<p>what is ridiculous is that someone takes 6 ap classes then worries about screwing up and dropping 4 places in the standings. if you're going to take a heavy workload, then take it. to then worry about the consequences of same afterward is off base. if the poster wants people to say, "Poor baby, it'll all be alright," well then they have you to hold his or her hand. the truth is number two is significantly different than number 6 and the real world acknowledges that. i never told anyone not to take 6 ap classes. i wouldn't do it myself if i were worried about dropping in the standings, but that was his choice. will it matter to uchi that his app says 6/xxx as opposed to 2/xxx? probably not, but it sure as heck looks better to have the 2/xxx. also i would like to know where it is that i oppose uchi in every way. although this posting is on the uchi forum, i don't see where the question posted was about uchi in particular and i initially responded without uchi in mind. just because my pov is different than that of others does not make me bitter. fyi, i am quite content and satisfied with myself and express that by stating my unique (as i find out now) opinions. </p>
<p>As to the question of why i like commenting on this forum, i have stated the reasons in other threads but would be happy to reiterate. first off, i don't watch a lot of tv or play video games, so i do have a fair amount of time to fool around on these boards. i also happen to enjoy the reactions i get on this forum that one doesn't get on a lot of the other forums. the uchi affiliated people have a central thread running through them and that is that they are somewhat prickly about uchi's relationship to more selective schools. i find it amusing to see the responses and the gyrations they go through to explain away the high acceptance rate of the school so that uchi would compare better to more selective institutions. you don't get that on other forums. yes, someone (please excuse me for not remembering who) mentioned tufts and bowdoin who are also somewhat touchy about this, but the fact is, tufts is not in uchi's league. acceptance rates aside, uchi is only a touch below the heavy hitters whereas tufts is an escalator ride down. bowdoin just doesn't have enough posters to warrant my attention. </p>
<p>lastly, concerning your befuddlement, i really can't help you there. maybe if you changed your breakfast cereal that would help you reach another level of enlightenment.</p>
<p>p.s. i also am beginning to think some people actually enjoy my postings and may share my pov, although it doesn't matter to me one way or the other whether they do or don't.</p>
<p>The only time the issue arises is when new applicants may through certain comments be led to misunderstand the contribution self-selection makes to Chicago's numbers, and the somewhat different approach the adcoms take to admissions there versus other schools. It is not just a matter of considering admission rates when applying to Chicago. This is a school that gets far fewer applicants than does its peer institutions. Student's need to understand that. Plenty of high GPA and high SAT scoring students get rejected every year, who really would like to attend. Serious applicants need to know that they must convince the adcoms that they will thrive, at least potentially, in the demanding Chicago environment, not just have the "numbers" to get into a top tier school.</p>
<p>i don't understand nor support this theory of self selection resulting in lower applications, thus resulting in higher admit rates. it doesn't make sense. if what you are saying that peer schools get more apps, what are the peer schools that you are referring to? would they be brown or dartmouth or yale? they have approximately the same amount of students and yes they get twice the apps as uchi, but let's face it, those schools are more prestigious and much more desirable among the nations seniors than uchi. that is why they get more apps. if uchi were in their catagory, then uchi would also get more apps, but uchi is not in that same class. please don't cite to me how many well know people regard uchi as the finist institute of learning in america because that is not what i am referring to as desirable. ask any college senior to choose one of those three mentioned schools or uchi and uchi would finish second 9.5 out of 10 times. self selection is a crutch to explain why the admit rate is so high. i'm not even sure it is a good crutch. we live in a society of exclusivity. the more people that are kept out, the more people want to get in. at 40%, uchi is just not on a par with the highly selective schools. i'm not talking quality, i'm talking selectivity. until uchi understands this and starts accepting less students, america's seniors or at least the cream of america's seniors will always view uchi as a second choice. i won't even buy into the statement that plenty of high gpa and sat scoring students get rejected every year because i am not sure that is true. there may be some, but not plenty. the only serious applicants that need to convince the uchi adcom that they will thrive in the "demanding chicago environment" are the marginal kids. the high gpa and high sat kids have already proven that they can handle the work.</p>
<p>Selectivity is not the real issue. Chicago could double its applications and increase its yield by watering down its curriculum, using the common application, and moving to SCEA or ED. Instead, it maintains a standard of rigor and a certain philosophy that attracts some and not others. It is that fact that students should realize when applying, and understand that many who apply elsewhere simply would not apply to a curriculum like Chicago's even if it were used at Harvard.</p>
<p>Since there's been comments on Chicago's admissions process, I thought I'd post this article. I thought it interesting when I was waiting for my decision last year (about this time, in fact!). </p>
<p>warbler: nice article, but frankly, it was done before and frankly with more depth in the "gatekeepers." the discussion currently centers around, not the admissions policy per se, but rather the great amount of acceptances at such a good university and the acceptee's acceptance of uchi or lack thereof. i submit that uchi commendably stands by their decision to remain ea instead of ed which would pump up their yield and reduce their acceptance rate. nevertheless, even if harvard adopted all aspects of the uchi curriculum tommorrow, i am certain that they would still attract the same number of applications and still have the same acceptance numbers and yield. the harvard name carries a cache that no other university, save one or two can match and certainly, and it hurts to hear this, but uchi isn't one of them.</p>