<p>I think you should definitely apply. It can't hurt. Your SATs may be a little low, but your other strengths could balance that out.</p>
<p>I haven't heard of the swim test at too many schools, ICYHOT. This is the first I've heard of it for UChicago, but I know Columbia has it. That is unless you're an engineering student. If you take the tour at Columbia, the admissions lady tells you a funny story about why that is.</p>
<p>icyhot,
not required at "all" U's & colleges, but a few of them do require swimming and/or another p.e. activity. At least one NE LAC requires 1 or 2 courses, including swimming. (Is it Williams?) </p>
<p>My D was not interested in more p.e. after so many yrs. of it & the high cost of college, so if/when that was a requirement, she took that college off her list.</p>
<p>And with all else in the Chicago core, it left little room for her own discretion when it came to charting her own academic path.</p>
<p>She found the app. essay questions really quite pretentious, but many students really like them. People seem to come down strongly on one side of that aspect or the other side.</p>
<p>for me it was like dreary chicago v. california. No question! But great school for sure</p>
<p>i really love chicago, but i'm little freaked out about the swimming requirement... i am an aquaphobia (if that's a word) and i can't even go under the water. does this mean, unless i learn how to swim (which is either unlikely or really hard) i can' graduate from colleges?</p>
<p>That's such a minor thing- don't let it affect your college choice</p>
<p>I'm sure there's ways around it
If not, they will teach you</p>
<p>Ya, its not like they will just throw you into a olympic size pool and expect you to swim 3000meters</p>
<p>thanks that makes me feel little better. i hope there is a way around it since i am considering chicago EA.</p>
<p>seira,
contact one of the admissions reps at UChicago and discuss your concerns. Summer is a good time to do so as they won't be quite so busy. It is, oddly. another way of showing interest, so think of it that way. </p>
<p>I am not sure of the exacty history of the swimming requirement, but I think that it had it's origins in a number of preventable drownings - I believe in WWI. Someone will correct me if I am wrong, but I think I remember that a number of schools decided that here was a preventable tragedy that they could do something about. </p>
<p>My son is not a big PE fan, but can see the sense in doing a couple of classes - there's no way he will ace the flexibility test. Chicago is abouot the life of the mind - but the mind does have to live somewhere!</p>
<p>seira,
Yes, the swimming's a requirement for graduation there. But as someone mentioned, they do make the classes available. And if there's no expert on Fear of Swimming at the U, I know that some private swimming instructors are familiar with this syndrome & teach specifically to that. I would definitely call UChicago with your concerns, though.</p>
<p>I can't shed further light on ohio_mom's suppositions about drownings in the Chicago area in particular, or in a given time frame (like a war), but I can tell you that a number of famous & talented people have needlessly & prematurely lost their lives due to inability to swim or terror of water: Conductor Calvin Simmons, actress Natalie Wood, & others.</p>
<p>My D can swim but hates chlorine & would therefore not enjoy re-training or taking that test. Given other downsides to UChicago, adding that was not worth the admissions effort for her. People who can already swim, or would love to learn & don't mind chlorine, would not be affected by that factor.</p>
<p>Multiple schools have that requirement. I know Cornell and Columbia do as well. I think the whole Ivy league might. Not sure.</p>
<p>misterme,
definitely not the whole Ivy League, but several NE schools -- Ivy & non-Ivy. Don't know about midWest (besides Chicago).</p>
<p>Well, Wild Child visited U of Chicago today. As I write this, he is heading to Midway airport to come home. I talked to him briefly on the phone and all I could think of was the old Life cereal commercial, "Even Mikey Likes It!" Bottom line- S was VERY impressed. Even though it gets cold in the winter, it isn't in the northeast and it is DIII, he liked it! He said the kids on his tour were "nerdy" but the students on campus did not appear to be. He loved the new athletic complex and had a good meeting with the coach. He thought the campus was wonderful. He came away with a better appreciation for the level of competition in DIII. Being a Chicago Law alum (and one who hated the climate) I am really pleased that S had a good visit. I think it is a good academic fit for him.</p>
<p>epiphany,</p>
<p>Not sure about Williams, but I do know Swarthmore requires proof of ability to swim, as well as two P.E. courses. DD, who hates to do anything athletic, took two folk dances courses.</p>
<p>Williams requires a swim test, I believe Dartmouth does as well. Middlebury requires phys ed credit, I'm not sure about swimming specifically. At all the schools I've looked at, there's just a mandatory beginner swimming course if you fail the test.</p>
<p>Yeah, don't let a stupid thing like the swimming req. affect your decision. If you have 2 legs, 2 arms, and a neck that rotates side-to-side, you will be able to swim someday, somehow. It may be harder for some, than others, but ultimately, it is not impossible.</p>
<p>When I was young, I hated the water. My mom would sign me up for lessons at the YMCA, but after 6 months of lessons I still couldn't swim. I quit and tried again when I was older (like 10?) I took lessons again, but I still sucked. Finally, I met up with a good instructor at a swim club, and he actually "made" me swim! Learning to swim is actually more mental than physical. You have to lose the fear of the water.</p>