University of Chicago Top Questions

Not very talkative, but brilliant. Somewhat clique-y, but nice enough.

Pretentious yet interesting.

The most stimulating group of people I have ever and WILL ever be with. I love it here and will dearly miss it. People are motivated and full of intellectual vigor. People generally eat food at their cafeteria's house or dorm table. It allows you to eat with a group of people you know at almost any hour of the day. Most students move out of the dorms by their second or third years and into off-campus apartments. Apartments are cheaper and teach you the life skills you'll need when you graduate. I highly recommend moving out of the dorms half way through college!

What I like about the U of C is that it's hard to pin down a specific "type" who goes here. Sure, they've probably got tiny nerd molecules floating around in there somewhere, but walking on the quads you see so many different types of people walking together: you've got the hipsters, the nerds, the preppy kids, the athletes, etc. There is no mold for a U of C student. I look at it this way: if the U of C were a person, I would love to be friends with it. With so many different personalities, ideas, and ideals, it's not hard to find your niche here.

Students here are driven to succeed and very interested in what they study- one of the things I liked best about this school is that if you are walking around campus, you will hear kids in a variety of conversations, from plays and events in the city to parties that weekend to intense academic debates about mathematical theorums. Students here are very passionate about everything they do, and most students have a broad span of interests

Many of the classmates seem isolated and often gravitate to "clicks" of culture and race.

Student body is quite diverse and open. Honestly, someone who isn't very involved in learning, or thinks that spending time in the library is lame would not fit in. Obviously there are many very liberal students, but the incredibly strong economic program fosters more libertarians and fiscal conservatives. Financial background is very broad, from humble backgrounds to Saudi Arabian princes.

Students are quite tolerant of ethnic, religious, socio-economic, and sexual diversity. Dress is typically informal, and financial backgrounds of students vary considerably. My closest friend is from a much different economic background than mine. I have heard many people complain that parties are too infrequent or lame here, so maybe if someone had parties near the top of his or her priorities then this school is not a good fit. Many students are politically aware. Most of my friends have relatively informed political opinions, but not all of them favor the same positions. They are mainly socially and fiscally liberal, but everyone is open to discussion and it is all good-natured.

Each table in the dining hall is assigned to a house, which is the floor on which you live. People either sit with their houses (usually this is how it goes first year) or at open tables with friends. House tables tend to be diverse and full at dinner times; people with textbooks gabble about whatever interests them. Snippets might be: Studying for strategy final: 1: So, what's the difference between a gun-type and an implosion-type device? 2: *starts explaining the difference between uranium and plutonium nuclear weapons with a lot of detail for a lecture a month ago* 1: Wait, how do you know all this? You must be a terrorist. 2: Yeah, I interned for al-Qaeda. It was part of my independent research. *keeps explaining* Wait, hold on, how DO I know all of this? 1: Was it for Scav? -- Scav is this gigantic four day scavenger hunt that people get really, really intense about. There's a road trip section where you decorate your car, and one year somebody built a functioning nuclear reactor out of a vacuum cleaner. Or: And then Hilary asks, 'But what about the werewolves?' and then Obama says, 'We CAN defeat the werewolves and the zombies and the vampires and the aliens from outer space with their alien blood, AND the Cylons.'" Or: Dude, that's nothing. I once took a cat in the shower with me. --These are actual quotes from around campus.

LGBTQ isn't that active on campus; it's largely Asian, White, Indian, Jewish, and Northern, with a smaller Hispanic and Black population. Most students wear jeans and button downs or t shirts to class, and in the winter, t shirts, sweaters, jeans, under armor, boots, and three pairs of socks. Some people would rather study than wash their hair every day, but that just means interesting hairdos in the morning. Most people are wealthier just because this school is better known in wealthy circles, but I for one am not and love it. Money isn't really a thing here. There exists a Conservative political contingent and they are active but not as active and the College Dems, who get a speaker to come to their gala every year, and this year they got Gloria Steinem. A fairly decent number of students will go into investment banking or consulting. The biggest extracurriculars on campus are MUN, SASA (South Asian Students Organization), and, probably, either Hillel or Student Government. Anyone willing to think a lot would be welcome here.

The UChicago student body is very diverse. We have students from all over the world and from every state in the US. People here are from different religious, sexual, social and racial backgrounds and everyone feels accepted. I really believe that no one here feels or at least should feel out of place or even the slightest bit od discomfort. In any event that there should be a rare case of discrimination felt, there are many different resources that students can utilize in order to deal with the situation and the college along with the Dean of Students will ensure that justice is brought. Students here relatively well-off many are wealthy, but of course there are those that are not as fortunate as others. This is just another aspect of our diversity here and no one is isolated because of that difference in class. Many of the students here are from the Chicago and other areas in Illinois and also surrounding states. However, due to the uniquely designed housing system (similar to that of Hogwarts) students from different backgrounds lived together in a close-knit community and we learn how to accept people, relate to people from different cultures and lifestyles and build life-long friendships.

Most students at the University are from an upper-middle or upper-class background. As a result, the value systems typical of lower-class communities are decidedly underrepresented. As a person with a lower-class background, I have at times felt very out of place at the University. Most students here are supported by their families, and have been sheltered or assisted to some large degree throughout their lives. They are at the University in part to learn how to live as individuals, separate from their parents (though they still rely on their parents financial assistance, of course). Therefore, the values that are most prevalent here are personal space and individuality. There is no pervading sense of personal responsibility towards others or towards society in general, and as a result students can at times act quite disrespectfully. It is difficult, coming from a lower-class community with intact systems of respect and obligation, to enter a community as free and valueless as the University of Chicago.

On the whole, the U of C is relatively diverse. The administration has done a lot to increase racial and ethnic diversity over the last few years, but the school is largely homogenous when it comes to their socio-economic status. There are few students mid to lower middle-class backgrounds, and even fewer students from the lower-class.

most students do not dress up to go to class. We have house tables in the dining hall. A lot of uchicago kids are internationals or from the midwest. Some students are focused on their careers, but I try to ignore them.

While there is plenty of ethnic diversity at Chicago, I think that intellectual diversity is what distinguishes our students from the students at other colleges. I've leaned so much from talking to fellow students and hearing their ideas.

Most people are a little eccentric -- but it's kinda cool.

You can find pretty much all kinds of students at the University of Chicago, just maybe in different proportions.

AWKWARD

There are so many races and languages and sexualities and political stances and financial backgrounds here that it's mind-blowing. But it exposes you to so many new ways of thinking and cultures and ideals that it helps to round out your education. You learn not just from your classes, but the interactions of those around you.

UChicago has all kinds; it really never ceases to amaze me. Just about every race and place on Earth is represented. People of all kinds of different socio-economic statuses and that wear all kinds of different clothing (I regularly see a guy that wears a cape and a guy that only wears tye-dye) are also present. Although there are also a lot of different religions represented, what I found most interesting was the amount of students with agnostic views since I typically felt ostracized at home for such a view. I think the biggest advantage to all the diversity is tolerance. I have yet to meet anyone especially judgmental or close-minded. It is inevitable that different groups form, but I wouldn't say any of them are "mean" or unapproachable. Students naturally form closer bonds with people with more similar interests, and interaction among the groups is not uncommon.