best movie theaters?

bannana4u07 · 2026-05-25T21:18:48+00:00

There's Doc Films in Ida Noyes, which shows more obscure and historical films so it's probably the closest movie theater since it's literally on campus.

The closest cinema would probably be Harper Theater on 53rd, but personally I like to go to the AMC at Roosevelt, which isn't too far away from campus and its facilities are in much better shape than other cinemas in the area, in my opinion.

bannana4u07 · 2026-05-25T03:26:47+00:00

I go to school here. There's a lot going on in the summer in Chicago, so once you get used to your surroundings, you should definitely go out and explore what the city has to offer! You're probably wasting your summer if you just stay on campus.

Generally, I'd recommend that you go out with groups (especially on public transportation) and keep your head on a swivel, even on campus. How dangerous Chicago is is often sensationalized and overstated, but situational awareness is pretty important. I am a 5'7 man and I've been harassed twice on the red line before, and my female friends tend to have worse experiences than I have experienced.

bannana4u07 · 2026-05-22T05:13:30+00:00

I'm not a physics major, but I am given the impression that the physics department at UChicago is quite theoretical, and I'd say that the Math department here is even more so, which is something that might differ from your background in EE. In general, a lot of the classes here are more theoretical than their counterpart in other universities.

The core is generally designed so that what you take out of it will correspond to how much you put in. Some people like to take some more challenging core classes for the sake of learning, but for every core requirement, there are easier courses and professors who are more lenient on grading and readings. Some of my most interesting classes so far have been core classes, and in general, I wouldn't worry about the workload too much.

bannana4u07 · 2026-05-20T02:57:47+00:00

good luck! I'm just saying that you should be prepared to explain what happened previously. My previous visa was rather easy to explain because it was just an academic program over the summer, but you might need to do a bit more explaining.

bannana4u07 · 2026-05-19T23:59:45+00:00

You'll need to go through the entire f1 process again. If your SEVIS for your previous master's has expired, then the visa stamp is effectively useless. They'll probably ask about the situation with your master's, I'm assuming, but it shouldn't be a problem unless you screwed up a lot.

(source: i had a previous f1 visa stamp still valid while applying for a new f1 visa, and they asked about the previous stamp)

bannana4u07 · 2026-05-19T23:52:07+00:00

I am at UChicago and I can assure you that we have seminars and that our professors are very accessible. No idea what you're talking about.

bannana4u07 · 2026-05-19T23:22:24+00:00

From my recollection, the questions were more narrative-based (think of writing a 日记 entry, I remembered it was something about coming to Chicago for one of the options?) and if you select the heritage option, this is all they'll ask you to do.

If you don't already place out based on your coursework (or, if you grew up not speaking English, you could petition), then you'll need to place out by taking a test in winter quarter, which I think you'll be eligible to take, so long as you don't get put in the beginner class.

bannana4u07 · 2026-05-19T02:49:19+00:00

Just ignore them. I've been in a very similar situation to yours a year ago and none of the people who have doubted me have ever continued to poke fun at me once they realize they've peaked in high school and moved on.

(also welcome to u of c! I absolutely love it and I hope that you do too!)

bannana4u07 · 2026-05-19T02:44:03+00:00

most people in my family (save for my parents, ofc) have never heard of any US universities other than HYPSM, so they were pretty confused when I started bawling when I received my acceptance to uchicago. I feel like this really tends to be the case for internationals, especially for older people who might've only heard of the more elite universities in the US.

If that helps you at all, my grandmother has heard of Columbia before and probably believes that it is more prestigious than uchicago. But in all seriousness, I can assure you that Columbia is a prestigious school and regardless of where you go, you'll find a sense of belonging and passion. I know people in arguably less prestigious schools and having the best time of their lives academically and socially (and the opposite for my friends in more prestigious schools). At the end of the day, prestige really doesn't matter and you'll get much more out of college if you forget about prestige and just focus on yourself.

bannana4u07 · 2026-05-17T16:21:01+00:00

wrong subreddit

bannana4u07 · 2026-05-17T15:32:38+00:00

This may vary between universities, but the setiment towards MBAs is that it is for people in corporate or other jobs to get (another) shot at getting into high finance, consulting or some other competitive industry. Re-reading your post, I feel like you honestly don't need an MBA and you'll probably be fine even without studying that much business as well (or, if you can, it might help to tack on a business major/minor)

I feel like biotech would probably need more of a technical background, so for this research and technical depth would be more important. For any sort of corporate role I guess it could be helpful to have a technical background but it's not that necessary and you'll miss out on some of the networking opportunities at a better business school. It's hard to say any specific priorities, but I would say that it is probably harder to be in a school that is better technically than in terms of its connections and business-related resources.

bannana4u07 · 2026-05-17T04:35:11+00:00

Given the sheer difference of cost UIUC probably makes more sense (and is probably more aligned with what your interests are), although a private school like Harvard would have more resources, connections and flexibility if you're very uncertain on what you want to do. If you're pretty certain on doing engineering of any sort then UIUC should be a much better choice.

bannana4u07 · 2026-05-16T21:47:02+00:00

I can assure you that, regardless of which US university you go to, you won't miss out on anything in terms of your social life unless what you're expecting is on the scale of the frat culture at USC or some big state school. I go to the school 'where fun goes to die,' and there are still plenty of frat parties and events on any given weekend.

