Atmosphere

Colleges & Universities University of Chicago
1

<p>I have a few questions about the atmosphere in U of Chicago as, from what I know about it so far, it’s definitely one of my top choices. </p>

<p>1) One of the cool things that I found out about U of Chicago is that there are single dorms for freshmen with their own bathrooms, which are located in Broadview. Either specifically in Broadview, or in other single-dorm residence halls, how is the social life? Are people generally eager to make friends and throw drink-a-thon’s, or do they generally keep to themselves or exclusive?</p>

<p>2) Are people generally liberal at U of Chicago? Would people be more likely to wear hippie clothes and protest the Iraq War, or start an all aristocracy study group? </p>

<p>3) This kind of related to my first question, but basically, how would people describe the U of Chicago night-life experience? On a typical Saturday night, are students more likely to go to a frat party, go into the city with friends (with or without fake ID’s?), stay in their rooms?</p>

<p>Sorry for all of the questions, but there aren’t any U of Chicago theU videos (<a href=“http://www.theu.com)%5B/url%5D”>www.theu.com)</a>, which really sucks.</p>

2

<p>I think these are things we discuss pretty often, so I encourage you to run a search. As it is, I’ll answer them afresh, but don’t let my answer be definitive.</p>

<ol>
<li> Poster phuriku is a Broadview resident, so he is probably the best person to ask. I like living in a single, because I have my own space, and I’ve found a range of personalities are attracted to singles. It is going to be, in general, quieter than other dorms, but if you want parties, they’ll be there.<br></li>
</ol>

<p>If social life is super-important to you, Shoreland has good, relatively open parties (i.e. you’ll be in somebody’s room and not know who they are), and Pierce also has a lot of parties and community spirit. (I used to think of Pierce as a heavy party dorm, but I realize that people who don’t drink are as hardcore in love with Pierce as people who party a lot).</p>

<p>Just something I noticed in the way you put the question… I think it’s important to separate eagerness of meeting people from drinking habits. The two have no real relation to each other, as I’m somebody who goes to parties to, y’know, meet new people, not to get so sloshed that I pass out. I’ve never been to a party where alcohol has played a key component, but that could just be selection bias on my part, as one of my best friends proudly told me about beating some housemate heavyweights in a binge drinking game… anyway, if you want to meet people and not drink, or drink moderately, that’s totally an option too.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Both? Neither? I think that some Chicago kids are “hipsterlectual” with Converses, tweed jackets, and thin black cigarettes, but I wouldn’t characterize the entire campus as one personality or another, as everybody I run into here is different from the next. I wouldn’t say there’s any one fashion or any one U of C personality. That’s probably one of my favorite parts about the student body, is that they are so varied in personality and life goals, as well as political views and dress and such.</p></li>
<li><p>I think you’ll find students doing a host of different things on a given weekend. I spent most of my first year traipsing around Chicago, trying out every restaurant and exploring every neighborhood. I’ve spent most of this year at parties, both in apartments and in dorms. (I’m heading out to a party later tonight after I falsely convince myself that I got some work done on a final paper, tomorrow and will be going to first a student concert and then a party). I’ve never been to a frat party, though the people who go have a good time. I have nothing in particular against frats or frat parties-- it’s just not my thing.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>One thing most Chicago kids don’t do is go to clubs in the city. There are some bars in the neighborhood and one in Ida Noyes Hall, which either don’t card (so I hear) or will probably accept fakes. The bar scene is not particularly scintillating, though… you’ll probably have much more fun in an apartment party or a frat.</p>

<p>You’ll probably also, on a typical weekend night, know of a few on-campus events (concerts, shows, etc.) and you’ll probably also find a few people who are just hanging out in the lounge.</p>

3

<p>I’ve actually known of one party that went on in my house all of last quarter, and I’ve known of none this quarter. Since Broadview is 90% singles (with a few triples and doubles) and we aren’t allowed to have alcohol out in the hall, it’s rather difficult to have parties. That doesn’t mean that the people here don’t party, because many do - however, when they do, they go out to apartments or frats or the Shoreland to do so. There are some very social people here, and there are some very anti-social people here. More of the former than the latter.</p>

<p>Supposedly, another one of the houses in Broadview is extremely social and there are parties thrown up there all the time. I’m not a party person, though, so I wouldn’t know how they are.</p>

4

<p>Oftentimes I think it’s the luck of the draw. Two years ago, my house was very, very, very party-oriented, last year, we weren’t, and this year, we’re throwing lots of parties again. It’s a combination of student interest in throwing parties, and who has the biggest rooms. In Shoreland, lots of people have big rooms.</p>

5

<p>Hitchcock nets a party-or-two a week, not counting the Wednesday “anti-bar-night.” They are more-or-less open, since the hosts usually know more than half of the house.</p>

<p>There is, as above, a really broad political spectrum here, but you can generalize a bit. Most students are socially quite liberal, and many are economically too (but that varies more, for obvious reasons). Obama did really, really well here. Also, there is not much of an activist culture, this is not Berkeley, and on-campus rallies tend to be small and mocked, though legitimate and active cause organizations do exist.</p>

6

<p>True, true, and true. (Hitchcock parties are quite fun, too). U of C students do care about things politically (maybe most of us fall into a sort of “liberal, but critical” category) but we’re not really a banner-waving sort.</p>

7

<p>Thanks for the responses so far, and unalove, I took your advice and found your other threads, which also provided a lot of good information. I just have a few follow up questions for phuriku regarding Broadview, or for anyone else who could provide some more insight into the single dorms situation:</p>

<p>You said most people are very social, but some are anti-social. Why, in your opinion, are these people anti-social? Are they ultra-concerned about their schoolwork and so have no time for sociability? Or have they tried to be social and found others too exclusive? Maybe they’ve just always been angry people and would continue to be so regardless of the school they’re at?</p>

<p>Thanks again</p>

8

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<p>Well, first of all, you have to expect that Broadview’s going to have more anti-social people than other dorms, considering that it has the most available singles. There are many people here who are simply overworked and have little time to socialize (in particular, I think the bio majors compose the greatest part of this group), but these are not the people I am referring to. Such people still talk at the house table and go on house events, etc.</p>

<p>These anti-social people are not angry at others; they just keep to themselves a lot and have very specific interests. I don’t think they’re particularly unhappy - that’s just their personality, which is totally fine.</p>

9

<p>I don’t like the term “social” and “anti-social”-- I think you just have to realize that some people do get a lot of pleasure from “chilling out” and parties and such, and some people don’t. It doesn’t mean that they are evil or unapproachable, they just like time to themselves.</p>

<p>I tend to be a pretty big introvert, and while I do go to parties quite often, I also relish that time alone, where I’m in my room reading or whatnot. I don’t think people see me as anti-social, but I’m definitely not “around” as much as some of my housemates. (I also have more out-of-house friends than some of my housemates).</p>

10

<p>Yeah, I realize that ‘anti-social’ often carries a negative connotation, but I use the term with a neutral connotation.</p>

11

<p>I understand how you were using it, I just wanted to kind of clarify terms and connotations for those of us who might be categorized as “anti-social” but still like people (sometimes) and have a lot of friends.</p>