<p>Both of my Chicago kids hit rough patches their second quarters, too. Heck, I remember hitting such a patch toward the beginning of my second semester in college, too. The novelty and fun of meeting all those new people and being in a new place has worn off a little, and you realize you’re somewhere where you don’t really know anyone and can’t really trust anyone. Everyone’s carefully constructed New Improved College Identity is slipping and showing cracks, including your own. Girls and sex seem more available, but everything still turns out to be more complicated and difficult than it ought to be. It also turns out that there is stuff you need to learn in order to do well, and it’s not a piece of cake to learn it. Not everything you study is exciting. Some people seem smarter than you and better able to handle things, which may not have been true in high school.</p>
<p>And it’s winter.</p>
<p>I agree that things get better, although winter quarter may always be less enjoyable than fall quarter. But, as the poet said, “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”</p>
<p>On the more constructive side, the person to talk to about the paper is his writing instructor, a grad student, who should not be that intimidating, and may even be interesting. There really isn’t any excuse for not doing that. Kid #2 loved his, it was his most important teacher relationship first year. Kid #1 was more resistant, but looking back now from 4th year says that everything he told her to do was right, and she should have listened with more of an open mind.</p>
<p>And also… life away from home has taught me this… nothing is perfect 100% of the time, and right now, as I very seriously consider my professional options, I’m trying to remind myself that I should not have the “college viewbook” mindset. I should not be looking for a career opportunity where everything is perfect all the time. I should instead realize that whatever I choose will leave me unsatisfied in some respect and I should learn how to work with those shortcomings. I think the same can be said for the college experience.</p>
<p>I’ve come to realize that nearly everything I love about being a student here has happened because of the University, and nearly everything I dislike about my experience has to do with a personal shortcoming. If such a school existed that minimized my personal shortcomings (there might be a couple), they would have left me unsatisfied in other ways. Again, there’s no way for me to come out completely victorious.</p>
<p>I have hit a couple of walls here, and I’m at the point where I’m happy I have hit them, because hitting them was extremely informative. I have also hit a couple of walls outside of the scope of the U of C, and again, they resulted in more tears and anguish than I care to explain, but they were important for me to hit.</p>
<p>And don’t for a second think that the mehs are a localized phenomenon: my older sibling and parents had many more challenges at their respective non- U of C schools than I have had; some of my friends at other, traditionally “happy” institutions have had pretty rough college experiences.</p>
<p>thanks everyone for your helpful comments - I love my son so much that it hurts to be far away and not be able to help - but alas its a learning experience for both of us. I encouraged him to lighten up and take a music or art course next quarter. I will mention talking to his RA - I hadn’t thought of that and maybe that will lead to ultimately talking to his TA and prof. His emails seem to be intimating that we might want to transfer. We’ll see how he feels when he’s home in March.</p>
<p>Thanks for bringing up this topic, drdom. Think it’s time to touch base and make sure things are ok with S, and let him know that this is a difficult stretch of the year for many people.</p>
<p>I had a hard time with winter quarters at my southern flagship, too. The honeymoon is definitely over by that stage!</p>
<p>Aurora, I’m not sure why this would add fuel to that fire. As others have pointed out, second semester freshman year is often a time when the blahs hit, regardless of where you go to college. I also have a S at Wash U and he has similar feelings during the winter when the weather is cold and gray and too much time is spent indoors. He is a senior now and if asked he would also share tales of semesters with less than perfect feelings about classes and professors. I think its all part of the package, wherever you go to school.</p>
<p>You think winter is bad in Chicago? Try Oxford, UK. D never sees the sun, and actually went and bought a SAD lamp for 100 pounds! They even had enough snow to shut everything down from Oxford to London (about 4 inches I heard, but that’s another story…)</p>
<p>I think we can all agree that the winter blahs hit most anywhere when the days are short and the sky is cloudy. That seems to be anywhere east of the rockies and north of the mason dixon line, for a start.</p>
<p>Count me as a SAD person even when attending school in the sunny south. My body literally went into hibernation for months on end. It’s definitely not just a Chicago thing.</p>
<p>The quarter system does require some adjustments. Never much time for the learning curve and no time to let things slide.</p>
<p>seems like the crisis is over for now. He’s in the midst of reading week and exams - he’ll be home at the end of this week and maybe we’ll have a chance to talk. Perhaps it was the blahs, SAD, the sophmore slump two quarters early - or just a transitory planetary aspect (which is my way of saying - who know’s). I only wish he would have reached out to his RA or academic adviser or the professor. Thanks again to all for your input.</p>
<p>drdom–one more voice. My 2nd year D also sounded down a couple days ago, with the same sort of stuff you were talking about–grade on a paper that wasn’t bad but wasn’t perfect and no indication of how it could be better, finals, papers, general gloom… Just finishing up one paper and having a good study break-dinner turned her around. I’m hoping (betting) that your son is just typical.</p>
<p>Everyone says that winter quarter is the hardest. But so you’re prepared, there could be another similar little slump at the end of spring quarter when everyone else is out, but the Chicago kids are still slogging through to the end.</p>
<p>Also, it’s important to remember that college can just be a tough time in general, as there are a lot of ups and downs. It’s also finals week and it’s also at the end of winter quarter.</p>
<p>just got another email. he’s down on himself because he doesn’t think he’ll do well on his math final! I just said - do the best you can, get some sleep and don’t go into the test fearful. He probably hasn’t availed himself of any tutorial help but that’s just him - too much intellectual pride. I hope that changes over the years.</p>
<p>I think it will. I came in pretty high-minded as well, because I thought that office hours were for grade-grubbers exclusively, but I learned in time to seek out help when I thought I would need it.</p>
<p>I suppose this isn’t as much of a Chicago question as it is a college life question in general…
How many classes is the typical student enrolled in per quarter?</p>
<p>Three or four classes is considered full time; two or one class part time (and you have to jump through hoops to remain in on-campus housing if you go part-time). You <em>can</em> take five classes, but you have to petition to do so, and honestly, anyone who wants to do that is out of their mind- you’ll get much more out of taking four classes and doing well in them than stretching yourself with five (and really, four classes is definitely enough of a stretch).</p>
<p>If you take five classes, your tuition will be higher, too.</p>
<p>Lots of students start out thinking taking 4 classes every quarter is a better deal and somehow looks better when you graduate. Not true, in practice, at least for most merely human students. Far better to do well with a normal load and save the superhuman stuff for grad school or a job.</p>
<p>S1 tok three courses his first quarter so he could gauge the workload, meet people, etc. Worked well for him. Students can graduate in four years by taking three quarters half the time (not counting APs). It’s a nice piece of flexibility when there are other things (grad school apps, special events) during the quarter that may get in the way of full-fledged devotion to four courses. ;)</p>
<p>correct. A lot of students take four courses winter quarter, too, since the distractions are minimal then. Spring quarter seems to be the least popular for a 4 course load. This is not just due to weather, but to leave time for things like time for internship interviews.</p>