Will UChicago Kill My GPA?

[spiritedaway]

Ok, I know its a little early to be thinking about med school 🙄 BUT I'm facing a dilemna. I want to go to University of Chicago for undergrad, but I've heard some scary things about how rigorous Chicago is and how (near) impossible it is to get a high-enough GPA med-school wise. My plan is to major in psychology and complete the pre-med prerequisites. Does anyone know if a psychology major is any less rigorous? Is going to Chicago a bad idea, since I'm pretty sure I want to be a doctor? Should I be going to a less rigorous school (though no reputation) like my no-name "state" school? (Actually I'm from Ontario so it's technically not a state school).
Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[MWillie]

If you want to be a doctor in the US, I suggest you attend a US undergrad. If you work hard, you will distinguish yourself, and all the better if its at a top school such as Chicago.

 

[dmoney41]

I understand that the school motto is "UChicago, where fun goes to die"

 

[blump]

I understand that the school motto is "UChicago, where fun goes to die"

I would def go there if you believe you will be happy. From what I heard, you will get a great education and coming out of U Chicago will look good if you do well

 

[Freakingzooming]

I would def go there if you believe you will be happy. From what I heard, you will get a great education and coming out of U Chicago will look good if you do well

im suprised no other U of Cers haven't picked up on this thread. Definitely attend if you feel you can fit in the school. My suggestion is to visit the school and talk to the students in person. You don't have to decide till a while from now right? like April? Did you get into U of C on the early action? I would suggest you do the prospie thing.

The premed thing is no shoe in like any other good college but it's not impossible. That old wive's tale that no one has gotten a 4.0 yet at the U of C is a bunch of baloney. I know someone who did last year from my class.

Psychology- I considered doing it but I didn't like the psych courses I took. Human development was not for me.

We're a quirky bunch and if you can balance your studies with play, it's not a bad place to be at all. I loved the U of C. Our premeds tend to do really really well. Schools also recognize our studies are harder if you're worried about the GPA factor. PM me if you want. I'm a recent graduate.

 

[Will Ferrell]

Go to your state school and save yourself some money. All private schools are not worth their price... really.

 

[stifler]

okay from my friends who are premed at uchicago they tell me premed there is def a bitch. they tell me that its hard and theyve done way better then me in high school and i assume they still work harder than i do. i suggest going elsewhere if you are considering premed. consider a small liberal arts school. they offer a great humanities education with easy science classes in general. take a look at amherst, bowdoin, middlebury, rice, williams. their science programs are rigorious but they dont have weeder classes like big schools or schools like uchicago. but def talk to that guy who went to u of c.

i mean i chose my small liberal arts school over some big name ivies and im super happy cuz i dont have to worry about weeder classes that try to screw me over and my gpa. and i have a feeling this response is very confusing but its 1:50 and its xmas day im just not tired :/

so yes: conclusion: go somewhere that is easy to boost your gpa, only go to u of c if you feel like you will love it there and no where else.

 

[flash]

Go to your state school and save yourself some money. All private schools are not worth their price... really.

agreed...especially if ur interested in the sciences and going on the med school, imo. Student who is smart, takes responsibility for his/her learning and is proactive will do well anywhere at the undergrad level.

 

[no-see-um]

Go to U Chi. Otherwise you're just running away from a challenge... 👎

I went to a top college that was known to bust people's balls and came out a better/more miserable man. But I did make med schools.

 

[DieselPetrolGrl]

Ok, I know its a little early to be thinking about med school 🙄 BUT I'm facing a dilemna. I want to go to University of Chicago for undergrad, but I've heard some scary things about how rigorous Chicago is and how (near) impossible it is to get a high-enough GPA med-school wise. My plan is to major in psychology and complete the pre-med prerequisites. Does anyone know if a psychology major is any less rigorous? Is going to Chicago a bad idea, since I'm pretty sure I want to be a doctor? Should I be going to a less rigorous school (though no reputation) like my no-name "state" school? (Actually I'm from Ontario so it's technically not a state school).
Thanks!

