Zoom Zoom~ Chicago, Here I Am!

Landing in Chicago for the first time was extravagant. It feels just like the clone of San Francisco (minus the weather). Prior arriving at Chicago O Hare Intl' Airport, I was sullenly giving farewells to Charles F. Knight Conference Center. The hotel was heartwarming and gave off the good chills vibe. Of course two days weren't enough for touring St. Louis, but it was only what time has allotted us. 

Sleeping for three hours and boarding an hour and thirty minutes long flight isn't so bad when you know the destination is worth the sleep deprivation. The Cornell cohort gathered at exactly 5:50AM sharp to wait for the GoExpress shuttle that would take us directly to the Lambert St. Louis Intl' Airport. After the hefty check-in process, almost everyone passed through the TSA checkpoint effortlessly. But somehow our awesome tattooed chaperone, Mr. Chan-Law attracted the security alarm and was instructed to perform an official pat-down. That was one invasive search I've ever seen. Since I flew international flights before, I saw situations similar to this but international checkpoint officials do not violate you that much.

Food is always an antidote to all furiousness, so we got an American breakfast at Chili's to fill up our grumbling stomach. I felt awful for Sue since she has to suffer pancake dilemma from eating it three days straight. Vegetarians can't easily find suitable food so I'll stick to meat for a few more decades. After the "go big" breakfeast, we shortly began boarding. I knew I was going to be super sleepy so I decided to recharge myself during the flight. Waking up while landing in Chicago gave me all the energy I needed to tour the beautiful University of Chicago campus. Needless to say, our hotel we will be staying for the next two days in Chicago is the famously known The Drake Hotel. The moment I walked into the lobby, I knew this was an exquisite top-notch hotel.

The feel is grand and monumental, totally different from Charles F. Knight Center

How beautiful can it get?

When we arrived to the Admissions Office in UChicago, we signed up and coincidentally, most people who were visiting today are from California. First, Admission Officer Zack gave us a comprehensive presentation about the university. Not to mention that Zack is also a recent graduate, Class of 2011, he gave us up-to-date information about social life and activities UChicago students can do during their free time. After the fifty minute info session, we were all anxious to go on the tour. I was surprised that UChicago didn't offer Engineering as a major, but later on I realized that there are a lot of engineering related classes you can take here at UChicago that's just as interesting as to an accredited engineering major course. Unsurprisingly, my perspective on UChicago didn't change as dramatically as to WashU. I knew UChicago was lenient on declaring your major. I actually thought WashU was a strict private research university that values major declaration. Later on I realized that WashU is just as permissive as UChicago.

For these three days, every day concludes with a dinner with the respective school's Admissions Officer and current students. Yesterday was with WashU, so today of course, is with UChicago. The steakhouse we found ourselves at was David Burke's Primehouse. As expected of Mr. Chan-Law, he did the seating just like yesterday, requesting each UChicago representative dividing us, the ILCers. The UChicago Admissions Officers that joined us for tonight were Troy Carlson and Matt Rosenbaurn. Two current UChicago students that joined us alongside the Admissions Officers were Elizabeth and Teddy. Because of the seating arrangement, I wasn't able to communicate with Elizabeth and rarely with Mr.Rosenbaurn, but I had such a great time chatting with Mr. Carlson and occasionally with Teddy. Mr. Carlson sat to the right of me which was a plus because the steakhouse itself was pretty loud. I'm glad I was able to hear all the important information and not letting it harmonize with the room. The conversation started with life as a Chicagoan and followed with UChicago's finanacial and application process. These were information that even by going to an in-school tour, you wouldn't be able to catch. Like I said earlier, food is always an antidote. Tonight it was for reviving our empty stomachs. Mr. Chan-Law pre-ordered the appetizer so we didn't have to worry about that.

 Bite-sized beef with ranch and bacon(?)

I ordered 40 day Primeye as an entree since the waiter did such an excellent job advertising it.

40 day Primeye. Picture itself show how nicely cooked it is.

Finally, as the dinner came to an end, we not only ordered the scrumptious desserts,

Pineapple Caramel Sundae

we also got invited to go into the "Cave of the Meats". "It's all where it begins..." says one of the chefs. 

Meats of various kinds in a low-temp room.

Undoubtedly, I had an extensive conversation with UChicago Admissions Officers and students in company with mouthwatering steak. Here's the group photo we took all together to commemorate this wonderful night.

I hope by the time I apply to college during the fall of 2015, my application will actually go through one of their hands to let them know that I am passionate about UChicago.