<p>University of Chicago admissions is in a period of extreme transition and uncertainty. The two men who have been responsible for college admissions for the past 15 years or so will both be gone next year, and are being replaced by someone with a very different background. A recently installed president seems less enamored than his predecessors with the notion that Chicago should be looking for a different sort of student than its Eastern competitors. It is possible, even likely, that the number of applications received next year will be close to double what was received only four years ago, and triple what was received four years before that, and I think everyone’s impression is that Chicago is getting more applications from students with very high SATs and GPAs. It was not so long ago that Chicago accepted half or more of its applicants; this year, it was just over 25%, and probably headed downward next year.</p>
<p>In other words, the past is a very questionable guide to the future of Chicago admissions. Practices and tendencies that developed in an 8,000-application, 40% admission world will not necessarily carry over to a 15,000-application, 20% admission world. Chicago’s applicants may not be quite so self-selecting as they were in the past, and the admissions office may not be quite so selective in evaluating them. It’s one thing to turn down a pedestrian 2300, 3.9 GPA kid in favor of a 2300, 3.5 GPA kid with great essays, quite another to turn down four or five 3.9 GPA kids in favor of the 3.5 GPA kid. They’re not all going to look pedestrian.</p>
<p>I tend to agree with JHS. No one really knows what the new group will do or what criteria they will use in selecting students. Since most of the admissions counselors “grew up” with Ted O’Neill, next year may not see a great change, but as the dean gets settled in, change, good or bad, is likely to come.</p>
<p>mantori.suzuki, just out of curiosity, what martial art(s) does your son practice? Is he very proficient? Does he plan to pursue this interest in college?</p>
<p>You might want to be aware of the work of a very interesting Professor, Donald Levine, in Chicago’s sociology department. He has been at Chicago for decades and decades (since the early 50s I think) and probably knows the place and its history as well as anyone alive. He is a deep thinker on many subjects including the nature and role of liberal education.</p>
<p>Professor Levine sometimes teaches an usual course called “Conflict Theory and Aikido”, designed to help students integrate conventional academic and martial training. It incorporates several hours per week of aikido training. </p>
<p>If your son does want to pursue martial arts in college, then sooner or later he may want to connect with Professor Levine, if only in a short email with a couple questions about martial arts at Chicago. If his mail queue is not too terribly swamped, I imagine he’d welcome the interest.</p>
<p>S1 took Conflict Theory and Aikido with professor Levine. It turned out to be his favorite course he has taken at Chicago. It requires that students actually practice Aikido at a local Dojo as part of the course, and part of the course grade is the actual physical application of what was learned at the Dojo as well as the regular reading material. It is also very rigorous in its levels of analysis and classroom discussion requirements. An early version of the syllabus for the course can be found in Levine’s recent book, Powers of the Mind: Reinventing Liberal Learning in America.</p>
<p>tk21769, my son practices hapkido just for fun, not at a high level of competition, but he has studied for three years now and is deeply interested. I’m sure he would like to know more about Professor Levine. Thank you very much for the recommendation.</p>
<p>I got accepted to UChicago with a 28 Act; however, they really look at those essays and recs. RICE cares way to much on class rank from what I have heard.</p>