My Experience with Chicago Quarter (Discover)
One thing that really stood out to me when I got admitted to DePaul was the Chicago Quarter Class. Discover Chicago starts a week before actual classes while the Explore Chicago class starts the same time as the rest of your classes. For me, I liked the Discover option better because it made it easier to make friends and also learn my way around the city. After the first full week of Discover, we met only once a week throughout fall quarter and had discussions about the places we visited.
When I was choosing my class online, I saw that there were so many options to choose from and I loved the variety. There was something for everyone. I ended up joining the class called “Many Cities, Many Stories,” which wasn’t my first choice, but I actually really liked it. Throughout the week we visited different neighborhoods and learned about the history and culture of each one. We also discussed different authors and poets of the city, which I thought was very unique. I love that DePaul really integrates the city into its courses. An average day included meeting at campus for a short activity around 9 AM, visiting a museum or cultural center, discussing it in a park while eating lunch and then heading back to campus around 3 PM.
Overall, I liked that I got to meet people before school officially started and that I learned how to get around the city. I think it would have been really stressful to not know how to use the CTA system when I had class in the Loop on my first day. One of the girls I met in that class is still one of my closest friends almost two years later. Personally, I recommend taking Discover Chicago over Explore Chicago, but both are great options that offer many different classes to choose from based on your interests!
~ Saira