gasmasque

Where are you headed to school? Depends HIGHLY on the neighborhood. You can get down to $700 depending on area and with roommates, yes for $700. I live with 2 other roommates in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Chicago (lincoln park) and I pay $663 but I also live in a room the size of a closet and I share a bathroom with my other two roommates. There are other houses in my neighbohood though that go for $850-$950 for a one bedroom in a three bedroom. I would suggest looking up fair market rent for the neighborhood you want to live in. 

Live in Hyde park or a surrounding neighborhood. When you look for places to live, if you are living away from hyde park, do NOT google how far away that place is from the university by car. Google how far away it is by public transit. A lot of people in the city do not have a car, and for good reason.
There are safe areas of Chicago, and then areas that are not safe. Generally, parts of Hyde Park and the south side can be safe, but other parts are extremely dangerous (i.e. Englewood, Auburn-Gresham, etc.) and have high gang activity and homicide rates. Parts of the West Side can be extremely dangerous too (like near Garfield Park), but then other parts are totally fine like near Wicker Park and Logan Square, etc. I won't go into safe neighborhoods on the north side since you probably won't be living there since you're going to UChicago. 
A car
Reasons I was told to not bring my car up here in the city:
1) public transportation is more than adequate
2) parking tickets are expensive, and can be A MESS (hundreds of dollars a year for many of my friends who do have cars)
3) parking is often pricey, especially if you are trying to park in areas like the Loop (the downtown area) 
4) the city forces you to pay a fee, and you also have to pay for a sticker to put on your car to park it in your neighborhood depending on what zone you're in and whether you have parking attached to your apartment or home. 
When I was moving here I was considering bringing my car up here. Now that I'm here, I understand why nearly every person (i.e. 29/30 or so of the people I asked) recommended against bringing a car. I don't need it, the people who usually bring a car usually sell their car because they don't use it and it is expensive
Transit
When you get to the city, get yourself a Ventra Pass (the reloadable blue pass) so you can ride the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority). Unless you plan to Uber everywhere or you live right next to school and don't need to get around in the city, you will be taking the CTA. You may get one for free as a UChicago student. If you do, don't worry about getting one on your own. 
If you want access to other parts of the city easily, I highly suggest living anywhere from 1-6 minute walk from a bus or train stop. A train stop is ideal, but idk if there are many in Hyde Park. Maybe look for a spot right off a 6 bus stop (the express bus that goes into the Loop/Downtown). My biggest regret for picking the place I live is that I didn't pick a place closer to a train stop (the nearest train stop is 10 min walk for me, and that sucks in the winter).
The winter
Idk if you are from the north or cold climes, but get yourself a puffy winter jacket that's temperature rated and nice boots. You will need those in the winter. Real gloves that don't have wind bleed-through are also recommended. As people in this area say: there's no such thing as cold weather, just cold clothes. If you're dressed well, you won't feel the wind (unless it's the polar vortex and it's -55*F wind chill like it was earlier this year LOL).
Any more questions, message me. I live in Chi-town right now, and on the north side, but I can give general tips and pointers.

got into 3 schools last year (out of 3 interviews) and here is my advice.
-get good sleep the night before. I missed one of the mini interviews the following day after a horrible night with only a few hours of sleep because I misread the interview schedule. I felt that I had destroyed my chance at ever making it into that school. Fortunately the POI wanted me enough that he gave me a spot.
-bring that dam black folio and make sure you're wearing a black suit jacket.
-write up a list of questions
-rehearse your answers beforehand with multiple people
That's about it!

hey everyone, I've gotten Clinical invites from:
UNT - PhD in Clinical - invited 12/19 by email from POI
Rochester - PhD in Clinical - invited 12/12 by phone call from POI
Penn State - PhD in clinical - invited 12/20 by email from POI
U Kentucky - PhD in Clinical - invited 12/19 by email from grad office coordinator (mass email)
SUNY Albany - PhD in Clinical - invited 12/20 by email from POI
 
message me if you need POI details.

Hey -- this is what I ended up doing! I'll see if the second school is willing to move things around. Thank you so much! 

hey everyone, I've gotten Clinical invites from:
UNT - PhD in Clinical - invited 12/19 by email from POI
Rochester - PhD in Clinical - invited 12/12 by phone call from POI
Penn State - PhD in clinical - invited 12/20 by email from POI
U Kentucky - PhD in Clinical - invited 12/19 by email from grad office coordinator (mass email)
SUNY Albany - PhD in Clinical - invited 12/20 by email from POI
 
message me if you need POI details.

got into 3 schools last year (out of 3 interviews) and here is my advice.
-get good sleep the night before. I missed one of the mini interviews the following day after a horrible night with only a few hours of sleep because I misread the interview schedule. I felt that I had destroyed my chance at ever making it into that school. Fortunately the POI wanted me enough that he gave me a spot.
-bring that dam black folio and make sure you're wearing a black suit jacket.
-write up a list of questions
-rehearse your answers beforehand with multiple people
That's about it!

I know this was originally posted on another forum and it doesn't have all of the schools on it, but the CUDCP attempts to keep track of when interview notifications and dates are sent out. Here is there calendar to look over: https://teamup.com/ks952632ef38687f3e

hey everyone, I've gotten Clinical invites from:
UNT - PhD in Clinical - invited 12/19 by email from POI
Rochester - PhD in Clinical - invited 12/12 by phone call from POI
Penn State - PhD in clinical - invited 12/20 by email from POI
U Kentucky - PhD in Clinical - invited 12/19 by email from grad office coordinator (mass email)
SUNY Albany - PhD in Clinical - invited 12/20 by email from POI
 
message me if you need POI details.