Go to Yale

 

[Quentin Quinn]

okay from my friends who are premed at uchicago they tell me premed there is def a bitch. they tell me that its hard and theyve done way better then me in high school and i assume they still work harder than i do. i suggest going elsewhere if you are considering premed. consider a small liberal arts school. they offer a great humanities education with easy science classes in general. take a look at amherst, bowdoin, middlebury, rice, williams. their science programs are rigorious but they dont have weeder classes like big schools or schools like uchicago. but def talk to that guy who went to u of c.

i mean i chose my small liberal arts school over some big name ivies and im super happy cuz i dont have to worry about weeder classes that try to screw me over and my gpa. and i have a feeling this response is very confusing but its 1:50 and its xmas day im just not tired :/

so yes: conclusion: go somewhere that is easy to boost your gpa, only go to u of c if you feel like you will love it there and no where else.

Trust me, I would take Rice off that list if you are looking to avoid "weeder" classes. The place is crawling with premeds, and it is in reality more of a research uni than a LAC. While it is a fairly small school, it has a lot more in common with WashU, JHU, or Cornell than the elite LACs with which it was grouped above.

Back to the main topic, I know a few U of C grads from law school; both were pretty easy-going guys and they claimed the place's brutal academic rep was somewhat overinflated. And both were econ majors there, which is considered (outside of perhaps Wharton) probably the premier econ program among U.S. undergrads. Not really relevant to premed classes, I know, but thought it worth mentioning.

 

[stifler]

Go to U Chi. Otherwise you're just running away from a challenge... 👎

I went to a top college that was known to bust people's balls and came out a better/more miserable man. But I did make med schools.

dont take a challenge that you dont have to take. cuz thats just stupid and rash.

 

[spiritedaway]

Wow, thanks for all the advice guys 😉
To the poster who suggested liberal arts colleges: strangely enough, I'm interested in Amherst, Williams, Middlebury and Bowdoin also (the four that you mentioned) mainly because they give financial aid to canadians. The problem is, my dad is very against my going to a LAC, because he thinks they have no reputation and nobody's heard of them and in the future everytime I say "I went to Bowdoin" I'll get laughed at. Which I believe is essentially untrue, because Bowdoin is very well respected in the US, right?
And another question: if I want to attend med school in the states (I want to eventually practice in the USA) should I definately attend an American school for undergrad? Or do US med schools consider Canadian undergrad schools basically the same?
Thanks again 🙂

 

[VeggieGal]

if i were you, i would attend an american school if you want to go to med school in the U.S. i got into UChicago as an undergrad but didn't end up going there. i loved the intellectual environment of the school, but my tour guide turned me off when she said, "i carry my books around in my backpack wherever i go, so i can just plop down and study whenever needed." i think before making any decisions, you should try and visit the school and see for yourself. i know that it's hard for pre-meds, but so are alot of other schools as well. i have an interview there for med school and would love to attend. the atmosphere and people at uchicago are great. you need to pick a school where you feel like you will fit in with the student body. i wouldn't pick a school based on easier pre-med classes, although i think your concerns are very valid.

also, i would agree with Quintin about Rice. I have many, many friends that go there and the pre-med classes are extremely hard. just b/c a school is small doesn't mean its science classes are easy. rice is considered a liberal arts university, but it's science and engineering programs are top-notch and also tough.

 

[Freakingzooming]

okay from my friends who are premed at uchicago they tell me premed there is def a bitch. they tell me that its hard and theyve done way better then me in high school and i assume they still work harder than i do. i suggest going elsewhere if you are considering premed. consider a small liberal arts school. they offer a great humanities education with easy science classes in general. take a look at amherst, bowdoin, middlebury, rice, williams. their science programs are rigorious but they dont have weeder classes like big schools or schools like uchicago. but def talk to that guy who went to u of c.

i mean i chose my small liberal arts school over some big name ivies and im super happy cuz i dont have to worry about weeder classes that try to screw me over and my gpa. and i have a feeling this response is very confusing but its 1:50 and its xmas day im just not tired :/

so yes: conclusion: go somewhere that is easy to boost your gpa, only go to u of c if you feel like you will love it there and no where else.

