<p>S has found that he knows a decent number of folks in math and CS already after one year. A lot of math students hang out in the lounge. As for approachable…S had emailed a prof before O-Week began about taking a particular course. Prof emailed him at 4:15 on a Friday afternoon, said, “come on by, let’s talk” and spent two hours chatting with S. S took two courses with this prof and would get emailed replies to questions at all hours of the night. He cannot say enough about the department advisors in both math and CS. Sure, some profs are intimidating – but in the real world, we all have to deal with various personalities. You learn to deal and create relationships.</p>
<p>S would describe Chicago as “tough love.” There are resources and opportunities for whatever support/fuzziness/research/office hours you want – but it is up to the student to take advantage of them. Noone will call to see why you haven’t been to class in two weeks or are tanking your p-sets. OTOH, if you get yourself to your advisor/student health/prof/TA, they are more than willing to help you.</p>
<p>Chicago has a tradition of teaching the next generation of academics – and they take that mission seriously. It was a big factor for S.</p>