<p>My son just received a letter from admissions encouraging him to apply. This seems a little late, doesn't it? Don't they have enough apps already? He is an outstanding student and athlete, but probably still sits outside the 28% of the pool that is accepted.</p>
<p>I still receive several letters from various colleges every week. If Chicago hasn’t been on your son’s radar, I see no reason to consider it now.</p>
<p>Oh, and to a college admissions office, there is no such thing as “enough apps.” :)</p>
<p>Of course, the admissions office will try to get as many applications as possible. But Chicago does have a rather unique environment, and it happens to be off the radar of many potential students who would be a great fit here. Maybe you should look into the student culture and see how much of a fit it would be for your son. If it’s not a fit, then there’s no reason to apply, but you might as well take a look.</p>
<p>Heck, I receive letters from HYPS every year!</p>
<p>phuriku.</p>
<p>My son went to Carnegie Mellon for summer school and loved it. I’m assuming the culture at UofC is similar: intense, urban, diverse, etc. He would be just as happy at UofC. This late in the cycle, it seems like he is being set up to fail(rejected).</p>
<p>He still gets mail from 2nd tier schools, but mail from other top universities stopped in early Nov.</p>
<p>I called the admissions director about the letter, but got no response.</p>
<p>For whatever it’s worth, my son got mail from Yale, Dartmouth, and Duke recently.</p>
<p>CMU and UChicago are pretty different in my opinion.</p>
<p>I thought everybody knew that these letters from colleges mean absolutely nothing, other than the fact that they want more apps.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon and Chicago are indeed similar with regard to intensity, location, and diversity, although they are somewhat different with respect to student personality, primarily because of the difference in the area of concentration. Chicago students tend to be more liberal arts types, while CMU students tend to be more of the tech-y type.</p>
<p>Top universities, Chicago included, tend to avoid reaching out to unqualified applicants just to boost admissions numbers. If they wanted to boost admissions numbers, they could just send out letters of invitation to anyone who took the SAT, regardless of their score. Nondorf’s goal as head of admissions is to solicit as many applications from potentially qualified and suitable students. This isn’t just to lower the admissions rate - it’s to get as many applications as possible, and THEN judge who is appropriate for entry into the university. The admissions office doesn’t really judge applicants before their applications are in front of the committee, so it’s unlikely that they just sent your son a letter with the intent of soliciting another application likely to be rejected.</p>
<p>It may look meaningless having this come at such a late time, but personally, I was accepted, after having only been invited to apply during my 9th grade year. After 9th grade, Chicago never sent me anything, so it would appear as if I was a candidate they didn’t particularly admire, since many of my other friends and classmates were getting heaps of mail from them. Well, in the end, it was I who was accepted into the university EA, and many of my friends who were waitlisted or rejected. So the amount of mail you receive doesn’t mean a terrible lot about your potential as an applicant.</p>
<p>^I am not so sure. I’m not going to elaborate because it could all be a lie and I have been deceived by the college admissions, but I received a LOT of mail from U of C and that was one of the factors that made me want to apply there EA. (instead of EA/ED elsewhere)</p>
<p>*note: my school only allows students to apply EA or ED to ONE school, even if it is non-binding.</p>
<p>I guarantee you it means absolutely nothing. Your scenario just means all of their advertising worked, as it is meant to spread its name and get more people to apply. (And obviously every university does it, not just Chicago)</p>
<p>If it’s just a last minute effort to pad their stats, this is borderline unethical. Especially in light of their huge number of admits for EA. There are very few openings left for RD(based upon another thread).</p>
<p>WUSL was famous for this, but you would expect UofC to back off after the EA deadline.</p>
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<p>Actually, the head of admissions has a Masters degree in Ethics. I’m not even joking; look it up. (Yes, I find it ironic as well.)</p>
<p>On the whole, however, I have to disagree with you here. Is it wrong for Harvard and Princeton to send out promotional material when they have such low acceptance rates? Or even Brown or Dartmouth for RD? Because Chicago’s RD acceptance rate will be something like 50% higher than each of those schools.</p>
<p>^of course it’s not wrong for them to promote their schools. I’m just pointing out that doing it one week before the RD deadline, after most slots have already been committed to EA acceptances seems specious.</p>
<p>@ Tamiami: Maybe it got lost in the mail and only wiggled its way into the mailbox a couple weeks late? :)</p>
<p>^letter dated Dec. 18, received Dec. 23.</p>
<p>I think it was intended as a joke :)</p>
<p>I know, but we’re so rural that it could have been true.</p>