<p>I don't know enough information to give an informed opinion on the matter, but my initial thoughts are those of nostalgic sadness because:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>In previous years, UChicago admissions has taken pride in the uncommon app, and they have compared it to the school. I clearly remember a slogan on their website along the lines of, "At UChicago, you'll find uncommonly strong academics, an uncommonly intense student body, etc.......... and it's therefore appropriate that we have an uncommmon application." Now that they will accept the common app, does this mean that UChicago actually has common academics?</p></li>
<li><p>Assuming they don't heavily weigh the common app essays, which is what I would hope for, the common app essays will nevertheless make the UChicago application much more boring because the common app prompts are exactly that -- boring.</p></li>
<li><p>I will make a safe assumption: the switch will cause an increase in the number of students applying just for the heck of it, which is arguably a bad thing.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I'm pretty sure that there WILL be an Uncommon Supplement, and that the crazy essays WILL still be compulsory, and that there is no way it's going to affect the academics of the school to the extent where the academics become "common". I understand the fuss about keeping the Uncommon App because it's such a characteristic quirk of the University's, and trust me, I'm also upset to see it go, but Chicago is Chicago and I feel that the reasons for switching to the Common App are legit. If you legalize gay marriage, does that set a precedent for accepting pedophilia? I don't think so. Therefore, the switch is not going to be a tragedy, I promise.</p>
<p>That being said, I apologize for completing this thread's transformation into yet another Common App debate.</p>
<p>well, to bring this back to the original topic--do you think switching to common will in fact increase the number of applicants by a very significant number? Obviously that is what the U has in mind... I don't think it will.</p>
<p>Most people, in my opinion, still will not apply because when they see the uncommon supplement, they'll say "screw this" and not apply. Thats pretty much what happens when people see the uncommon app--many classmates of mine have said thats the exact reason they did not apply ("after I saw those essays...."). I applied to only 1 common app school, so I am not really sure how supplements change per school--but from what I know, they are not much extra work at all. Chicago's app will still be known as "too much work" and to some (granted, undesirables at the U) "annoying" to do.</p>
<p>Well, there probably will be a leap in applicants, simply because a lot of people don't even consider applying to schools with their own applications. Take UPenn's app, for example-- with all the essays still intact, using the Common App is no less work for the applicant, but people still use it. I think the numbers will increase for Chicago next year, simply for this reason. And that leads to the potential rise in rankings, prestige, etc.</p>
<p>I think the number of apps will increase because of the common app, and because of the US News ranking in the top 10. I'd be suprised if there's not an increase, and maybe a substantial one.</p>
<p>Penn's supplement has two essays. The first one is "Why UPenn" essay. The second one, for which you pick one out of the three prompts given, is OPTIONAL. </p>
<p>Northwestern allows people to pick either the common application or their own uncommon one after their "switch". Everyone still needs to submit the "Why NU essay" and short statements as the NU supplement. </p>
<p>They both have one thing in common: the applicants can submit the essay they may already ahve for common application and they don't have to write another essay if they don't want to. That to me, is the essense of the "switch". That's why I will be very surprised if UChicago will make their own uncommon essays compulsory (i.e. 2 personal statements) after the "switch"; I don't see any point of doing it and it would just make things "uncommonly complicated".</p>
<p>From what I understand, the Chicago Essays, will for the most part, be retained. There is a possibility that they may drop the "your favorite things" essay thereby keeping the number of essays at three (including the common app essay). However, they may simply not require the common app essay be sent to them, which would be more work for those using the common app.</p>
<p>The Common App is advantageous fr international kids, actually -- at least, in my case, my school makes a huge fuss about filling out forms, and the one-size-fits-all Common App school report is pretty lifesaving!</p>
<p>Most of the supplements I've had to fill (Caltech and Princeton, for example) have involved a fair bit of extra work (Caltech has three extra short essays + summer activities + one gigantic long essay; Princeton has two long essays for engineering students), also, so I don't think that Chicago's prospective supplement would be too long. (Also, Caltech's long essay is compulsory, so Chicago would be taking the same route!)</p>
<p>I do agree with whoever said Stanford's system is nice, though. It really is a lot more efficient -- the Uncommon Application is lovely, but it's a bit of a trial to navigate through. I like MIT's app software, as well.</p>
