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This site is designed for first-year undergraduate students. Other sites for newly admitted students:
20 Top 11 Lists for the Class of 2011
- Things to eat and drink in Hyde Park
- University of Chicago Traditions
- Campus Events
- Things that your parents think you should do (that actually are a good idea)
- Freebies
- Places to study
- Things to see
- Things to avoid
- Best Kept Secrets
- Coffee Shops
- Ways to get out of Hyde Park
- Ways to meet people at the University of Chicago
- Neighborhoods to Visit in Chicago
- Things you should definitely do in Chicago during your college years
- Places to eat or drink in Chicago
- Places for Pizza
- Festivals in the City
- Places to see a movie (on campus)
- Books you will read before you graduate
- Free Wireless Access Points in Chicago
Things to eat and drink in Hyde Park
- Gelato under the Metra Tracks (Istria Café)
- Chocolate Croissant at the Med Bakery
- Dollar Shake on Wednesdays from the C-Shop
- 10-cent wings at the pub (in a couple years)
- Chinese Buns (any time of the year sold by any RSO on campus - in front of Cobb)
- Coffee at... Div School, Stuart, New GSB, C-Shop, Cobb, Hallowed Grounds
- When you really need grease: Original Pancake House, Valois or Salonica
- Thai at Noodles, Thai 55, Siam, the Snail
- Fried Chicken at Harold's
- Free dinner at a study break in Hutch
- Samosas from Rajun Cajun also available at Cobb Coffee Shop or Hallowed Grounds
University of Chicago Traditions
- Polar Bear Run
- Midnight Breakfast
- Scav Hunt
- Bagpipes!
- Kuviasungnerk and Kangeiko
- Fall Formal
- All Night Dance Party on the Quad
- Swim in the lake
- Senior Week
- Movies on the Quad
- The University Seal
- O-Week!
- Blues 'n Ribs
- Mardi Gras
- Dance Marathon
- CPO Events such as Venture to Adventure, Faculty Roundtables and Taking the Next Step
- Summer Breeze http://coup.uchicago.edu, http://mab1.uchicago.edu
- Cultural Shows
- FOTA
- MAB Concerts
- Senior Week
- Midnight Breakfast
Things that your parents think you should do (that actually are a good idea)
- Venture to Adventure
- Get a (campus) job
- Faculty Roundtables
- Schedule an appointment at CAPS to go over your resume/interview skills
- Taking the Next Step
- Attend a career fair
- Take an advantage of Campus Tutors: http://www.college.uchicago.edu/tutors/Manual.html
- What Matters to Me and Why - faculty brown-bag lunches
- Study!!
- Receive college honors at CHA
- Graduate
- Padfolio for attending Taking the Next Step
- O-Folio to keep orientation materials in http://cpo.uchicago.edu
- T-shirts for volunteering at any number of events
- Food from study breaks at Hutch at 8:30
- Food from Midnight Breakfast
- Class Mug from Alumni House
- Condoms from the SCC
- Bouncy balls and playdough from SCRS
- Free screenings of not-yet-released movies at Doc
- Orientation wallet
- Money from the DRL (Decision Research Lab)-join the listhost at https://listhost.uchicago.edu/mailman/lists
- The Reg
- Crerar
- McCormick Tribune Lounge
- Hutchinson Commons
- On the Quads on the first day of Spring
- Harper Library
- While walking from your room to your final
- At the Point
- In bed... while not napping
- Coffee Shops
- Bartlett Lounge
- Court Theater or University Theater for a show www.courttheatre.org, http://ut.uchicago.edu
- Movie at Doc
- Cultural Shows
- Campus Museums: Robie House, Oriental Institute, Smart Museum of Art, Renaissance Society
- An IM game on the Midway
- Dean Boyer ride his bike on any given day (even when its snowing!)
- Waves in Lake Michigan from the Point
- Orchestra/Quartet/Musical performance
- The Polar Bear Run
- Athletic events
- Spring (hopefully sooner rather than later)
Things to avoid (but which you will probably do)
- Procrastination
- Getting lower grades than in high school
- Common places to study the Sunday before finals week
- The Facebook
- Compulsively checking e-mail
- Eating at the Dining Halls every meal
- Being caught with a coffee pot or halogen lamp in the dorms
- Becoming addicted to caffeine
- Never leaving Hyde Park
- Wandering around alone at 3 A.M.
