<p>Things may have changed since I did my graduate work at Chicago. I knew many undergrads because we had a number of them working in our lab and I was a TA for a couple of years. The undergrads I knew did not consider themselves nerds or geeks. Many were into punk and the Chicago club scene. All were hard working, and many, hard partying types. They were brilliant, insightful, funny, and at times a little goofy. When we were at conferences or other events, they intellectually and argumentatively ran rings around their Ivy peers (which I understand just happened again with the model UN competition). Recently, I spoke with a friend’s daughter who is completing her Ph.D. at Chicago. Her impression after working with U of C undergrads, was much like mine. Come to think of it, perhaps things haven’t changed that much after all.</p>