Do University of Chicago students have any fun?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
PP is you DC STEM or humanities? I’m trying to get a sense of whether there is a difference in terms of stress. My DC can handle advanced reading and writes well, is interested in humanities. Do you have a sense about level of stress for humanities majors? |
Anonymous
| No. |
Anonymous
This Either this is a meaningless statement (e.g. for every school, there is some kid who will find it perfect) and/or it begs the crucial questions (how many such kids/what profile). Abstractly, my kid (PhD bound, academically well-rounded and there for (rather than despite) the Core, appreciative of the undergrad cohort (smart, serious, friendly, interesting), engaged in a wide range of activities) is the right kid for UofC. But DC would be the first to tell you that the school is not perfect. Lots of undergrads feel really oppressed/pressured/depressed. DC is generally not one of them, but being surrounded by smart/serious/nice/interesting/engaged people who are routinely depressed and/or freaking out (and doing so in an environment where mental health services are relatively scarce and not very good) creates an environment that falls far short of perfection. UChicago can be a soul-crushing experience even for kids who came in as joyful nerds. This is DC’s perspective from the vantage point of 4th year. First year, DC’s reaction was “this is great!” but arguably “this” was college and the city of Chicago rather than the University per se. NP here. This is really helpful and well thought out. Thank you. I appreciate that you took the time. |
Anonymous
|
I got my PhD from Chicago, and my sister in law was there at the same time getting her BA.
From what I saw teaching undergrads and seeing my SIL, the undergrads are definitely not having a typical college experience. Because there are so many grad students and extremely smart professors etc, they think they need to compete with all of that. They feel dumb- even though they are so smart! And great students! They study very very much more than students at any other school I am aware of (and I’ve taught in other colleges and unis). They appear stressed out and unhappy. I would definitely not recommend my child to go there. It’s a real “life of the mind” thing there- people actually walk around muttering to themselves. It’s fantastic if you really live that way, but I would want my kid to have a more typical college experience. My .02 |
Anonymous
DC is a STEM major. My sense is STEM kids (among DC’s friends, at least) stress out more. Some of the Core requirements (looking at you, Chem!) stress out non-STEM kids. That said, my outsider’s take is that the quarter system is a major generator of stress, especially for kids that tend to be deliberate rather than fast. Time to stop and reflect on what you’re learning seems scarce, at least compared to my college (and teaching) experience. So stress may be less about STEM vs humanities and more about learning style. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t send a kid who has issues with time pressure to UofC. I also think there’s stress for some kids who are used to/invested in/maybe even define themselves as being the smartest or most intellectual kid in the room and suddenly, in a very different room, experience themselves as unexceptional and maybe even below average. That is, of course, a risk at any elite university but it’s often mitigated by other measures of value or other goals among the college cohort at schools whose prestige stems as much from their association with wealth/power/athletics/arts as with brains. UChicago has been developing its arts programs/resources in recent years and I suspect that the arts-oriented kids are among the happiest undergrads there these days. DC has friends doing stand-up, writing plays (and musicals), etc. And the ARTs Core (and elective) courses DC has taken have been fabulous. (HUM and CIV were good; STEM and SOC SCI were hit or miss). That’s probably about all I can tell you (sort of anecdotal and scattershot) re who “the right kid” is for UofC. My main point here is “very intellectual” (the conventional answer) is misleading/not a good predictor. |
Anonymous
|
PS. ITA with 08:31
10:06 |
Anonymous
| Informative posts, 8:31 and 10:06. Thanks. Don’t you think, however, that there’s a self-selecting bias at work here? The ultra-grinding, always miserable types tend to gravitate toward UC (and their opposites are drawn away). My point is that the kids at UC would probably be miserable grinders whenever they go. I have one of these students in my house and she works like a fiend and can’t even articulate why. I find it hard to imagine she’ll behave differently no matter where she goes. I’ve tried, believe me! |
Anonymous
| 13:32 -- I have one of these kids, too. No matter how much I stress well-roundedness and balance, I have made no impact. |
Anonymous
| Oh, and, yes, she did apply to UofC. |
Anonymous
|
Probably self-selecting, yes. But u of c doesn’t make any effort to get the kids to modulate. The message they get from many professors is just work harder/read more/be smarter (and faster- the quarter system can be brutal).
One example of how it’s so unique- at talks or presentations, attendees and faculty are really relentlessly tough. I mean- aggressive questioning etc. But that is actually high praise - they are engaging with your work by tearing it apart. I saw 19 year olds just shredded by this- they didn’t have the emotional maturity to deal with that, even when the profs would say- we do this because we like the ideas! It’s a very super intellectual atmosphere- for better or for worse. |
Anonymous
|
Interesting point. Still, my terminator daughter would go flat-out no matter what she’s told. As her dad I worry but it beats the crap out of telling my sons they need to do more.
I was very impressed by the Williams College tutorial system, which teaches kids how to create/critique/defend work in a private setting where they aren’t shamed or humiliated. (At least until grad school!) |
Anonymous
|
I would say that my intellectual life is more pleasure principle driven whereas DC tends toward masochistic Stakhanovite in pressure-cooker environments, so, yeah, I think there’s some truth to the self-selection thing. But there’s been more misery associated with UofC than with HS — not personally for DC, but atmospherically. HS prepared DC for the academic pressure/standards @ UofC. It didn’t prepare many of DC’s UofC friends. Watching them deal with this pressure, DC’s reaction has been wow this is really unnecessary and counterproductive.
DC has made a radically different choice of university for grad school. So we’ll see how much of institutional culture matters. DC is well-rounded and probably became even more so in college but wants to be in a setting where that is valorized. |
Anonymous
| does anyone have a perspective on how U of Chi is if a student is coming from a pressure-cooker private school in DMV and is fine there. ie I'm just trying to figure out relative pressure-cooker situation. |
Anonymous
My kid (grad school-bound 4th year described in previous posts) fits that description. Again, DC says HS was good prep for UofC and DC has done well academically (while also doing lots of other things including TAing and living off campus). But the other (equally smart and high-performing) kid from DC’s HS cohort who went to UofC left during first year. A lot of this comes done to social/emotional makeup and what kinds of support DC relies upon at home (you can know what you provide but you may not know what they relied upon until they leave). Some people (and you may not be one of them) tend to think HS stress-tests kids for college. It doesn’t, exactly, because most HS aged kids have home to come back to on a daily basis. And they know their friends have that as well. In college and young adulthood, some kids are on their own in a different way and/or rely more heavily on friends for support. And the problems they’re facing may appear bigger/less soluble than the ones they brought home in HS. In a college environment where brains/academic performance feel like the only thing that matters, where college is jaw-droppingly expensive and kids know that, where family expectations may seem to suggest that it’s crucial that this investment pay off (in grades, jobs, income), there are potentially very different types/levels of stress and feelings of responsibility. |
Anonymous
| U of C has become much more fashionable in recent years, and much less egalitarian. Expect to pay big bucks. You'll get a better education than you will at the vast majority of prestige schools (so-called), and the academic atmosphere will be more high-minded, but the winters are trying, and the city has become a hot stinking mess. |