Another UChicago alum. FWIW, my experience as an undergrad was that there wasn’t all that much social mixing between the undergrads and the graduate students. I’m sure it occurred some, but the difference in life stage between those two populations was sufficiently large that mixing did not occur naturally. My impression was the grad students were aloof from the undergrads, not that the undergrads were hostile to grad students (undergrad hostility would surprise me, since many undergrads at UChicago thought they would be graduate students some time in the future).
Most student groups I participated in were overwhelmingly undergrad, such that a graduate student would stand out. But I mostly participated in academic competition groups (Mock Trial, Parliamentary Debate) that wouldn’t have allowed graduate students to participate in the actual competitions.
Thanks very much for that reply! And I think you’re right about that. There are very few non-LAC schools where the undergrads actually expect to be grad students in the future. So that’s probably enough to make Chicago unique. Whereas at a place like Stanford, they might disdain the grad students since there is so much social pressure to join startups rather than grad school.
Yeah, the biggest interactions between grad and undergrad students occur in the various clubs on campus. I know about 6 grad students so far, all from clubs. If I hadn’t participated in clubs, or just ones that are undergrad only, I wouldn’t know any.
Another UChicago alum. FWIW, my experience as an undergrad was that there wasn’t all that much social mixing between the undergrads and the graduate students. I’m sure it occurred some, but the difference in life stage between those two populations was sufficiently large that mixing did not occur naturally. My impression was the grad students were aloof from the undergrads, not that the undergrads were hostile to grad students (undergrad hostility would surprise me, since many undergrads at UChicago thought they would be graduate students some time in the future).
Most student groups I participated in were overwhelmingly undergrad, such that a graduate student would stand out. But I mostly participated in academic competition groups (Mock Trial, Parliamentary Debate) that wouldn’t have allowed graduate students to participate in the actual competitions.
Thanks very much for that reply! And I think you’re right about that. There are very few non-LAC schools where the undergrads actually expect to be grad students in the future. So that’s probably enough to make Chicago unique. Whereas at a place like Stanford, they might disdain the grad students since there is so much social pressure to join startups rather than grad school.
Yeah, the biggest interactions between grad and undergrad students occur in the various clubs on campus. I know about 6 grad students so far, all from clubs. If I hadn’t participated in clubs, or just ones that are undergrad only, I wouldn’t know any.