University of Chicago Snapshot

Written by Liane Rousseau

Liane Rousseau

Hometown

Cincinnati, Ohio

Major

English Language and Literature

Grad Year

2012

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Everything at Chicago centers around providing students an ideal education. Not only the Core Curriculum with its balanced approach to the disciplines and rigorous opposition to mediocrity, but also the House System, the campus design, the athletic structure, and the graduate-undergraduate dynamics all contribute to Chicago's continuing pursuit of the perfect academic experience. This aids the U of C student in their search for truth. This approach, however, has its own shortcomings. The College's dismissal of the vocational puts U of C students at an initial disadvantage in the workplace. Recruiters often say (sometimes improperly) U of C students lack any marketable skills. This is an important criticism, though the University has done much to give students the tools they need to survive in the job market: placement services for history and English concentrators (typically the two highest unemployed concentrations), seminars on preparing resumes, and marketing a U of C education, all are part of a suite of services the University has rolled out to help its students make it in real life. However, the focus of the education on truth means that many U of C students seek out places in academia, where these searches become lifelong endeavors.

Those students who seek to apply their learning to the world around them face a somewhat tougher path. The journey is rough, but often rewarding. The tools the University bequeaths upon its students are not easily developed otherwise. Critical inquiry is often the greatest asset of a Chicago graduate. Is it hard? Yes. You will spend nights in the Regenstein Library wishing you were at some nameless, beach-side state school drinking martinis poolside. Adam Smith and Herman Melville will at one time or another be the bane of your existence. But in the final analysis, there is no better place to learn and be with those who want to learn than the University of Chicago.