I totally agree with you.
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Congrats to your son.
Unfortunately, it’s sort of like a pyramid when you think about it. Each year and each generation there are more and more legacies. It then becomes harder and harder as there will be more and more legacies rejected than accepted. It’s no different than what is starting to happen in greek life. I have a friend who is the national rep for his fraternity and he told me that a few years ago (I have sophomores in colleges so this was before then even) that they had to change the legacy rules and what counts as a legacy for kids to get into the frat because there were just way too many. Now both my daughters are in sororities and the same issue is cropping up. One of the schools is now no longer considering legacy, “technically” although they still will give preference if they like those girls, but they no longer absolutely have to give preference or take them, and my other daughter’s sorority which is one of the largest chapters for that house in the country, has finally limited what is considered a legacy, and who they have to take, etc. It was getting out of control and to the point they weren’t able to take outsiders they liked. It also was required they take certain types of legacies which is still the case but now since it’s more defined they don’t have to take all of them, but sometimes a girl is not a fit at all and they had to take them. So, while colleges are not fraternities or sororities it’s the same idea. Eventually they have to draw the line.
My son is a legacy and has a sibling and Cornell. Was deferred ED then rejected. Our school doesn’t rank but we are highly confident he is somewhere ranked 2-5 based on what the rank of the valedictorian is since we know that our of 430 ish kids. The valedictorian didn’t get into Penn and is a legacy, or Cornell, or Princeton. We are not east coasters but our school had a horrible year with Ivies this year. Whatever the reason. Few URMs, First gen, not the type they wanted something else missing, sent their scores, who knows? But, my son got into Michigan for Engineering which is actually higher ranked than Cornell and their CS program which is what he is doing is essentially comparable to Cornell and the other schools for the most part (Cornell is tied with 6 schools for 5th which takes up slots 5-10 and UM is 11th) so he is pretty happy regardless. He will get a great education, get a great job, and I guess we will become a Go Blue family in addition to the Big Red family that we are and the Hook’em family that we also are. I firmly believe everything happens for a reason and know this was meant to be.
If he gets off the two waitlists he is on, he better not switch. One isn’t worth it IMO and the other is Northwestern which is lower ranked in both CS and Engineering than Michigan but the only reason I would tell him to consider is because it’s 20 mins from here and we wouldn’t have to worry about hotel reservations or plane flights or any of that crazy fun stuff, lol, but if we lived elsewhere I would say forget it. I know your son is waiting on UC but same deal. Not sure it’s worth it when he has Duke in his hand already.
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Funny you should mention this.
He accepted Duke on Sunday. We really like Duke for a variety of reasons (size, familiarity, academics, placement) plus we have a good support network nearby.
Today he got a note from Chicago thats sounds an awful lot like a likely.
What kind of a note? Mind sharing the details? Did you initiate or did they send on their own?
Do you mind to share if your son applied for fin aid for Chicago? Thanks
We had sent a LOCI a week before Ivy Day.
Today they sent us a message that they’re about to make waitlist recommendations and if he’ still interested in Chicago, to please let them know.
My interpretation is that if he says “I will go if accepted” he will likely get offered a spot. Haven’t responded yet, damn these Chicago people. 
We did not.
Thanks. That’s exactly what happened last year. They are going to offer your son a spot if you say yes.
Hey! I’m a Chicago person!! 
And speaking of the school both my husband and ex are alumni!
This is great news, CRHeel94! I guess LOCIs do make a difference. I was at my son’s school this morning for an event and was just thinking about your situation and that of many WL kids out there. Some kids in our class have received multiple offers to the top schools, much like your son and mine, and should be withdrawing their acceptances pretty soon. My son has already withdrawn all of his, and finally hit that Chicago accept button! 
We were going to visit last week, but had to postpone our flights. So, we are scheduled for a tour next week, on Friday. I am really crossing my fingers for your son! 
My son told them yes, but he’s really torn between Duke and Chicago. Chicago is ranked higher in math and their school culture really appeals to him. He didn’t have Chicago high on his list at the beginning of the process but as he did more research and learned more about the school it kept rising in his list. He was tempted to do ED2, but he wanted to take a shot at Harvard.
My wife and sons are visiting the US next week. I told them to extend their trip and fly up to Chicago. UChicago is one of the schools that my son (and wife for that matter) have never visited (and in the case of my sons they’ve never been to Chicago). I know the school is closed but they will try to walk around and get a feel for the school. What are you guys doing for a tour?
On the other hand, he also loves Duke. He was a little worried about seeing such few math majors, but he’s done his research and is pretty happy with their math department as well as the other departments. He likes the schools general vibe, likes the weather and has been to Duke a couple of times. The first interactions he’s had with his prospective classmates has been wonderful. Plus we have family in the area, which is a useful support network for our son. Duke is my wife’s number one preference; she worries that Chicago is too much of a pressure cooker and that Duke offers more balance. I did grad school at Duke so I have a strong connection there. However, I’ve also been aware through the process that it will be my son’s choice and that it has to fit to his wants and needs. It’s a good problem, but a tough decision.
Certainly a difficult decision, but a good one to have…
In our case, as you probably already know, there was never any doubt. Son was very humbled by Duke’s LL, but he wanted an urban campus in a big city, and for an aspiring Econ major, no better place to be. We have never visited Duke or UChicago (all plans got canceled last year), but Duke’s suburban campus didn’t appeal to him as much as Chicago’s urban setting. I believe the on-campus tours are being offered to admitted students only. Has your son been offered a spot yet? If so, means WL’s are actually moving quickly and that’s a good sign!
