College of the University of Chicago
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The College is the sole undergraduate institution and one of the oldest components of the University of Chicago, emerging contemporaneously with the university at large in 1892. Instruction is provided by faculty across all graduate divisions and schools for its 4400 students; however, the college retains a select group of young, propriety scholars who cater to its core curriculum offerings. However, unlike many major American research universities, the college is small in comparison to the universities' graduate divisions in aggregate, with graduate students outnumbering undergraduates at a 2:1 ratio. The college is most notable for its core curriculum pioneered by Robert Maynard Hutchins, which remains the most expansive amongst highly ranked American colleges, as well as its emphasis on preparing students for continued graduate study (sending on the highest percentage within five years to graduate school save the Johns Hopkins University).
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[edit] Reputation and admissions
US News & World Reports ranks the University of Chicago at 9th in the nation for undergraduate education, tied with Columbia University, with a rank of 6th in a peer assessment by academic deans. In 2007 Princeton Review named the College as having the "Best Undergraduate Academic Experience" in the United States. For the most recent application cycle the school had the 11th highest SAT score band in the nation (1350-1530). Historically, the school has been noted for a low graduation and retention rate given the strength of its incoming classes. However, several plans by the college to ensure student success have brought the school to 20th in the nation in this category[1]. The Princeton Review moreover finds in general that applicants to Chicago also simultaneously apply to Ivy League institutions and their associates [2].
In 2008, Forbes magazine ranked the University of Chicago's undergraduate program the 4th best in the country under Harvard, Yale, and Princeton based on post-graduation achievements and student evaluations.[3] In 2008, Forbes also named the University of Chicago a "billionaire university," ranking the university as the 7th most successful university in the country for producing billionaire alumni.[4]
The school currently utilizes a self-dubbed "uncommon application", and hence does not accept the more popular, nationalized common application for collegiate admissions that can be sent to multiple institutions. Its cornerstone is an essay that carries heavy weight in the decision making process according to current Dean of Admissions Ted O'Neill.[citation needed] Prompts for the piece have ranged from the bizarre, “Write an essay somehow inspired by super-huge mustard,” to esoteric quotes by famous individuals such as Zen Master Shoitsu, posing as a prompt the statement (without any question), “mind that does not stick [5].” However, the admissions office in the fall of 2006 announced that it would switch to the common application for the class of 2013, while still maintaining its unique set of questions as a supplement[6].
[edit] Academics
The college offers 52 majors (originally called 'concentrations,' but changed in 2004). A primary departmental or committee affiliation is denoted for those whose names differ from that of their field designation. A student is awarded either the B.A. or B.S. degree. The college notably does not offer study in preprofessional areas such as engineering or finance, however, the school contends that students going on to graduate study in these fields often can select work in related areas such as physics or economics in order to receive adequate preparation within the liberal arts tradition. The college recently introduced minors in a select numbers of fields, and also offers several joint bachelors / masters programs to high performing students. Available major programs are:
[edit] Core curriculum
The University of Chicago requires all undergraduates to fulfill the common core, which demands work across all areas of the liberal arts for both B.A. and B.S. concentrators, albeit in a form reduced from the Hutchins era.[7] Currently, 15 courses are required in addition to tested foreign language proficiency (one year of de novo study being expected as preparation) if no Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate examinations are used for exemption (a reduction of six credits, or two full-time quarters, may be achieved via this method). While the science curriculum has largely followed the intellectual evolution of its respective fields, the requisite humanities and social science sequences now have several variants that encompass non-Western, non-canonical, and critical theory texts. This is a departure from the school’s traditional ties to texts of the European tradition such as Plato and Locke. While in totality the core curriculum’s goal is to impart an education that is both timeless and a vehicle for interdisciplinary debate, the increasing number of options to students within its confines produces a wide variety of backgrounds amongst graduates.
[edit] Culture
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The college’s official motto used in student literature is the “life of the mind,” drawing attention to the school’s serious academic environment. Alternatively, a popular phrase with students is “where fun comes to die,” describing the school's lack of a stereotypical college party culture.
