dmariew

Get Off Campus!

Relations with the nearby area are not the best, as the University has taken some actions that have caused a strained relationship between it and the rest of Hyde Park. But that doesn't mean you can't find super fun things to do off campus! Downtown is full of great things to do, even a short trip on the Red Line can get you to a mecca of restaurants and movie theatres.

Tough, but Doable

If you're used to getting straight A's and being the "smart kid" in all of your classes, this school can be an incredibly jarring experience - because EVERYONE was that kid! But while the school is tough (and sometimes, it seems, unreasonably so), it's very doable. The Computer Science department is very hit-or-miss teacher-wise, but you can definitely craft a curriculum with tons of hands on experience, and all of the professors I've had are, if not the best teachers, very excited to assist students. One thing you'll hear about the Computer Science department at this school is that you will only get theoretical experience...but this is folly. I've crafted Operating Systems, networking applications, video games and more - the education you'll get here is perfectly fine. (You will have to get some alternate programming language experience outside of the classroom, however).

Do They Exist?

I've heard lots of stories about research experience, but very very few internships. The Computer Science department does the Google Summer of Code series, and those kids got a lot of offers (nearly everyone was placed!) but I don't know about other majors.