U Chicago - Experience?

[Anonymous]

UChicago students have died from random gun violence within the last couple of years. That just doesn’t happen at other schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid loves it - physics and math. Went to a Maryland public. As others have said, it is not cut-throat, competitive, but is for kids that want an intellectual environment and enjoy it.

We visited Northwestern, and my kid was turned off by the student tour guide and student presentation that emphasized how to get out of hard work by taking a course on chocolate, for example.

Yes, trips to different parts of Chicago happen pretty often, my kid tutors, is a member of several clubs and has some good friends groups. They go to museums, Chinatown, Wicker Park, Lincoln Park, little Russia, comedy and concerts.

Can you elaborate by what you mean by this?
My daughter wants to study physics or math. She attends a rigorous DC private and does very well in the hardest math and science classes. She's used to studying very hard and rising to whatever the academic as is--her school's work-load is 3+ hours of homework nightly and she just plods away at it.

However, she's not an intellectual. She's not reading math or physics journals for fun. She barely keeps up with current events. She spends an inordinate amount of time on social media and watching the latest Netflix show.

Would she find her people?

This is most ambitious kids (who aren't even necessarily sure what they are ambitious for etc) including my own two DCs. My thought for myself was to keep my DCs out of intellectually demanding places for college (Chicago being one of them). Let them grow up a bit. If they want a real intellectual challenge, they can find int in grad school.

This is my quandary. Do they need intense and super rigorous for undergraduate? It’s been good my kid got enriched instruction for stem classes for sure, (magnet) so does that mean “regular” college level stuff won’t be stimulating enough? I think it would be fine, but don’t want to steer him some place that won’t give him what he needs.

I think I’m grappling with what the point of college is. I remember growing up in college- socially and emotionally- and finally figuring out what I really loved, academically. Grad school then is where I got all the rigor and intensity. But maybe my kid is different. Since he was 7 or so he has been focused on physics and reads about it and thinks about it all the time. So maybe unlike me he could just go straight to a super intellectual place without burning out.

Do magnet or other highly able kids NEED a place like MIT or Chicago? If they don’t get somewhere that really challenges them, is it the end of the world?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is hardly dangerous to go from Hyde Park to the loop, Near North, Wicker Park, Lincoln Park, etc. If you say otherwise, you are simply parroting what you *think* you know from inside some right wing bubble that thinks Chicago is some dangerous hell scape.

Our niece is there and she is having a great time. (Went to a private outside Philadelphia). She reports some classes are difficult, but manageable. Only dislike is the pace of the quarter system.

Over half the freshman and sophomores live in Woodlawn. No undergrads are routinely hanging out in Wicker Park and Lincoln Park. But it’s interesting you’re calling people Fox News MAGA nuts or whatever when you’re tripping over yourself to namedrop white yuppy neighborhoods. Why don’t you tell us how amazing Southside neighborhoods are? Woodlawn, Washington Park, Englewood.

Students don't really go to the neighboring southside neighborhoods.
The most dangerous thing a student would likely do is go up to 53rd at midnight to get some Harold's.

The insinuation was that students would be in danger going to "Chicago" - the neighborhoods listed are where they would go on a Saturday afternoon.

And yes, if you think the UChicago is in some sort of super dangerous place, then you are a MAGA nut that is drinking the koolaid. I'm sure you would have the same issues with students going to Johns Hopkins, Tufts, UPenn, etc. etc. Give it a rest.

You sound like an old fart. Are you David Brooks? Nobody is going to Harold's for chicken. It's humorous how every booster acts as if the most violent neighborhoods in the U.S. which surround campus have 100 ft walls to keep violent criminals away from your children. There are no walls. The criminals are at those train and bus stops, they are on those trains and buses, and they are prowling around campus day and night looking for easy and lucrative crimes of opportunity.

Nobody going to Harold's? What has the world come to. Next thing you will tell me is nobody goes to the seminary bookstore anymore. In the early 90s, Harold's had bullet proof glass with a lazy to give you the chicken way before anybody else had it. Going to Harold's late at night and getting half BBQ and half Hot Sauce was a source of pride by demonstrating your courage to brave the elements for some late night chicken. I believe your DC is lying about not going to Harold's.

