<p>Muhammad Ali lived right across the street from Wallace, one of Elijah’s sons (who I think took over his dad’s house).</p>
<p>I don’t understand where the misconceptions of chicago come from on this site, I mean don’t you think that it is a little pathetic that some dartmouth grad has decided that they have a clear and honest view of everybody at chicago because he/she claims to know some alumni who wished certain aspects of their undergraduate experience had been different? I don’t assume that everyone at dartmouth is an alcoholic loser who might have gotten into college with good sat’s but came out close to illterate just cause the dartmouth grads that I know are all like that.</p>
<p>lonestardad: Thank you. It annoys me that prospective students might actually being using people’s advice on this site about Chicago who have never had experience with the University. I do not by any means consider myself “antisocial” and I cannot imagine a better 4 years of college. Yes, college is about meeting people, partying, etc… but you really do come out of Chicago knowing that you have been changed as a person - your thinking process, your intellectual capacity, and your maturity and confidence. </p>
<p>Hanna1: I echo your sentiments. I think the original poster was looking for advice from students who graduated from the college. Honestly, the reason why I post on this site is because there seems to be a misconception of chicago and I don’t want someone basing their decision to apply on some rumors that they heard from a former student who was looking for a Big 10 school. </p>
<p>My advice to anyone interested is to visit for yourself. And for those who still might be worried about a social scene after that, don’t think for a second that students don’t go out downtown or to the north side all the time for drinks, etc… The city itself was one of the main draws for me.</p>
<p>The reason why I read this post cover to cover is that I have not just heard this from random others, but lots of students have said similar things. But equally so, many have said that they had an ideal time at uchic. I probably will not be able to visit, but I plan to apply and hopefully, the university will pay for a visit.</p>
<p>well, most people said that the Chicaga experience isn’t for everyone - its not mainstream, and the kids are much more intellectual and quirky than the typical top student that goes to a peer school.</p>
<p>Judging from the application, I’d say thats dead on (crunchy peanut butter? cmon now)</p>
<p>About U of C:</p>
<p>So yeah, I was fascinated with the concept of going to U of C for a long time. My Latin teacher was an alumnus and preached the gospel of the U of C daily to our class. My internship boss last summer got his PhD there, and loved it. It was my top choice school for a long time behind Stanford and Yale, neither of which accepted me. Then I visited after I got in…</p>
<p>I arrived on campus one Sunday night… but didn’t see most of it till the next morning. I spent the night in Shoreland dorm, which though the rooms were all very nice sizes and had private bathrooms, was falling apart and the U wasn’t spending a penny to maintain it. My host and only about 5-6 other kids on her floor were social, the rest just didn’t really seem interested in talking to anyone. The common rooms everywhere were dead, hardly anyone had their doors open of their rooms either. Not a very welcoming atmosphere.</p>
<p>So I wanted to go visit a class the next day, and figured I should go see a Core class, since that’s what most of my classes at the U would be if I came. But nearly everyone I asked told me NOT to sit in on a Core class, because they weren’t worth going to. This was not a good sign if I was gonna have to take all these Core classes for the next 4 years. The Intro Hum class I thought about visiting had a homework assignment, 3 documents I had already read in 11th grade, so I went with a non-Core class in the famed Econ department. The subject matter was interesting but the prof was quite dull, and out of about 30 students in the class, 3 or 4 actually were participating in discussion, including myself. The rest were reading, half-asleep, or finishing other assignments.</p>
<p>I also took a tour. The campus was beautiful, yet overall cold and unwelcoming. My tour guide also was a little too impressed with herself. There also was a feeling I got among students that most were intereseted in solely academics and nothing outside of that, whether it be extracurricular or athletic or social activites, and I’m not like that. Maybe I should have visited during Scav Hunt week? Oh well.</p>
<p>The U of C is one of the best universities in the nation and you can probably get just as good of an education there than anywhere else in the country. It just left me totally disallusioned by the end, unfortunately not the place for me…</p>
<p>My S had an entirely different experience when he visited after admission. He stayed in Max P and had a very good time. The students were very friendly and went out of their way to be helpful. He sat in on three classes and enjoyed them all. I described his stay elsewhere so I won’t go into any more detail except to say he has continued email communication with some of the students and will likely be seeing a couple this summer in Beijing.</p>
<p>That’s good to hear, idad, maybe I just got unlucky. </p>
<p>It seems like the student opinion on Max P is mixed though. My host called it “ugly-ass Max P.”</p>
