<p>I was accepted at U of C, and given that it’s my second choice and the cheapest to go to, the odds are I’ll probably wind up there in the fall. But before I make my final decision, I want to get a couple of questions answered.</p>
<p>1.) How much extra do you have to pay if you want to take more than 4 courses per quarter?</p>
<p>2.) How much does it cost to take courses over the summer? Do you have to pay full tuition?</p>
<p>3.) How many Phys. Ed. courses do you have to take? It says you need 3 credits worth? Does this mean three quarters?</p>
<p>4.) If you don’t test out of the language requirement, how many quarters do you have to take?</p>
<p>5.) Do they ever accept substitutions for the core? For example, would they allow you to take a lingustics course to fufill a humanities requirement or something along those lines?</p>
<p>That’s all I can think of for now. I’ll probably come back later when I think of more.</p>
<p>1 and 2) I believe it costs 3-4k per extra course, and the same for summer courses. I also believe you need to show somehow that you can handle 5 courses, and I heard that means like getting all As in 4 courses (psst. not so easy). But yea, I don’t even know if that’s true enough to be called a rumor, I may have just made it up… lol. Note that Physical Education Courses don’t count as 1 of your 4 classes.</p>
<p>3) Yea, if you don’t place out of any physical education courses, you need 3 credits worth. This could actually be only 1 or 2 quarters as there is a 2 credit physical education course and I believe you can take more than 1.</p>
<p>4) Erm, not sure… 3?</p>
<p>5) Not quite. To fulfill the humanities you must take one of the HUM courses. However, lucky for you, a new HUM was created this year: Language and the Human, it’s a mix of philosophy of linguistics and an intro linguistics course. Btw, I took it and enjoyed it.</p>
<p>To answer the foreign language question: If you don’t place out of any at all, the minimum you have to take is 1 year (3 quarters). With some exposure, I’ve heard, you can place out of perhaps 1 or 2 of the 3 quarters if you aren’t able to place out of all 3 completely.</p>
<p>Four courses is plenty. I came in thinking the same thing but it’s very difficult. These courses are harder than what you are used to and you in know way feel as though you don’t have enough work only taking four classes. A lot of first years start with four and end up dropping down to three to make the adjustment. Four courses is considered a full course load for a reason…the U of C wouldn’t have that listed as the maximum courseload if it wasn’t sufficiently challenging.</p>
<p>GleasSpty-- My S was one of those crazy HS students who actually liked 6 AP classes, 2 college courses, an instrument, sports and local community service-- all for real, not resume padding. He is very happy with 4 U of C classes. Depending on the classes you choose, the quarter can be a quick and intense 11 weeks with 4 classes. Believe the bunny.</p>
<p>It’s not so much about it being challenging, it’s that after you take into accounht the core, I won’t even be able to take half of what I wanted to take, whereas if I go to my next choice school I would literaly be able to take nearly every course I wanted to. But Chicago is cheaper, and let’s face it, it is UChicago. So that does make a difference lol.</p>
<p>This stuff sure isn’t making my decision easy.</p>
<p>It’s not about getting the credit, it’s just about leanring the stuff. So I was wondering, would they let you officially take 4 per quarter and hten just sit in on an additional one for free?
If I did this, is it likely that the department would waive the prerequisites for courses tha had PQs that I had autidited but techincally had no credit for?</p>
<p>Ah, I understand now. Your question is one that my S has to work through with his adviser. I know that he has audited a class and tho I have no clue what it means for prereqs, he seems to be able to “pink slip” into classes he wants. </p>
<p>I also know that advising gets mixed reviews, but S’s experience has been fabulous. The adviser has seen the flow of courses and how the core fits in the context of individual interests.</p>
<p>I want to chime in agreeing with buster and glasses: my kids are plenty challenged with four courses a quarter and extracurricular stuff. Five academic courses would be too much. I haven’t heard of anyone doing that (not to say that it hasn’t happened).</p>
<p>I have the impression that auditing (formally or informally) is less common at Chicago than it is elsewhere, and that auditing a non-lecture course (i.e., most of them) is very hard to do. On the other hand, Chicago seems to be very liberal and non-bureaucratic about waiving prerequisites for students who can demonstrate that they don’t need them, although I’m sure this varies among departments.</p>
<p>The auditing issue seems fairly clear: If you are not going to be doing the work, the professor doesn’t want you in the classroom. If you are doing the work, you should register for the course. If it’s your fifth course, you’re probably not going to be doing the work.</p>
<p>But it’s not work to me. Every course I don’t get to take is something I’ll wind up spending my own time learning so I might as well just sit in on a course to help me out.
I’m doing something similar at my local state college right now. The state would only pay for up to 16 credit hours this semester, but I wanted to take 24, so I paid for 4, and the other 4 I just sit in on the lecture, do all the homework, take the tests, etc. and I don’t wind up gettign a grade or credit, but at least I know the stuff.</p>
<p>Can you see what Chicago has to say for you?</p>
<p>I think the richness of the coursework might be very satisfying for you and I doubt that you would feel limited. The depth of possible learning inside each course can be bottomless and faculty do support that depth. It’s not like each course has a defined limit of knowledge or reading or thought. So you may not need 5 courses per q if you choose well.</p>
<p>Yea… and I am pretty sure you can take 4 and audit 1 without any extra charge. Don’t worry too much, Chicago is fairly lax about most stuff (from what I’ve encountered)… there’s usually always some sort of work-around. But don’t come in here thinking you have to take 5 classes and bug your adviser to death, just remain a little flexible, take four classes your first quarter, see how that goes and I’m sure you’ll be sure to find some sort of a solution.</p>
<p>GleasSpty: One thing you may want to consider – Chicago isn’t your high school or community college. Assume that there are lots of people there just like you. That’s one of the main reasons why they’re there – to take classes designed for people like them, with other people like them in the classroom. That’s the context in which four courses tends to be plenty.</p>
<p>Some of the really good courses seem to require 30-40 hours a week of work. That’s 30-40 hours of work from really smart, motivated people. You really don’t want to have more than one of those at a time, unless you are taking three courses total, not five.</p>
<p>My Chicago student unofficially audits lots of classes by sneaking into the back of lecture halls. She isn’t expecting any recognition for it, though.</p>