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<p>Based purely on my stats and interests Chicago fit perfectly, but I didn’t really demonstrate interest or put any special effort into their essays, and they still liklied me. I don’t think they care much about demonstrated interest.</p>
<p>And yes, I read through the list. Most of the items seemed really, really hard to build.</p>
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<p>People keep inserting Annasdad’s daughter into this thread, but this has to be the funniest instance. The story cited above wasn’t Annasdad’s daughter.</p>
<p>Mutti, had you read my post carefully, you would have known my D had nothing to do with it. Apparently not reading posts before taking issue with them is endemic here.</p>
<p>As far as bogus, you were not there, so you cannot know what really happened. I heard the story second hand, from the girl’s mother. Given what I know about the girl, and about the area, I’m inclined to believe her. You are, of course, free to differ. </p>
<p>I would not turn down a chance to study at a place like UChicago on such a pretext. In my opinion, it stands out from the crowd, because of the Great Books program. I have no data to support a claim that the program enhances critical thinking skills, so would not make such a claim; but it would surprise me if it did not.</p>
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<p>I bet my D got at least 25 mailings this year.</p>
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<p>What??? unethical??? that is their job: advocate for their students. I would think it was unethical for them NOT to do what was described.</p>
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<p>Are you a full pay or near full pay student?</p>
<p>To expound more fully on my post #204: how is a teacher telling an AO (either in person or on the phone) any different from writing a glowing rec letter for one kid and a not so glowing rec for another? That is the point I was trying to make. Unless I am missing what you were trying to say, I don’t agree with your premise.</p>
<p>“What’s troubling to me is the idea that the college would ask the GC this question–it really puts the GC in an untenable situation.”</p>
<p>The GC can always say that she hasn’t confirmed the student’s preferences recently. That’s always true – a student might have changed his mind that morning. That’s a totally different thing from suggesting that she has no way to know.</p>
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<p>Mea culpa; it was annasdad’s story, but not about his D. I do find the quote above amusing though with its distinction between second and third hand. Um, you were not there either, so we’re kind of in the same boat.</p>
<p>I will bet that the security guard was NOT armed.</p>
<p>I happen to do work with a company that places security guards in buildings. Few are armed positions, and those guards that are placed in academic insititutions are not armed. This girl may have been asked to show ID and when she could not was probably asked to clarify why she was there, who she was there to see, etc, but it doubtful she was “grilled” and VERY DOUBTFUL he was armed.</p>
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<p>It is obvious that the GC could have formulated a plausible answer, but the clear expectation of the adcom would be to have a positive answer about accepting an offer it was made. Assuming this happens during the regular cycle, one has to consider the fact that applicants make their final decision based on the acceptances and other issues, such as financial aid. On the issue of acceptance, with single digit admission rates at many schools, an applicant should not have to get involved in multiple what if discussions. And if the applicant cannot really answer, why would we think a GC could? </p>
<p>If this account is true --which I continue to doubt-- it seems that the adcom at Chicago is trying to get the benefits of ED (attend if accepted) despite having EA or RD rounds. </p>
<p>No matter how one looks at this, there is something dysfunctional about this relationship --if it exists as reported.</p>
<p>The U of Chicago story just seemed weird. We wandered all over the campus and never met with anything of the sort. And for what it’s worth, the entire immediate area seemed a lot safer to me than the area around Columbia during the height of the crack epidemic, by orders of magnitude!</p>
<p>Haha, this thread is about to take yet another direction … comparing the safety of Columbia and Chicago. Woodlawn versus Harlem? Hyde Park versus Central Park? </p>
<p>Or as some of the Great Books learners in NYC and the intellectuals in Chicago might say, Scylla versus Charybdis.</p>
<p>High school guidance counselors and college admission professionals are supposed to honor Principles of Good Practice: </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nacacnet.org/about/Governance/Policies/Documents/SPGP.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nacacnet.org/about/Governance/Policies/Documents/SPGP.pdf</a></p>
<p>I would point out Section II - B2 - which states that college admission offices “not require or ask candidates or the secondary schools to indicate the order of the candidates’ college or university preferences except under Early Decision.” They are allowed to ask about preferences but not about first choice as it seems the OP’s guidance counselor reports.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if the U of Chicago purports to adhere to these principles - if so, it seems to be a violation, or at the very least, teetering on the line. I would be willing to bet that it happens on occasion, intentionally or otherwise.</p>
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<p>Nope. Full tuition, room, and board in grants; no loans or student work expectation.</p>
<p>UChicago story</p>
<p>Back around 1980, everything (including the medical facility) was freely accessible except the library, athletic facilities and the dorms which required an ID to enter. </p>
<p>A gunshot victim (not a student) was brought to the ER and as the staff were working on saving his life, the shooter walked into the room and finished him off on the table. Disclaimer: I did not see this directly but did work in the medical center at the time and it was quite the talk as can be imagined.</p>
<p>This led to controlled access to all parts of the medical center with security guards (don’t remember armed or not) and metal detectors. Rest of the campus was unchanged last time I was there.</p>
<p>Maybe the kid in the story is interested in a career in medicine and tried to get into the medical center (which includes extensive research areas). She certainly would have run into burly security guards.</p>
<p>My D will be attending UChicago this fall and we received very few mailings from them - definitely no puzzles?? We didn’t visit, she didn’t contact her area rep, no interview and substantial financial aide received. She was thrilled to get the swag scarf after accepting their offer though!</p>
<p>Maybe the guard was armed in that he had arms. I find it believable that somebody was hassled by a guard–a story like that probably grows a bit, too.</p>
<p>well, i can understand an armed guard being stationed at the U of C Hospital. It does serve as the critical care hospital for a lot of non-U Chicago residents.
But during the short time my DS was at Chicago, UG students roamed freely around the campus.</p>
<p>I agree with hunt. According to the first post, ihs76, this supposed incident occurred in a classroom building, not the medical center. I asked about this in a thread about safety in the U of Chicago forum, and got a very thorough, eloquent response back from the UofC college rep. I hope he/she shares the information in that post here in this thread. If not, the response can be read in post # 42 here: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1330322-safety-2.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1330322-safety-2.html</a></p>