I Love Trees

While I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Washington University at St. Louis, our tour through the University of Chicago piqued my interested even more.  The campus was beautiful, the students friendly, and the variety in architecture really caught my attention.

When we finished eating breakfast and left the hotel this morning, the temperature was not nearly as hot as I thought it would be, but it was definitely warm enough to feel completely comfortable in my summer dress.  We took two cabs to the University of Chicago, which only took about 10-15 minutes, and were dropped off right next to a tall building covered entirely by leaves.  This turned out to be a common trait among many of the buildings we visited and I absolutely loved being surrounded by so much greenery.

Building in Harper Hall

One of Two Campus Libraries

Leaves Gave a Comforting Feeling to the Buildings

We were first taken up a few flights of stairs by an admission officer, Callie Brown, who brought us to a meeting room and presented to us a great deal of information about the school.  Ian had already given us questions to think about asking during one of these events back in St. Louis, but I felt that Callie really nailed many of those topics without us even needing to ask.  However, we each threw her some questions to which she responded with thorough explanations.  Following this session, Edgar Gonzalez, a rising senior at the University of Chicago, and a native Californian, eagerly gave us a tour of the campus.  I liked the fact that the buildings had quite a bit of variety when it comes to architecture, size, and location.  He was a great tour guide with all of his entertaining and funny stories at several different spots on campus, and I felt a strong connection to the university once the tour was complete.  In other words, I can really picture myself on that campus and most definitely plan on applying to the university.

One of my favorite aspects of the application process at this school, was the supplement.  They do use the Common Application and require one basic additional essay, but they also require applicants to respond to another essay questions that is rather unusual.  "Find x," Callie said, giving an example of an additional essay prompt.  I thought maybe this was it, but she went on to further questions that were more abstract and thought provoking.  This is wonderful piece of the application process, I think, because it really gives students the chance to write on any number of situations or experiences they have had in their life.  In addition to the general forms and sections of a students application, the creative essay allows the admission officers to get a sense of how the student's mind works in a more abstract way.  These indirect questions give way for a great deal of creativity and deep thought, which I greatly appreciate and am excited to respond to!