The university itself was beautiful and
magnificent. The buildings look old and were made from white ancient looking
stones that were covered in ivy and moss. The buildings were built in the 19th
century, but they look like they were pulled from the Renaissance. The
presentation before the tour was held in the Rockefeller Chapel which was gorgeous.
It reminded me of some old churches I saw in Europe.
We walked into the chapel gawking at the
scenery and sat down in the front. Two students came up to us to answer any
questions we had, their names where Rafaela and Jared. They were really nice and
answered everyone’s questions in detail. They had fun stories like a fraternity
that had a tortoise named Bowser that had his own personal zoo complete with a
placard describing him and his diet.
They also discussed certain majors like
engineering and political science. They sounded like your typical majors that
start in large lecture classes with a decent number of students then as the
classes become more specific and debate based then the classes decrease in size
to 6 or 7 students. I found this helpful because I work better in smaller groups,
they help me focus more and it’s easier to get help from a teacher in a small
group.
When Jared and Rafaela answered all our
questions there was loud music being played from an organ. It sounded beautiful
as the music bounce throughout the large chapel. After that lovely intro Dean of Admissions James Nordorf started his presentation. He was very
energetic and intense when he spoke. This was shown by the fact that it was
pretty cool inside and he was dripping with sweat. When he would get close to
me I prayed that a drop wouldn't fall on me. He was very funny and helpful
because as he was giving us the information while he was cracking jokes left
and right.
He talked about his experiences in
admissions and some advice and insight he had on the admissions process. He
told us in short, relax, be yourself and follow your passions. This is what I
hear and see a lot when I do my research into universities. I find this advice
helpful because often I feel like I need become what a university wants me to
be in order to be accepted and I also have tendency to panic about nearly
anything college related (applications, SAT, etc) and I tend to feel inscure
about my writing, so this advice from a dean of admissions encouraged me to
forget all this and just be myself.
He also told stories to enhance his points
about being oneself. One of these stories was he accepted a girl who wrote
about if her school was collapsed in an earthquake. She spent the essay
describing her lining up her classmates based on whether or not she would eat
them. She said she would want to eat the interesting people and she wants to go
to UChicago because the people are interesting. The dean said it was well
written, funny and unique, it also displayed who she was as a person so he accepted
her.
Speaking of essays a thing that I loved
because it was funny and quirky were the weird essay prompts. The prompts would
be things such as “How do you feel about Wednesdays?” I thought this was really
amazing because it encourages students to showcase their individuality and the
prompts were just really fun and sound like a joy to write about.
Another interesting thing he said was
regarding studying abroad. I found it interesting because unlike Northwestern
studying abroad is built directly into the curriculum with the class Ancient
Civilizations which is a part of the common core. I found this interesting
because UChicago wasn’t just saying this to attract students, it felt like
since it was built into the curriculum the university wants you to go out and
study in new places.
He mentioned financial aid and even though
what he said was pretty typical of a good chunk of universities I still found
it interesting. He said that the university was need blind so they don’t look
at your financial situation when you apply on when they accept you and they
have their own financial aid calculator to determine how much aid you need. I
thought this was generous because it displayed that if you are accepted they
want to do everything so that you can attend.
But one of my favorite parts of his speech
was when he went into detail about the house system. It was fun to hear about
because he made the comparison to Harry Potter and it was stunningly accurate.
You fill out an application that asks questions such as how to you study the
best, what do you want in a roommate and it goes to a woman behind a desk who
looks them over and puts you into a house (like the sorting hat) and each house
lives together and has their own dining section in a dining hall (almost like
Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw). I like this because this
shows how UChicago wants there to be a community among students because they
build the community into their system. I think it is very helpful considering
the coursework because it’s wonderful to rely on friends when you feel stressed
or when you need help regarding coursework or a professor.
Then there was the student panel where
students got up and answered questions from the audience. They seemed happy and
passionate about their school because whenever they talked about their lives on
campus their face would light up. The most helpful things they said were about
their course work, schedules and the faculty on campus.
The faculty according to them is very
responsive. The professors have frequent office hours and their academic and
career advisors constantly check. I found the advisors to be an appealing
factor because the students said that meeting with them is a requirement and
that when you do they check in with you to see how you are doing and what you
need. I find it appealing because it shows that no matter what you’ll have a support
system and the faculty is interested in seeing you succeed.
The students also said that the course
work was a lot, but the quarter schedule allowed for flexibility and time in
your schedule to fit in the work. I like this because I like the idea of having
a lot of course work and rigorous studies, but I can get overwhelmed, but with
UChicago’s quarter system it makes it easier to fit in the work comfortably
without becoming overwhelmed or overly stressed.
 |
| Me in front of Rockefeller Chapel |
The end of our day started with a tour. I
liked the tour because it gave me a chance to stretch my legs and take in the
scenery. The campus on top of being beautiful was spacious. The buildings were
spread out and there were walk ways that were lined by trees and flowers and
there were plenty of lawns to sit on and tree to sit under. But the campus wasn’t
so spacious that it was unnavigable or impossible to get from one side to the
other.
Our tour guide’s name was Brian and he was
helpful and many of the things talked about in the tutorial, he covered, but he
brought it to life by telling he own anecdotes. He brought the sense of
community alive by telling stories of when he broke his leg his house members
would help him to class and check in on him. He brought the study abroad
program by telling us of a lot of his friends who went and how he is going to
go to Greece for one of his classes. This showed to me that the university
wanted and encouraged students to study abroad so they can learn things that
they would never learn otherwise.
He also told us that it is very easy to
research with professor because in all of his stories the people just sent an
email and their resume and the professor had them join their project. Or
sometimes the professor would ask the students, this would happen to graduates
and undergraduates. I liked this a lot because it proved that there are always opportunities
on campus and that there were little to barriers between undergraduates and
graduates. His stories proved to me that a lot of what the dean and website
were saying wasn’t just fluff or deception to get people to apply to the university.
At the end of the tour he told us he went
to UChicago and loves UChicago for its community. And with the tour, panel and
the presentation I can see a great sense of community and team work on campus.
It is not one of my major criteria for a university, but community is extremely
helpful because it gives to a support base and friends to lean on.
I’d have to say my favorite university so
far is the University of Chicago. I prefer it to Northwestern mainly because it
has all the positives of Northwestern like the sense of community, study abroad
opportunities, internships, research opportunities and variety of fields to
study in, but it is more rigorous. UChicago has a very sober, formal and
intense compared to Northwestern which felt laid back, fun and relaxing, I find
UChicago’s more rigorous and sober feel more appealing because I want that kind
of environment when I am studying in my classes and I want that kind of
classwork (a lot of it and rigorous). I also like the housing system because it
is based on personality instead of class, sports team or major; I find that to
be better because it insures that you like the people you will live with for at
least a year or two. These campus visits were beyond helpful as they helped me
analyze what I want in a college and they also have greatly influenced what
colleges I want to apply to. And now that I have had my Chicago experienced and
loved every second of it nothing is standing in my way to Ithaca. Watch out
Cornell!
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