unalove

Most of you probably know from the tone of my posts that I'm an absolute marshmallow for the U of C, and I thought I would elaborate on why.

It would also be cool if current students chimed in-- I'm pretty sure that the way I think about things is pretty unusual, and maybe even radical for the U of C. However, maybe it is helpful to you, prospective student, to get an idea about why I chose this school and why I adore it so much.

The first has to do with a set of experiences I had in high school:

1. Even though I was far from the top academically-speaking of my super-dee-duper elite high school (think of the kinds of high schools that are "exposed" and parodied in sensational roman-a-clefs, that kind of high school), I was still dubbed "the smart one," as in, the one who actually likes school. Additionally frustrating to me was that my classmates, who are now all sitting pretty at elite schools, were dynamite inside the classroom, when there was a grade to be earned, and were pancakes outside of it, when there was no grade to be earned. No intellectual discussion. None. Ever. The most intellectual probably came down to, "What did you get for that answer on the test? How did he grade it?" I was friendly with these kids, but I was much closer with the assembly of kids who despised the school and felt disenfranchised by it for one reason or another (these friends are either taking time off from school, at no-name state schools, at other low-level publics, at music/art schools, or at elites like Oberlin, Vassar, NYU, Harvard, Yale, Princeton).

2. I was advised against taking a math class that was designed specifically for math/science oriented kids. The class average was something like a B, and many pointed out that the college admissions track record for the non-intensive, yet still honors class was MUCH better than the one for the intensive honors class. (The former sent kids off to Ivies, the latter sent off kids to Hopkins/WashU/Vanderbilt/Cornell for science/engineering). As a humanities-inclined person, taking this class was akin to college admissions suicide. I took it anyway, deciding that the experience of the class was much more important to me than the name of the college I wore on my sweatshirt. I had the time of my life in this class, and after every test we had, I wanted to shake my teacher's hand. (He was an awesome guy, and I often did shake his hand). This class helped me realize that for me, learning and challenge always, always, always came before grades or future "payoff."

3. I was probably the only kid who in junior year AP Comparative Government did all of the readings. Doing them all didn't help my grade a lick, and not doing them probably wouldn't have hurt me, but I still felt compelled to do them. They interested me.

4. My grades went up second semester senior year. Yes. Up.


Other things about me that might help explain my affinity for Chicago:

1. I want to study everything, and I'll be upset when I finish Core in the spring. I'm thinking about computer science courses, music courses, econ (of course!), religious studies.... many of my friends feel the same way. One of my best friends is an econ major who has taken every Old English class available, another is a Classics major who is in honors physics for the fun of it, or the poly sci major who took Honors Analysis as a first-year last year. This school is wonderful if you're woefully indecisive about where your intellectual interests fall. I was proud when my friends commended me for being able to "geek out" with them about physics even though I'm a lowly Art History/English major. (Or something-- haven't decided yet).

2. I don't know my future plans. I know I don't want to go to law school or med school, as I pride my sanity and my sleep and I don't see myself there. Grad school is a possibility, but we'll see later what I'm up for. I do know that I have a job after graduation should I want or need one (and a job I like, too), which would be working where I'm working now, only full-time. I do have a career path in mind (which, like everybody's is subject to enormous change). I am extremely lucky to have parents who are financing my college education and have agreed to pay for any grad school or professional school, so I am not concerned about making "good" on debts by getting a high-paying job. (Note: had I not been able to afford college through my parents, I would have very likely gone to state school or a place where I got enough merit aid, and not the U of C-- I admire those that choose this school despite incurring significant personal debt). In other words, my goal for right now is just to have fun and learn as much as I can, both in academic and non-academic ways.

I don't know how many people on campus agree with me about these things or hold similar philosophies, but I definitely see a variety of approaches to learning and life in general. I have friends who party four nights a week and friends who don't often leave their rooms-- they have more in common than one might imagine. I have friends who are involved with every club out there, and friends whose extracurricular interests are "Gossip Girl," "Heroes," and "America's Next Top Model." I have friends who are Intellectual with a capital I and friends who would rather just spam me with YouTube videos. I think what we all have in common is that we adore this school for one reason or another.

monydad

You'd like my daughter, you have a lot in common.

She's at Oberlin.

She didn't apply to Chicago mostly because of the core curriculum, I think. Bad experience in HS with being forced to take specific courses that repeated material she already knew, and was well beyond. Made her inclined towards more freedom in course selection.

I think she also perceived a slightly different balance between work vs.play at the two campuses. but I could be wrong about this, as could she.

kodama

If you don't want to repeat material, you won't. Maybe if you are very well read, you might not find a HUM class with purely new material, but it is a new format. Soc Sci, Bio, Math and Physics/Chem core are all rather flexible.

esentman

unalove, I really relate to what you said about wanting to learn everything. It's almost frustrating how many different things I want to learn about compared to the time I have to learn about all of them. I wrote on my Why Chicago essay that it was the best place I could ease my frustration for wanting to learn so much.

Tarhunt

unalove:

Well written. Thanks. The kids I know who have loved the University of Chicago have been much the same as you.

