<p>I never said I was speaking for anyone but myself, although idad seems to mostly agree with me. But you say this as if it somehow lessens the validity of my statements.</p>
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Most UChicago students, like most college students, are happy to see their college recognized in public.
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<p>Well, at least one of us has the authority to speak for other people. I'd hate to see that go to waste.</p>
<p>In my experience Chicago students are happy to see things like "Chicago student wins Rhodes Scholarship" or "Chicago faculty members wins Nobel prize." No student I know who isn't a first-year or incoming student cares about the USNWR rankings. I'll change my mind when I start seeing t-shirts with the USNWR rankings on them. I guess we just hang around different crowds.</p>
<p>mackinaw is saying that the goal for a school and the benchmark for a prospective student is not to get a specific ranking, but rather to be in the "top 10," "top 20," and so forth.</p>
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I just hope it doesn't turn into a place filled with pre-professional minded students
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I have visited the campus, love the philosophy of Chicago, and really think I would be happy there; however, I am considering medicine as a possible career, and your comment sort of worried me. Would I feel like an outsider at Chicago if I pursued pre-med?</p>
<p>My S is pre-med, loves the place and is committed to a love of learning as anyone else at the school. He attended another school this summer and says the pre-professional atmosphere and the emphasis on what he called "practicality" was not to his liking. He said at Chicago there is more an interest in theory and learning and the pre-professional stuff kind of takes care of itself.</p>
<p>yeah I agree... I was going to edit my post but Id figure that itd get sorted out. What I actually meant was that I hoped Chicago didn't turn into a place which only had students interested in the education for practical or career purposes... I want chicago to keep having that characteristic of being a school which attracts students who like an education for what its worth... I know plenty of current/incoming students who are pre-med and love it... I'm sorry for not fully explaining myself in my previous post.</p>
<p>I'm not so sure that the Uncommon App will actually deter the applicants who choose colleges based on US News rankings... after all, even the schools who do take the Common App (like Caltech) have supplemental essays that are just as crazy as the Chicago prompts.</p>
<p>Personally, I hate this new rank. I know several people who apply to all the top ten schools just because they're on the top ten, which means that the usual applicant pool to Chicago is going to be watered down this year (not stat-wise, but passion-wise). Buuuut who knows... the number nine position might turn out to be a good thing, after all... I'm just upset because it means more competition for me. But in my (and others with the same worries) defense, if a person for whom Chicago is just another prestigious name applies and is accepted, wouldn't that hurt the ones who are genuinely passionate for the school?</p>
<p>"But in my (and others with the same worries) defense, if a person for whom Chicago is just another prestigious name applies and is accepted, wouldn't that hurt the ones who are genuinely passionate for the school?"</p>
<p>I think a little trust in the admissions officers may be in order. As at MIT and Caltech, fit is vitally important at Chicago. Some of the swarmy kids that make them selves so unpleasant on cc may slip by the filters and be admitted. Of those that attend, some will get better - and others will transfer. Admissions is not 100% perfect. But - Chicago is one of the schools I trust, anyway, to make a good decision.</p>
<p>Yea, I'm kinda worried as an applicant this year that people will apply to Chicago now just for the ranking instead of the environment and teaching style of the great school.</p>
<p>good lord, ive never heard so much whining about gaining recognition. people worry wayyyy too much about "kids who apply for rankings." i highly doubt that you will see a noticeable difference in the student body. i wont be so presumptuous and arrogant as to say "hopefully the admissions people will weed them out," but rather that the environment of chicago itself will turn any intelligent, college-grade student into a worthy maroon. its not like everyone there now is your typical chicago student everyone seems to consider themself. get over yourselves.</p>
<p>bravo to motpasm23.
The whining is needless. And people who are complaining about losing the real UofC character need to know that in the last six-eight years the student body has improved immensely. Quirky and self-selecting is good; quirky, self-selecting and actually smart is even better to have around. Improvements to student life? Yes, well, camping out in outdated buildings is overrated -- Ratner/Palevsky fans, anyone?<br>
I knew that the UofC attracted -and attracts- conservative types who like to think that everything was better twenty/thirty/three hundred years ago, but these reactions (and misrepresentations about the core) go a bit far.. Onward and upward! We'll keep the school the same, and just make sure we play the rankings game a little bit more like everybody else. That should get us higher soon:-)</p>
<p>Many on this thread have made the claim that the UChicago administration has tried to make the college "less geeky".</p>
<p>While this may exist on some level, I don't see it within admissions. It's worth mentioning that if this was a major goal for the university, UChicago would accept the common application. As it stands, they only accept the UNcommon application. By switching, they'd get more students applying simply for the name recognition and ranking, which always helps a bit..for say law school.</p>
<p>In fact, if anything, I have always felt that the opposite is true -- that UChicago tries to actively market and direct itself as "different' and "unique". As an example of this, look at all of the goofy sayings on the websites, and the way they describe the uncommon application. Also, according to many people on this forum, they don't value EC's as much as other colleges do. (as opposed to Notre Dame, which is perceived as "jock" and reportedly values ECs heavily) </p>
<p>In any case, why would UChicago want to direct itself towards pre-professional students when Northwestern is in the same city? Now, that's being late in the game! Northwestern would have the edge, if that ever happened.</p>
<p>By the way, does ranking mean it has sold out? I mean, Harvard is ranked number one usually and no one doubts that it has many "theoretical" students, as opposed to "pre-professional".</p>
<p>AMEN. The students doing this usually hang amongst themselves at the U of C. Blaze, I agree with everything you wrote as well. Harvard, MIT and Caltech's admissions committees seem to take care of themselves just fine DESPITE the influx of oh so many prestige-seeking applicants! How in god's name do they do it?</p>
<p>"i wont be so presumptuous and arrogant as to say "hopefully the admissions people will weed them out,"</p>
<p>Thanks, motpasm, but from some of the posts on CC I've encountered a bit of weeding is in order.</p>
<p>When we were up for Family Weekend last year, a woman was up with her son, touring the school, and asked me directions. She was dressed to the nines - and the son was dressed to impress also. Just for the tour, mind you, not even an interview. I gave the mom directions, and chatted with them. Both were clearly hoping to impress someone (the tour guide?) in case the ivies did not come through. Perhaps this young man was admitted - and will, as motpasm suggests, became a true maroon. But my guess is that he was not; I doubt that he would be happy there.</p>
<p>Dearest ohio_mom, some people just like to dress nice. I never prospied or toured anywhere, but if I did, I'm sure that I would wear at the least a nice shirt, probably unbuttoned at the neck. Why, you ask? Who am I trying to impress? Aha, I counter: Why not look nice?</p>
<p>Just because somebody doesn't want to look like a ragamuffin vagabond, or even worse, wear so-called trendy factory ripped and faded jeans with a polo or t-shirt with dragonball Z characters on it, doesn't mean that they're trying to impress anybody. It means that they take pride in their appearance. I'm also in favor of school uniforms in high school (girls show way too much skin!).</p>
<p>It's not really that important, though.</p>
<p>EDIT: It's also entirely possible, nay, even probable, that the characters who you encountered were dressed nicely because being in the city of Chicago, they were planning on going out someplace nice later that day. I know it's very easy to go most places in Chicago without dressing up; I've had friends go to operas in pretty casual clothing. However, it's not uncommon to put on a shirt and tie for such an event. Actually, at the end of every quarter, a bunch of my housemates celebrate by ritzing it up and going out somewhere in style.</p>