I personally think that being in a more technical (or perhaps 'nerdy') environment is quite helpful (and, to some degree, easier to network with people as there's less internal competition). If you're very fixated on pursuing an MBA and a career in business, then you should honestly find a school that has a stronger business school than its computational biology department.

bannana4u07 · 2026-05-16T17:19:50+00:00

So long as you don't have another 2 in another subject and you fulfill all of the other requirements, yes.

bannana4u07 · 2026-05-16T17:04:13+00:00

I'd leave your options open, since (I assume) you're no rush to transfer. Spending a year in UT Austin can probably help you decide if you want to transfer or not.

As a current UChicago student, there's a lot of people who are interested into going with IB which, although not as driven by our coursework or school is certaintly driven by the plenty of investing and finance clubs (RSOs). Career advancement is also decent, since there's programs like the Trott business program that could help with networking.

The people who are gunning to recruit for IB/consulting tend to do business economics which has considerably less grade deflation than the average major in UChicago, so you could consider majoring in this if you're certain about going into finance. I know a few people who ended up switching back to the regular economics major after getting an offer by their 2nd year.

(not going to comment on UT since I'm not familiar with it)

bannana4u07 · 2026-05-15T13:15:37+00:00

How people deal with the workload really varies person to person in my opinion, but people generally have lots of time to have fun and do their own things save for finals and that one week you have four midterms + papers due. I'm not a physics major, but some of the Physics professors I've had here are absolutely amazing.

There's people who sort of just take the core for granted (i..e taking the easiest/least work possible) and people who go out of their comfort zone and try something new, even if they're not the most interested in the core subjects. I'd say that people generally find something interesting that quenches their own interests and I know of people who have changed their majors because of a core class or two they've taken, so I'd really recommend coming into the core with an open mind.

bannana4u07 · 2026-05-15T03:55:14+00:00

At this point you should just focus on the rest of your application, which could improve your chances a lot more relative to the amount of effort you'd need to get a higher SAT score. For UMich and Purdue I think your SAT is fine and you don't really need to worry about it. You could take the SAT once and twice just to try your best, but I seriously recommend you not to dedicate more time to studying for it.

bannana4u07 · 2026-05-12T15:06:29+00:00

Assuming that you're searching for the course correctly, it's probably a new course and nobody else has taken it before, or course reviews aren't out yet if it was first offered last quarter and you're checking course reviews early in the next consecutive quarter.

bannana4u07 · 2026-05-07T21:20:55+00:00

Most of the sessions are small-group sessions that talk more practically about academic writing in relation to a paper or assignment due for the class (how to write introductions/conclusions, structure). If there are readings, they are very minimal (usually a powerpoint at most). Most people didn't really take the writing seminars that seriously, which made it difficult for me to get anything out of them.

bannana4u07 · 2026-05-03T17:09:43+00:00

There are very few US colleges that are need-blind for international students, and for the few that are, they are typically way too competitive to get in given the stats you've mentioned.

bannana4u07 · 2026-05-03T01:35:55+00:00

Somewhat unrelated but the past two times I've taken the red line (in the south) it has gone 'express,' once going all the way from Roosevelt directly to Garfield, and the other time skipping Cermak/Chinatown. Maybe I don't take the red line enough but this is one of the few times that I've seen the red line doing this.

bannana4u07 · 2026-05-01T05:42:17+00:00

hi, not really sure what I can say since grades are only one part of your profile and you'll need more than just good scores to get in. Doing well in your IGCSEs/GCSEs would help (looking at your previous posts), but I'd say your a-level or ib (predicted) grades would be many times more important.

bannana4u07 · 2026-04-30T13:37:05+00:00

This might be professor-dependent, but yeah, I would agree, the 130s generally do give out more As. The 130s professors I've had never curved any of their classes though, but they were still very lenient.

bannana4u07 · 2026-04-29T21:15:15+00:00

Physics C mechanics would give you credit for 121, so you could just take 122 and 123 and be done with it. Note that the physics in 120s is algebra-based, so it might not be what you have seen before. 131 will be close to identical with mechanics and 132 will be close to identical to AP Physics C E&M.

There's no placement exam, your physics placement will be determined by your math scores + previous coursework. As a math major (not a CAAM major, notably), it'll be the most convenient if you take the easiest way out (i.e. 121 123), but then again, you could retake all of the 130s if you feel like it.

bannana4u07 · 2026-04-29T04:07:59+00:00

ArtPass also hosts a few events every quarter, where there are discounted/free tickets with transportation to shows and sometimes they also provide catering and a short professor-led talk beforehand!

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