If they aren't going to Harolds, they're certainly going to Target or Small Cheval, both of which are right next to Harold's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every time there’s a U of C thread devolves into the same old argument.

There is more crime in Chicago than other places, and more crime in Hyde Park and it’s surrounds than other places. It’s a fact. People in Chicago are aware of this. And yet, people in Chicago are not routinely dodging bullets or being mugged. Many of us live here enthusiastically. Crime rates can be higher than average but folks can still live lives free of crime. I’ve lived on the south side of Chicago (not HP) for 7 years and heard more gunshots when I lived in NWDC (for the record, I have never heard or witnessed crime personally at all in Chicago but I’m not a Pollyanna).

And, this notion that Hyde Park is some bubble surrounded by incredibly dangerous neighborhoods is racist trash and it only takes the mention of Englewood (not near U of C) for people to betray their racism. Kenwood, Bronzeville and Jackson Park are historic centers of Black community in Chicago and people who avoid them are paranoid, prejudiced, or both.

100% lie. You are full of crap.

Nope, 100% true. Lived in DC (Takoma) for 5 years and heard gunshots twice. Lived on Chicago’s southside (Brighton Park) and have heard gunshots 0 times. It’s called anecdata and people share it on these threads all the time, which is — by and large — my point.

Just like the University of Idaho is particularly dangerous because of the recent murders. Or Columbia. Or (googles) Eastern Michigan. Or Virginia Tech.

Murder is statistically rare. So is hearing gunshots. Most people never encounter either, but when you hear about them or witness them it inflates your sense of how dangerous a place is.

You must have missed this neighbor. https://news.wttw.com/2022/10/29/community-organizations-speak-out-after-violent-weekend-brighton-park

We heard it all the way over in Bridgeport.

As I have said numerous times, no one is contesting that there is violence in Chicago. No one. Not me, not anyone. I am aware of that incident (didn't hear it and honestly am skeptical you'd hear it in Bridgeport, which is 2 miles from BP so... was it a bomb?), and others in the area, including a recent stabbing in the same area. I participate in community meetings to discuss crime, crime prevention, and harm reduction. It is a concern.

But safety is subjective. Statistically, almost anywhere in the country, you run a LOW RISK of being the victim of violent crime, but that doesn't make some areas feel more or less safe.

And to the person who says accidental/crossfire shootings happen to U of C students but not elsewhere, that's just patently false and basic google searches will return many examples. Not to mention mass shootings.

Your college students aren't safe anywhere but they're not in incredible danger anywhere, either. And they're probably marginally less safe in Chicago than in Moscow, Idaho or Charlottesville, VA. Is that a reason not to go to U of C? For me, no. For others, sure. I'm just sick of these threads where people clutch their pearls about Chicago specifically, in incredibly race-laden ways, as though you're sending your kids into a war zone unlike anywhere else in the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid loves it - physics and math. Went to a Maryland public. As others have said, it is not cut-throat, competitive, but is for kids that want an intellectual environment and enjoy it.

We visited Northwestern, and my kid was turned off by the student tour guide and student presentation that emphasized how to get out of hard work by taking a course on chocolate, for example.

Yes, trips to different parts of Chicago happen pretty often, my kid tutors, is a member of several clubs and has some good friends groups. They go to museums, Chinatown, Wicker Park, Lincoln Park, little Russia, comedy and concerts.

Can you elaborate by what you mean by this?
My daughter wants to study physics or math. She attends a rigorous DC private and does very well in the hardest math and science classes. She's used to studying very hard and rising to whatever the academic as is--her school's work-load is 3+ hours of homework nightly and she just plods away at it.

However, she's not an intellectual. She's not reading math or physics journals for fun. She barely keeps up with current events. She spends an inordinate amount of time on social media and watching the latest Netflix show.

Would she find her people?

