University of Chicago Top Questions

There isn't much tension between groups on campus, its more town-gown tension. The kind of student who would feel out of place at UChicago is someone who doesn't work their ass off.

Students who would feel out of place are the apathetic. Not caring does not cut it academically or socially here. If you have a passion for something, there are others that share it, but this is not the place for people who have a sole interest in napping or alcohol (these are certainly popular extra-curriculars, though). Students can mainly be divided into the hipsters, the division 12 jocks, the international kids (mostly Asian) and all the grades in between, but social groups are very nebulous and everyone knows everyone. Everyone's a nerd. If you took the nerdy table at high school, threw in a few punks and a few jocks for flavor, you'd have the population of UChicago. Predominantly liberal, intelligent, and planning on grad school.

I'm sick of most of the people here already. I'm tired of weird people. I'm tired of 19 year old libertarians. I'm tired of econ majors wearing suits and loafers to class everyday.

I find that while students are pretty accepting of the *idea* of diversity in the student body, actual opportunities to act upon that acceptance are a little rare. People tend to clump with people like them--whether that's the Asian econ kids or the sorority girls or the arty kids--even though I've never heard of anyone being explicitly rejected from a social group (formal or otherwise) because of race, orientation, etc. What I have found frustrating is that we have a disproportionate population of upper-middle-class, urban or suburban northerners whose parents all have college educations. This means that I periodically get into discussion about politics with peers only to discover that they have a completely stereotyped sense of religious Christian conservatism or rural, southern societies.

UGLY

Lots of smart motivated and talented people go there. I have friends who I met there who are from all over the country and around the world. I’m not sure on the gender and ethnic breakdown, but it felt pretty diverse. The Core classes make sure that all types of students get to interact with eachother. Fairly liberal student body. The campus has a great divinity school and Rockefeller Church so religion isn't entirely absent from the school. The students are not cutthroat.

I dont know, I coudn't say, clothes, yes, huh?, from new york or boston, rich people, yes, right and left and center, no

A student who didn't appreciate the value of a good book and didn't enjoy the feeling of triumph after staying up all night to do a paper wouldln't fit in here. We work for what we get, and unless you can appreciate that, don't apply here. What do we wear to class?? I'v seen men in ballgowns and gorilla suits, girls in bikinis, more pajamas than I can count. Formal, informal, whatever we want. Its the mind that's important... Students interact a lot. I have some wealthy friends, some rich ones, some middle class and lower. Pre-med, econ, poly sci, humanities, you name it and I have a friend. I have friends who are grad students and TAs and professors. We all interact, and don't discriminate like in high school. Sure, there are still cliques, but at the same time, these are the kind of cliques that you could acclimate yourself into easily - we all share common things, you just have to find out what they are.

People don't really talk about money here, other than to say a. how they can't afford dinner and b. how much debt they'll be in after they graduate. Yet many wouldn't trade it for the world, because they're getting a college experience only possible at the U of C. Sitting down at dinner always yields interesting conversations, since houses (dorm divisions) typically sit with one another. This leads to a mixture of your typical labels, with jocks, frat boys, geeks, musicians, and raving lunatics all sharing the same breathing space, which makes the conversation rather frenetic, to say the least. For example: tonight, the concept of the turducken was expanded past all logical rational, and the mathematical and logistical implications of cooking it were analyzed, along with the proper side dishes. Let's just say that eating the sheep layer might not be the best bet. As for feeling out of place, it's hard, because everyone here is utterly bizarre in one regard or another-you just have to find it.

Its hard to make a general ruling about the types of inter-culturals relationships that form or dont form at this school. On the south side fo Chicago, there is a pretty heavy divide between black people and white people, especially coupled with the fact that you are a university student. You arent targeted or bullied as a student, but most people in the community tend to look right past you or dismiss you as a tourist and a foreigner. A lot of the east asian students tend to band together, but it think this has a strong relationship to the econ program because some asian students are here for math classes and dont have a firm grasp of english, so they feel more comfortable staying with people from their part of the world. There are a lot of Indian student who, generally speaking, are pretty affluent and accustomed to the American lifestyle so they blend in nicely with other groups of upper class students. Within one's own house, however, I think you have the ability to cross a lot of barrier and get to know people from different cultures. The problems presented here though are 1) you have 30 people in your house, maybe. The chance of even 7 of those people being worth getting to know are pretty slim. and 2) People dont really freely associate outside of houses/activities/classes, so you just dont have a chance to meet some minority groups.

I feel like there are a million options for UChicago students to find their niches and that's fabulous. It leads to a whole variety of quality programming with tons of options. UChicago encompasses a host of all religions, nationalities, and styles of living. It's really fun and really fabulous. It's just sad that a great deal of people on campus aren't involved in anything or are involved in only one group and can't experience all the fun that comes with a group of people who are really different from what they are used to.

I am not sure about race, religion or sex at Uchicago. I feel that everyone is supported and diversity is embraced. People respect one another for the most part. there are some economic divisions, but the students tend not to emphasize these. People hang out with people with the same interests, despite any other differences they might have, at least in my experience. Many students are politically aware, but not as much as I expected when I came here. Students do not usually talk about how much they will make, but it does come up at times, more so for economics majors usually.

Student body improving, although still not amazing. Somewhat dull. But definitely improving.

Everyone is very open-minded and nice here, probably because students are forced to be by the administration. Almost everyone drinks and a ton of people smoke, but no one is ever ridiculed for not drinking and the atmosphere is always very casual. Parties here are way more fun than parties I go to in my hometown where it's just an excuse to play beer pong for 16 straight hours and the talking is limited to trash talking.

The student body is not nearly as diverse as it should be.

I'm in the Muslim Students Association and it truly gave me a belonging on campus from day one. I'm extremely grateful that this group is active on campus. The type of student who might feel out of place would be one with a weak work ethic who thinks college is a four-year long party. People wear whatever they want but I guess most people wear sweatshirts or t-shirts. Absolutely, I have friends from across America, across the globe and across all sorts of different socio-economic statuses. UofC students seem to think they're going to be rich most of the time but not always.