<p>I wonder what the impact will be of a new marketing approach in a segment where the product sold has a voice. High school students do not just get information from university websites, high school counselors, letters from admission directors, and alumni at their high school. They also read what present college students are writing about their experiences in forums like this. The forums will update them on UChicago, its intellectual rigor and other characteristics. The voice of present college students has much more impact on high school students than it had 10 years ago simply because forums did not exist then. Therefore I am rather hesitant in making comparisons with the past. As long as faculty sticks to its philosophy and as long as the message of present UChicago students is like it is, I am not at all concerned that the ‘wrong’ type of kids will apply to UChicago. On the contrary! More students may apply because these forums will also reach kids in areas that have been ignored in the past. However, an increased number of high school students may think twice before sending an application to an institute where they may be less successful. You may therefore see a decrease in applications of students who know perfectly well that their high grades are not so much the result of curiosity, interest, intelligence, but much more of their hard work in subjects they like.
hyeonjlee: I loved to read your opinion about careerists. What is the difference with someone who has always wanted to become a professor? Why doesn’t such a person qualify to be called a careerist? With such an ambition there are good reasons to be very grade-focused. The area of interest of a professor is usually very specific sometimes even more so than in other professions. If you want to learn at and contribute to UChicago what really matters is: that you are curious, that you have the wish to be an all-rounder, that you have the will-power and that you have the intelligence. Who cares that you are also a careerist?</p>