<p>The compulsory one at CalTech is really just an "engineering essay" like the Princeton's one. It's not really the regular personal statement or what UChicago calls "extended" essay; as of now, UChicago has one extended essay + 2 short (1 or 2 paragraphs) essays. As for Princeton, their own application requires two essays (one with 500 words and another 300). Since common application ask for only one 500-word essay, their supplement asks for another 300-word one just so the two are on the same page. In other words, their "switch" didn't really <em>add</em> anything extra. Also, Princeton isn't asking for two 500-word essays; they are expecting one "extended" essay and a short one (though it can be harder to deal with the shorter one in reality).</p>
<p>But if UChicago retains their "extended" essay on top of its common application, then they will be requiring two extended essays (an <em>addition</em> to what they already have).</p>
<p>Sam-- Well, I wrote that under the assumption that the applicant would write the optional essay, because it's always to your advantage to do more work than necessary in order to demonstrate interest.</p>
<p>We won't truly know what will happen to the Chicago essays until the switch is made, but until then, I'm convinced they WILL require both the Why Chicago? and the extended essay.</p>
<p>There were protests when the core was changed from 21 to 15 courses. Some believe a president lost his job because of the change. For good or ill, Chicago students are very protective of the University's traditions and values.</p>
<p>I think they should just stick with what they have now; even if they retain and make the uncommon essay compulsory, a switch would make one feel like it would be moving to the direction of dumping uncommon essay all together in the future.</p>
<p>NOOO! When will this be implemented! I am a junior, will this apply (no pun intended) to me when I apply in the fall/winter of 2007? I really like the idea of the 'un'common app. To me the common app represents typical consumer American super-size me attitude. Sure why not apply to 28 schools I mean they all have the same app. UofC will get alot more "Well... if I'm applying to Harvard, Dartmouth, Harvey Mudd, Princeton, Yale, Boston, Cornell, Northwestern, ect, why not just throw University of Chicago in there for good measure?'' type applicants. I think just the fact of having to write ones address, name, age, sex ect. just one more time will deter less serious people from applying. It is my belief that UofC will see a lot more, albeit highly qualified, people applying to UofC as an 'ivy back-up'. Is this really what UofC wants? To be a 'safe-bet' for prestige whores who don't appreciate it for what it is? To be one of 28 colleges a student applies to? To be higher on the "List of Schools that God with complete certainty and non-contestably thinks is best"? I guess this is all semi-biased (being as a future applicant, I want less, people to compete with me) but I for one will defiantly apply with the uncommon app.</p>
<p>^Haha good practice for my 6hr, 4 essay regents exam tomorrow. yeah all you new yorkers know what Im talkin about....</p>
<p>Well, just to be the devil's advocate here...</p>
<p>Chicago already gets its fair share of "ivy back-up" applicants... trust me, I know a couple. The Uncommon App doesn't really filter them out as effectively as you'd imagine, because making your essays creative isn't compulsory... ie people can still get accepted if they turn in their Common App essay for Chicago. You get your applicants who truly love what the Uncommon App stands for and who slave over perfecting those crazy essays (hooray, hooray!), but you get your fair share of the other type. This isn't to say the latter is inferior in any way; they just see the application and the school differently.</p>
<p>That being said, chill out; obviously you really love the University, so apply next year and be ready to kick major butt with your amazing essays.</p>
<p>I hear 'quirky' in reference to UofC more than any thing else. Whats quirky about conformity. I'm different from my peers. I wear different clothes, I listen to different music, I take extra classes for the sake of learning and most importantly I don't care what people think of me. If you wanna call me gay (Im not) a tree hugging hippy (I am) a geek, a loser, a rock, a toad, an ugly spider what ever you want, go for it, I could care less. Why should Chicago care what US News an world report think of them? They have a fantastic reputation in the world that matters. I want a uni that fits who I am. One that is different from its peers. And UofC is(was?) that. I look(ed?) forward to filling out my uncommon app. It seems(ed) like a rite of passage into the world of 'quirky'. for me. The uncommon app seems like a rite of passage into the world of conformity to me. Welcome to the machine.</p>
<p>It's just about the real world instead of the world the way we'd like it to be. For better or worse, US News rankings now have a real financial impact on colleges. No one has to like that, but the only two options are to ignore it or deal with it.</p>
<p>All oranizations are financial entities. Take in too little and spend too much and they will cease to survive. The lower the US News rankings, the more financial aid a college has to give out, the lower the yield, and the lower the average SAT score (which makes it a circular thing, doesn't it). </p>
<p>The fact is, the selectivity factor only plays a minor role in USNWR ranking. I believe yield no longer is a factor at all. Peer Review, resources spent on students, etc. all play a much bigger role. The concern the University has is in broadening the pool of first generation, lower income, and URM students is the primary motivation for switching to the use of part of the common application. Chicago really does not adjust its admissions based on these factors, a look at URM numbers would likely find the same numbers as the rest of the school. The way to increase URM, etc. enrollment is to attract more qualified applicants. The impact on financial aid should actually be greater, that is, more aid given, if the switch is successful.</p>