<p>It IS an amazing school. My cousin went there, and it befits her, because she loves to study and is extremely smart. But I thinkt he reason many people don’t consider U of C is because it is considerably lacking a social scene. My other cousin likes to party and jetted off to Northwestern… but anyway I think it is just U of C is more focused on academics than other schools.</p>
<p>Actually I believe most students quite enjoy Max P. It is new, clean, rooms are nice size for dorm rooms, close to campus. Also 2 minutes to dining hall, two minutes to Library, only 3 stories so not going up elevators all the time. Majority are 1st years so have chance to meet new people. Quiet but many people leave doors open. Great set-up.</p>
<p>Yeah, my best friend from high school went to northwestern we spent a number of nights at each others respectiful schools, and I was not that impressed by NU’s social life. I guess a big difference is that NU is much more regional, there is a greater population from the midwest, so it feels really suburban, fratty, etc. Chicago’s student body is more coastal, there are midwestern’s but there is a stronger influence from the people from NYC, cal, so it’s a little hipper, and a little more mature, in that there are less people who are going to college so that they can get drunk for the first time. Of course, NU undergrad is twice the size of chicago undergrad, which clearly changes the social structure of the school (This is just my perspective, and that of the people I know at both schools )</p>
<p>you can’t really judge a school based on one professor or one tour guide - every school has its duds</p>
<p>Tucker Max went to U of C. (the internet player guy, read about him at <a href=“http://www”>www</a>. his name . com lol)</p>
<p>Don’t base your opinion of Chicago on anything Tucker Max writes. He is brilliant but crazy.</p>
<p>Tucker may be “brilliant” but his column on Chicago was in really poor taste and incredibly mean-spirited. It was juvenile and hardly insightful.</p>
<p>“juvenile and hardly insightful” goes along with crazy. He is a very strange person and is sort of like Howard Stern- sensationalist. Some people find him amusing. I don’t. I hate when he is mentioned in the Chicago threads.</p>
<p>On behalf of all the crazy people I have known, a word in their defense: many are quite insightful and not at all juvenile!</p>
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<p>I believe that house was sold a number of years ago, but that the Nation of Islam still owns Elijah Muhammad’s house. It has gorgeous original stained-glass windows with Muslim symbols that can be seen from the street. I used to babysit in that area; there are some breathtaking mansions.</p>
<p>My parents met in stats class as U of C undergrads, I grew up on campus, and I have a lot of affection for the place. There is a social life to be had there, but I do think that there’s a huge gap between U of C, where academics are far and away the distinctive aspect, and someplace like Yale, where although the academics are superb, it would make sense to attend just for the campus life, because the music, theater, newspaper, political groups etc. are so vibrant. If you chose U of C for the campus life, you’d likely be disappointed. Go there for the academics, and the campus life will be enough to keep you busy.</p>
<p>I 100% agree. Those who say otherwise have never been anywhere else.</p>
<p>I apologize for bringing up an old post… but I wanted to share my visit for anyone who cares to read.</p>
<p>I visited on the eve of the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. So I was already in a good mood when I walked on campus. I also left my parents at home. I’m from the suburbs of Chicago and decided to give public transportation a go. Haha --that was an experience. Anyway, so I went with my best friend who is also very interested in the school. We attended the Open House and I loved absolutley everything. Someone said they thought the campus was cold - I thought it was incredibly welcoming, but then again I think you have to like gothic architecture to get that feeling. I love the gargoyles on campus. There are so many decorative details and most tell a story. There are some random buildings that don’t fit in with the gothic architecture. First they look out of place, but then they kind of make a nice balance, too. I’m picky when it comes to libraries- I absolutley loved the Reg. I also thought the MP dorms were VERY nice. Very bright and colorful building… though the tour guide said that not all were like that, lol. So I’m going back to do a dorm tour eventually.</p>
<p>I actually stayed on the campus a few hours after the open house; my friend and I decided to wander the campus. Again, I found no complaints. I do want to visit when school is in session, but there was a lot of people on campus either doing research or staying the summer, I dunno. I also liked Hyde Park. I read a fact somewhere that it has the highest concentration of bookstores. There was about 5 on one street alone. The location is actually ideal for me, too: there’s stuff to do, and you can always hop on the bus or train to go to Chicago, but at the same time Chicago is not a distraction when hardcore studying is neccesary.</p>
<p>Random. Would Chicago be called “uptown” from Hyde Park? I’m from the northwest 'burbs so “downtown” makes geographical sense from my location, or is it just referred to as “downtown” from any location? Though technically “uptown” makes more sense since it is raised… a mere few feet… </p>
<p>Anyway, from my visit I got a fabulous impression of UChicago.</p>