U of Chicago, not UI @ C.

I'll be going there soon. Took a few years off from school to go play in real life, but i'll be back in the fall.
Looking for any advice on the school itself or the area.

Congrats on getting in OPP.  

Damn, I tried to find a picture of the T-shirt: "U of C.  Where fun comes to die."

But seriously, I'm an alumnus.  Let's see...

The Area
Not the greatest.  U of C is bascially an enclave in the middle of ghetto.  Ghetto to the South (Woodlawn/Kenwood IIRC), West, and North.  East is the Lake

Don't go north of say 51st street unless you are driving.  Don't go south of 60th, etc...

Food generally is crap in Hyde Park.  There is some variety but nothing to write home about.  When I was there the food at the U of C dining halls was plentiful but barely edible.  My favorite observations at the time was: "Its pretty hard to fuck up a plain baked potato, but apparently they've found a way how."  Maybe you'll luck out and they've hired new staff.

Advice
I'm going to assume you are talking undergrad.  Obviously grad life is different.

Don't get a minor in billards during your first year, like I did.  Procrastination is your enemy! Concentrate and apply yourself.  Your GPA will thank you for it, and you might actually get into a good graduate school eventually!  You'll have plenty of time to slack off in your third and forth years.  And BTW, Harvard might be more exclusive, but their grading is much easier in comparision from what I hear.  Expect to get low grades in your first year.  Even if you've never gotten less than an A on any paper you ever turned in, expect to get C's on your papers in Humanities class.

I don't know what field you are going into, but I know several people who were originally Bio majors (illusions of being doctors) until they tried to take O-Chem (Organic Chem), Statistics, etc... and the quickly got with the program and went interdiscplinary or changed their majors.

Also, the hard sciences are this school are very hard.  I flunked out of the second quarter of basic chemistry yet I got A's in a "college prep" high school.  Of course, not doing the problem sets and playing pool all day didn't help.

They've revised the "Core" during my time there a few years ago, so you don't have to take loads and loads of classes you might now want to, but there are still classes you have to take.  If you are not gung-ho about Chemistry or Physics, then take the Natural Sciences sequence, e.g. "Rocks for Jocks"

What else?  Expect to spend a lot of money on books.  Textbooks are usually > $100, and the Humanities/Soc type classes assign 10 different paperbacks at $20 a pop.  And don't expect to get that much money when you try to sell them back to the Bookstore after you finish the class.  You can buy used books at a reduced price, and shop around at the off campus bookstores like the one on 57th and Cornell.

Social life is pretty pathetic.  Most people spend time in the library.  There are fraternities but I never pledged, so I can't help you there.  At night, the quads are pretty much a ghost town.

BTW, IM me if you want to discuss particular dorms, orientation, etc.

Prepare to be BORED.

Not much to do besides study in Hyde Park.  There are some decent restaurants but Hyde Park is kinda' cut off from most nightlife in the city that seems to take place on the N. Side. If you have a car it won't be so bad.

It's a great school (especially for grad work) but it doesn't have much going on socially IMHO.  (I never attended but have several friends that have)


Congrats on getting in!
Mike

Quoted: U of Chicago, not UI @ C. I'll be going there soon. Took a few years off from school to go play in real life, but i'll be back in the fall. Looking for any advice on the school itself or the area.

My sister goes there.  If you got in you're a lucky bastard.

I couldn't care less about social stuff.
I'm not 21 anymore. Got all of that done and over with during my years away from college, so now I can hit it hard.
I'll be going in as an "old man" so dorms, frats and other "college experience" dynamics are of no real concern to me.

Hey now,

I lived in Hyde Park on 53rd and Ellis for a year or so. My girlfriend went to UofC. Silas is mostly correct in his assertion that there are places not to go in Hyde Park since, IIRC, 63rd is the Taylor homes and there is a general "ghetto-ish" feel out there. However, the food is, IMHO, great! Don't let a week go by without hitting Ribs and Bibs on 5300 S. Dorchester Ave. I loved that crappy hole in the wall. Lots of other nice places to go as well. Also, lots of nice bookstores in the immediate area and houses could be rented fairly cheap back then (7-8 years).

Quoted: Hey now, I lived in Hyde Park on 53rd and Ellis for a year or so. My girlfriend went to UofC. Silas is mostly correct in his assertion that there are places not to go in Hyde Park since, IIRC, 63rd is the Taylor homes and there is a general "ghetto-ish" feel out there. However, the food is, IMHO, great! Don't let a week go by without hitting Ribs and Bibs on 5300 S. Dorchester Ave. I loved that crappy hole in the wall. Lots of other nice places to go as well. Also, lots of nice bookstores in the immediate area and houses could be rented fairly cheap back then (7-8 years).

Oh Yes! Ribs and Bibs for a bucket of tips! Yum.

efxguy

it's in Chicago?

Quoted: it's in Chicago?

Yep - Chicago - "Proud Home of the Atomic Bomb"


Manhattan Project / U of C

Quoted: Ribs and Bibs on 5300 S. Dorchester Ave.

+1.

Is Mellow Yellow on 53d still open?  They weren't all that bad.

Cafe Florian on 57th by the Metra had good food, but they were pretty expensive, IIRC.  And didn't they get shut down by the Dept. of Health once? LOL.

Back in the 70's , the U of C had a pistol/small-bore rifle range at the gym. Most of the club officers were doctors at the hospital, and it was open to students and faculty.  The campus police also used the range for practice. When the campus police got to use the Chicago PD range, the University closed the range. Nice club while it lasted.

Leave your firearms behind!  or the Daley police will find you!

I'd also be curious to know how you got in if you're that age.  If I could figure out a way to get into UChicago, I think my sister would kill me and my parents would faint.

Quoted: I'd also be curious to know how you got in if you're that age.  If I could figure out a way to get into UChicago, I think my sister would kill me and my parents would faint.

If you have the IQ and prior test scores, there isn't anyplace you can't go.

Wouldn't that be great to go back to college and know what you know now!  All them young chicks!

College, yes.  U of C, no.  There is an inverse proportionality between smarts and looks at the U of C.  Heavy on the former, light on the latter.

Quoted: Quoted: I'd also be curious to know how you got in if you're that age.  If I could figure out a way to get into UChicago, I think my sister would kill me and my parents would faint. If you have the IQ and prior test scores, there isn't anyplace you can't go.

Probably have the IQ, and I wouldn't even know what test you're talking about.

I'm still wondering how everyone else in high school got college bound guidance, and my stupid ass ended up with a diploma and nothing else, yet I find college to not be very challenging at all.

All I can say is Congrats!

I agree U of C no thinking more like down south somewhere where there are lots of Girls.  Ah shit wake me up from dreaming!