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This site is designed for first-year undergraduate students. Other sites for newly admitted students:
Alphabet Soup
- A - Level: Floor below the ground-floor of the Reg
- Admin: Administration Building; location of both the Registrar's and Bursar's Offices
- Adviser: The person you go to when you're not sure where to go, especially helpful in making sure you graduate on time
- All-Nighter: As in "to pull an all-nighter;" a last, desperate attempt to get the paper in on time or cram everything you didn't learn all quarter into your head
- ASU: Asian Students Union
- Authcode: Whole bunch of numbers you will likely forget but which you must first dial before calling an off-campus phone number
- BS/BA:
- Nagging Spring Quarter worry for many fourth-years, preceded by the onset of senioritis
- A really nice piece of paper you get at graduation
- Bart Mart: (aka Maroon Market) Convenience-store located on the first floor Bartlett Dining Hall; a source of late night snacks for on-campus students; a place to spend flex-dollars
- Big Problems: A set of Interdisciplinary Courses dealing with matters of "global or universal" concern
- BioSci/BSLC: Building hidden to the northwest of the quads where several bio classes are taught
- BJ: Burton-Judson Courts
- Blackstone: Dormitory on campus where quite a few third-and fourth-years reside
- Botany Pond: Lovely body of water located on the Quads just south of Regenstein; has fish in it
- Broadview: A 1920's "gentlemen's" hotel converted into a dormitory
- CAPS: Career Advising and Planning Services, located in Ida Noyes Hall; it provides career-development and job-search resources
- C-Bench: A gift from the Class of 1903, in front of Cobb Hall; acoustically perfect
- Chicago (UChicago) Lakeview Express: #173 bus providing convenient, safe, late-night transportation from Hyde Park to various hot spots downtown and on the North Side
- Chicago Card: Faster and slightly cheaper than using cash or Transit Cards on Chicago Public Transportation; offers you touch and go speed as you get on the bus/train
- CHA: College Honors Awards
- Chronicle: Newspaper put out by the University News Office
- Civ: Pronounced "Siv;" Civilizations Studies core/general education sequence
- Co-op: Seminary Co-op Bookstore, where you will buy many of the books required for Social Sciences and Humanities classes (until you realize it's cheaper to do so through other outlets)
- Core: Now known as the general education sequence; set of classes which provide the groundings for the College’s liberal arts education; must be taken if you want to graduate
- COUP: Council on University Programming; student organizers of several annual celebrations on campus
- CPO: College Programming Office; organizers of class development events in the College
- Crerar: Science library notorious for creating an atmosphere for hard-core studying; 24-hour study space; source of a USITE where STATA is readily available
- Crown: Also HC, Henry Crown; the old gym and field house
- C-Shop: Popular coffee shop located on the first floor of the Reynolds Club; home to Einstein Bros. Bagels and $1 Shake Day every Wednesday
- CSLTC: Community Service Leadership Training Corps.; a two year community service and leadership based student organization run by UCSC
- CTA: Chicago Transit Authority; your way of getting around the city
- CTS: Chicago Theological Seminary
- CUSA: Chinese Undergraduate Students Association
- CWAC: Cochrane-Woods Art Center
- Dean's List: List of students with 3.25 GPA or above
- Div School: Divinity School; its coffee shop serves the best cup of hot chocolate on campus
- Doc: Doc Films; shows movies at the Max-Palevsky Cinema located in Ida Noyes Hall; each day of the week has a movie theme with popular/recent movies shown on weekends
- Dollar Shake Day: Offered Wednesdays at the C-Shop
- El: Elevated portion of the mass-transit system run by the CTA
- E-mail: Something you will compulsively check, especially when you don't want to do work
- Extension: Something you seek when your all-nighter fails (See All-Nighter)
- Facebook: Student Stalker Network; online profiles of any number of students from any number of colleges
- FacEx: Faculty Exchange; Intra-university mailing system
- Flex Dollars (aka Flex): Almost like fake money on your UCID, except that you have to buy them and they are only accepted at limited places around campus (C-shop, Hutch Commons, Bart Mart/Maroon Market, dining halls, etc.)
- Flying Rocks: Astrophysics I, II, III
- Freshman: Correct term is "First-Year"
- GMAT: Graduate Management Aptitude Test
- God Quad: Grassy area outside the Div School
- Grad School: Place where people go after College to put off the "real world."
