Pain Redefined
When I came to the University of Chicago, people told me that the school was extraordinarily difficult. As the quarters came and went, I felt that it was fairly challenging, but certainly not insurmountable. I began to disregard the extremist hype as just misinformation or an attempt my some people to compensate for their weaknesses.
Alas, I was wrong. I judged too soon. I sit buried under an average of 60 math and physics problems each week, which generally necessitate writing 30-40 pages of solutions. I have 8 hours of lab every other week, each session of which necessitates writing at least 10 pages of data-reporting and analysis. My one core class for the quarter has a reading list of 15 books. Then there is the research and traveling for debate... I have slept a total of 12 hours since last Thursday morning. I am pain.
I hate to say it Adam, but I think you're pretty much asking for all that pain. I'm sure that the college doesn't advise taking an 8 hour bi-weekly physics lab in addition to quantum mechanics as well as two high level math classes, and a civ class.
You are arguably correct. However, there is one point worth noting. I don't know the attitude of you first-years, but among most people here, there seems to be the attitude that not subjecting oneself to the hardest academic experience possible is very uncool. My friends would make fun of me if I didn't do it. Then they would spend their time complaining about their problems, which would make me both guilty and unhappy. True, it lowers the GPA, but if you end up smarter because if it, that side-effect is irrelevant.
Sure, it makes you smarter, and the side effect of lowering GPA is negligible in the long run. But I don't think suffering under huge loads of stress throughout your entire college career is an irrelevant side effect. There's something to be said for having fun.
Oh wait, you go where fun goes to die. Never mind. Enjoy your suffering.