chicago visit
soooo...just got back from chicago. unfortunately the trip is not at all helping me make my decision. i wasn't really surprised by anything. the school itself, students, professors were great as expected. the building itself was actually a lot better than i thought. the neighborhood of hyde park is about as bad as i thought it would be (meaning i didn't feel particularly safe walking around during the DAY)
i was pretty mentally set to go to chicago the last day of my visit until another admitted student from the area offered to give me a ride to one of their metroish stops to get downtown. i've been told to never go south of the law school and not to go west either. the metro stop was about 10 blocks north. i have NEVER seen anything so sketchy. omg, south chicago is HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!! i seriously did not feel safe riding in the car. people on the street were staring at us while we were driving and the metro stop itself was just awful beyond description. so i refused to get off the car and the guy drove me to another metro line further west, which was still pretty sketchy but i could at least walk the 50 meters from the car to the station without feeling like i'd get shot. needless to say, that was NOT a good parting image of hyde park. downtown chicago is beautiful according to my parents. i can't really say. i was there and saw the tall buildings but was still way too disturbed by what i saw in south chicago and the stark contrast with the glamours of new trump tower to see any beauty in it all.
so basically, at UChicago, don't go south, don't go west, don't go north and 5 blocks east is like lake michigan. shit. i don't know if i can do this for 3 years. apparently people live up north near downtown but it's more expensive and i would need a car. #%#$ new york is so much more convenient. i like chicago's law school so much better. a decision has to be made soon. very soooon...... TO BE CONTINUED.
fyi, i have flipped the coin twice, with columbia winning both times.
i was pretty mentally set to go to chicago the last day of my visit until another admitted student from the area offered to give me a ride to one of their metroish stops to get downtown. i've been told to never go south of the law school and not to go west either. the metro stop was about 10 blocks north. i have NEVER seen anything so sketchy. omg, south chicago is HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!! i seriously did not feel safe riding in the car. people on the street were staring at us while we were driving and the metro stop itself was just awful beyond description. so i refused to get off the car and the guy drove me to another metro line further west, which was still pretty sketchy but i could at least walk the 50 meters from the car to the station without feeling like i'd get shot. needless to say, that was NOT a good parting image of hyde park. downtown chicago is beautiful according to my parents. i can't really say. i was there and saw the tall buildings but was still way too disturbed by what i saw in south chicago and the stark contrast with the glamours of new trump tower to see any beauty in it all.
so basically, at UChicago, don't go south, don't go west, don't go north and 5 blocks east is like lake michigan. shit. i don't know if i can do this for 3 years. apparently people live up north near downtown but it's more expensive and i would need a car. #%#$ new york is so much more convenient. i like chicago's law school so much better. a decision has to be made soon. very soooon...... TO BE CONTINUED.
fyi, i have flipped the coin twice, with columbia winning both times.