Although Greek life is not predominant among the undergraduate population, there are many active—but unrecognized by the University—fraternities and sororities that have established histories with the College, including Alpha Delta Phi, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Alpha Phi Alpha, Alpha Phi Omega, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Delta Upsilon, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Gamma Delta, Psi Upsilon, and Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternities, as well as Alpha Omicron Pi, Delta Gamma, and Kappa Alpha Theta, sororities. During the school year, one or two of the fraternities will usually throw a house party on the weekend (with the exception of holidays and "finals week").
[edit] Traditions
- Summer Breeze - The university's annual late spring concert. Past musicians who have performed at Summer Breeze include Wilco, Eminem, Run DMC, They Might Be Giants, Violent Femmes, Method Man, Moby, Fuel, Nas, Jurassic 5, Talib Kweli, OK Go, Mos Def, and George Clinton. A three-day outdoor festival (including an all-night dance party on the Main Quads) accompanies the event.
- Shake Day - Milkshakes sell for only one dollar every Wednesday at the Reynolds Club.[8] The Einstein Bros. Bagels franchise were only allowed to open on campus after adhering to this tradition.
- Midnight Breakfast - A midnight breakfast is held during every "finals week" of the academic year, attracting students and faculty members alike.[9]
- O-Week - Every year since 1934, the University of Chicago has set time aside before classes begin to provide an introduction to the University for all new students.
[edit] Scavenger Hunt
The annual University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt is a multi-day event in which large teams compete to obtain all of the notoriously esoteric items on a list. Held every May since 1987, it is considered to be the largest scavenger hunt in the world.[10] Established by student Chris Straus, the "Scav Hunt" (as it is known among University students) has become one of the university's most popular traditions and has typically pushed the boundaries of absurdity. Each year, the list includes roughly 300 items, each with an assigned point value; the items vary widely, and often include performances, large-scale construction, technological construction, competition, and travel, as well as the traditional "find this item" listings. Most teams fall well short of completing half of the list and instead compete for total points amassed. The more difficult and time-consuming items earn more points, and teams typically devote more resources into these items.
[edit] Student organizations
Notable extracurricular groups include the University of Chicago College Bowl Team, which has won 118 tournaments and 15 national championships, leading both categories internationally. The Chicago Debate Society has had a top four team at the American Parliamentary Debate Association's National Championship tournament four out of the past five years. Model United Nations is also strong, winning major university simulations each year.
Chicago Society, an undergraduate student organization that brings world leaders to speak on campus, is the University's spearhead organization in bringing major speakers to campus. Chicago Society's most famous event titled "China and the Future of the World"
held in the spring of 2006 consisted of a two-day symposium on China's rapid political, economic, and social development and its impact on the world. For the symposium, Chicago Society brought in numerous high-level American and Chinese government officials including Wang Guangya, the Chinese ambassador to the UN; Christopher Hill, head of the American delegation in the North Korea six-way talks; and Peter Rodman, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs.
The university's independent student newspaper is the Chicago Maroon. Founded in 1892, the same year as the university, the newspaper is published every Tuesday and Friday. Chicago Weekly is a student-run alternative weekly covering issues and arts on the South Side of Chicago.
The University of Chicago's University Theater is one of the oldest student-run theatre organizations in the country, involving as many as 500 members of the university community, producing 30 to 35 shows a year, and selling on the order of 10,000 tickets. It also operates Off-Off Campus, one of the University's two improv comedy troupes, started in 1986 by Bernard Sahlins, one of the founders of The Second City.
WHPK, a student-run and University-owned radio station, broadcasts out of the Reynolds Club on the university campus. DJ "JP Chill" has had a rap and hip hop show on WHPK since 1986. It was one of the earliest rap shows in the country and the first in Chicago.
The Chicago Shady Dealer is the student run humor magazine, published 10 times per year.
Vita Excolatur, a student-published erotic magazine, began publication in 2004.
The administration has worked closely with students in recent years to combat the university's reputation as "where fun comes to die", which some claim have discouraged top students from taking the university into serious consideration when researching colleges.
