<p>I'm a parent, not a student, but I believe U.Chicago perversely appealed to my son at least in part because it wasn't HYPSM, and because historically it has been so far off the beaten track for our Boston-area high school. It met other criteria as well -- good math department, the emphasis on the life of the mind, the relative lack of interest in sports. The Fiske Guide's description of the University was probably the first thing that put Chicago on our radar screen.</p>
<p>Pesto,
Yup. Same story and reasons for DS. He visited another non-HPYSM school, loved it, started looking for others like it. Attended a session at his HS junior year when a Chicago admissions rep came to visit, visted in a snowstorm in January, came home having fallen hook, line and sinker.</p>
<p>DH was on the wait list for Chicago Law, and had there been any movement off the list, he would have turned down an Ivy for it. As it is, DH travels to Chicago all the time for work. I was born in Chicago and lived there til I was six. My mom moved there in HS, my dad went there for nursing school. When the kids were young, DH used to take them to Chicago on the overnight train and then go hit the museums, Navy Pier, etc. It just feels like completing the circle.</p>