This is most ambitious kids (who aren't even necessarily sure what they are ambitious for etc) including my own two DCs. My thought for myself was to keep my DCs out of intellectually demanding places for college (Chicago being one of them). Let them grow up a bit. If they want a real intellectual challenge, they can find int in grad school.

This is my quandary. Do they need intense and super rigorous for undergraduate? It’s been good my kid got enriched instruction for stem classes for sure, (magnet) so does that mean “regular” college level stuff won’t be stimulating enough? I think it would be fine, but don’t want to steer him some place that won’t give him what he needs.

I think I’m grappling with what the point of college is. I remember growing up in college- socially and emotionally- and finally figuring out what I really loved, academically. Grad school then is where I got all the rigor and intensity. But maybe my kid is different. Since he was 7 or so he has been focused on physics and reads about it and thinks about it all the time. So maybe unlike me he could just go straight to a super intellectual place without burning out.

Do magnet or other highly able kids NEED a place like MIT or Chicago? If they don’t get somewhere that really challenges them, is it the end of the world?

Interesting. My daughter excels at physics C and post-Calculus math with near perfect grades but has never thought about any of this outside of school. She's mostly on Tiktok and Netflix and hanging out with friends. I wonder how she would do at Chicago.
Our kids are very different. I would say that yours would be a good fit whereas mine should probably head to an honors program at a strong state school.

[Anonymous]

The problem with UofC is that it is so freaking boring that the kids HAVE to get off campus to have any fun. If you have a child who is in anyway an extrovert the school social environment will kill them, not the random crime.

This is exactly what a private counselor told my nephew. Kid is high stat, athlete etc but enjoys time with friends, the occasional party and going to football/basketball/baseball games. He's still putting his list together, but the counselor advised against U of C and MIT because the cultures are all work and very little fun. We participated in a webinar with five top schools where the students were asked to describe what they did for fun. The kid from MI talked about going to sporting events with friends, and the kid from Harvard talked about a bar/restaurant that students went to every week. The U of C kid said I know our reputation is "where fun goes to die" but that's just not true, and then proceeded to explain how he added another major or minor (I can't remember which) for fun. He was basically working 1 on 1 with a professor to learn Swedish and was excited to talk about the additional studies as his fun. If your kid is interested, definitely make sure it's a good fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid loves it - physics and math. Went to a Maryland public. As others have said, it is not cut-throat, competitive, but is for kids that want an intellectual environment and enjoy it.

We visited Northwestern, and my kid was turned off by the student tour guide and student presentation that emphasized how to get out of hard work by taking a course on chocolate, for example.

Yes, trips to different parts of Chicago happen pretty often, my kid tutors, is a member of several clubs and has some good friends groups. They go to museums, Chinatown, Wicker Park, Lincoln Park, little Russia, comedy and concerts.

My DS is a junior and wants to study physics- high stats etc. He was similarly turned off by one tour guide at our flagship public who talked about which classes were the “easiest”. We have looked at Chicago, but I was turned off by the physics website bc it seemed not particularly welcoming to undergraduates. In your experience, is the university doing a better job than it used to catering to undergraduates? I am glad to hear it’s not cut throat (my kid isn’t one to compare scores etc) but I still worry that it’s indifferent to the undergrad experience. Is it fun for the right kid? My kid is “right” for that place in many respects, but I want the place to also care about him…

I went there to grad school there and got a phenomenal education and career out of it but the undergrads I knew - admittedly not a lot - didn’t seem happy.

Thanks for sharing your child’s experiences.

We were in Hyde Park for a post-graduate experience too, and my husband said they had just started to turn around that culture of not paying attention to undergraduates. My kid finds the physics department very good, and has really enjoyed classes and working in one of the quantum labs. Before going to UChicago, she worked with a professor at UMD, and returned to a different lab during the summer after she started at UChicago. She had really good experiences at UMD too, and they really seem to make space for undergraduates in the lab there, if that's what you're considering. Altogether though, I think UChicago offered her that intellectual experience she wanted across several different subject areas, she has enjoyed the Core for the most part, and as a parent, I'm glad she had that rich experience in addition to the physics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid loves it - physics and math. Went to a Maryland public. As others have said, it is not cut-throat, competitive, but is for kids that want an intellectual environment and enjoy it.

