UCHICAGO workload/social scene/safety

DGDzDad
Sun, 30 Mar 2014 21:57:04 +0000

my two cents… D was admitted in the EA round and was very excited, but also had some of the sames concerns. She was afraid the student body was going to be nothing but “freaks and geeks” and was worried about the reputation of Chicago’s rough South Side. We spent two days on campus in late Jan and she did a dorm overnight. The visit allayed all of her concerns. She was impressed with how SMART everyone was, but the student body looked normal to her, not much different than the college students she had seen at other campuses. (Well, maybe not quite as good-looking on the whole as UCLA.) D’s dorm visit was on a Friday night, in a snowstorm, and there was plenty to do. Her hosts took her to an on-campus dance performance, a party, and then stayed up talking into the wee hours of the morning. People were talkative, friendly, and did I mention SMART. She also visited Penn last year and ended up not even applying because she did not like feel of the campus or the area. As a parent, I was of course concerned about safety, but based on my walking tour of the neighborhood, I have no reservations whatsoever about sending her to UChicago.