University of Chicago Top Questions

What makes University of Chicago better than just about anywhere else at the undergraduate level is that it simply has more possibilities than anywhere else. We are a liberal arts college with 26 nobel prizes in economics and a similar number in physics. Our math department is arguably the most extensive in the country and our humanities is well renowned as well. One friend of mine put it this way. "If there is a specific class or program at Harvard or Princeton that you are afraid is lacking at University of Chicago, don't worry about it. If you can exhaust the knowledge of any U Chicago department, Chicago will write you a recommendation such that you can get any extra instruction you could possibly want or need." This carries through to alumni too because U Chicago builds its reputation on producing successful graduates. If you do well at U Chicago, they will help you succeed after college as well.

Professors know your name if you introduce yourself and class participation... imagine a room of smarter that kids who don't want to be the that kid in this class but secretly all are. It's like that. By which I mean awesome because you learn as much from your fellow students as you do from your teacher. We are pretty competitive generally and I have an academic conversation outside of class at least once a day but they almost always involve the defining of terms within a conversation. The Core, which is like GERs at most schools, is incredibly challenging and if I could have majored in my Humanities core class from first year, I would have. This is not a vocational school. This school will force you to confront who you are and why you are that way and how you got there and you will be a better person for it, but if you aren't ready to face yourself at the molecular level and challenge that, you aren't ready for this school. We don't just challenge the mediums we express ourselves in, we challenge our validity as mediums of thought and we challenge the media itself. This school, if taken seriously, will force you to show yourself who you are. And if you don't take it seriously, you'll be bored but you'll sound smart when you graduate.

Academics at UChicago is simply amazing! We have a very structured core curriculum that allows each student to take a wide array of courses from different subject areas and fields in order to get that well-roundedness that a UChicago degree depicts. About 95{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of classes are taught by professors who are, of course, top in their field. There are about 7 nobel prize laureates (of the 81 that are affiliated with the institution) that are current faculty members here at UChicago. The remaining 5{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} are taught by graduate students who are just left to complete their dissertations. The professors are excellent, very articulate and are available for office hours. Classes vary in sizes based on the type. Core science classes are usually lectures that range from about 60-100 students each with sections that consists of about 18 students. Math, Humanities, Social Sciences, Civilization Studies etc range from about 12 - 20 students with some depending on the reputation of the professor. Students here study a lot! It is the culture of the school and that is why our graduates cop the best positions in whatever career field they go into. It does get a little depressing in the Winter quarter but nevertheless we find ways of making it all the more interesting, and fun. Students are often overheard at the dining tables or in the lounges (AND communal showers) discussing texts from our core Humanities and Social Science classes. People like Kant, Descartes, Plato, Hegel, Adam Smith and Marx spark debates between students here.

The University's Core requirements are excessively large. Students are expected to take almost exclusively Core courses in their first two years of college, so that, compared to students at other universities they will be behind in their major area. Rather than requiring just one course in a breadth of academic disciplines, U Chicago expects students to take at least two or three courses in each of several disciplines. The mathematics department at the University is highly political, and success and acknowledgment in the department is as much a matter of how well you are liked as of how skilled a mathematician you are. Still, the University offers a number of highly theoretical honors sequences that help to prepare the serious student of mathematics for graduate school. The math courses here are truly top notch, and expectations, which are at times exceedingly high, push students to obtain sophisticated mathematical results early on in their career. Additional programs, such as the Directed Reading Program (DRP) and Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) give students experience in intensive, independent research that is extremely valuable as they prepare for careers in mathematics.

U of C has, without a doubt, the best undergraduate program in the country. The Core makes this so, along with wonderful classes and some of the best professors anywhere.

I study every day. My favorite class is spanish. Most of my professors knew my name (except my chem profs--my chem class was a lecture). Class participation is common. Most of my classes were discussions, but frequently the same people (the "that kids") dominate the class discussion. Uchicago students frequently have intellectual conversations outside of class, but almost to the point where I wish they would stop being so intellectual. The core kind of sucks. I think they should revise the core to make it harder on non-science majors. Everyone has to choose between around six hum core sequences and several sosc sequences. There are no non-major and major hum or non-major and major sosc sequences. However, for the science part of the core, non-science majors can choose to take a major sequence (like gen chem, gen physics, gen bio) or a non-major sequence (core bio, global warming, nat sci, ice age). Most of the non-major sequences (with the possible exception of nat sci) are easy. They should make everyone take more rigorous science classes. Science teaches you a unique way of thinking that other academic disciplines don't teach you. Then, I think that everyone should have to take at least gen chem or gen bio or gen physics.

I can hardly imagine a better environment for learning. Classes are small and the professors are brilliant and well-known in their fields. The students are very intelligent, so classes move quickly and many undergraduates enroll in graduate courses at some point in college.

Teachers expect a lot from you, and it can be quite intimidating to speak up in class. Nevertheless, it is doable.

The University of Chicago is a very intellectual and academic place. It is very theoretical and not very practical. Majors like business, marketing, teaching, etc. do not exist. It feels very much like preparation for graduate school and not for the real world.

At U of C there is one thing that I like about the classroom: the teachers know your name. This to some here is a very little thing but it can mean the world to some student here. Something that I hate about here is that, as quoted from Ted O'Neal, "If you got A's in High School expect B's and if you got B's expect C's."

as an undergrad, students can take seminars with huge names, and get one-on-one contact. the faculty is amazing, and their willingness, and even eagerness to interact with the student body is kickass.