We visited Northwestern, and my kid was turned off by the student tour guide and student presentation that emphasized how to get out of hard work by taking a course on chocolate, for example.

Yes, trips to different parts of Chicago happen pretty often, my kid tutors, is a member of several clubs and has some good friends groups. They go to museums, Chinatown, Wicker Park, Lincoln Park, little Russia, comedy and concerts.

My DS is a junior and wants to study physics- high stats etc. He was similarly turned off by one tour guide at our flagship public who talked about which classes were the “easiest”. We have looked at Chicago, but I was turned off by the physics website bc it seemed not particularly welcoming to undergraduates. In your experience, is the university doing a better job than it used to catering to undergraduates? I am glad to hear it’s not cut throat (my kid isn’t one to compare scores etc) but I still worry that it’s indifferent to the undergrad experience. Is it fun for the right kid? My kid is “right” for that place in many respects, but I want the place to also care about him…

I went there to grad school there and got a phenomenal education and career out of it but the undergrads I knew - admittedly not a lot - didn’t seem happy.

Thanks for sharing your child’s experiences.

We were in Hyde Park for a post-graduate experience too, and my husband said they had just started to turn around that culture of not paying attention to undergraduates. My kid finds the physics department very good, and has really enjoyed classes and working in one of the quantum labs. Before going to UChicago, she worked with a professor at UMD, and returned to a different lab during the summer after she started at UChicago. She had really good experiences at UMD too, and they really seem to make space for undergraduates in the lab there, if that's what you're considering. Altogether though, I think UChicago offered her that intellectual experience she wanted across several different subject areas, she has enjoyed the Core for the most part, and as a parent, I'm glad she had that rich experience in addition to the physics.

There's a parent in the above who reported uchicago kids' idea of fun in the place where fun goes to die are the core, quantum labs, different labs, and more labs. And if the kids have extra time, more labs. This is how you produce who can't hold conversations in the real world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The problem with UofC is that it is so freaking boring that the kids HAVE to get off campus to have any fun. If you have a child who is in anyway an extrovert the school social environment will kill them, not the random crime.

This is exactly what a private counselor told my nephew. Kid is high stat, athlete etc but enjoys time with friends, the occasional party and going to football/basketball/baseball games. He's still putting his list together, but the counselor advised against U of C and MIT because the cultures are all work and very little fun. We participated in a webinar with five top schools where the students were asked to describe what they did for fun. The kid from MI talked about going to sporting events with friends, and the kid from Harvard talked about a bar/restaurant that students went to every week. The U of C kid said I know our reputation is "where fun goes to die" but that's just not true, and then proceeded to explain how he added another major or minor (I can't remember which) for fun. He was basically working 1 on 1 with a professor to learn Swedish and was excited to talk about the additional studies as his fun. If your kid is interested, definitely make sure it's a good fit.

I think this is mostly correct, and I *like* U of C. But I wouldn't say that it's universal, and I also wouldn't say that "fun" is always "more labs" or "learning Swedish." I know a U of C student who's secondary passion is EDM music and he puts on concerts at local venues. I think that the defining characteristic is that U of C folks tend to get really, deeply, INto their passions, whatever they may be. They're not typically dilettantes. This can present in a variety of ways and I can totally see how it might be off putting or not for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Hello Parents of DCs currently enrolled at U Chicago. Anything you can share about the experience? Stressful? Fun? How did it compare with DC/MD/VA area high school stress levels? Are your DCs enjoying the experience?

The only schools I prefer over UChicago:
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Stanford
MIT
UPenn
Caltech
Duke
Dartmouth
Brown
Vanderbilt
Rice
Columbia
Cornell
Georgetown
NYU
UVA
Williams
Amherst
Pomona
Swathmore
Carleton

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The problem with UofC is that it is so freaking boring that the kids HAVE to get off campus to have any fun. If you have a child who is in anyway an extrovert the school social environment will kill them, not the random crime.

