Enjoy the Last Year of the Un-Common Application

[Myself]

<p>Class of '11 - you hold the distinction of being the last applicants to use the Un-common Application. Despite a large backlash from students, the administration has decided to switch to the common app for next year.</p>

<p><a href=“http://news.google.com/news?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&client=firefox-a&tab=wn&q=“university+of+chicago”+“uncommon+application”&btnG=Search+News[/url]”>http://news.google.com/news?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&client=firefox-a&tab=wn&q=“university+of+chicago”+“uncommon+application”&btnG=Search+News&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[mikenthemaddog66]

<p>O Dang. Its official. Well, it will be interesting to see if more people actually will apply now.</p>

[neverborn]

<p>We tried. :(</p>

[brand_182]

<p>Oh wow…see there was someone else who JUST posted something two days ago saying Chicago was becoming a prestige whore and would switch to the common app soon anyways. That’s messed up.</p>

<p>In fact…here ya go:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=269522[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=269522&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

Oh, fear not Pulkit! Soon, Uchicago will be up on the US News list, yes!</p>

<p>See, they are making the prestige whore move just like WashU and Penn etc, soon they’ll switch to the Common App, and their ‘selectivity’ will go down. Then, they’ll play other yield games and such, so their coveted rank will slowly increase.</p>

<p>And as you insightfully point out, after US News deems them a decent college (because, after all, the authority is clear) it will finally be ‘up there’ with the ‘elite privates’.</p>

<p>We can only pray that the rankings will deem Chicago on the same tier to HYMPS.

</p>

[metonymy]

<p>Ouch. Hopefully the move won’t turn applicants away, since the Uncommon app is like the gateway to Discovering Chicago.</p>

[writonthetransom]

<p>It’s sad. Anyone know if the uncommon app will be an option? Or will they only accept the common app? Personally, I find the common app to be more annoying. A bunch of the basic info has to be filled out twice anyway- once on the regular part and once on each supplement. And with lengthy supplements, each application still takes a lot of time. Also, I think some parts are dumb- why make us put in our scores if we’re sending transcripts and score reports anyway?</p>

[verbalizing]

<p>Too bad CC doesn’t have little faces or else I’d use the shocked one. As long as their essays are still unique, things aren’t that bad.</p>

[hrhcow]

<p>well i suppose they’ll prob make the supplement all unique and all. so it really isn’t all that bad. after all, what characterizes the uncommon app is th eessays.</p>

[tennisdude]

<p>The classic argument, “Oh, well, as long as we keep the essays, yeah, it, yeah…” Fat chance.</p>

<p>"
O’Neill said that — when the shift takes place, probably in the fall of 2008 — one of the short essays would have to be dropped. He said it would probably be the “favorites” essay.
"</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/12/01/chicago[/url]”>http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/12/01/chicago&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Have fun writing “In 200 words or less, which activity would you continue to do and why. Do not exceed the character limit, or you will be cut off.”</p>

[IlleIpse]

<p>The Uncommon App was what made me choose U of Chicago.</p>

[Katharos]

<p>It’s a sad day. I signed the online petition against this change, and my parents, as alumni, did as well.</p>

<p>To no avail.</p>

[drummerdude_07]

<p>I’m certainly no fan of the move, but before everyone jumps off the cliff, ask yourself what the actual differences in content there were between the Common and UnCommon. Certainly the essays were uncommon, but I would expect the most important part, the outlandish main essays, to stay. And just because the Director once said something doesn’t mean it will necessarily happen that way. The big thing to me is that if you still want to write a “favorite” essay, you can and they will read it. I liked the Uncommon too, but what are we really losing here, other than disincentives for the less interested to apply?</p>

<p>One can make the case that having more people apply is bad, but the thing is that having a different, less self-selected group apply doesn’t necessarily translate into a different group getting admitted and choosing to attend. This is where the admissions office has to step up to the plate and continue selecting well-qualified applicants who WANT to be at UChicago, not just those who want a backup for HYP.</p>

[neverborn]

<p>Myself: I don’t remember who you are… Are we Facebook friends!? :o</p>

[Myself]

<p>Er…yes. We are. O-club ring a bell? AIM? OO.net? Granted I haven’t posted here in months…</p>

[neverborn]

<p>Ah, there it is. I just didn’t recognize your CC ID.</p>

[felipecocco]

<p>the switch has not been officially announced yet, and there are rumors suggesting that Zimmer is reconsidering after the protest last week.</p>

[Pulkit]

<p>ok, so here are my questions,</p>

<ol>
<li>if you switch to common app and more people appy, how does that make your ranking go up?</li>
<li>currently, it is ranked 9, it is in the top 10 schools in the country, how much higher does it want to go. like, what is all this fuss about making it go up in ratings, its not like its ranked low, its very high in fact, does it want to beat HYMPS? cuz thats just not happening</li>
</ol>

[robbyg]

<p>boo on Chicago</p>

[writonthetransom]

<p>Why don’t they accept both? It can’t be too complicated to use both the common and uncommon apps, since several other schools do this. It would increase applicants but satisfy those who love the uncommon app. IMO, it would still stink that they were using the CA, but it seems like a good compromise.</p>

[metonymy]

<p>felipecocco, and pretty much everyone else:</p>

<p>Nope, it’s official.</p>

<p>From Libby’s recent blog post:

The University’s Office of College Admissions has just submitted an application to be accepted as a member of the Common Application group. You will find attached a statement which explains something of the reasons we have decided to add the Common application as an option for applicants to the College. Let me add a word from those of us who recruit the students and who read the applications. We have come to love our Uncommon, so named seven or so years ago, but at heart the application we devised some 24 years ago when we began to ask “uncommon” questions. But, even as we loved the document, and patted ourselves on the back for being different and clever, we realized that there was a chance that some students would be confused or intimidated by our use of an instument that looked different and difficult. And, we always feared the the students who might turn away from the Uncommon might be, disproportionately, students who were the ones most likely to be least comfortable with competitive college admissions–e.g., those without counsel, the first-generation applicants, and the low-income students. Now, as other universities have followed Harvard’s lead and have, one by one, decided to add the Common Application or to replace their own application entirely with the Common, we find that we are almost alone (Georgetown seems to be the other holdout) in requiring a separate and different application. So, we have decided to keep the Uncommon as an option for those students who like the look and feel of it, and who appreciate the hard work that has gone into making our on-line application so useful and friendly.In addition, we hope to add the Common Application as an option. The students who use the Common will have to fill out a substantial supplement, which means they will have to answer our interesting questions. Maybe more applications will be forthcoming as a result of this change. We hope so, because we devote a lot of our energy every year to persuading more students to apply to Chicago. More students should apply to Chicago–we know that too many students who would love this college don’t apply, and our mission is to spread the good word to any student who wants this kind of education, which is only offered here. Who wants to tamper with a great thing? Well, sometime the time comes to try something new in the interests of furthering the values we hold dear. If some new, worthy, Chicago-type kids are welcomed by the Common Application into the fold, this change will be a very good thing. And, in our welcome to them, we are determined to let them know, in no uncertain terms, that whether they choose to use the Uncommon or the Common application, they are filing a distictive application to a distinctive University.

</p>

<p>Read the rest here
<a href=“http://uncommonapplication07-08.blogspot.com/[/url]”>http://uncommonapplication07-08.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>:(</p>