A quick question re: Open House for Admitted Students in April – were there any programming for parents in previous years? For those of you who’ve accompanied their kids on Admitted Students Day, regardless of UChicago programming, did you find it helpful to be there & in what way? Thanks! – Parent of a Class of 2023 student
We enjoyed the weekend. Yes, there was programming for parents as well as students. Some stuff was together and some was separate. We had the chance to experience some lectures/sample classes, go on tours, and there was a reception for parents where Nondorf and Zimmer shared their insights. We actually found there was so much programming that we couldn’t even do all the things we wanted. My daughter did the overnight in a dorm and it was a really good experience - giving her a feel for a normal night in a dorm. If it is doable, I would recommend - it really gives you a good feel for the school, the services they offer (career, study abroad, etc), and what you can expect for your student - but there were definitely some students who were there on their own.
@Lucy11 There is a tentative schedule posted on the Admitted Student page although I’m not sure if they provide much detail at this point. You might peruse parent comments on CC from prior years to see what they liked or didn’t like about the event. Parents generally find it very helpful, especially those who have never been to campus before. It’s also a chance to meet other parents and start connecting with them. There should be a parent reception right after your student breaks away for the overnight. I think the sessions like financial aid and some of the tours (Mansuetto or Rock. Chapel, for instance) will happen on both days so if a family didn’t hit something on Thurs. there’s always Friday. Your student will be sitting in on classes on his/her own, however, since those are real academic sessions. I think you are allowed to choose one class on Thurs and another on Friday.
@JBStillFlying & @CuandUCmom The tentative schedule wasn’t there when we first checked the UofC portal back in December. Based on your advice, we decided to accompany our son, though he will be going there with his friends (2023 admits) and would like us to stay away from them as far away as possible! 
We enjoyed the admitted students’ day very much. There is programming for families, so even if your son wanted to be with his friends, you can still attend any of the events there without him. We were just so excited to be on campus that we stayed as long as we can. We enjoyed experiencing some first impressions with him. (totally understand about wanting parents to stay away from him. My son is like that when his friends are around too.)
The event is structured so that someone can attend with parents in tow or independently. It’s fantastic that he’s going with friends and will be more independent. Just make sure he registers for a couple of classes to sit in on (if he hasn’t done that at another visit . . ). You and your husband can attend what you want and have a great dinner and evening out in Chicago.
We went. It was great for a few reasons. I met parents (with older kids already there) who gave me practical tips such as when to reserve hotels, which credit card would serve best for mileage points, what to do for move in, what to expect in terms of visits home and schedule. Most importantly though the programming provided context for our discussions with our kid after he was on campus. When he talks about what’s going on, I can visualize the locations and classroom settings. It helped for that first year transition as parents. Actually, we went to all of the colleges admitted student events. It enabled me to be able to provide a more informed opinion when asked. The ultimate choice was based on those visits. So much more informations is available than at pre-admission events.
I’d be grateful if any current students/parents can provide their views on which dorm might be the best fit for a kid who is neither a partier nor a “nerd” (saying the word,“nerd”, in a loving way, btw!).
Reading through the cc threads, I get the impression that Max P. and South are focused on parties/drinking whereas BJ and Snell-Hitchcock are for the stereotypical UChicago students. Of course, I’m sure the reality is nuanced, but is there a dorm that’s sort of in-between? My son is not a partier and would rather avoid the drinking scene. He loves to learn interesting things. He gets his work done and is persistent in the way he learns. He attends a prep school that’s known for its academics and loves it there.
But, he’s also not the stereotypical, intellectually passionate kid who gets lost in books and debates for hours and hours. My son will need an outlet – participating in club sports or getting to know people/making friends or work on one of his personal hobbies, etc. Is there a dorm for this kind of kid? (Please don’t say the I-House given its distance to the nearest dining hall! )
My kid is very social with a level head, not someone who partied every night. He was very happy in South. I would think that any of the larger dorms like North would also have plenty of peers of all types. Besides, a lot of friends seem to come from their ECs. I wouldn’t worry about that aspect of dorm living. More important he should give real thought as to what kind of roommate he would like in terms of personality, study habits, cleanliness. For my kid, the college did an excellent job with the match up. The roomies did not end up close friends but were very compatible for daily living, It was a good first year experience with no drama. He is now living with a two friends…one he met in that dorm, but a different “house”; they recognized each other from an EC. The other was through an EC only .
