<p>Coursework is as rigorous as you want it to be. If you want to be an A student, you’re going to have to bust your ass off, but this is true at any school. If you’re fine with being a B or B+ student, then you don’t have to work as hard, just decently hard. It really depends on you.</p>
<p>Yes, students do take advantage of study abroad. I myself didn’t, but my schedule was rather complicated. I know people who’ve studied abroad both over the summer and throughout the school year, and they have nothing but positive things to say about it.</p>
<p>It’s a collaborative pressure-cooker, in my opinion. I don’t think people actively compete with each other, but there’s always a sense that you have to do more. You have to always take four classes a quarter, you have to take harder classes, you need to bring your homework with you when you leave campus to go downtown, etc. It’s a very peculiar atmosphere that stems from being surrounded by intelligent peers who are very focused on academics; I’ve heard it’s the same at peer schools, so I don’t think it’s unique to Chicago.</p>
<p>Re: Hyde Park - <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1469434-uchicago-immediate-neighborhood-hyde-park.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1469434-uchicago-immediate-neighborhood-hyde-park.html</a></p>
<p>Pretty easy, actually, but you have to look for them, and they won’t fall on top of your head. One of my roommates has had an internship every summer here and has successively worked multiple jobs simultaneously during the school year on top of schoolwork … but she’s very proactive about it. Still, the city of Chicago’s great for finding internships.</p>