Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Attracts kids who are serious about education. But IMHO, doesn’t always do right by them. Quarter system sucks — high pressure/no time for reflection, schedule is out of sync with other Unis (which limits summer opportunities). Lots of readings in core courses were fragments (e.g. everyone reads Marx but that can mean 10pp of German Ideology). Lets undergrads TA. Lots of mental health issues, not well handled. Profs were often great and very supportive. Grad school admissions worked out well. Summer funding was always available.

FWIW, I was educated and/or taught at 3 other Unis of similar size and reputation and am the parent of a very recent UofC grad (PhD-bound STEM major), so that’s my frame of reference.

My DH teaches at U of C and this is all pretty accurate IMHO.

He tells me stories of the kinds of things his undergrads produce for their papers and such and I am always blown away. Think: original archival research with foreign language translations. Or, owning your own small business. These are not typical undergrads; many of his students seem truly exceptional.

Hyde Park is cool now -- even in the last 5 years, there are many more restaurants and businesses. There's a brand new undergrad dorm. There's now a TJs and a Whole Foods and a Target, none of which were there even 3 years ago.

Anonymous wrote:UofC, along with Northwestern U, are the two "Ivies" of the Midwest. Extremely rigorous and intellectual in a big way, and reputed to be quirky, but I've heard rumors that this character has toned down significantly and that it is, for all intents and purposes, much more similar to its mainstream counterparts now. I believe it is also slightly more conservative than other elite schools. Life of the mind is the unofficial motto.

Neither a good nor bad thing necessarily, but it seems like its reputation for having gamed the rankings persists even among high school students. Still, can't complain about the #6 ranking on USNWR.

Anonymous wrote:I graduated some (read: many) years ago, when it was quite similar to Berkeley in that it was perhaps one of the best places for grad school in the world, but its undergraduate College was quite literally terrible. I strongly encouraged both of my kids not to apply to UChicago when it came to college apps.

I've heard things have changed quite a lot in recent times, and alumni are torn down the middle on whether those changes are good or bad.

As you can already see from some PPs, many right-wingers and conservatives have co-opted UChicago as their darling child, while blind to the fact that its student body is completely interchangeable with any other top school in the nation (aka, very liberal).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The quality of the undergraduate education is amazing. U Chicago often is bashed on DCUM but I'm not sure why. There still are quirky aspects to the school, although I agree that the student body is less non-conformist than it used to be 25+ years ago. They have a large endowment and can be generous with financial aid. The name alone will open doors for your child's entire life. And the students aren't stuck in Hyde Park unless they want to be, Chicago is an amazing city.

Is UChicago bashed on DCUM? I feel like I see much more of the opposite.

It's not UChicago that's getting bashed but the near-nonstop, nonsensical, and over-the-top boosterism by some UChicago parents on this forum at one point that really turned us off.

Sometimes. But in particular there is one virulent Anti-Chicago poster whose efforts have been noted here and on College Confidential stemming from some bad personal experience. Banned on CC now, don't think that is the case here .

I think it has toned down quite significantly compared to a couple years ago when it was shooting up the rankings.

+1. I haven’t see the boosterism about Chicago either and I read all the threads about it because I have a student there.

Anonymous wrote:Not so many bookstores (but Powell’s and Seminary Co-op are still there) these days, but lots of good cafes (many on campus) and bakeries. And UofC did a good job of showing undergrads the city (history bike tour, donut crawl, career day at Booth’s downtown campus, plays, Museum days) during orientation and beyond, then gave them free CTA and arts passes. My DC loved Hyde Park, but also spent a lot of time downtown and in the neighborhoods.

If you’ve got a kid headed to UofC next fall (d.v.), use the post-Xmas sales to invest in good outerwear. One key is to look for wind—resistance as well as insulation and water resistance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Attracts kids who are serious about education. But IMHO, doesn’t always do right by them. Quarter system sucks — high pressure/no time for reflection, schedule is out of sync with other Unis (which limits summer opportunities). Lots of readings in core courses were fragments (e.g. everyone reads Marx but that can mean 10pp of German Ideology). Lets undergrads TA. Lots of mental health issues, not well handled. Profs were often great and very supportive. Grad school admissions worked out well. Summer funding was always available.