- GRE: Graduate Record Examination
- Hafen's Folly: The $10,000 centennial swing near Hitchcock Hall, which is nice but is in no way worth the exorbitant price tag
- Happy Half-Hour: Hallowed Grounds, a coffee shop in the Reynolds Club, offers half-priced candy and soda during every week night
- Harold's: Chicago chicken chain
- Harper:
- Harper Memorial Library; that big building with the two towers, home to your College adviser
- The picturesque library on the third floor of Harper
- William Rainey Harper, UChicago's first President
- Harper Fellow: Ph.D. hired to teach certain core/general education courses
- HBC: Human Being and Citizen; Humanities class
- Herald: Hyde Park Herald, neighborhood newspaper
- HIPS: History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science and Medicine; a major for students studying the historical development, conceptual structure and social role of science
- HKSA: Hong Kong Students Association
- Hum: Pronounced "Hume;" Humanities core/general education sequence
- Hutch:
- Hutchinson Commons or Hutch Commons, a dining hall that is modeled after Christ Church Hall at Oxford that is connected to the Reynolds Club and C-Shop; houses a food court as well as many large portraits of past University Presidents
- The courtyard bounded by Hutch Commons, the Reynolds Club and Mandel Hall
- Hutchins: Robert Maynard Hutchins, former President of the University of Chicago who pulled UChicago out of the Big Ten.
- Hyde Park: Home of the University of Chicago
- Ida: Ida Noyes Hall
- IHC: Inter-House Council; group of students selected from each house within a residence hall who discuss topics pertinent to the dorms, transportation and dining
- I-House: International House; building that offers housing and activities to students as well as to visitors; hosts movies in the auditorium every quarter
- IM: Intramural Sports
- Jackson Park Express: The #6 bus used to be known as the Jeffery Express, but a change in route has landed it a new name
- JELLY: Jugglers Enriching Lives Like Yours, also includes the circus group on campus.
- Jimmy's: (Woodlawn Tap) A popular off-campus student watering hole; 21+
- KSO: Korean Students Organization
- Kuvia: Kuviasungnerk and Kangeiko Winter Festival
- LA: Laboratory Assistant
- Labbie: University of Chicago Laboratory Schools student (Pre-K-12th)
- Loop: Chicago's downtown area, which derives its name from the formation that the elevated train tracks make
- LRS: Little Red Schoolhouse; very popular course that teaches students to write clear, unpretentious academic prose
- MAB: Major Activities Board; in charge of bringing entertainers to campus
- Maclean: Dorm at 54th and Ingleside
- Mardi Gras:
- A popular destination for Chicago students who are seeking the notorious experience.
- A yearly festival sponsored by COUP for those students who are unsuccessful in their attempts to attend the real thing
- Maroon:
- The official University of Chicago student newspaper is the Chicago Maroon
- The school color
- Maroon Thunder: Lifesaving helicopter-ambulance that drowns out class discussions when en route to the Medical Center
- Maroons: University of Chicago's varsity athletes
- Master:
- Head of collegiate division;
- Senior member of the faculty or administration who lives in a residence hall (see Resident Master or RM) with his/her family
- Max:
- The dormitory Max Mason, according to older popular usage;
- Max Palevsky Residential Commons, also known as Max P;
- Max Palevsky Cinema in Ida Noyes Hall
- MCAT: Medical College Admission Test
- Metra: Formerly known as the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad (IC); slightly more expensive but also more comfortable way to go downtown on public transportation
- Midway Plaisance (aka The Midway): Strip of garden between 59th and 60th streets that hosted the World's Fair (1893)
- MSA: Muslim Students Association
- MUNUC: The Model United Nations at the University of Chicago
- NASA: Native American Students Association
- NCD: New Collegiate Division; an interdisciplinary collegiate division of the College, specializing in non-traditional majors-Fundamentals: Issues and Texts; Law, Letters, and Society; Religious Studies and Tutorial Studies
- O-Aide: Orientation Aide; person who makes sure your Orientation Week rocks
- OBS: Organization of Black Students
- OLAS: Organization of Latin American Students
- Ombudsperson: Deals with problems regarding academics, financial aid, housing, health service, etc.
