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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am waiting to see how many kids who got into high profile college from DD's class find out they hate the school (or can't keep up) and decide to transfer after the first year. These places all look great on paper, but you get the real vibe once you are there, I guess.

U of Chicago certainly isn't in the middle of nowhere.

Campus is in the middle of nowhere to millions who live in Chicago who literally NEVER venture down there. No reason to, there’s nothing there. So of course it’s in the middle of nowhere to wealthy teens from the coasts, especially when most of their friends are at colleges clustered on the costs. Just getting to the airport from campus is a two hour affair.

Putting all her issues with UChicago aside...the location of the campus and it's general neighborhood (as well as the fact that it is located in...you know...Chicago) were 1000% known before applying. Did she think the google address, the campus pictures, etc. were all a lie and it is actually on the North Shore right on the lake?

[Anonymous]

😂😂

[Anonymous]

Lots of DMV idiots think it’s “just minutes away” from Water Tower Place. They’re the same ones who think NU is 15 minutes from the city.

[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.

MYOB. Not your business. Just smile and nod

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

The location, weather, and crime is why the campus ethos is lacking, from faculty and administrators to low-level staff. If you were a high-flying researcher or administrator, would you prefer the coasts, the warm Sun Belt — or south side Chicago crime and cold weather? If you were a nurse or a random service worker, would you want to work downtown or the wealthy north and western suburbs of Chicago (for more pay!) — or commute down to the dangerous and isolated south side Chicago island the campus is in?

honestly LOL

[Anonymous]

Just tough it out for 4 years...what a baby.

A lot of times students claiming university staff suck have never really self reflected to see that they themselves are the reason their interactions with university admins are so bad. So many entitled brats coming into university have never had to do anything for themselves their entire lives due to helicopter parenting. They get a rude welcome to real life wakeup call when they go to university to learn that sorry, no, university staff are not your personal servants and you may have to do things on your own. Students are so shocked and love to use the same old hackneyed whining "I PAY X DOLLARS IN TUITION TO GO HERE. WHY DO I HAVE TO DO Y!" .

Spouse used to work as an admin at a uni. You'd be surprised how may students would b***h and complain about having to pay taxes from their paychecks, then take out their taxpaying frustration on staff. Lol, so many students are the dumbest people on the planet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am waiting to see how many kids who got into high profile college from DD's class find out they hate the school (or can't keep up) and decide to transfer after the first year. These places all look great on paper, but you get the real vibe once you are there, I guess.

U of Chicago certainly isn't in the middle of nowhere.

Campus is in the middle of nowhere to millions who live in Chicago who literally NEVER venture down there. No reason to, there’s nothing there. So of course it’s in the middle of nowhere to wealthy teens from the coasts, especially when most of their friends are at colleges clustered on the costs. Just getting to the airport from campus is a two hour affair.

It's a half hour drive. I think there's even a school shuttle, but it's a half hour in an uber. If you're talking public transportation, then a hell of a lot of colleges are a 2 hour public bus ride from the airport. I live in NYC and NYU or Columbia could easily be a 2 hour bus ride from an airport.

I feel like you people have never been to chicago?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

The location, weather, and crime is why the campus ethos is lacking, from faculty and administrators to low-level staff. If you were a high-flying researcher or administrator, would you prefer the coasts, the warm Sun Belt — or south side Chicago crime and cold weather? If you were a nurse or a random service worker, would you want to work downtown or the wealthy north and western suburbs of Chicago (for more pay!) — or commute down to the dangerous and isolated south side Chicago island the campus is in?

honestly LOL

Why is that funny? You think UChicago has an easy time recruiting the most talented faculty and administrators? They lose most of the battles. Why? Because the location sucks and the university is a wobbly house of cards.

[Anonymous]

UChicago was on my DC's final list, among with 4 other top colleges. They painfully let go UChicago for one reason - lack of quality of life.

[Anonymous]

This is unfortunately what happens when students and families chase prestige instead of fit. Chicago is an excellent school for the right kid. It has always been a bit of a niche school because it leans so intellectual, it’s current emphasis on marketing hasn’t changed that.

[Anonymous]

Everyone gets very high marks at UChicago (and many other schools).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am waiting to see how many kids who got into high profile college from DD's class find out they hate the school (or can't keep up) and decide to transfer after the first year. These places all look great on paper, but you get the real vibe once you are there, I guess.

U of Chicago certainly isn't in the middle of nowhere.

Campus is in the middle of nowhere to millions who live in Chicago who literally NEVER venture down there. No reason to, there’s nothing there. So of course it’s in the middle of nowhere to wealthy teens from the coasts, especially when most of their friends are at colleges clustered on the costs. Just getting to the airport from campus is a two hour affair.

It's a half hour drive. I think there's even a school shuttle, but it's a half hour in an uber. If you're talking public transportation, then a hell of a lot of colleges are a 2 hour public bus ride from the airport. I live in NYC and NYU or Columbia could easily be a 2 hour bus ride from an airport.

I feel like you people have never been to chicago?

I don't understand why you clinging to non-peak travel times. Either way, a half hour one-way to a college student is a world apart. GU students who think the other side of Key Bridge is a world apart from campus. And you're using a personal car to double down on your weak point, which few students have at top private colleges, so they need pricey Ubers and Lyfts each way to attempt those times. Or take two or three times longer on public transit and risk your life in the process. I am sorry you can't grasp that is not the same as other top 30 universities which offer more safety, a higher quality of life, and closer proximity to thriving neighborhoods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is unfortunately what happens when students and families chase prestige instead of fit. Chicago is an excellent school for the right kid. It has always been a bit of a niche school because it leans so intellectual, it’s current emphasis on marketing hasn’t changed that.

True. It is also what happens when grubby colleges juke the rankings and get placed amongst the crème de la crème elites, when they are not even offering a top 30 ethos or outcomes. For years the boosters spin UChicago's graduation surveys and salary outcomes and make every excuse in the book, when the reality is it is clearly just not an elite undergraduate college. The data makes that very clear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is unfortunately what happens when students and families chase prestige instead of fit. Chicago is an excellent school for the right kid. It has always been a bit of a niche school because it leans so intellectual, it’s current emphasis on marketing hasn’t changed that.

Maybe they are chasing more than just prestige. Maybe they are chasing more than just academic prestige. Maybe these students are chasing prestige and job placement with elite (prestigious) employers.

Prestige is neither a dirty word nor a four letter word. Institutions earn the status of being labeled prestigious by producing enviable results.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is unfortunately what happens when students and families chase prestige instead of fit. Chicago is an excellent school for the right kid. It has always been a bit of a niche school because it leans so intellectual, it’s current emphasis on marketing hasn’t changed that.

True. It is also what happens when grubby colleges juke the rankings and get placed amongst the crème de la crème elites, when they are not even offering a top 30 ethos or outcomes. For years the boosters spin UChicago's graduation surveys and salary outcomes and make every excuse in the book, when the reality is it is clearly just not an elite undergraduate college. The data makes that very clear.

Which data ?