Chicago's School

Introduction
I chose DePaul because it is the largest Catholic school in the nation, because it has a huge LGBTQ community, and because I love Chicago. The kind of student that should stay away from DePaul would be one that would desire a more rural environment with a quiet campus.

Campus Life and Social Life
Campus life is very, very good. There are about a million clubs that plan something several times a day throughout campus, no matter what you're interested in. Though only 2000 students live on campus, the Residence Hall Council (RHC) is a great and thriving resource for these students, providing events, advocacy and a go-between between the residents and the administration. DePaul Activities Board (DAB) has brought such acts as Ben Folds, Motion City Soundtrack, and Nas to our campus, providing quite a diverse lineup to students every spring for DePaul Fest, in addition to providing funding for a huge amount of other events.

There are clubs for every interest out there, including Rugby, Japanese Media Appreciation, a GSA (called Spectrum), and South Asian Students Association. There are a great deal of religious clubs, like LIFT, Vincent & Louise House (where you can live with other change-seeking, religious individuals), and then just the basic Catholic Campus Ministry. We also have a DePaul Hillel for Jewish students, and several Muslim-oriented student groups as well.

And don't forget politics! We not only have Student Government Association, which is incredibly influential, but also DePaul Democrats, DePaul Republicans, and DePaul Students Against the War.

Truly, every voice is represented at DePaul.

But it cannot be forgotten, our excellent location of the campus! DePaul is really "Chicago's School," and that can be seen with our Lincoln Park campus location, which is one of the safest neighborhoods in the city. DePaul is integrated into the neighborhood, but certainly does not overwhelm this west Lincoln Park area. You can get to anywhere in the city from Lincoln Park within half an hour; its accessibility is second to none. Advertisement
Academics
The religious studies department is excellent, with some really fantastic professors, and that is because every student must take two religious studies classes. Our Business, Commerce and Computer Science school is the largest and one of the most prestigious in the country, and our Law and Pre-Law programs are well-renowned. Liberal Arts & Science (essentially, any major with "studies" after it, or anything like philosophy or language) is a moderate department - its only problem is that it is extremely large.

DePaul has doubled in size in the last ten years, and so there is still a bit of catch-up happening with the administration, and as you would expect, there is a bit of bureaucratic red tape to be cut from time to time, but it ordinarily is not a problem.

As far as overall academics go, I have found DePaul to be truly not that challenging. What is nice, though, is that DePaul seems to have a fabulous reputation. The classes are altogether not difficult, but they are generally very good. The exception to that, though, is many of the introductory courses, like the Freshman Seminar and its equivalents. Of course, though, once you begin taking more intensive classes, the professors and the students that are taking the class with you are all incredibly engrossed and the learning experience is second to none.

The professors care and know you in every class. There are rumors of classes of 40+, but personally, having been here three years, I've never taken a class with more than thirty kids, and a usual size is 10-15, sometimes less. There are no classroom TA's, except in the science labs, but they are still simply assistants to the professors. No TA's teach classes.

Student Body
The typical student is from the suburbs and has a bit of money. However, that does not mean that there not still thousands of students that don't have money swirling through their bank accounts. There are still many students that depend entirely on financial aid and loans, so the balance of students is fairly even. Our basketball teams, women's and men's, are very good, so we have a strong athletic contingent as well. As far as "scene" kids go, there are plenty of those here, being in such an urban, accessible area. Some are snooty, some are just intelligent and listen to good music.

I feel as though it takes most about six to eight months, here, to truly acclimate and find one's group of friends with whom one is most comfortable. After that period of wavering, sporadic loneliness, it seems as though everyone finds their group and themselves.

In Closing...
The Lincoln Park campus is small, only two city blocks, and the classes are usually good and small, and while there are a ton of trixies (girls with nothing better to do than pay a ton of money to get their hair/nails done and to drink all of the time), there are so, so, so many good people here. I love this school, and couldn't be happy anywhere else.

The housing is expensive, but it is comparable to Lincoln Park living, and the residence halls are of truly excellent quality. The Housing Department, though, can be a little sketchy, but like anything, if you keep on it, you'll get whatever you need, taken care of.