Very interesting recent comments of a UChicago student

hebegebe
Fri, 26 Jan 2024 14:41:46 +0000

Mwfan1921:

Their statement is an example of how Chicago is a fit school, and definitely not for everyone (which I know you know!)

I agree with this completely. Just between our two kids, one decided (correctly) that UChicago was a perfect fit for her, and the other decided UChicago was not a great fit (I think correctly as well). Both had the other’s college as #6 on their preference list.

marlowe1:

You can embrace the challenge and enroll, because you want to get your ass kicked, because getting your ass kicked is good, getting your ass kicked is the whole point.

This was not the reason our daughter chose UChicago. Instead, it was because she (and we parents) hoped she would flourish there.

We parents learned long ago that she performed her best when much was demanded of her, and tended to slack off a bit otherwise. When she was learning how to swim, she made little progress with the gentle coaches, but made rapid progress with the coach that threw her in the deep end and demanded laps. In high school she paid most attention to, and enjoyed, the hard instructors. By the time she was a high school senior, she realized this about herself as well. The colleges at the top of her list were all known for being demanding.

And she absolutely did flourish at UChicago, and found out just how much she was capable of. That is also part of the UChicago experience, for the right student.