Hi Antonia, i just turned in my housing deposits, but i still have a few questions!

I applied for BJ, but i was wondering, if i don't end up with a double, would it still be easy to make friends?? I'm so scared of being at a school without knowing anyone! how exactly do you get to know ppl at BJ when it's practically all singles? basically, i'm not a partier, but i do love to have fun and hang out with friends. does a room in BJ sound right for me? what other dorms are similar to BJ? thanks so much!!

catalan

Hi Me.Antonia. Thanks for your helpful reply!

Me.Antonia

Within BJ, I think that room type really doesn't determine how social you are. I'm in a double and will be moving into a single. Most of the very social people in our house are actually in singles. My experience was that I asked for a double because I thought that without one, I wouldn't be social at all. Now I wish I had gotten a single, because it really much better suits my lifestyle (my roommate and I are not especially well matched unfortunately), and I know that next year, when I have one, I'll still be a super social person. So I would say unless you won't feel comfortable without a roommate, a single is actually a great idea. It's very lucky that it's so easy to get a single here as a first year!

Sorry for the delay; I sort of forgot that I had this thread >.<