<p>Look back through my posting history to see a substantive critique of the school.</p>
<p>The students aren’t all quirky, but pretty everyone operates on a different wavelength. This can be enjoyable (trivia night at the pub) or obnoxious (scav hunt, yeah I said it).</p>
<p>I think UChicago students are every bit as smart as anyone at an Ivy League school, or any of the other top ranked universities, but they are definitely not well rounded. Even the more normal people are so focused on their work that they cannot enjoy life to the fullest.</p>
<p>I didn’t transfer because I wanted to give the school a fair shot. I loved what was pitched during the admissions process, but the reality was far different. I looked into transfering at the start of my third year, but that would have meant finishing my last year at another school, and I decided instead to bite the bullet and serve out the rest of my time.</p>
<p>If you think you’ll be able to live a balanced life at UChicago while engaging in the life of the mind, do not attend. If you are not looking for balance, well then I feel sorry for you.</p>
<p>"If you think you’ll be able to live a balanced life at UChicago while engaging in the life of the mind, do not attend. If you are not looking for balance, well then I feel sorry for you.</p>
<p>The freshman whom I know there is on a sports team, and says that he has been able to handle it and his academics, but hasn’t had the time to join another type of EC. Still, seems like he’s having a balanced life. He has made friends, too, and enjoys U of C.</p>
<p>Have any of the parents here read their own essays recently from their college/grad school applications? As I was cleaning out my basement a few weeks ago, I came across my essays from grad school applications nearly 20 years ago. The essays that I wrote for the schools that had basic essay prompts were pretty good and seemed to convey who I was at the time (and even sound like me today). The essays that I wrote for the one school that I thought was looking for “quirky, original” essays were absolutely AWFUL! My essays were immature and ridiculous and seem really forced. I think I will have to shread them for fear someone else in the house might read them (probably not though, as I seem to be the only person who ever thinks to clean the basement). I was accepted at all schools except the one where I thought I was taking a risk and writing a clever essay.</p>
<p>My takeaway is even if you think a school is looking for creative, unique, quirky, or whatever word you want to insert – you should write in your own style and your own voice otherwise the essays do not “ring true”.</p>
<p>I posted the old thread to add some historical relevance to our past discussions about Chicago’s prompts. Fwiw, I thought I was pretty clear in expressing my “issues” with the “development” over the years. It was for this reason that I posted several years of prompts and expressed an opinion that Chicago was simply trying too hard and was hardly helping itself very much in terms of increasing its (at that time) lower selectivity.</p>
<p>Interestingly enough, may I suggest you pay attention to some of the comments in that old thread. What did Marite have to say about “intellectual poseurs?” In addition, since both Calmom and MOWC have written in support of the type of prompts offered by Chicago, could you read about which prompt their children decided to answer when they applied? If the prompts were that interesting, why did they decide to create their own? And, isn’t the freedom to create your own prompt or take the suggested prompt in about any direction you want pretty UNIVERSAL among all colleges? </p>
<p>In the end, may I ask what is so darn wrong with having an opinion that is contrary to yours? Why does it “rankle” you that I happened to fail to be impressed with the (then) more recent prompts of Chicago and their Uncommon Application in general? </p>
<p>At least, I have remained consistent! And armed with quite a prescient agenda as well ;)</p>
<p>So that’s what I’m looking for: what’s the differential? Is it just (or mostly) that lives are unbalanced? Or is there some other way that “promises” (my word) are not delivered?</p>
<p>To answer your question, MOWC–no. UofC gave my kids the same amount of need-based aid as other schools, within $1-$3k difference among all privates. I am not “mad” at UofC. I (mistakenly) thought this was a college <em>discussion</em> board, I guess. To my mind, <em>discussion</em> means at least two sides to an issue, but maybe that’s just me.</p>
<p>The difference is that O’Neill and the admissions department had a passion that was utterly lacking in the rest of the school, from the admin to the faculty all the way down to the students. Maybe that’s because it’s their job to sell the school, but the disconnect was striking.</p>
