Niece just finished her freshman year at University of Chicago. She hates it.

[Anonymous]

She earned very high marks and she does not wish to return. And not just for known reasons like violent crime, weather, and its isolated location in the Midwest, and more specifically, on the deep south side of Chicago. We had a long lunch and here are her words in quotes: Her classmates are "repulsively obnoxious" and "insufferable," her professors were "checked out" or "barely spoke English," the university seems "unprofessional" and in "disarray," and most of the staff she encountered were "useless" and "incompetent." "It looks like a serious university but it does not operate like a serious university."

It was not her first choice but she was so excited when we met for lunch late last summer. It is sad to see her so unhappy after a year.

[Anonymous]

How was the lunch?

[Anonymous]

So Miss Sunshine has applied to transfer, right?

[Anonymous]

Curious if she would feel that way about most colleges, even other top tier ones.

Welcome to the real world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So Miss Sunshine has applied to transfer, right?

Ha ha exactly. We’re supposed to hold the rantings of that lunatic against the university?

Nope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She earned very high marks and she does not wish to return. And not just for known reasons like violent crime, weather, and its isolated location in the Midwest, and more specifically, on the deep south side of Chicago. We had a long lunch and here are her words in quotes: Her classmates are "repulsively obnoxious" and "insufferable," her professors were "checked out" or "barely spoke English," the university seems "unprofessional" and in "disarray," and most of the staff she encountered were "useless" and "incompetent." "It looks like a serious university but it does not operate like a serious university."

It was not her first choice but she was so excited when we met for lunch late last summer. It is sad to see her so unhappy after a year.

You realize it is hard to take you seriously when you lead with “the violent crime” and the “isolated location”.

First, the area around the school has crime, but the school itself is fine.

2nd… a city of 5 million people is hardly an isolated location.

Why even mention those two points…doesn’t sound like they had anything to do with your niece liking or not liking the school.

[Anonymous]

That stinks. I’m sure she can get into a lot of places as a transfer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So Miss Sunshine has applied to transfer, right?

She wants to decompress and explore what if any options she has. As she explained, Chicago is on the quarter system, which makes it difficult to transfer courses to the far more common semester universities? And transfer deadlines tend to be in January, so she would have had to begin that process right after her first quarter. She tried to give it a fair chance for two more quarters and she remains unhappy. It sounds like she has made some good friends but she seems to dislike everything else about the school. She thought it would be different.

[Anonymous]

I hated Chicago also. It just…doesn’t have a great vibe and wasn’t a good fit for me.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes this happens when you choose a college based solely on it being your highest US News ranked option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That stinks. I’m sure she can get into a lot of places as a transfer.

She seemed to think most of the colleges she would consider had transfer deadlines several months ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes this happens when you choose a college based solely on it being your highest US News ranked option.

She is really well traveled with best friends and an older brother at Ivies, UVA, Vanderbilt, Boston College, and Duke. Her senior year of high school and over the last year she has spent weekends or longer at like a dozen universities. She has a good handle on what she believes is lacking at Chicago.

[Anonymous]

She'll find her place. Every school is not for everyone. My niece just finished her freshman year at a tiny, well-regarded SLAC in the Northeast and absolutely hated it. She thought she wanted a small school but it ended up being too small, few classes, few opportunities for clubs, internships, etc. No diversity (she's from Chicago actually and the first thing you notice at this SLAC is how WHITE it is). She actually decided pretty late in the year that she wanted to transfer and missed some transfer deadlines by applying in the spring. She got into three or four schools and will be attending a Big-10 school this fall in an excellent STEM program.

If your niece doesn't want to wait an entire year, she can always apply to be a spring transfer. Have her check deadlines but I think a lot of schools take transfers in the second semester.

Best of luck to her - I know it was a rough year for my niece and I hope she'll be happier at a larger school with so many more classes to choose from and many more opportunities, both academically and socially.

[Anonymous]

I’m sorry for her and hope she can find a better fit. You’re a good Aunt to listen and be supportive. Curious if she is from the DMV and went to public or private?

[Anonymous]

Emory and Vandy seem transfer friendly. Great weather and great cities. I know Emory is well run and beautiful.