Small classes, accessible professors, LOTS of homework. But you know what, it works. You start a language in 101, and walk out of the classroom on the first day being able to speak it with the right accent. Your professors CARE about what they teach, and they want you to go to office hours. You meet people that just utterly amaze you with their devotion and intelligence. And you work your ass off to get good grades. But so does everyone else. Plus, the CORE is an experience that shows you things that you want to do for the rest of your life, and things that you never want to go anywhere near again. Plus.... You end up reallllllyyyyy good at Scrabble! :)

UChicago=academics. There is no doubt that you are getting a liberal arts education here; the Core is the general education requirement, and it will be a large part of your first and second years. It includes a foreign language requirement, a humanities sequence, a social science sequence, a civilizations sequence, a music/art/drama requirement, physical and biological science sequences, a math sequence, and even physical education. The Hume and Sosc classes are known for being small discussion classes (less than 20 students usually) taught by renowned professors as well as legitimate grad students. Math, science, and history classes tend to be a bit bigger (anywhere from 30-200, depending on the class), but the professors are almost always approachable no matter what the class size. TAs are also helpful in the event you can't speak to a professor. The workload varies, but I'd say it's more than almost any other college around. Luckily, I find most of the readings, problem sets, and essays to be helpful and somewhat fulfilling rather than just busy work. To end with a cliche, UChicago's slogan "The Life of the Mind" really is an accurate depiction of the academics.

What can I say? Amazing. My whole outlook on Biology and the study of Biology changed a few weeks into my Chicago education. My outstanding teachers and amazing peers opened up a view of this subject that I had been searching for unsuccessfully all through high school. Although the class itself was extremely challenging for me, someone who had never encountered this way of thinking, I developed a true, intense intellectual interest in the subject. The entire approach to biology was brilliant and I will always remember this class (AP Fundamentals sequence) in a fond way. My other classes have been rewarding, albeit in different ways. I truly enjoy the very discussion-based atmosphere of all of the classes I've taken so far, even if the content wasn't as interesting to me. I feel as if it makes the classes that much more interesting for those who are interested in it and bearable for those who have interests that lie elsewhere. And I'm not going to stretch the truth -- there are days when some classes are an extreme bore, but on the whole I have been extremely impressed with the academic culture at Chicago.

The Core. That is probably the most distinguished aspect of the academic life in the UofC. Each student are expected to read Classics, like the works of Plato, Aristotle, and other Greek academia, study the Social Science inquiries, and equip ourselves with a language and knowledge on civilizations. What makes these Core Classes interesting is the fact that they are discussion-based classes, but that also means an average weekly read of at least 100pages. That may be a pain in the neck, especially when you have to juggle two essays, calculus problem sets, and lab reports at the same time. Hell yeah, we take pride in believing that "Hell does freeze over" here in the UofC.

Academics are hardcore, though not as killer as some make them out to be. To be honest, many here enjoy or are amused by the stereotypical rigor of our classes, and play up these stereotypes for the sake of humor or self-pity. Class discussion reveals the presence of both the super-brilliant and the relatively dense. Professors are, on the whole, great, but there are certainly a few duds. Most are very accessible, and usually know students' names, as the classes are smaller than one would expect at a school of this size. Learning here definitely focuses on the theoretical over the practical, sometimes to a comical degree, and other times to a seemingly tragic one as graduates shop around resumes which show them to be very well-educated but ill-prepared for employment. Most students, despite their complaints, like it this way. Many find jobs, but most go on to graduate or professional school. The standard liberal arts majors abound, but nothing resembling pre-professional. Interdisciplinary and self-directed majors are numerous and relatively popular. Many students appreciate the common core, but end up resenting it because of its narrow restriction of study the first few years. It assures a good distribution of classes, but the classes which constitute it are too narrowly defined.

The Core: I didn't really like the core. It was too little options and being forced to take classes that aren't that worthwhile. I'm all for branching out, it is just that instead of being able to take classes that interested me outside of my discipline, I had to take ones from specific sequences. That being said it is nice knowing you have read a broad base of historical literature. Theory: That is pretty much all that is taught here. Physics classes, writing classes, they all revolve around theory. Professors: I don't think the profs here are much greater than anywhere else. Some are good, some are terrible, so I would guess the same as any other school. Quarter System: No matter what they tell you, you really aren't getting that many more classes out of the quarter system than elsewhere. For electives it is better because you can take more individual classes. On the other hand a year of introductory physics here is the same as anywhere else, even if it is broken into three classes instead of two. And in that sense you actually take less classes, because you can only fit so many sequences in your schedule on top of the core. I found that there were many classes I wish I could have taken but didn't have the time, and I blame it on the quarter system and the time. The name UofC might not carry much weight with your friends, or people who confuse with UIC, but for internships I think people will recognize the name, especially for physics.

Professors are excellent, and most definitely know my name. They really make an effort to be available. Class participation is extremely common and high encouraged. UChicago students DO have intellectual conversations outside of class, as their reputation holds. And the best part about this is that it's not a bunch of pretentious snobs speaking to hear their own voice but really have no idea what they are talking about - these intellectual conversations are grounded on and based firmly in the academic experience acquired here at UChicago.

The academics are amazing, but waaaaaaaaay to intense, needlessly so. One thing that attracted me to this school was the extensive core classes -- I wanted to be as they say here a "Renaissance Man" (well-rounded and learned). Sadly, the core is possibly the worst part of U of C's academics. You will be taught these classes by new teachers (who have just gotten out of graduate school and want you to suffer just as much as they did), who are inexperienced and do not want to teach the subject. And, they rush you through material so fast that you cannot actually think about or internalize the knowledge you are supposed to be learning. I am a sociology major, because I took an amazing class "Inequality: Race, Gender, and Neighborhood" by Mario Small which changed my perspective on the world.

Good. Very!