Would I Fit In?

JHS
Mon, 06 Dec 2010 15:11:21 +0000

What UChicago pretty much lacks is an Animal House-type scene. The OP, and his friends, will have pretty much the same social life at UChicago that they would have had at any college in any awesome city. They will have a good time, do stupid things, break laws against underage drinking and maybe drug use, risk getting communicable diseases . . . the whole shebang. What they won’t have is a frat house next door on double secret probation where some meaningful number of brothers seriously doesn’t care about their educations, people are disciplined if they mention a class in conversation, and the parties are judged by their casualty and property damage reports. That kind of thing can be fun to dip your toe into once or twice, but it’s not a great way to live, and it winds up being annoying most of the time.

If you can’t live without self- and other-destructiveness on an epic scale, don’t bother thinking about Chicago. If you are content with merely having fun, having friends, and having a sex life, Chicago will be just fine.