Sushi, if you weren’t so naturally lovable it would be time to call you out to a meeting at sunrise to settle these matters.
Bring WRHarper & JBSStillFlying with you too. 
Look, I read your posts and the effort and quality are amazing. I wish I could wax so poetically. I’m still trying to figure out how I can fit “vituperation” into any communication of mine (I just did!), but do you folks ever find something not quite right at UofC?
Small nit - Pells at UChicago are up to 12% overall and 13% for incoming class due to Empower Initiative (latest IPEDS data). TO, however, may bump these numbers for everyone going forward, not just UChicago.
I have in mind some seconds for you too. You can probably guess them well enough, though I’m not sure they possess the requisite sense of humor.
You must not be reading me closely. I have inveighed repeatedly against the U of C English Department on this forum, and I very much have my misgivings about the many shinier features of campus life. I have a certain vision of what the U of C should be, and I try to express it. I get a kick out of some of the high-spirited stuff we see here from new converts - the U of C can be a “damp” sort of place given all its seriousness and intensity, and thus I like to see these eruptions of jeu d’esprit. I think you and others take them way too seriously, and that sort of mystifies me. However, as I said, I do have my theories.
Now, since we are being frank with each other, brother, level with me and tell me what you have ever expressed - or seen anyone else express for that matter - as a negative in respect of either of the tech schools. Somehow it is those advocates, of whom I take you as one such, who have been most vociferously objectionable of late. You can call this a challenge, if you like, in lieu of pistols or rapiers.
It’s just a few posters… one poster in particular, not a representative of the college as a whole. The guy who started this thread has been suspended for his 2nd post after this one being the message that I expect everyone here has seen about Chicago being the most matriculated to college among prep schools kids, which he copied from the blog at The Most Popular Colleges at the Top 50 Prep Schools in the U.S. , or maybe that is his blog?
The latest post was in the Parents Class of 2022 thread, so the post about Chicago prep kids has little to do with the thread content. He’s posted this same message in a variety of threads under a variety of user names. He gets banned/suspended, then does it again under a new username in a new thread.
Much of the longer Chicago threads have stemmed from his posts. There are also a few users including myself who tend to reply to stat posts (I reply to stat posts about many colleges, not just Chicgao), so it can blow up in to dozens or even hundreds of posts quickly.
Indeed. That poster is provocative and is guaranteed to engender vituperative threats of banning.
1 Like
Of the fifteen Top 10 schools, Chicago is probably the one with narrowest brand among the general population (Johns Hokpins being the other suspect). Not in academic circles, there it’s doing very well.
1 Like
I think that’s true about the narrow brand. Not sure about other schools this year but UChicago only attracted 37-38k applications. That’s higher than ever but not as high as some other peers which saw through-the-roof application numbers due to going TO. UChicago went TO a couple of years ago and saw a whopping 7% increase in apps 
IMO, this underscores that the school is considered to be a bit of a niche - they attract a good number who won’t be admitted, they have ridiculous yields now, they offer an educational experience and outcomes comparable to the best schools in the world, but they still won’t attract Harvard or Stanford app. numbers. Nor should they. It’s not for everyone.
4 Likes
These threads have a pattern. Proud Chicago alumni and/or parents engage in a brag, and people pop out of the woodwork to make sure that nobody dares assume that UChicago is Comparable To An Ivy, Honestly, The Mere Thought Is Scandalous.
I mean, it is bad enough that Stanford has muscled its way in to the top echelon of The Bastions Of The Elite, but at least they are on a coast! But Chicago is in Flyby Country (shudders, fans oneself).
I wonder how long Stanford had to deal with this sort of thing?
8 Likes
I’m not sure which 15 schools are in the top 10, but if you mean top USNWR type colleges, my vote would be for Caltech as being the most niche among general population.
Its an old joke from the dean of a business school. His assertion was that there were 15 top 10 schools…it just varied by who did the ranking and in what year.
Cal Tech is another good choice for that prize. Most people outside of the STEM fields have not heard of it at all.
…and that second essay, I think… 
2 Likes
Cal Tech San Luis Obispo or Cal Poly Pasadena (CPP)? 
2 Likes
As fascinating as that is, such discussion warrants its own thread, if it needs to be discussed at all. Let’s get back to the original topic. Further OT posts will be deleted.
While I am unsure the purpose of the original post, I am sure that continued discussion on this thread of why these threads exist will not have a happy ending.
1 Like
Based on IPED data from 2011-12 as well as the (current) 2019 figures, it appears that the number of students receiving grants and scholarships at UChicago has grown nearly 11%. (3,746/3,385). In contrast, total enrollments grew nearly 23% in the same period (6,891 / 5,618). So it’s safe to say that the student body has skewed more wealthy over time because there are apparently more full-pays. UChicago’s outreach also shifted beyond the Midwest during that period to include both coasts and, lately, Texas. There are going to be more full pay families in those other regions. Not sure what this means in relation to other peer schools now. Some of those schools are going to have some enormously wealthy families! It would be nice to have that NYT analysis updated.
One can see number of full pay families in schools’ common data sets, so you can look that up for 2020-21 for UChicago’s peer schools. Unfortunately, UChicago is unique among top schools in that they don’t complete any sections/fields of the CDS, so it’s difficult to get that same (full pay) data.
And that is unlikely to change. Someone who really cares about that issue and has a kid attending or interested should ask them why they don’t publish it. However, one probably doesn’t need CDS for this particular issue as the % receiving financial aid can be had from other legitimate sources and you can just subtract that from 1 to arrive at the fraction of full pays. The actual number may not be as relevant - UChicago has been such a moving target there that it’s hard to compare year over year.
This is the UChicago forum. If you have not been here before, you should know that a lot of people are invested in seeing more Pells as a reflection of its efforts to bring in diversity (of family income) and a lot are watching the graduation rate because it has implications about how student life/services are continuing to improve (as opposed to “where fun comes to die”)
Friend, you are missing the context. Best not to judge.
2 Likes
You crack me up! But I think your post has some truth to it… UChicago (and the city of Chicago) is in what the Northeasterners call “flyover states” if they are looking down on it, and in the “third coast” when they begrudgingly acknowledge with its relevance.
In case anyone was wondering, the relatively low 4-yr graduation rate at Northwestern when compared to peers has to do with the fact that about 1/3 of the engineering students are in the 5-yr co-op program (one of the oldest and most established in the country).