<p>Enthralled by the marketing, I applied with certain preconceptions about what the overarching general "personality" of the student body would be like. I get the impression that uchicagoans are quirky, intellectual and slightly weird in a good way. However, I hear with some changes in the admission process, the vibe of the new classes is getting more different compared to the old, becoming less weird, sort of HYPSM like. To what extent is this true?</p>
<p>It’s a hard question to answer. There definitely is a change happening on the campus (that is what happens when the admissions office gets to be more selective). People still definitely tend to be intellectual, quirky, and “weird,” though people also seem more career-driven. What I mean by that is, students seem to be more interested in being involved in campus activities and having leadership positions. There has also been a huge increase in students attending CAP (career advising and planning office) events. The latter could mostly be due to an increase of CAP events/interest in getting the students the knowledge needed to get jobs post-graduation. But, there are other noticeable differences. For instance, there was 300 first-years who mentioned interest in being involved with the Chicago Maroon (newspaper) which is about a 400% increase. There are more people running for Student Government positions than normal. A Capella is becoming more competitive. Way more students are attending events like MODA’s Fashion show. There has been an increase in student entrepreneurship on campus. None of these are bad things nor do they indicate that students are somehow less intellectual, quirky, or “weird,” though it does show that the UofC is attracting (and admitting) a slightly different kind of student. How that impacts the university (and student life while on campus) now and 5/10 years down the road, it’s hard to say. Whatever the case, I still hear people talking about philosophy while they drink, and I am still invited to ‘library-parties’ quite regularly (especially during finals week).</p>
<p>@-CS
Hey, with the increased interest in the Maroon, and the larger student body, has there been any discussion of increasing publication? A lot of schools have a daily paper whereas the Maroon is semiweekly.</p>
<p>For a school with 5-6k undergrads, UChicago should definitely have a daily student newspaper.</p>
<p>It’s kind of sad the Maroon only comes out twice a week. Heck, there are schools that are considerably smaller that have daily student newspapers.</p>
<p>Increased vitality in extracurriculars and student life seem to be good trends. With the new Logan Arts Center opening up, I imagine a capella concerts in the penthouse theater will be pretty cool.</p>
<p>If I were the Maroon, I would concentrate on making the 19 issues or so they publish per quarter good before trying to expand that to 50-60.</p>
<p>The colleges Chicago compares itself to have daily student newspapers. But the colleges Chicago compares itself to have cultures in which it’s OK for a fairly large number of students to do nothing but work on the newspaper. It’s hard to imagine that happening at Chicago.</p>
<p>@JHS LOL! Very true!</p>
<p>I do think the Maroon has gotten better, though. But I still think it overlooks some very basic stories–the kinds of things we talk about here on CC. I still can’t find an article giving the official yield rate for last year, for example, or a discussion of the current size of the College, etc.</p>
<p>OK, I am trying to be vague because this an anonymous board and I don’t want to single anyone out or make personal attacks, but I must say when I was in school, the editor of the Maroon went on to Harvard Law School and the associate editor went on to Stanford Business School–and their writing sucked. Completely amateurish–I’ve seen high school newspapers that had better writing. No sense of clear, plain English or journalistic style. A perfect example of resume building. I had to laugh at the suckers on the Admissions Committees at Harvard Law School and Stanford Business School, though, because on paper it sounded great; they thought–ok, UChicago, strong grades, editor of college paper. If they had ever read any of their news stories they would have seen how lousy they were–although perhaps perfect for dense legalese. LOL!</p>
<p>But the overall writing quality of the Maroon has improved these days.</p>
<p>There has been thought to becoming a daily but a lot of logistical problems need to he sorted out before that can be made possible.</p>
<p>On the note of yield, I don’t recall the actual number being discussed. The number you get from the admissions website doesn’t include meld which used to play into the actual yield pretty extensively (last year was the first where this wasn’t the case as much). The size of the college was discussed in terms of the new dorms that were created.</p>
<p>Overall, the maroon has a long way to go, but there have been large steps made this year.</p>