For the Class of '23 you can expect the dorm placement to be more mixed up than it used to be simply due to the lottery (new this year). Obviously, returning students will have their choice of rooms so that will impact stuff like House culture, environment, etc. But die-hard early admits vying for BJ now have the same nearly the same probability of ending up there as the kid looking to rush a frat and party with his buds. I believe you can still specify a preference but your placement is now based on a random number generator :-B
Traditionally, South has had plenty of serious students who don’t party all the time. BJ does seem to attract the quintessential (or classic I guess) UChicago nerdy intellectual type, and I’ve heard that Snitch will “make” you start planning for Scav during O-Week (and attendance is required). I believe that last one is probably a bit of an exaggeration, by the way. Anyway, that’s history. Going forward everything might be in more of a state of flux beginning this upcoming year, due to the lottery system and the requirement to stay on campus for two years. Once the new dorm is up and running (2020?) the dynamic will change yet again. Res. halls being in a state of flux seems to be the one constant about residential life at the University of Chicago 
What’s more important than the dorm is the house. A large res. hall might have very active houses or more laissez-faire ones. So what goes on in one part of the dorm may simply not happen in another. You have no control over which house you are placed in; however, houses are larger, newer and less gelled in the newer dorms than in the older ones. If you want a dorm with house culture that’s been around forever, then BJ and Snitch would be your choices. BJ is the larger of the two.
In the past, MAYBE ED and EA applicants who put $ down early were more “Chicago” types. (That might not be so, because ED and EA applicants who put $ down early were presumably also somewhat wealthier.)
If so, that might explain their being able to cluster into Snitchcock and BJ.
Now, since everyone will have equal chance at any dorms they request/rank, the ONLY thing upholding the House culture at Snitchcock and BJ will be self-selection. Will the kids who want to drink, join frats, etc., continue to avoid Snitchcock and BJ and go for the bigger dorms? Will the kids who are more “Chicago” types but couldn’t put down $ earlier now be more likely to get into Snitchcock and BJ? How will it balance out?
Re my DD’s House in BJ, there were very few kids in frats (any?) and sororities. The sorority girls moved out of the House at the end of the first year. I won’t say no one ever drinks, but movies, video games, role-playing games, theater, nerdy House outings seem to be much more popular activities. The kids are not asocial, and most (all?) don’t study all the time or anything like that; in fact, they do tons of stuff together with Housemates, formal and informal.
@JBStillFlying @uchicagomom @uocparent @Lea111 @CUandUCmom
I’m not sure if you’re registered to attend the April Admitted Student Weekend, but if so, have you received a schedule for the event? So far, we’ve not received any updates through the UChicago portal or email. (Having the schedule in advance would be helpful for travel purposes…) We also have NOT found the Admissions Office to be helpful, as they seemed uninterested in answering our pretty basic questions. (The AOs are great. But the ones who triage outside calls seem pretty clueless and unable to/uninterested in helping.) We like UChicago but got the impression that they are not well organized beyond the applications process. Anyone else had similar experiences?
Thanks.
When we went a couple of years ago everything was posted online (itinerary and such) so I never bothered to call. The admissions office people may not have the info you need because the itinerary isn’t complete which means you may have to wait a while longer to get the info you want.
I found a schedule from 2 years ago on this forum. (I couldn’t find one from last year) Maybe it will be useful for you too. Of course, things can change, but hopefully the times don’t deviate too much from this. We are flying, so I needed to have something to go by in order to arrange flights and hotels.
https://prospects.uchicago.edu/www/documents/Final_2017_April_Overnight_Program_Schedule.pdf
@lilchaz Thank you. I saw the document as well. My husband and I are in the same boat as we are also flying in.
The 2017 schedule looks very similar to the 2018 program, except for maybe the guest speakers or classes.
Have a great time there!
@Lucy11 The Tentative Schedule should be able to give you the info. you need. The times specified for start and end will be accurate so you should plan your travel around those. We plan to fly in the night before in order to be there by start time of 9:30. The 4 pm meet time for overnighters should also be pretty accurate since they’ll be having dinner together and the parents have a reception to attend. Very important: Don’t forget to send them the waivers beforehand!
Most of the rest of the schedule will be pretty flexible because sessions will repeat several times so that everyone gets a chance to attend at some point. The model classes and panels will be instructive, and the chance for your student to sit in on a real class is a “don’t miss.”
As mentioned on the Tentative Schedule, the class visit detail will be provided a few days before the Overnight. That makes sense because third quarter doesn’t begin till next week and enrolled students might be pink-slipping into a course a few days late. They need to have an accurate count of available spots to offer to the prospies and that information will probably be available to Admissions by end of next week. You can expect the class visit detail to be e-mailed out shortly afterward.
Here are some tips for signing up: you can only attend one, but classes are available over the two-day Overnight event so be sure to review what’s available on both days before signing up. At least two years ago when my daughter attended, sign-up couldn’t be edited or undone so they were warned to choose carefully. Someone who needs to leave Friday morning or arrive late on Thurs. should make sure to choose a class time that works for that schedule. Finally, some courses are going to be very popular and fill quickly. It’s best to check the tentative schedule to understand what’s being offered subject-wise so you don’t waste time figuring that out before signing up. And keep in mind that if you can’t get into the real thing, you can always attend one of the model classes instead.
Hope that helps!
@JBStillFlying Very helpful, and now I understand why they haven’t finalized the schedule. Is there a way to PM you?
@Lucy11 - I think you have to be up to 15 posts before you can PM? Let me try to PM you first and we’ll see what happens. Doubt it’ll work but you never know . . .
Has anyone seen the schedule yet for next week’s Admitted Student revisit? I can’t even figure out where I’m supposed to be looking for it.