IT WAS ANYTHING but warm when senior Linda Song and I stepped out of the car and onto the circle drive of the main quad of the University of Chicago, fondly known as UChicago. Thankfully, I had three thick layers of clothing on, though it was somewhat difficult to shuffle along.

We had arrived on campus at around 8 a.m., having gotten up a couple hours before the sun. The trip itself was rather unexciting, at least until we left the highway and entered Chicago.

Now let me warn you, if you are planning on attending UChicago, do not bring a car. Unless you can follow street signs and road maps precisely and have the ability to make U-turns in under five seconds with the pressure of oncoming traffic in your face, literally. That said, make sure to have car insurance and heart medication on hand, just in case.

Sunlight dawns on one of UChicago's many towers, signaling the start of another day. Gargoyle photo by Jie Han (click to enlarge)

Having survived the ordeal without much damage, we wandered aimlessly around the quads. We saw a couple of amazingly plump squirrels, several students with coffee cups in hand, and towering Gothic architecture.

It took us several minutes to locate the admissions office, Rosenwald Hall. By that time, we desperately needed to be thawed, as the sun wasn’t doing its job properly.

Entering through a pair of thick double doors, we found ourselves in a cozy room with a couple computers, several chairs, and tables. In an adjacent room, we found the receptionist, who told us to fill out a short form, help ourselves to some coffee or hot chocolate, and relax or wander around.

The guided tour and info session wouldn’t start for another two hours, so we had plenty of time to do all three. After filling out the form, the two of us grabbed a couple brochures about the city and UChicago, educating ourselves about the university and its surroundings.

A few of the brochures advertised the entertainment and distractions offered by nearby 57th Street. Features included annual art fairs, various restaurants, and a multitude of bookstores and coffee shops.

Other leaflets included information about UChicago's various departments, such as economics and psychology. Those were quite informative, listing noted faculty members, curriculum, honors projects, facilities, and grant opportunities.

There were also a couple binders about housing and traditions at UChicago. Sororities and fraternities are available on campus, but they aren’t overpowering presences.

Upperclassmen live in the same dorms as underclassmen, supervised by resident heads. Traditions include four-day scavenger hunts, swimming in the law school pool, and jumping into Lake Michigan — extra props to those who do it in early spring or late winter!

When 10:30 a.m. came, we started on our tour of the campus. Ivy covered many of the buildings, and many large and leafy trees obscured the rest. The large expanse of trees and grass could almost convince one that the campus wasn’t situated near the largest city in Illinois, but in a small, peaceful town. There were five “quads,” each for its own academic area. We visited a chapel, a classroom, and caught a glimpse of a lab.

The chapel was one of the smaller ones on campus, but had amazing stained glass windows and the still air of a cathedral. Like all activities on campus, however, you don’t have to go to church if you don’t want to. Life at UChicago is what you make of it, trying things out and finding your own niche — when you aren’t doing homework or attending classes, that is.

The classroom that we saw was quite roomy, though there would typically be around 10 or so students in one. It had several tables formed into a square, surrounded by several chairs. Along the walls were more chairs and a couple blackboards. Tucked in one corner was a gigantic flatscreen TV, quite different from the science lab that we saw next.

Linda Song enjoys her lunch at Bartlett. Gargoyle photo by Jie Han (click to enlarge)

There, instead of empty space, we saw tables with attentive students and lab equipment. Vials and machines were everywhere — like a shopping center, but with less space and shelves that are actually reachable.

After the tour, we attended an information session with one of the admissions counselors. Once it ended, Linda and I scheduled a class to sit in on, and then went to lunch at one of the most popular dining halls on campus, Bartlett. It was quite impressive, though it took us a bit to find.

Inside the dining hall, there were five different kinds of soup, several dessert choices, a salad bar, a pasta bar, a pizza bar, a stir-fry bar, soda dispensers, a freezer of ice cream …

But unfortunately the items were slightly pricey, such as $3 for a slice of cake, so the $8 pass I was given was quickly used up on a side of mashed potatoes with gravy, corn, bacon, a soft drink, lentil soup, and a vanilla-chocolate pudding cake.

After our lunch, we hurried to Macroeconomics 199, or Introduction to Macroeconomics, taught by Prof. Allen Sanderson. We arrived just on time and sat in the back for an hour-and-a-half lecture about deficits and the U.S. government’s debt.

The professor was witty, humorous, and could connect to the half-awake freshmen. Class material discussed included the most recent statistics of the U.S. deficit and calculating how much each American owed in terms of national debt, which is about $30,000.

Several references were made toward the college students and their own debts to the university. He was also nice enough to pass out a sheet of graphs, figures, and the address to mail in checks to reduce public debt.

What really struck me about the class was that the students came and went freely and that the professor didn’t have to wait long for someone to raise his or her hand to ask a question. At the end of class, he invited students to his office and gave them the date for an optional lecture. Although this was a large class, he showed care and concern for each of his students, as if there were just three students instead of 100.

At the end of the day, Linda and I were quite satisfied with our experience. The campus was nice, the class was great, and the food was excellent. We would have gone to Hyde Park or visited some other aspects of the university, had we not had to go home. Though the coursework seemed hard and demanding, it would be worth it to obtain an education at the University of Chicago. I mean, who wouldn’t want to attend a school with more than 15 coffee shops?

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An image of the circle drive located at the center of the quadrangles. Gargoyle photo by Jie Han (click to enlarge)