College Visit #1: The University of Chicago

The time has come. Now that it's sophomore year, my friends and I have decided to become especially proactive concerning our post-secondary education--all that's just a fancy way of saying that mis amigas y yo have begun going on college visits! Some may think that starting the college search this early in entirely unnecessary, however, I believe that starting early will always give one an advantage not only when it comes to school but in life as well. With that out of the way let's dive into the actual college visit itself!

To kick-off the collegiate search, my friends Jenny and Ramya accompanied me to the University of Chicago Spring Open House on Friday, March 31, 2017. We woke up bright and early to reach the downtown-area school (we live in the suburbs) by 7:45 am. Not gonna lie, once we arrived we immediately felt intimidated and awed by the grand architecture of the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel that was designated as the welcoming area, however, the dean of admissions was outside greeting visitors and was very welcoming. Still, here's some more information on UC that scared us a bit:

UC is an urban research, private university founded by John D. Rockefeller. Its namesake came about not only as a result of its location, but because Rockefeller wanted to ensure that the school attracted scholars and not just those who wanted to attend because of his financial status. Here's some quick stats on UC according to the College Board website: UC has an 8% selectivity rate, a 99% retention rate, a 94% 6-year graduation rate, it's considered medium-sized with 5,941 total undergrads and 1,591 degree-seeking freshman.

Clearly, this is an amazing school and as lowly sophomores we felt like we didn't belong--yet we endured, determined to enjoy the day.

The dean gave an initial welcome speech preceded by an unexpected melody carried out by an, apparently, phantom organ player. Jenny and I got a few chuckles when a dozing Ramya gasped loudly when the organ music started up. In addition, we each received folders containing maps of the campus, nearby areas in the city, basic information about the school, a sticker, and (this is the best part) free University of Chicago t-shirt vouchers!

~First on the docket, we attended a model class for a biology lecture. Regrettably, I do not remember the teacher's name, however, I found the class interesting and even took a few notes.

~Next up, we sat in on a talk about the highly selective admissions process. I learned many new things about what schools look for in an applicant. One thing that really struck me, though, was from an audience-speaker Q&A section. A member of the audience stated that schools must look for leaders and to me that seemed perfectly reasonable, however, as the speaker explained: if schools looked for just leaders, the admitted freshman class would be a disaster! Just imagine an entire class comprised of solely leaders. So, if you're not a leader, no need to freak. Leadership isn't the only quality that schools look for in their applicants.

~Third, we took a tour of the campus. Our tour was led by a current student. Our tour guide was funny and informative! She had cheesy puns--all of which we laughed at--and very in depth information on the university along with personal experiences at the university. Along the tour we were thoroughly shook not only by the cold Chicago weather but, once again, by the amazing architecture.

University of Chicago is an old school, and the architecture shows this in the most awesome way--we couldn't help admiring its beauty the whole day.

~Finally, we spent time in the social area talking to other people who had come to visit UC. The event was apparently catered by a nearby vegan/vegetarian company from which we decided to try burgers. The burgers were every bit as delicious as they were healthy. In addition, we chatted up some cool people--some coming from as far as Texas--who made the day all the more enjoyable.

In sum, my first college visit was made especially pleasurable by my friends and the people we encountered on campus. The University of Chicago is an amazing school with great architecture, education, and, well of course, education is going to be expensive but its an investment with high ROI, so I definitely encouraged Jenny (future astrophysicist) and Ramya (future psychiatrist) to apply in their junior years, however, as much as I enjoyed UC, I would not apply because my desired major, chemical engineering, is not a course of study at the university. For any scholars out there, though, that would like to go to a challenging, Chicago-based university, the University of Chicago is well worth a look.

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