<p>Aristotle - Quick question, when you say you were rejected by every other college you applied to, do you mainly mean HYPS and its immediate peers for selectivity (Brown, Columbia, and MIT), or do you also mean schools that that are more around Chicago’s selectivity range (Cornell, UPenn, Northwestern, Duke)? </p>
<p>Obviously, you don’t need to provide specifics, but when I was at Chicago, I met a bunch of kids who said the same thing (“I only came here because I was rejected at every single other college I applied to last winter”). When I pressed them a bit further on this, I found they usually only applied to the 6 most selective colleges in America and Chicago. Given the fact that I couldn’t ever dream of an acceptance to Harvard or Princeton, I found this kinda befuddling. </p>
<p>Again, I’d imagine that most Chicago students could also gain acceptance to Penn, Northwestern, etc. So I am curious to see how far the “I was rejected everywhere else so I just came here,” goes at Chicago today. </p>
<p>Finally, if you think Chicago isn’t as intellectual as promised, just wait until you spend some time at Chicago’s peer schools. I did my graduate work at one of Chicago’s peer schools, and professors often complained about undergrads TEXTING on their cell phones for entire class periods. Even in discussion seminars, a professor would be making a point, and you could see a half dozen students, just texting the class away. I don’t think Chicago’s anywhere near that level.</p>