- OMSA: Office of Multicultural Student Affairs
- ORCSA: Office of the Reynolds Club & Student Activities; student activities office, located in the Reynolds Club with another office in Ida Noyes Hall
- PE: Physical Education
- P/F: Taking a course but not for a quality grade (A, B, C, D, F)
- PHE: Peer Health Educator
- PhySci: Physical Sciences sequence (not Sci-Fi) in the core/general education program
- Pit:
- The student-run café in the basement of BJ;
- The scary closed-in alley that is the scenic view that some residents of the Broadview enjoy every time they look out their windows
- Point:
- The Promontory Point at 55th Street and Lake Michigan;
- What many professors encourage you to find when writing papers
- Pre-Med: What many entering students are and what few graduating students will be
- Procrastinate: Any number of activities accompanied by a nagging guilt that you should be doing something better
- PSAC: Pronounced "Pee-sack;" Prospective Students Advisory Committee
- Pub: A small pub located in the basement of Ida Noyes Hall, membership is $5 with UCID; 21+
- Q&A: Queers and Associates
- Quads: Quadrangles; The central plots of land around which the campus is built
- Quantrell: Prize for excellence in undergraduate teaching
- Query: Q. no grade was submitted or your taking an incomplete was not noted; becomes a W after the 4th week of the following quarter
- RA: Resident Assistant Head; third or fourth-years in the College who assist the RH
- Ratner: the newest gym
- Reader: Free weekly newspaper
- Reading Period: Thursday and Friday of tenth week; professors may not technically teach or have anything due on these days
- Reg: The Regenstein Library; large library that consumes many students' lives.
- Reg rat: They may emerge to go to classes, but live in the Reg
- Reggin' it: Spending lots of time at the Reg
- Resident Master (aka RM): Senior member of the faculty or administration who lives in a residence hall with his/her family; heading the residence halls within the housing system
- Reynolds Club/RC: Building located at 57th and University; home to many RSOs and ORCSA.
- RH: Resident Head; Res Head; Graduate students or administrators living in the houses; heading the houses within the housing system
- Robbie House: Crazy house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and located at 58th and Woodlawn.
- Rockefeller:
- The man who bankrolled the beginning of the University of Chicago;
- Enormous non-denominational chapel
- Rocks for Jocks: Affectionate name for general education course usually billed as "Ice Age Earth"
- RSO: Recognized Student Organization
- RSVP: Resources for Sexual Violence Prevention
- RTA: Regional Transportation Authority
- SAMSU: Singaporean and Malaysian Students Union
- SASA: South Asian Students Association
- Scav Hunt: A large annual scavenger hunt held in the Spring
- SCC: Student Care Center
- SCRS: Student Counseling and Resource Service
- Senior: Fourth-year student's ego-boosting term.
- SG: Student Government
- Shoreland: Large converted hotel which serves as a dorm far from campus; soon to be replaced by a "new dorm" south of the Midway Plaisance
- SOC: Pronounced "Sosh;" Social Sciences core/general education sequence
- SLS: Federal Supplemental Loans for Students
- Socratic Method: Method: Method of teaching employed in several courses; involves repeatedly asking questions and hoping somebody in the class knows the answers
- SSA: School of Social Service Administration
- Stacks: Seemingly never-ending shelves of books in the Reg; site of many an embarrassing make-out session
- Stagg:
- Amos Alonzo Stagg, the University's first athletics director;
- Stagg Field, located at 55th and Cottage Grove
- Stony: Short for Stony Island
- Street;
- Apartment style dorm
- Study Break: Break from studying, often a source of sustenance when you are out of meal points or have not been to the grocery store in a long time
- TA: Teaching Assistant
- Tenth Week: Last week of classes in a quarter; immediately before finals week
- That One/Kid: Popular epithet used to describe that really annoying boy/girl in one of your classes (mostly in core/general education classes)
- UCID: Your plastic ticket to the resources on campus
- UCSC: University Community Service Center; organizes quarterly Days of Service as well as variety of community service programs around the University and Chicago
- Ultimate: Ultimate Frisbee
- UT: University Theater
- W: Withdraw; received when you drop a class after third week
- (W)HPK: WHPK Radio; the University's very own radio station that broadcasts from the top of the Reynolds Club; 88.5 FM
- Work/Study: Federal Work/Study Program that funds campus jobs
Links
UChicago Community
- The College
- UChicago History
- UChicago Traditions
- University Housing
- Official "To-Bring" List
- Unofficial "To-Bring" List
- Virtual Dorm Tour
- Information for Parents and Families
Advice from Students
- 20 Top 12 Lists for the Class of 2012
- Advice from Returning Students
- Recommended Reading List
- Alphabet Soup
Popular Links