My son knows this kid from his school who ended up at Duke (math major also). Very happy there, too. I am sure your son will make the best decision. Might be worth a visit to Chicago even if he can’t do the on-campus tour…? For us, it was kind of weird since S was accepted to his top choice and has known this since March. We were like…"now what…? It was a fun journey, though, and he knows he was very lucky with his results in such an unpredictable year. Hence, he’s not holding on to any more acceptances. But I completely understand how hard this decision can be. So many factors to consider. Family is a big plus, though. We don’t have any in Chicago, unfortunately, but neither in NC, so doesn’t really matter. I must say I love the Carolina Mountains…Asheville etc…3 hrs from Durham, I think…breathtaking in the Fall…
I wish your son the best of luck with his decision. He can’t go wrong either way.
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Thanks. He got a letter of acceptance this afternoon. Wife and my sons are headed to Chicago next week. Thanks for the tip about admitted students. We’ll see how it goes.
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It’s supposed to snow here next week, yes you heard that in the latter half of April, so make sure they dress warm and if that doesn’t tilt the scale for Duke I’m not sure what will!
I’m not sure if the travel advisory is still set for Chicago since we live here and haven’t been traveling, but you should check because a few weeks ago it was still in effect and anyone coming in had to quarantine or be vaccinated yada yada and since UC is still in Chicago, even though it’s not quite downtown they fall under those rules.
Cool! Since he’s been officially admitted, he might be able to get the on-campus tour. Last I checked, they still had some available spots for Thursday and Friday.
Congrats!
It’s going to be snowing? That’s great…crash course for a kid from the tropics to have a glimpse of what cold weather is like. Hopefully there’s some of those famous Chicago light winds.
Just checked the travel advisories…they’re okay.
Yesterday the kid discovered the Chicago discord server. My wife thinks we lost him.
Haha, nothing wrong with that. Great city. Ofc Hyde Park isn’t really in the city and that’s a whole different story, but kids pretty much stay there for the most part unless they go into the city for some other reason. We haven’t been as open as other states thank god and our numbers had been going down, but then were creeping up again recently. The city is doing as good a job as possible to vaccinate it’s residents instead of anyone living outside the County.
Restaurants are starting to open at some capacity but there are a lot of great dining options downtown, west loop/river west/fulton market area especially. Lincoln Park may be too far if you have limited time. Loop has been fairly quiet these days with most commuters working from home. I’m not as familiar with Hyde Park restaurants as my ex husband lived downtown but I know my current one last I remember said some places are still there from 40 years ago. But you have to be careful where you walk and not go outside certain boundaries there, especially if you don’t know the area. They should try to hook up with someone/student to give them a tour. It used to be that you never went South of the Midway but I think a few streets south may be ok now, but you can’t go south of that.
Hyde Park is an interesting area. Million dollar homes, mixed in with the extreme opposite. Like any school, kids learn to navigate quickly and where to go and not to go. UC Hospitals are some of the best in the city and country. Coming in from Lake Shore Drive along the lake will be beautiful and with essentially no traffic these days you’ll get a treat. If directions take them from 94 to the school, then maybe not such a treat. But usually from Ohare you get diverted to take LSD, or at least that’s how we always went but either way you get a perfect view of the city as you drive by to get to Hyde Park as I assume they aren’t flying into Midway, although that is closer.
Not sure when they’re coming, but now it looks only like snow on Tuesday, and anywhere from 30’s-upper 50’s the rest of the week. Welcome to Chicago weather!! Monday will be the warmest with a high of 64 and then our cold starts. Yuck. I’m so ready for the sun and 70’s every day.
srparent15, you’ve been so helpful with all these Chicago tips. Do you recommend renting a car or we can easily get by with public transportation? We might want to take this to a UChicago thread, guys. I keep forgetting this is a Duke thread. In any case, it’s valuable info about Chicago. Really, thank you.
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I wouldn’t take public transportation. Driving from Ohare to U-Chicago is about an hour. It will take you forever to get all over the place and to/from Hyde Park. From Ohare to downtown on the EL/subway is 46 minutes. You would then have to transfer most likely to a bus. I just looked it up and it says it’s about 2 hours. No way!! You can do a ride share but that’s expensive too plus the going in and out of different uber’s to me just wouldn’t feel safe. We just did that when we came home from our UVA visit last month and even though we live 20 mins from Ohare I was literally so creeped out sitting there. Neither driver had any partition or anything. One way we took a taxi and returning was so late due to delays we had no option but to do a ride share. If I had to do it over I would’ve driven to the airport and paid the outrageous fare.
So, that said, consider renting a car, but research (have you son ask current students) which streets are safe to park, OR park at the hospital or one of the actual UC parking lots. I think there are plenty. I vaguely recall doing that when I would go down there for events.
If you’re staying in the loop though and have a rental, expect it to be expensive. So another option is to rent a car from Ohare then try to return it somewhere in the city. Parking in the street is cheaper you just have to make sure you can park during certain hours and not get towed. But again, certain areas you don’t want to leave it overnight. Where are you staying? I would not stay overnight in Hyde Park even though there are some newer hotels I believe. All the good stuff is downtown.
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Any updates? I’m wondering how many Reginaldo Scholarships were given out and how many students accepted versus going elsewhere.
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