- O-Week Relationships
- The University of Chicago hosts the largest Scavenger Hunt in the US
- The University had the first Heisman Trophy winner, and still has the trophy in Ratner Athletics Center
- We host the largest collegiate Model UN in the country
- Longest running Collegiate Folk Festival in the country
- Longest running Student Run Film Society in the country (Doc Films)
- We had the first self-sustaining nuclear reaction where the football field was which is now where a library is
- The University of Chicago was a founding member of the Big 10
- All the original University buildings are connected via underground tunnels
- 79 Nobel Laureates have been connected to the University - 6 are current faculty members
- Yellow was once the school's color.
- In 1978, Hannah Holborn Gray became the first woman ever to sever as president of a major research university.
- Hallowed Grounds
- Div School Café
- Cobb Coffee Shop
- Classics Café
- Gargoyle Café (basement of Stuart)
- C-Shop
- Ex Libris Café
- Barnes & Noble Cafe
- Third World Café
- Border's Café
- Argo Tea
- Find a friend with a car
- Find the 173... if it ever comes and you are going downtown on a weekend after 5:30
- Take the 6 (or the 55 to the 6)
- Take the 55 or the 174 to the Red Line
- Take the 55 or the 174 to the Green Line
- Take a cab (About $20 to get to the loop)
- Take the Metra from 55th,56th,57th
- Bike/Skateboard/Rollerblade along the lake front
- Walk/Run
- Maroon Thunder (helicopter)
- The 10 & The 2
Ways to meet people at the University of Chicago
- Make fun of "That Kid"
- Join an RSO
- Be social in your house
- Join a study-group
- Leave your dorm room/the library
- Eat at the dining halls
- Go to office hours
- Speak up in class
- Community service
- Visit your Class message boards
- Get a job
Neighborhoods to Visit in Chicago
- Oldtown
- Belmont/Lakeview/Boystown
- Andersonville
- Wicker Park
- Bronzeville
- Wrigleyville
- Greektown
- Chinatown
- Devon
- Pilsen
- Kenwood
Things you should definitely do in Chicago during your college years
- Cubs/Sox game http://cubs.mlb.com, http://whitesox.mlb.com
- "Sunbathe" at North Avenue Beach
- Take in a comedy show at Second City, Improv Olympic or the Neo-Futurarium
- Visit the Signature Lounge in the Hancock
- See the animals at Lincoln Park Zoo, one of the last free zoos in the country
- See a Concert at Millenium Park
- Visit at least one museum- The Field,the Shedd, The Art Institute, the MCA
- Eat some authentic Chicago pizza
- Get tickets to a taping of Oprah
- Visit the Garfield Park Conservatory
- Annual class events
- Clarks on Belmont
- Tapas at Café Ba-Ba-Reeba
- Cheezborger at Billy Goat
- Nuevo Leon
- Daly's
- Saganaki at Greek Islands, Artopolis, Pegasus, Costas- anywhere in Greektown
- Bubble Tea at Joy Yee's in Chinatown
- Hot Dogs at the Wiener's Circle
- Ribs at Twin Anchors in Old Town
- Tuscany on Taylor Street
- Blue Elephant on Devon
- Gino's East
- Giordano's
- Piece
- Connie's
- Lou Malnati's
- Home Run Inn
- Uno's
- Palermo's Pizza at Red Ivy
- D'agostinos
- Edwardo's
- Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinders
- Chicago Jazz Festival
- Chicago Outdoor Film Festival
- Magnificent Mile Lights Festival
- State Street Thanksgiving Day Parade
- ZooLights
- Christkindlmarket
- Chicago Auto Show
- South Side St. Patrick's Day Parade
- Printer's Row Book Fair or the Wells Street Art Fair
- Taste of Chicago
- Latin Music Festival
Places to see a movie (on campus)
- Doc
- Movies on the Quad/Midway
- At the film studies center in Cobb
- In the Dorm Common room
- A friend's apartment
- On your laptop while in bed
- Jimmy's (21+ only)
- Language Commons
- Hallowed Grounds
- The Pub (21+ only)
- Museum of Science and Industry
Books you will read before you graduate
- The O-Book!
- The Republic
- Marx Engels Reader
- An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
- The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
- The Interpretation of Dreams
- The Leviathan
- Poetics (Aristotle)
- Nicomacheaen Ethics
- Naked Economics
- Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison
Free Wireless Access Points in Chicago
- Anywhere on Campus
- Any Chicago Public Library
- Chicago Cultural Center
- Millennium Park
- Café Jumping Bean in Pilsen
- Argo Tea
- Bobtail Ice Cream Company (owned by UofC grads)
- Subway on 55th
- Third World Café
- Istria Café
- Panera Bread