[edit] Doc Films
Doc Films, founded in 1932 (originally the Documentary Film Group), is the oldest student film society in the country. Amongst entries in Vanity Fair's "Film Snob's Dictionary" for AIP, Anger, Kenneth and Farber, and Seijun, Doc Films is described as "Hard-core beyond words and lay comprehension, the society is populated by 19-year olds who have already seen every film ever made, and boasts its own Dolby Digital-equipped cinema and an impressive roster of alumni that includes Snob-revered critic Dave Kehr." [11] During the school year, Doc Films screens a different film on every night of the week. Featuring 35mm and 16mm projecters that are maintained and operated by students, Foreign films and documentaries are typically screened on weekdays, while recent, mainstream selections are shown on weekends. Occasionally, Doc Films screens works that have not yet been released to the general public, such as American Gangster and Knocked Up.
Doc Films has hosted many luminaries as guests, including Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang and Woody Allen. Most recently, in November 2005, director Ang Lee and producer James Schamus visited the University of Chicago to screen the film Brokeback Mountain a month before its American debut, and to participate in a question-and-answer session with students.[12] Most recently, Director Robert Redford, the founder of the Sundance Film Festival, visited campus to host a question and answer session about Lions for Lambs, his most recent film, and his other works.
[edit] Athletics
The schools Division III, University Athletic Association NCAA teams are not a major focus on campus today, appearing almost “minimal” in their role on campus to “non-existent” according to students [1]. However, in the early half of the twentieth century the school was power house in Big Ten Conference play, notably in football where the school won numerous national championships. Yet, President Robert Maynard Hutchins suspended sports for several years though during his tenure fearing their digressive nature from academic endeavors, ending the prominence of most athletic programs. Today the many programs aim to cultivate the “student-athlete,” the emphasis being on balance between the two.
[edit] House system
The college employs a house system whereby undergraduates living in dormitories are assigned to a block of students of usually no more than 70 which serves as a focal point for university events.[13] Some campus dormitories contain several houses, while other domiciles have only one. Each building is overseen by a resident master, and should there be more than one house, each a resident head. An upper division undergraduate is then selected to serve in addition as a resident assistant for each house. All first years are required to live in housing, however, the availability of affordable, off campus apartments makes them a popular option with a sizable segment of the student body. Moreover, students are free to bid or request switches amid houses both between academic years and during them. As such, the house system is rather fluid, and many students often have more than one affiliation during their time at the college. The current building and attendant houses of the college are:
- Blackstone Hall
- Breckinridge Hall
- Broadview Hall
- Palmer House
- Talbot House
- Wick House
- Burton-Judson Courts
- Dodd-Mead House
- Chamberlin House
- Vincent House
- Coulter House
- Mathews House
- Linn House
- Salisbury House
- 5700 Stony Island
- Maclean House
- Max Palevsky Residential Commons
- Alper House
- Flint House
- Hoover House
- May House
- Rickert House
- Wallace House
- Woodward House
- Graham House
- Pierce Tower
- Henderson House
- Shorey House
- Thompson House
- Tufts House
- The Shoreland
- Fallers House
- Bishop House
- Dewey House
- Michelson House
- Fishbein House
- Compton House
- Hale House
- Filbey House
- Bradbury House
- Dudley House
- Snell-Hitchcock
- Hitchcock House
- Snell House
[edit] References
- ^ US News and World Report. America's Best Colleges 2007: National Universities: Top Schools.
- ^ The Princeton Review. ?.
- ^ Forbes: How to Choose a College.
- ^ Forbes: The Billionaire Universities.
- ^ ?.
- ^ ?.
- ^ Curriculum.
- ^ Traditions: like it or not, we’ve got plenty of them. The Chicago Maroon (2005). Retrieved on 2006-06-08.
- ^ The Insider's Guide. The University of Chicago. Retrieved on 2005-06-08.
- ^ World’s largest Scavenger Hunt begins in Chicago. The University of Chicago News Office. Retrieved on 2005-06-13.
- ^ "The Film Snob's Dictionary", Vanity Fair, March 2004, p 332
- ^ James Schamus, Ang Lee, and Brokeback Mountain visit U of C. The Chicago Maroon (2005). Retrieved on 2006-06-11.
- ^ Residence Halls and Commons. Housing - University of Chicago.
