<p>Breaker Boy - how about this: tell your parents there’s about a 7% chance you’re getting into HYPS. There’s maybe a 9% chance you’re getting into Brown or Columbia. So, doesn’t it make sense to cast your net a little wider? Don’t worry about proving Chicago to your parents, just focus on mentioning how insanely competitive HYPS is. They have to understand that there’s a 90%+ chance you’re not getting in HYPS, so you might as well apply to other schools.</p>
<p>joefrommiami - nah that’s not true. Northwestern has a football team, and lots of people haven’t heard of Northwestern.</p>
<p>Offer to split the application fee with them. If you get in then you can talk about it then…</p>
<p>Well, I thank everyone but it’s a lost cause. My parents are simply not ready to send one of their sons to Chicago, and we have plenty of stress in the household as is. </p>
<p>I still highly respect the institution from everything I have read and will keep it in mind for graduate school…that’s where it’s worth emptying the wallet, right?</p>
<p>At the very least, this thread has been a tribute to my seductive thread-titling abilities.</p>
<p>breakerboy - so where ARE you applying? Hopefully you have some more manageable schools in the mix besides just top ivies (HYP)?</p>
<p>Have they seen U.S. News & World Report’s recent ranking of world universities? Chicago comes in third among U.S. universities after Harvard and Yale… and ahead of Princeton, MIT, Caltech, Columbia, and all the rest.</p>
<p>[World’s</a> Best Universities: Top 200 - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/worlds-best-universities/2009/10/20/worlds-best-universities-top-200.html]World’s”>http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/worlds-best-universities/2009/10/20/worlds-best-universities-top-200.html)</p>
<p>Consider Deep Springs College it is an elite insitution if you are interested in HYPS.</p>
<p>Sorry to get off topic, just to let you know there ARE other options out there.</p>
<p>Here’s how to win your parents over. Plan a trip to the school so they can see it for themselves. There’s a wonderful hotel on 63rd and Cottage Grove you can all stay at.</p>
<p>Haha welcome back IHate. Any thoughts on the applications boom at Chicago? You think all those bright-eyed future Chicago students are in for a rude awakening once they step on campus?</p>
<p>Is there really a hotel at 63d and Cottage Grove? Do you rent by the day, by the hour, or by the pipe?</p>
<p>FYI. The Univ of Chicago does have a football team. Granted, it’s a Division III team, but it’s still a football team.</p>
<p>There were a number of years that the Univ of Chicago didn’t have a football team, and during that time, Second City did a hilarious parody of what the U of C football team would be like.</p>
<p>As for safety, Barack Obama lived about 2-3 blocks north of the campus, and it was safe enough for him. He still keeps his Hyde Park home, so the Secret Service is close to campus. In any big city, a person should be careful about walking alone late at night–just common sense. That would be just as true at Harvard and Yale as it would be at Univ of Chicago.</p>