FWIW, I was educated and/or taught at 3 other Unis of similar size and reputation and am the parent of a very recent UofC grad (PhD-bound STEM major), so that’s my frame of reference.

My DH teaches at U of C and this is all pretty accurate IMHO.

He tells me stories of the kinds of things his undergrads produce for their papers and such and I am always blown away. Think: original archival research with foreign language translations. Or, owning your own small business. These are not typical undergrads; many of his students seem truly exceptional.

Hyde Park is cool now -- even in the last 5 years, there are many more restaurants and businesses. There's a brand new undergrad dorm. There's now a TJs and a Whole Foods and a Target, none of which were there even 3 years ago.

Anonymous wrote:Attracts kids who are serious about education. But IMHO, doesn’t always do right by them. Quarter system sucks — high pressure/no time for reflection, schedule is out of sync with other Unis (which limits summer opportunities). Lots of readings in core courses were fragments (e.g. everyone reads Marx but that can mean 10pp of German Ideology). Lets undergrads TA. Lots of mental health issues, not well handled. Profs were often great and very supportive. Grad school admissions worked out well. Summer funding was always available.

FWIW, I was educated and/or taught at 3 other Unis of similar size and reputation and am the parent of a very recent UofC grad (PhD-bound STEM major), so that’s my frame of reference.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The quality of the undergraduate education is amazing. U Chicago often is bashed on DCUM but I'm not sure why. There still are quirky aspects to the school, although I agree that the student body is less non-conformist than it used to be 25+ years ago. They have a large endowment and can be generous with financial aid. The name alone will open doors for your child's entire life. And the students aren't stuck in Hyde Park unless they want to be, Chicago is an amazing city.

Is UChicago bashed on DCUM? I feel like I see much more of the opposite.

It's not UChicago that's getting bashed but the near-nonstop, nonsensical, and over-the-top boosterism by some UChicago parents on this forum at one point that really turned us off.

Sometimes. But in particular there is one virulent Anti-Chicago poster whose efforts have been noted here and on College Confidential stemming from some bad personal experience. Banned on CC now, don't think that is the case here .

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The quality of the undergraduate education is amazing. U Chicago often is bashed on DCUM but I'm not sure why. There still are quirky aspects to the school, although I agree that the student body is less non-conformist than it used to be 25+ years ago. They have a large endowment and can be generous with financial aid. The name alone will open doors for your child's entire life. And the students aren't stuck in Hyde Park unless they want to be, Chicago is an amazing city.

Is UChicago bashed on DCUM? I feel like I see much more of the opposite.

It's not UChicago that's getting bashed but the near-nonstop, nonsensical, and over-the-top boosterism by some UChicago parents on this forum at one point that really turned us off.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best education in the country. Unflagging commitment to free speech on campus, setting it apart, unfortunately, from a growing number of elite colleges and universities. If you major in econ, you'll study under the most brilliant and forward-thinking economists not just in the country but in the world. Chix aren't the best-looking and parties aren't the most turnt, but Chicago and everything it offers, good and bad, is at your doorstep.

Giving it the usual extra credit for being slightly conservative. Biggest affirmative action out there.

Riiight. Some guy’s anonymous opinion online is the “biggest affirmative action out there”. As opposed to, you know, actual affirmative action. The one where every sane person out there readily acknowledges that being black, Latino, or Inuit lowers the SAT bar by literally hundreds of points. Or where my company is literally scouring the building for black women who can put a sentence together to throw opportunity at them.

AA may or may not be justified or a good thing. But spare me this lame attempt at a double secret reverse where the REAL AA beneficiaries are... white conservatives in academia?!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The quality of the undergraduate education is amazing. U Chicago often is bashed on DCUM but I'm not sure why. There still are quirky aspects to the school, although I agree that the student body is less non-conformist than it used to be 25+ years ago. They have a large endowment and can be generous with financial aid. The name alone will open doors for your child's entire life. And the students aren't stuck in Hyde Park unless they want to be, Chicago is an amazing city.

Is UChicago bashed on DCUM? I feel like I see much more of the opposite.