<p>Son asked me to post this to see if he can get some good advice... </p>
<p>Son's SAT scores took a jump upwards in October (1350, 2020 to 1510, 2260). The rest of his record (gpa, class rank, ap's, SAT 2's, ec's, etc.) had always been strong but he had purposely avoided considering any of the upper Ivies because they hadn't seemed realistic. He attends a small private school and his guidance counselor is now urging him to reconsider and add one upper Ivy to his list. This was partially based on these scores and also the fact that he had done a "poem-essay" for Chicago, which she found unusually compelling. </p>
<p>Some background information.....he is a potential biology major (pre-med) with a strong interest in the humanities. He has strong ec's in theater and creative writing, and started the first jazz ensemble at his school in which he plays lead flute, plus has had considerable community service involvement. His top choices for schools are Chicago (EA application) and Brown (legacy, RD) because he spent time as a summer student on both those campuses and loved the intensity (despite the vastly different curriculums). He also has a strong interest in Emory because of the presence of the CDC (a legacy there as well) and is considering Amherst and Wesleyan. He has other realistic match and safety schools so that is not a problem. </p>
<p>In general he likes small to mid-sized schools. If I had to describe him, he is a quiet and intense kid, generally unpretentious and sometimes stubborn, who opens up the most with close friends, and is somewhere midway between preppy and crunchy, perhaps leaning a bit more to crunchy. He's not into fraternities and is a vegetarian. I suspect he'll be involved in both Hillel and theater during college and continue to do his writing on the side. He's not interested in applying to any of the HYPS merely because they are highly ranked schools. He's trying to figure out if any of them actually match who he is. He's visited all his other schools, but likely won't have the chance to take a look at any of these upper Ivies in person. He's poured over the guidebooks and websites, but can't seem to get any feeling for what matches and what doesn't. </p>
<p>I am posting this in the Harvard, Yale, and Princeton forums since hopefully this is where I can get advice from people who actually know these schools. (He doesn't want to go to the west coast.) Does anything "stick out" that suggests son should look more closely at one particular place? At the same time, we do understand that RD admission is a giant long shot for a "mere mortal". Moreover, if nothing "matches", he will continue with his present list of schools, which would also be fine.</p>
<p>it's still two months till the RD deadline. surely you could take a weekend and do the HYP tour? if not, there's also the possibility of applying to all 3 (if application fees are not a concern), waiting till the spring to see where he gets in and then attending the weekend programs for admitted students to see whether any is a fit.</p>
<p>p.s. if chicago truly is his 1st choice and he gets in EA, then there's no point in applying to HYP RD. the education your son receives will be just as good at chicago as at any of the top 3 ivies. don't let the ratings fool you; there is scarcely any difference in the quality of education provided by any of America's most competitive colleges.</p>
<p>The quality of education is most likely the same but top colleges do open more doors. Grad school, however, is much more important thant undergrad.</p>
<p>one of the things that really attracted me to yale was the sense of community. i felt that it had the best of the small college atmosphere and the larger university's resources. furthermore, i loved the intellectualism and interest in learning that seemed to prevail. if he likes uchicago so much, he should really consider yale. they also have a directed studies program that is basically a humanities core (the hallmark of the chicago experience). plus, the theater at yale is wonderful. i</p>
<p>Blurblurblur--Thanks for the description of community at Yale. This is the kind of thing S. was looking for. </p>
<p>dharmabandit - No, I totally agree. Chicago is the intellectual equal of any of the Ivies. Ranking really doesn't enter into it. It's a question of choice and options.</p>
<p>Son is leaning in the direction of Chicago, which is why he chose not to apply ED anywhere else. It is his first choice, but he is still not a hundred percent sure. The workload at Chicago is heavy, and he knows it. There were times he went into the lab at 9 am last summer and didn't emerge (except for meal breaks) till about 12 hours later. That said, he loved the campus, the kids, and the whole atmosphere of the place. He does want a school where he can still be involved with theater, at least on some level. He wants to be sure that this would be possible at Chicago.</p>
<p>Meanwhile he will put in RD applications at a number of other schools, even if he is lucky enough to be accepted at Chicago. With the change in his test scores, he is at least exploring the option of adding an Ivy or two to his RD list. </p>
<p>I really dislike the way the system is presently configured to push kids into deciding things so early in the senior year. A lot of students need more time than that to figure out things, but the present system gives such an incentive for "early this and that", it's almost impossible to resist. That's unfortunate.</p>