<p>you're right idad, uchi is very prestigious, unfortunately, not as prestigious or well known as hpys. that shouldn't matter as long as astronomers think that uchi is, that's all that matters i suppose.</p>
<p>BlacknBlue</p>
<p>you mentioned -
"may be the stories circulating about the students not being that friendly"</p>
<p>I am asking again for your sources of these circulating stories, as my son's experience has been so positive thus far.</p>
<p>
[quote]
You can't just recycle some essay you wrote for another school to send there.
[/quote]
Yes, you can. You have the option of submitting an essay on a topic other than their special ones. My son did this, and he was admitted to Chicago.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Actually, in the midwest UChi is a much bigger name than AWS, so I'm not sure that most applicants prefer AWS over UChi -could be wrong, of course...
[/quote]
My son was admitted to Chicago as well as Williams and several other liberal arts colleges. He turned down Williams to attend Chicago. Only anecdotal, of course, and only one case, but the prestige of Williams didn't mean anything to him. He was looking for the best education he could get, and in an environment that was attractive: big league city beat out tiny town in Western Massachusetts.</p>
<p>BTW/ all this discussion of admit rates doesn't mean very much. A far more important issue is the quality of students who are admitted and enroll. I don't think you will find substantial differences across most of the schools that have been discussed here.</p>
<p>mackinaw,</p>
<p>You are correct on admit rates. Chicago certainly has not compromised their admission standards. Look at the SAT scores.</p>
<p>mackinaw,</p>
<p>I agree with you about Williams. It's a great school in a poor location. My son and I visited both Williams and Amherst and found them to be lacking. I don't see the prestige at either of the two schools. Most people in the area (I live in Massachusetts) confuse Amherst and UMass.</p>
<p>However, you mention UChicago and most people are impressed especially those in the Business Community. Granted Chicago is not an elite Ivy but it is highly respected.</p>
<p>I would have preferred that my son attended an Ivy League school (Harvard, Yale, Penn or Dartmouth) but I don't feel that his education is any less at Chicago.</p>
<p>When he was interviewing with Ivy League alumni, all of them thought very highly of Chicago, (he was accepted Early Action). The Harvard interviewer's father graduated from Chicago.</p>
<p>BlacknBlue</p>
<p>Which one of the HYPS are you attending?</p>