I did graduate a while back though and I have heard reports that crime is up, I just tend to ignore those reports because it feels like for years all anyone was talking about was Chiraq and that was never my experience.
I know this is a bit late and on the UCSF page, but I want to chime in here as a current U of C undergraduate (senior).
Crime is absolutely a problem here, and the only reason you don't hear about it is that the University cares far too much about its reputation and image to actually report nor do anything about it, most of the time. The campus 'borders' are structured in a way that essentially all student robberies and crime relating to students and/or near off-campus apartments are 'off campus' so the administration has no obligation to acknowledge it or report on it. Even then, the amount of reported student-related crime is upsetting.
I would go as far as to say that if you are not an undergraduate living on campus, do not attend this school. I applied to Pritzker because I could, for free, but I have no intention of coming here and would pick a significantly lower-ranked school over Pritzker in a heartbeat. I've lived off-campus for 6 months and have developed anxiety, general feelings of unwellness, and a constant state of fear because of the absolute ****show that is the off campus housing (in addition to the financial situation which I will touch on later).
In 6 months here I have heard of or witnessed myself:
1. Gunshots within 5 blocks of my apartment (not from pistols, be aware, but from cheap ARs like Dracos which can stray fire easily) at least once/3 days
2. An actual murder behind someone I know's apartment. Straight up. When I went to my research building there was still blood on the floor and caution tape everywhere. They also heard the screams, gunshots, and whole deal which was absolutely abhorrent. This was 1 block from the 'campus border' but in the parking lot of an apartment where many students live
3. Reports of apartment break in, student robberies, armed robbereis, carjackings, etc. multiple times per week
4. Two dead students, including one who died on the way back from work downtown on the CTA (shot, stray bullet, which in my opinion somehow makes it worse)
I could go on but for the sake of not doxxing myself I'll just leave it at that. If anyone has any questions feel free to DM me. As safe as campus is (it definitely is, though there are occasional muggings in the southern part of campus, the places where students live is honestly not safe, or at least at bare minimum it surely doesn't feel like it. And to make matters worse, all the rich college students eat up the good apartments, which are already managed by toxic parties. So odds are you'll get stuck with a trash apartment in a trash location like most of us who have to deal with this crap.
Ironically, the University actually just announced increased safety borders and safety measures (i.e. free lyfts for students coming back from hospital/other off campus stuff), probably in response to the recent murder 1 block from campus. If you don't believe it's bad, the fact that the University is actually finally taking action should be enough of a signal.
