"Finite Simple Group (of Order Two)"

That is amazing, even if I only got probably half of it.

But what school is that from, exactly?

It's that "other" school, in the suburbs up north.

While they do make good a capella, they simply don't appreciate math like we do here. Here math is a big deal. At least half of our dinner conversations revert to math, and there are numerous reports of students ranting incoherently about proofs in their sleep. This is particularly true of students in honors analysis, a class in which the average grade tends to be around 20-30% and the average workload around 30 hours/week. In other words, no one really remembers the distinction between sanity and insanity anymore.

Hilarious. And what's amazing is that just about 2 months ago I'd not have gotten a single one of those references, and now I got, as Colin said, about half.

I'm not sure what you mean about the folks at "the school up north" not appreciating math. The song doesn't say that, but merely that they get the humor in it too. You mean they don't do it as well?

You keep ranting about honors analysis. How can you have a class with a 30% average? They curve it, right?

I'm kind of shocked you can be, what, disappointed that other smart WHSers are considering Chicago, and simultaneously tell us that there are other people in the world who mutter proofs in their sleep and talk about them over dinner, and that they go to Chicago. You rant about how great it is; where would you prefer we go?

Ari.

Did I say I was disappointed that smart Wilson-folk are considering coming here? I certainly hope I didn't because: a.) I think it would be hilarious if a lot of them ended up here, and b.) I am confident that they would love it every bit as much as I do.

And yes, there is a curve. There is always a curve. My math midterm, for example, had a "negative" curve: 84% was the mean, so that was set to be the cutoff between B- and C+.

So basically, I would prefer that you all come here, and forget everywhere else.

Well, I'm glad we've straightened it out, but your earlier entry really did say something that sounded lie disappointed:

"I have number of very good friends from my Wilson days who are in the midst of the college application process. They are all curious, of course, to hear about my experiences and exploits at Chicago. Likewise, I enjoy hearing about how they are doing and what their plans are for next year. This all sounds very normal and good, but for one qualification: each additional friend I talk to seems to state that the University of Chicago is at or near the top of their list. And it's not the run-of-the-mill academic chaff either--these are the some of the smartest people I know."

That it would be "strange" that your smart friends would make Chicago one of their top choices. What exactly would one mean by that?

BTW, I think I'll show that to my Abstract class.

Ari.

Ah, then it was a simple misunderstanding. I guess I found it strange because the Ivy League was in vogue for most of the smart people last year, and Chicago was considered "too intense" or "too weird" for most people but me. In fact, there was never really any one school (with the possible exception of Princeton), that attracted interest from so many people.

By the way, I'm not sure I ever told you how impressed I am at those classes you're taking. Sounds like some pretty sweet stuff!

See, I had no idea what school you were talking about until someone else told me directly what school that is. Why so unwilling to say the name of the school? Is it some strange Chicago tradition?

When I visited the University of Chicago, the admissions officer who gave the information session explained how her sister had attended the University of Chicago, but she had gone to the "other" school up north. Nobody referred to that school up north, and west, by name.

But apparently students at that "other" school know something about math, though I'm sure math at Chicago is orders of magnitude more intense. Actually I was sort of frightened when I looked at the final exam for the Honors Calculus (161) class, it's full of very abstract proofs about sets. So I bought a book about proofs that I'm reading.

I hope you haven't frozen yet.

-Abraham

I never really considered "Ivyness" as being a marginal positive for me. As you conjectured, Princeton ranks near the top of the heap, along with Columbia, and those are my 2 ivies. Then there's MIT and Caltech, Berkeley, and Brandeis (Jew School!) and there's my list. In any case, I'll never say a school would be too intense or too wierd. That's like having too much money.

I like the classes I'm taking. Or at least I like them when I have time enough to be happy on the side. I think there's no fun dying at Chicago on my account even if I get in, because I killed mine myself.

So, someone tell me which "other school" this is. UIllinois Chicago? If we're talking about how no one says the name, let's bloody say it once so people understand.

Ari.

I think Abraham did a nice job of hinting at it. I'll just say that by its name, it belongs more in Washington state than in the Chicago suburbs.

OK, that wasn't funny!

I looked up the Kleif 4-group (the band, of course!) and found out where they're from, and it isn't funny. Aside from the fact that the name/location disconnect is pretty bug, NWU is not really up there with Chicago. Why would one be expected to jump to the other from the one?

Ari.