<p>Yes, this thread does seem to have its unfortunate aspects. Too bad, as that doesn’t accurately portray or well serve the university, even though the backing-and-forthing (positive, negative, and neutral) is the work of only a miniscule percentage of the UChicago-interested community. </p>
<p>For whatever it’s worth, and regardless of one’s take on the brilliance or obnoxiousness of the swag strategy or who’s bashing what or whom in the threads, the experience kids have at UChicago (based on my observations as a parent of a third year) seems to be stellar (except, perhaps, for those looking for a Big Athletics atmosphere). </p>
<p>While it’s clear from a number of the more recent posts that certain posters feel misunderstood and aggrieved and, understandably, want to “set the record straight,” this all too common condition of last-word-itis (from which I suffer myself) could keep this thread going indefinitely. Maybe we should agree to quit while we’re behind?</p>
<p>spike, exactly. My point was that some posters keep in different threads constantly attacking UChicago, and it bothers me even more when adults attack college kids.
jamesbond1. YES, I’m a very proud Mom of a class of 2016 student.
xiggi, wasting no time or opportunity in attacking the school? Yes , UChicago is one of the best universities and very prestigious.
kenyapride, I’m a mother of a student, not a student. English is my second language. How many did you speak or write? And regarding your hate and constant bashing of UChicago , praising Duke in every other thread. Well with due respect, I’m not surprise why your brilliant statement attacking my grammar.</p>
<p>@xiggi, stop. You do not need to prolong this any longer We are can agree to disagree with respect. UChicago is a university with many international students that are not related at all. I do not know where you come from, but enough is enough. 13,948 posts here should provide you with some experience as how to treat others with respect. Have a great afternoon.</p>
<p>You are correct and there is no need to prolong this, as you said. I have indeed been here a long time, and that small fact might have helped recognize patterns in posts, as well as noticing when people seem to have different definitions of respect. And different definitions of what is offensive to others, especially when it comes to excessive cheerleading and feeling the absolute need to quash all opinions that happen to differ from your own. </p>
<p>Try the more humble and more respectful route for a while, and you might enjoy your journey here a lot more.</p>
<p>I have no idea what part of the world Realeducation is from, but English is my second language, even though I recognize that that still does not excuse the misspelling. Considering your lovely analogy on the other thread and its follow up clarification, am I correct in assuming that you’re from the mountains of Norway? If such is the case, I realize that trying to answer any of your posts will result in more unbacked claims. Seriously, is it because you’re afraid that people will contradict you with facts that all your allegations have to be expressed through insinuations such as “hm, seems like UChicago and Columbia are hiding something!”? I already asked you to go into detail about how colleges could alter statistics through undisclosed CDS forms, given that some of the data reported by USNews suggests the opposite, in another thread and you literally ignored my question. I’m open to criticisms as long as they stem from facts and are valid, which is why the CDS issue genuinely intrigues me, but this whole debate about marketing and the notion that UChicago’s rise in the rankings is due to a rise in applications (which is false, number of applicants is not a factor in the rankings and acceptance rate only counts for 1.5%) is stupid. You want something to criticize? What about the university’s lack of engagement with the surrounding community? The apparent failure in controlling incoming class sizes, which actually does affect the students? Those are valid points to criticize.</p>
<p>I’m having a real hard time following your post, especially the Norway and ignoring your question in the past. Obviously, I have no connections to Norway, and frankly do not recall ever having had a discussions with you. But, as a matter of routine, I do not find the need to answer every question my way. I tend to let the facts I share speak.</p>
<p>To be clear, I do not LOOK for areas to criticize Chicago, and I surely do not deal in hollow allegations. Over my years here, I have shared my opinions about Chicago’s admissions. Feel free to dig them out of the arcanes of CC, but I’m not sure how relevant they’d be to you, especially since most of the “missed opportunities” that were visible 5 years ago have been remedied by changing leadership and abandoning a large portion of that off-putting ingrained pretentiousness and pseudo-intellectualism of yesterday! </p>
<p>What is, however, relevant is the great distinction between criticizing without foundation and with malice and pointing out to certain facts and data. And the great distinction between exchanging OPINIONS and relying on barbs and attacks to “rebut” anyone who happens to have a different viewpoint. </p>
<p>Reading the past posts will make those differences clear.</p>
<p>So, getting back to the original poster’s point of UofC’s skyrocketing quantity of applications…</p>
<p>My daughter is probably a typical datapoint in this year’s surge in applications. My daughter is a humanities / arts major and an outgoing cheerleader type. She and I attended a local info session and after hearing the flat answers about the old “where fun goes to die” thing we came away thinking that UofC wasn’t a good match. Cross Chicago off the list.</p>
<p>But Chicago didn’t cross her off their list, in fact they went into overdrive. From late October through December my daughter got nearly daily contact from Chicago. Some days it was 2 or 3 things. Email, postcards, letters, invites, t-shirts, glasses, pennants, and so on. At first it was weird, then it became funny, and finally it worked. That level of committed marketing indicated to my daughter that Chicago was interested in her. Of course we both know that the odds of getting a yes are still remote and in fact it’s now more remote with the increase in applications. When she asked me what I thought I said “send in the app just so we can see how this story ends.”</p>
<p>Chicago’s campaign worked because through their creative marketing they largely debunked the stuffy-boring-egghead image that we both had of the school. The frequency of contact mattered but it was the creativeness that changed her mind.</p>
<p>I calculate my daughter’s chances of getting accepted at about 10% so we have small expectations but if she gets a yes we will fly out to see if there’s a fit. None of this was even a remote possibility before this marketing campaign kicked in. U of Chicago should be very proud of the efforts of the admission staff this year. Nicely done.</p>
<p>Oh brother. So some of you think this is a master plot by the University of Chicago with the single goal of raising money? I’m a sucker that took the bait? Wow, this is a tough thread.</p>
<p>Er, they raised $455,535 extra in app fees guys (30,369 x 20% x $75). I’m guessing they spent at least $1 million in their marketing campaign, but probably much more. $455k is a drop in the bucket at UofC. Peanuts. But believe what you want.</p>
<p>I’m left wondering if this thread is reflective of the type of student that goes to Chicago?</p>
<p>Wheaty, this is a tough thread. My daughter is a freshman at UChicago, and this thread would be a turn-off to her and her friends (I am glad to see that most of the posters aren’t current students or even very connected with the school). I hope your daughter is accepted and visits to get a better feel for what the school is like. Best of luck to her.</p>