<p>The University of Chicago was not my first-choice school, not by a long shot. In fact, I was rejected by every single other college to which I applied. I’ve been here for a quarter and a couple weeks, and I think I’m capable of offering an informed opinion:</p>
<p>The University of Chicago is good but overrated.</p>
<p>Let me qualify. First the overrated part:</p>
<li><p>Ignore the people who loudly proclaim the rigors of the core curriculum; the core curriculum is ridiculously easy if you take the right (wrong?) courses. I was told by my adviser that taking the humanities and social sciences (two sequences that everyone must take) together was a bad idea; she said there’d be too much reading and writing involved. Too much reading and writing? Yeah, right. First of all, the reading is basically optional; the professors don’t drill you or anything, and the discussions that are supposed to “stimulate the mind” are only very rarely grounded firmly in the readings. You can usually pass off whatever nonsense you like with unmotivated TAs and professors and will probably go unchallenged. (Because no one in the class knows anyone else, there isn’t much spirited debate.) Some core classes make you produce weekly response papers; these are easy enough to base on only one reading or so, and even then don’t require you to read the whole thing. The long papers are not cumulative; they are usually based only on one week’s readings, and obviously you can just read whatever you haven’t for the paper. And even if you’re like me and actually read all of the reading, you’ll find that it really isn’t much and sometimes isn’t very difficult (think NYTimes articles assigned as readings). I’m taking a civilization sequence in addition to the others now, and even though it’s certainly more difficult than the other two, it’s not much more intensive than they are. Of all the courses I’ve taken so far, Chinese 101 was by far the most intensive and difficult; that should tell you something about the core. If it weren’t for Chinese, I’d be writing stuff like this and as long as this every night for fun (I don’t post to places as frequently as I could). In short, I don’t think that the core courses are very stimulating or even interesting.</p></li>
<li><p>The students aren’t all nerds! Trust me: There are quite a few poop-for-brains morons on this campus, and even more who are pretentious but not really all that smart (the “as it were,” “irregardless,” “this is true” type). As a matter of fact, I have not met many hardcore nerds here. There are some really smart kids, but as at all colleges (HYPS included!), they’re in the minority. My house has been blessed with a few real sharp deipnosophists, and you can usually get some really good (I mean really smart) conversations going at dinner, but when there not there, the table’s as intellectually dry as the Sahara desert.</p></li>
<li><p>They can’t clear the damn roads! I hate walking in slush!</p></li>
<li><p>It doesn’t feel safe. You leave campus and immediately begin to notice that the streets are desolate.</p></li>
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<p>Now the good part:</p>
<li><p>There is so much opportunity to do stuff here. I can’t even begin to describe the insane opportunities that have come my way, from financial (experiments going on constantly, companies hiring eager freshman with and without qualifications) to academic (if you know what to do and where to go, you can get sweet research opportunities and “hang out” with professors, even as a freshman; because UChicago’s one of the world’s most prominent research institutions, there’s always stuff you can be a part of and participate in – grants and stuff are all over the place) to social (there’s mad fun here; plenty of people get stupid drunk a few times a week, and if that’s not your thing, you can always get free food just about everywhere!). You’re invited to do things and be places nearly all the time; it’s wicked cool. The point is that the University of Chicago is like a tree full of delicious, low-hanging, juicily ripe fruit; you can stuff yourself if you can reach.</p></li>
<li><p>Many students are good-looking. This is such a stupid thing to have to refute, but I have to because you might not think so. Guys, girls, squirrels, whatever; I frequently turn my head and remark to myself, “Damn, he/she/it is handsome/pretty/beautiful.”</p></li>
<li><p>The food is delicious and varied. Some people don’t think so, but I like it.</p></li>
<li><p>The architecture and buildings are really neat. You can lose yourself in complex, cave-like structures if you’re not careful. And even if you do, you probably won’t mind.</p></li>
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<p>So take it with a grain of salt. Apply here. If it’s your dream school, don’t expect too much; if it’s your last-choice school, prepare to be pleasantly surprised. And don’t even think about transferring to a “better” school once you’re here; HYPS & Co. have <5% acceptance rates for transfer students. You probably won’t want to, anyway.</p>