This is exactly what a private counselor told my nephew. Kid is high stat, athlete etc but enjoys time with friends, the occasional party and going to football/basketball/baseball games. He's still putting his list together, but the counselor advised against U of C and MIT because the cultures are all work and very little fun. We participated in a webinar with five top schools where the students were asked to describe what they did for fun. The kid from MI talked about going to sporting events with friends, and the kid from Harvard talked about a bar/restaurant that students went to every week. The U of C kid said I know our reputation is "where fun goes to die" but that's just not true, and then proceeded to explain how he added another major or minor (I can't remember which) for fun. He was basically working 1 on 1 with a professor to learn Swedish and was excited to talk about the additional studies as his fun. If your kid is interested, definitely make sure it's a good fit.

I think this is mostly correct, and I *like* U of C. But I wouldn't say that it's universal, and I also wouldn't say that "fun" is always "more labs" or "learning Swedish." I know a U of C student who's secondary passion is EDM music and he puts on concerts at local venues. I think that the defining characteristic is that U of C folks tend to get really, deeply, INto their passions, whatever they may be. They're not typically dilettantes. This can present in a variety of ways and I can totally see how it might be off putting or not for everyone.

That's a nice positive spin on socially ackward kids. Kids who never learned social dancing occupy their free time by really getting into their passion, whatever it may be. Deep down, their passion is their labs, swedish, swifish, or whatevere - AND social dancing. So, for parents who aspire their kids to UChicago or whatever, don't neglect opportunities for your kids to learn social dancing while young.

[Anonymous]

So not certain about no fun - there is an active Greek life at U Chicago, as well as many active Div 3 sports that have their own communities. It could be that because my son is an athlete, he has many sports-centered friends who do not view extra labs as their definition of fun, but actually do have fun. His roommate is a recruited soccer player, and U Chicago Men's soccer actually won the Div 3 championship this year.

As I said earlier, the quarter system is what makes it intense and takes away the fun. . Incidentally, that is not changing anytime soon; the faculty love the quarter system, even though it is harder for the students.

But Dean Ellison is working to make the undergraduate culture more social overall, with more traditions of weekly/seasonal house/ undergraduate college events.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So not certain about no fun - there is an active Greek life at U Chicago, as well as many active Div 3 sports that have their own communities. It could be that because my son is an athlete, he has many sports-centered friends who do not view extra labs as their definition of fun, but actually do have fun. His roommate is a recruited soccer player, and U Chicago Men's soccer actually won the Div 3 championship this year.

As I said earlier, the quarter system is what makes it intense and takes away the fun. . Incidentally, that is not changing anytime soon; the faculty love the quarter system, even though it is harder for the students.

But Dean Ellison is working to make the undergraduate culture more social overall, with more traditions of weekly/seasonal house/ undergraduate college events.

Why is the quarter system difficult for students?

[Anonymous]

As I said earlier, the quarter system is what makes it intense and takes away the fun.

But U of C isn't the only school on the quarter system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So not certain about no fun - there is an active Greek life at U Chicago, as well as many active Div 3 sports that have their own communities. It could be that because my son is an athlete, he has many sports-centered friends who do not view extra labs as their definition of fun, but actually do have fun. His roommate is a recruited soccer player, and U Chicago Men's soccer actually won the Div 3 championship this year.

As I said earlier, the quarter system is what makes it intense and takes away the fun. . Incidentally, that is not changing anytime soon; the faculty love the quarter system, even though it is harder for the students.

But Dean Ellison is working to make the undergraduate culture more social overall, with more traditions of weekly/seasonal house/ undergraduate college events.

Why is the quarter system difficult for students?

One semester worth of work condensed into 10 weeks. You take 3-4 classes per quarter, so fewer classes but at a much faster pace. Get sick or miss a couple of classes and you’re instantly behind.