It seems to me that if one views a university as a candy store with so many choices that it's impossible to sample even a small fraction of the offerings, the University of Chicago may be the right place.

thricedotted

esentman: Same here! My essay was basically a distillation of a certain class that bothers me for its lack of content when there's so much to be said, and how UChicago embodies the antithesis of that...

unalove: You are amazing, as always. We love you.

orchestramom

unalove
you sound a lot like my D too. uncanny actually. She loved U-Chicago, on paper, and when we visited last month it more than lived up to her expectations (and they were high). She's also in a supposedly elite prep school that's providing her with a good education, but there's little sign of true intellectual curiosity among the students rather there's a lot of preoccupation with grades and prestige hunting.

She loves reading, writing, researching, THINKING, loves to learn, takes courses that are interesting to her, whether or not she has a natural bent (not a math kid but AP Calc and AP Stats this year!!) Doesn't think the world is approaching its end if she gets a B. Was going to be a music performance major but couldn't see herself limiting her focus and leaving her beloved humanities on the sidelines.

Your posts here are wonderful, they paint such a vivid picture of you, and U-Chicago through your eyes. Thank you...

unalove

Monydad--

My best friend in the entire world is at Oberlin. She and I are a lot alike in the particular ways I described (instead of taking the extra hard math class, she decided to pursue three languages) and are also very different in exactly the work/play approach.

BFF would not like Chicago, as much as I fancy she would. I think she'd love the students, but I don't think she would like the academic focus, as she's an intellectual, not an academic. She's more of a free-thinker and will be intellectually intense regardless of the classroom requirements. She's much more well-read than me, for example, (has been reading Dickens since sixth grade and can quote Neruda in Spanish) but she likes doing homework less than I do.

She, too, felt like "the smart one" in classes, and always saw her function in discussions as putting the discussion back on the right track when it was leading astray. (Note that BFF has a tad of an ego). On the first day of class at Oberlin, she prepared to do a knock-'em-dead reading of a Keats poem and leave everybody dumbfounded, like she did in high school. For the first time in her life, though, she makes her argument, only to have it refuted, point for point, by a classmate. And, better yet, she agreed with the classmate's refutation!

I guess I started this thread to sort of emphasize the type of student who can really thrive here. That's not to say I'm the ONLY model, and that's not to say that those who have concrete career goals aren't happy here (they are) but I think I'm the ideal student for this school.

arkleseizure

Unalove, can I marry UChicago?

UNEPgirl

thank you yet again unalove! that is exactly what i want in college and what i don't have in high school (and you articulated it much better than I could have).

glasses

unalove-- your story rings true in my house--my chicago 1st year has always worked for personal understanding of everything, not caring about the institutional judgment of achievement or artificial boundaries of a course. In HS, a few understood but at U of C he has found a whole community that understands. Profs have been patient and embraced his questioning-- inviting him to join their research groups. Friends are in his words "the most amazing people". So if the place fits, it's a beautiful thing.

Smirkus

hahaha I thought I would find a lot of people like you at UChi, but I've managed to avoid them.

Hate to burst your bubble, but UChi is just like any of the other top schools. The classes aren't charged with this super intellectualism, they are just like any other class full of smart people. Just as many grade grubbers here, and just as many pre-professionals. I know, I have many very very close friends at similar schools. The only thing that is different is you're not on the east coast, and its windy here.

beefs

unfortunately unalove,,, i think what smirkus said is true and will become even more evident in the coming years. many of my classmates are applying to chicago ea just because harvard and princeton dont have early options anymore......and because its in the top 10 of usnwr...these kids are all grade grubbers who in the case that they get rejected to the other top colleges will go to uchicago...also i think its becoming more well known as a school which will probably lead to more applications from the type of kids that chicago is knwon for not having.

unalove

Could be. I did offer at the beginning of the post, though:

My original intention was for there to be a dialog on what going to the U of C is like for different people from different points of view; my intention was not to wage war on pre-professionalism or caring about grades. I think Smirkus is right-- there are students who do care about grades, and probably more students who do care about grades than students who don't. That this school is open to a variety of approaches is probably a good thing rather than a bad thing-- I did want to indicate, though, that I do have my distinctive approach to school, and that I've been able to be comfortable at this school with my approach to academics and life.

It sounds like if I wanted to go to a school where I could easily find other communities of people who agreed with me, I would have looked at schools like Reed, Beloit, Hampshire, Wesleyan, Oberlin, etc. Those schools were not ideal for me for different reasons. To be honest, I'm not sure if I would be happier in an environment where most students don't care about grades, even though I don't-- my impression is that that kind of environment, for me, would be too "laid-back" and would not motivate me to keep on pursuing work. What I want to say, though, is that the U of C is a good environment for those to be who are serious students and who don't particularly care about grades. It's good for those who are serious students because of the spicy course offerings and the rigorous workload; it's good for those who don't care about grades because there is so much learning going on that the grade doesn't even begin to express one's feelings about the class. My favorite and most memorable class from my first year was also the class in which I earned the lowest grade. It's the class in which I did the most reading and the class in which I felt like I grew the most.

nimby58

No school the size and reputation of Chicago is going to have all of any one type of student. What's good to know is that if you are a student seeking real intellectual and academic engagement, you will find it there. And while one can say that you can find this many places, most of us who are not at the school do have the strong impression that Chicago is unique to the extent that it embraces and fosters its offbeat/cool nerd personna.