<p>U of C is for the most part completely apathetic. The only time you see anything resembling school pride* is during 1) scav hunt 2) when someone mistakes the school for UIC, or 3) when someone says UofC isn’t as good as an Ivy League or Northwestern. Yet even within these examples, the last two are defensive displays of school spirit, and the first one is largely over-exaggerated just so we can convince ourselves we are special and unique.</p>
<p>My time there was “interesting” and I had some good discussions with some smart people, but by and large no one had fire in their belly about what they were doing or working on. They were workaholics for sure, but not passionate like the admissions process made it seem.</p>
<p>*And before everyone jumps on this and says I should have gone to a party school with a football team, I just mean a spirited defense of the life of the mind.</p>
<p>“U of C is for the most part completely apathetic. The only time you see anything resembling school pride is during 1) scav hunt 2) when someone mistakes the school for UIC, or 3) when someone says UofC isn’t as good as an Ivy League or Northwestern”</p>
<p>If one wants to go to a school with lots of school spirit, go to Big 10 or other big football school. The fact that Chicago disbanded its football team years ago is a strong indication that Chicago isn’t the type of school you sought. Nothing about Chicago would lead me to expect that it would be filled with students with lots of school spirit. That sounds like what one would expect at Northwestern or places like U Mich.</p>
<p>The student I know there now says he particularly is enjoying the intellectual conversations and diversity at Chicago. He’s also able to do academics while being on a sports team.</p>
<p>You missed my edit:
“And before everyone jumps on this and says I should have gone to a party school with a football team, I just mean a spirited defense of the life of the mind.” ie some pride in what the school is actually about.</p>
<p>Why would students need to spiritedly defend a life of the mind? If they’re happy where they are, that’s what matters. Seems to me that Chicago tries to attract people who are confident enough with their choices not to have to feel they have to spend a lot of time defending what they love.</p>
<p>You’re missing the point northstar. You don’t have to defend it, but celebrating it with some enthusiasm would be nice. There is not much joy in living it, though there easily could be if not for the crippling spirit of ennui</p>
<p>Sorry, jym, I didn’t read carefully enough.
I have not “repeatedly attacked” UofC. I have weighed in less on the entire Chicago debate than, well, you or NSM or pizzagirl, for instance…
If you can’t see that by repeatedly attacking ME you are making a fool of yourself, well, I can’t help that, can I.
As far as the Debate thread–you are trying to discredit me by taking a comment out of context, so that probably people reading this who have not read that thread will think badly of me. Nice.
Seriously, one more time–can we focus on the issues at hand and not individual posters?</p>
<p>U of C wasn’t a good fit for you because it lacks what you wanted. That doesn’t mean it was a bad place. It means that you should have transferred if you wanted a different atmosphere. Harvard has a similar ennui, which I happened to love. I liked being at a school that wasn’t a rah rah place. Harvard students tend to take pride in being blase about Harvard.</p>
<p>I think I understand what Ihateuofc means… When my daughter talks about her school there is a certain pride and even twinkle in her eyes. Other people may say it’s a lower Ivy, but she never feels she needs to defend it. If anyone should ask her which school to consider (no matter who that person is), her school would be the first school out of her mouth, and she would be able to give the person 10+ reasons as to why.</p>
<p>I don’t know that many students at Chicago and I don’t know if they feel the same as Ihate, but it’s too bad it was his undegrad experience.</p>
<p>I thought this thread was pretty civilized. I guess I also don’t understand why people are so negative about Chicago, or any school for that matter. Isn’t that why we always talk about “fit” on CC?</p>
<p>Yes, you went to Harvard. You’re proud of that (as you should be, I guess). I think that’s been established enough. Why not mention where you went to grad school ever? Because it wasn’t Harvard? Because it wasn’t undergrad? I’m legitimately curious.</p>
<p>On another note, I am so tired of the state schools=rah, rah, sports, and drunkness undertones by so many posters. Speaking as someone who is not rah, rah, has never gone to a collegiate sporting event, and rarely drinks (legally, too), and yet went to a state school</p>
