Chicago FAQ

Colleges & Universities University of Chicago
41

<p>– Can you give me an estimate of how much time I will spend working?</p>

<p>I introduce you to unalove’s magic GPA/hours calculator. It’s fuzzy math at its finest, but we at the University of Chicago don’t have use for practical things like numbers, anyway. The calculator makes a few faulty assumptions, and is based on my and my friends’ experiences in science, social science, and humanities classes. I should say right off the bat that certain honors classes and classes like O-Chem expect a 10-15 hour/week commitment from the outset.</p>

<p>The assumptions:
a) Every class is 3 hours long.
b) A high grade correlates to more work
c) Your professor is not batty, gives A’s, and does not grade, like some professors do, in numerators without denominators or in squiggles.</p>

<p>Say if I wanted A’s in all my classes, I’d have to spend ten hours a week on each. I take four classes a quarter, each of which last for three hours.</p>

<p>(4*(3+10))= 52 hours/week.</p>

<p>That’s a lot, and while it’s not impossible, it means a lot of serious work. </p>

<p>But say that you’re beginning to get used to the idea that you don’t need to get an A in every single class, and that an A-… heck, even a B+… is a grade that you’re more than happy to live with. How much are you going to be working for your B+? My own best guess is about 4 hours per 3 hour class.</p>

<p>(4*(3+4))=28 hours/week.</p>

<p>That’s not bad! That’s not bad at all! That’s a little bit less than a 9-5 job, time to do coursework well and have time for other things.</p>

<p>The most reliable sources on GPA’s at Chicago show that the average is about a 3.25, and I would say that the average student works about 30 hours a week on schoolwork, with a standard deviation as large as you wouldn’t believe. The number of kids who work straight through the weekend every weekend balance out the number of kids who guzzle PBR on a Tuesday night.</p>

42

<p>The amount you work and the grades you get will depend entirely on your classes and even your professors. There are very smart, very hardworking people who get substandard grades, because they take the most difficult courses from notoriously difficult prof.s, and then there are those who coast by on good grades from bs classes (of which there are MANY, especially with the Core) - btw, I don’t include myself in either of those, but I try to take substantive courses as often as I can. There’s no point in tabulating average figures, unless you know exactly what kinds of classes you’ll take.</p>

43

<p>^^^ Absolutely true, but I thought that giving some kind of ballpark, even if it is inaccurate and will not reflect the hardest classes we offer, would be helpful.</p>

44

<p>Re safety: I saw a performance at Second City (a Chicago institution), entitled Between Barrack and a Hard Place, and they did a bit on the only remaining UC student that had not yet been mugged. She was “packin heat.” In most humor there is an element of truth. The campus is beautiful and does a good job with security (there is some incredible ratio of cops to students) but the cops cant be everywhere, so you need to be streetwise. Also, there is nothing much going on in Hyde Park. When you head to the northside, and specially when you come back late and drunk, you need to absolutely know exactly where you are going either by car or by public transportation. Particularly at nite, it is best not to wander west or south.</p>

45

<p>However, if Jimmy’s is still around, there’s no pressing reason to leave the neighborhood.</p>

46

<p>I heard that second city show really sucked from a group of friends that went. </p>

<p>It can be quite scary, as I mentioned before, if you are walking around outside of the campus late at night; especially coming from the south lol.</p>

47

<p>The Second City has been doing that U of C joke for a while-- they love to rip on us :-)</p>

<p>And yeah, Jimmy’s is still around, though it’s in bad financial shape. I hear they don’t card any more.</p>

48

<p>Unalove- you estimated the average GPA to be 3.25, which is also dean’s list? Is it possible that half (or at least 40%) of kids make dean’s?</p>

49

<p>yeah, the Barrack thing at SC wasnt their best effort. BTW, dont remember Jimmy’s ever carding. Unless someone made the mistake of ordering a Bud that is.</p>

50

<p>The new SC show is no good? That’s surprising, because I’ve seen two shows there and they were both hilarious. One of the times I went Jim Belushi showed up and did improv with them afterwards which was a real treat.</p>

51

<p>Never been to Jimmy’s, basically because my boss and a good family friend hang out there. How about awkward elephant?</p>

52

<p>Thank you so much for your time. My friend is deciding between Chicago and Northwestern. Any advice. I realize you go to Chicago but if you happen to know what generally are the pro/cons differences? Thanks if you can’t answer thanks anyway!</p>

53

<p>I don’t know; I can’t answer for your friend!</p>

54

<p>Unalove,
Is 3.25 Dean’s list? I’ll be an Econ major in the fall.</p>

55

<p>I’m pretty sure it is, and that about half of the student body gets it.</p>

<p>I’m not in that half :-D</p>

56

<p>To revive this thread, how about advice to parents about O-week. I’m so excited (not 1/100th as much as S) that I could spend the week there. However I would like to unobstrusively enjoy myself and absorb as much of the excitement as possible.</p>

57

<p>O Week is for the kids. Parents wave goodbye after the procession from Convocation to the gates on move-in day. There are 2 schools of thought on O Week. My D thought it was WAY too long. There just wasn’t enough to keep them busy if they didn’t immediately connect with a group. Must say though, that was the last complaint I’ve heard all year!</p>

58

<p>How about the days leading to move-in day? How much “help” in moving in do they need?</p>

59

<p>Well, we’ve moved 2 into Chicago. Actually we’ve moved 2 into Max West 4th floor, 4 years apart! In both cases we flew in the day before, picked up pre-ordered BB & B necessities, did the requisite Target run and stayed in the area the night before. Move-in day we appeared bright and early to move their stuff in, and then we followed behind as they registered, got placement test schedules, picked up IDs and computer accessories and enjoyed the festivities in the Bartlett quad. We then went together to Convocation in Rockefeller Chapel (get there VERY early, it filled up this year and we had to watch on cc TV in Ida Noyes), and joined the very emotional procession from the Chapel to the gates in Harper quad. (4 years ago the procession split as we walked up University…the gates were a more moving experience.) At that point upperclassmen are readily available with tissues for the tears, and the first years process through the gates to their class picture on the field behind Henry Crown. The day goes by VERY quickly. Truth be told, we then left campus and had dinner with friends. First time we called on our way home the next day, this time we drove to ST. Louis the next day to see S2 and stopped in to say hi to D on our way back through Chicago to fly home. </p>

<p>It’s a wonderful, moving day, but it’s jam packed and moves very quickly.</p>

60

<p>It seems very moving in more ways than one. Thanks runnersmom. Does it get very crowded lodging wise?</p>