<p>My own concern is that your son is indeed right for Chicago, but is not giving himself the time or the space to explore the school and make adjustments. I say this because of all the people I know (and I know a lot), the number of people I could put in the “severely unhappy/transferred out” category is two or three. Both of the people I can think of had severe emotional problems and in their cases, transferring did not resolve their underlying emotional issues.</p>
<p>Of course, your son is free to make his own decisions, but I’m wondering how he can help himself try to adjust. I know very little about the chemistry classes here, other than they can tend to make people a little bit zooey (isn’t that true everywhere?), but my housemates work on chemistry, math, and physics together all the time and have a lot of fun with each other that way. Sometimes, I’ll hear a lot of noise emanating from somebody’s room and I’ll go see what’s up, only to see a lot of people curled up with blankets, mugs of tea, and whatnot, chatting and doing chemistry homework together. On weeknights, the house lounge TV is on all the time, and we watch “America’s Next Top Model,” “Gossip Girl,” etc. with our laptops and homework. (I mention this not to advocate this way of getting something done, but to underscore that doing work can be social at times). Whenever I work this way, I get the buzz of being with other people, a little bit of a treat that I might have given myself anyway, plus a little bit of homework done.</p>
<p>This collaborative and socially-based way of working on things is not unique to my house or even the dorm system-- my friends will work together on projects at somebody’s apartment, etc. I got an e-mail through one of my class listhost from a student, who invited everybody in the class to go to the Med (the beloved greasy spoon in Hyde Park) together one night to discuss topics for our papers. For the final papers in two of my classes, both of my profs have sectioned small groups of the class off so that we can conference with each other about our papers and discuss our ideas. This strikes me as not only an amazing way to learn, but an amazing way to get to know people more closely.</p>
<p>At the same time, I know what it feels like to make a wrong decision, though, and I know how much time can be spent recoiling from that wrong decision. (I’ve made a few wrong decisions that have particularly cost me). I’m not necessarily advocating for your son to stay at Chicago if he thinks it’s clearly not the right place for him, but I am trying to indicate that I think your son’s negative experience is highly unusual, and from what it sounds like from your description of him, it could very well be a great place for him. In theory and not in practice?</p>