You're getting second-hand information so I'm not going to rag on you too much but what weeder classes? The fact that our Ochem classes are challenging like every other top school out there? The fact that we prepare you to learn not memorize then reguritate? We don't do cut throat. I'm sorry but if I wanted that I would've gone to another school. And in terms of liberal arts, because of our Core we emphasize humanistic studies. we're very dead centered on striking a balance.

I did my fair share of studying but I never felt I was struggling. I worked, I joined a good number of extracurriculars, and did this all while studying. And not every liberal art school you mentioned is going to be easy in science courses. It's going to be the exact opposite at quality liberal art schools like amherst, swarthmore, etc.

Biggest thing from all this discussion is you're not going to find all the right answers or right input from everyone here on the net. You need to visit the school and talk to the students.

 

[Farfalla]

I just graduated from U of C in Biology and I agree completely with FreakingZooming. U of C teaches you how to understand concepts rather than just memorizing things and forgetting them the next day. While I admit I did hate U of C for my first year, looking back I would have regretted going anywhere else and now I really miss it!! 🙁 You just have to learn balancing studying and having fun, which will prepare you well for medical school. Also, you have the opportunity take a lot of amazing classes outside of science- I even fit studying abroad into my schedule, which is hard to do for any pre-med. I do agree with everyone else though that you should visit first and see if it is the right place for you.

 

[JuicyDay]

i'm a 4th year there now. it's a FANTASTIC liberal arts education, but i would not recommend it for pre-meds. go to a school that inflates grades; no matter how reputable U of C is for grade deflation, it's been my experience that a getting a 3.5 is quite difficult (especially post-ochem), and adcoms won't round that up to more than a tenth of a point. if you think a high gpa is important, then go to an Ivy/Northwestern/Stanford.

 

[jhugti]

dont take a challenge that you dont have to take. cuz thats just stupid and rash.

wow. what a great attitude.

its also ambitious, intellectually satisfying, and not a cop-out.

Go to the best school you can- if it means you work hard then so be it. Its waaay too early to start telling yourself what you can't handle. If you never push yourself academically, how will you ever know what you are capable of?

Look at it like this- all the kids coming into top schools from HS did well. Among them, some will excel in college as well. Why would you automatically assume you can't be one of them? Even if you end up being less than perfect in academic record, at least your four years will have taught you and pushed you as much as you could handle- what else could you ask for from a school academically?

 

[leiface]

Ok, it's just stupid to goto UChicago for the sake of a challenge.UChicago has a very particular environment. Some students excel, other students become suicidal.Go there because you like the type of educational and social environment the school provides and then you will be much more likely to succeed. If you are good enough to get into UChicago, you will be good enough to goto other top schools as well. If you're just looking for a challenge, go climb Mt. Everest.

 

[goheel]

their science programs are rigorious but they dont have weeder classes like big schools or schools like uchicago.

If you can't survive weeder classes, you don't deserve to go to med school, or any professional school for that matter.

 

[kikkoman]

If you can't survive weeder classes, you don't deserve to go to med school, or any professional school for that matter.

Lame =[ How would you know how hard U of C's weeder classes are?

I think jhugti hit it right on - the purpose of an education isn't to qualify for more education after all.

 

[blump]

How bad is it really at U of Chicago? Is there that much grade delfation? I heard it is hard but if it was that bad, then how do their graduates get into medical school, and I am sure that they do.

 

[Karine04]

And not every liberal art school you mentioned is going to be easy in science courses. It's going to be the exact opposite at quality liberal art schools like amherst, swarthmore, etc.

Believe it or not, as FreakingZooming has pointed out, some of the well-respected liberal arts schools have fantastic science curriculums with difficult courses that are comparable to larger universities. My undergrad institution, Wellesley, has given me an incredible education. I am a neuroscience major and I've taken 7 psychology classes, lots of chemistry and biology, but some of the best classes I've taken were outside of the science center. Art history, English literature, Russian literature...the list goes on. My science education was very, very challenging, but also extremely rewarding.

Anyway, we can't tell you where to go to school. My only piece of advice is: don't avoid a school because it's notoriously difficult. If you've worked hard up to this point in your life, you'll continue to work hard and make good grades once you get into college.

Good luck pursuing your goals.