UChicago can do more to compete with Ivy League

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

<p>I had an interview with Andre Phillips (I live on the west coast). After my interview with him, I really felt like U of Chicago was my first choice. He told how every year they have the same problem: every year, ivy league schools steal most of their top prospects. He said that is why they are moving up their acceptance letters to around March 25th-28th. Talking with him really got me excited about UChicago. The next week, Dartmouth sent me a likely letter.....</p>

<p>They will keep having this problem year after year unless they get more aggressive in trying to nab students earlier. If schools that are ranked higher than them are sending out likely letters, how can UChicago expect to ever compete? It doesn't make sense to me.</p>

2

<p>icic... so when will the admissions results be out this year ?</p>

3

<p>Like I said, Mr. Phillips said acceptees will recieve their notices between March 25th and the 30th. He told me that all of the other counselors are determined to stop the "Ivy League" problem.</p>

4

<p>My son received a likely letter from Chicago in February</p>

5

<p>Rejection letters will probably come out at the same time...can't see a reason not to let those unfortunate people know of their fate. Mr. Phillips probably meant that all decisions are mailed out so they can get to you before April 1st. </p>

<p>1536, What was the type of language used in the likely letter?</p>

6

<p>Chicago is way underrated. People go to Ivies because of the overt prestige because so many powerful men send their children that way. But for students from non-pompousass familes, Chicago is the best road to take. Just my gut opinion, I don't know if I can back it up.</p>

7

<p>Ah! Andre Phillips is my counselor person, but whenever I email him, he never returns the email. i feel so unloved, but my interview with an alum really really sealed my desire to attend uchicago..except, of course, my interviewer was an alum so he didnt say much about chicago admin</p>

8

<p>Don't sweat about not getting your emails returned by Mr. Phillips; he doesn't really check his emails much because I sent him multiple emails before he interviewed me. When I asked him, he was like "Oh, sorry about that. I'm so busy I hardly ever check my email."</p>

9

<p>I have to agree that Chicago really drops the ball when it comes to notification--only by mail, they were quite late with EA notification, etc...</p>

<p>I can understand why they don't pursue a more aggressive marketing campaign (they like to maintain the self-selection of the student body), but why they continue to be so backasswards in their notification is beyond me...and quite upsetting when you rush home starting Dec. 13th to look for mail!</p>

10

<p>As jpps1 said, they want to keep that self-selection going.</p>

<p>I wonder what your odds are in you didn't recieve a "likely" letter.</p>

11

<p>Another problem that UChicago faces, IMO, is that many people view the school has too "nerdy" and a place where "fun has no place."</p>

12

<p>Then again, that is what draws some people to it.</p>

13

<p>Can you love to learn and think but is not a nerd?</p>

14

<p>EA letters had a stiff date associated with them.</p>

<p>I think we started getting them a day before that.</p>

<p>Can't argue with them beating a deadline.</p>

15

<p>Some of the Chicago adcoms are really receptive and not at all hard to contact! Dean O'Neill, my adcom, wrote me back the day after I first emailed him and was incredibly helpful and receptive, as was my interviewer, who was also an adcom. Also, I agree with j10cpc5000: I am attending UChicago because I think learning is fun and I explicitly want to avoid a college that thinks the two notions are disparate.</p>

16

<p>I got into U Chicago EA, and I was wondering about the scholarships...if the regular admit announcements are sent in late March, then would the scholarship notification occur earlier? Cuz on the uncommon website it said "by April"...</p>

<p>Thanks!!</p>

17

<p>Why would Chicago need or want to compete with the Ivies? It already attracts some of the brightest students in the US and internationally, so what's the problem?</p>

18

<p>that's a pretty dumb assumption. it's clear that they don't do much to attract people but still end up with some great people, however they could have a lot more great people if they did a fraction of what other places do. i happen to be attracted to it anyways however just by looking at the common data set it is pretty obvious there is some degree of compromise occuring. this is why in the peer reviewed ranking chicago is in the top 6 universities in the country and top 10 in the world on the world rankings but only 17 on the us news report list. i personally think they can do more and should.</p>

19

<p>I'd have to agree with college_hopeful to some degree. To me, it sounds like some of you just want UChicago to be more selective/prestigious for your own benefits (i.e. to make yourselves look good if you go there).
That said, I also think that UChicago is vastly underrated by the public.</p>

20

<p>According to my interviewer, Chicago has tried to market itself better, but the alumni, who are very active in Chicago's growth, do not want to compromise its quality. This is most obvious in the reduction of the requirements of the Core. While, compared to most other core curriculums, Chicago's is tough. It used to take a full two years to complete. The last president dilluted it, in order to be less constricting to not deter as many prospective students; however, alumni did not appreciate this. They were very active in stopping the Core's dilution. Unfortunately, the alumni failed, and now, one can complete the Core in less than two years.</p>

<p>The president has also increased the size of freshman classes. I think my interviewer said that in the 80's, when she attended Chicago, there were approximately 3000 students enrolled in the College. Now, there is over 4000. While this increase, compared to "mid-sized universities" is not a big leap; it was to the alumni. They were adamant and pushed for Chicago to retain its incredible 4:1 student to faculty ratio, and so Chicago did. </p>

<p>Since alumni do not want Chicago to get any larger, what do you expect University of Chicago to do? Do you want for Chicago to advertise more effectively only to bring more applicants? That is absurd, because it will negatively affect Chicago's reputation as a Bastion for the Life of Mind. Not everyone can, or even should, be apart of that, even some of those who attend Ivy League universities. For exmaple, my cousin goes to Yale (he is a freshman), and he is dumb! (He must go home every week so his parents can help him with his assignments.) He does not belong at any top university, and I am afraid that there are others who apply to and attend Ivy League universities, and Stanford, MIT, and such, who do not belong there. And if Chicago attracts such students, who are not academically competent, and they will, then that would compromise quality. The alumni will not stand for that, and rightly so. Chicago should never lose its self-selective applicant pool.</p>

<p>Besides, what do you expect to gain from Chicago's increased selectivity? Prestige? That too is utterly absurd, and I can revert to arguments on the importance, or there lack of, of prestige. I am not wasting four years worth of college for a degree; I am there to learn and experience life in an instituition where I can find people with that same ambition. Why must we pervert our undergraduate experiences with greed of instituitional prestige? For those of us who want to pursue professional and graduate degrees, which are more important, as it is more specialized and focused, and thereby of more value for prestige and accomplishment, not an undergraduate education, then the prestige issue should be irrelevant. For those of you who simply want to earn a degree, then jump into a high paying job, and never delve further into your studies, then, ask yourself if you belong in University of Chicago?</p>