I think it’s quite new, maybe only started this year? Yeah, takes “pay to play” to a new level of meaning.
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Me too LOL - did you hear it on YCBK? Totally thought, what a racket!
And yet, I can imagine the relief of being done by NOW with this whole process. I’d be lying if I didn’t try to subtly nudge D26 to do a summer program there this summer. D26 has a stronger will than me, though.
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I didn’t know this was a thing! Interesting.
D26 did a summer program at Miami Ohio this year in game design, and she was told that the students who attended had an “almost guaranteed” spot if they should apply for admission to the school, especially in the area they studied over the summer.
I don’t know how accurate that is, but there is an application process for the summer program including transcript, test scores, essay and counselor rec letter, so not that crazy considering the applicants were pre-screened. The school itself isn’t especially selective, so this didn’t seem a huge deal, BUT the major that D26 applied for only has 50 spots in each fall cohort, so doing the summer program is a pretty nice boost.
There is no early application or binding timeline, though, so not quite the same thing.
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This made me laugh. 
My DH likes to say about our D26, “There are mules who think she’s stubborn.”
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Can you give some examples of the laws you’re referencing specifically?
I understand that different regions of the country may have different atmospheres -Northeast, South, Midwest. And even some city/metro areas can have a different feel/vibe from the rest of the state. I grew up in the Midwest but have lived in the South for 25+ years now, and there are differences and quirks etc. I think I must be oblivious to -laws- that are so different that it would keep me from sending my kids to other regions of the country.
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Honestly, I think that’s only a remotely fair approach if selection for the summer school is as rigorous as for the college itself. (I have no idea how their summer programs work.)
(But yes I too would take a chance at being done now if possible!)
C26’s summer program made it clear from the outset the program had no impact on admissions , and all admissions was done by AOs with no department input so even if they wanted to they couldn’t.
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Speaking for us personally, my C26 is concerned about the lack of reproductive rights in some states (especially where they criminalize those who leave the state to get procedures done) as well as some of the moves being made against LGBTQ people (a discussion which arose in the context of the subject of the UTA thread).
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I didn’t hear it on YCBK, I love that podcast actually. But am a bit behind. I heard it from my kid b/c she thinks some of her classmates got into the school through that program recently. I googled it and was like “what the what?!?”
Too be clear, no shade on the students and families who do ED0 at UChicago from me. It is the school that my ire is towards on this.
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I thought the same thing! However, I already didn’t have a high opinion of Univ of Chicago but this solidifies it.
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Yeah, the Miami Ohio program you mention raises none of the concerns the ED0 one does for me. That a school with high admissions rates, admits kids who do its summer program through regular process is an entirely different, and reasonable thing. Presumably their office has to worry about filling their class to make budget. UChicago certainly does not need ED0 to do that.
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I am stealing this. Hilarious!
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A common one is individual state abortion laws.
In our case, I’d prefer my kids didn’t attend college in CA because of, in my opinion, issues with multiple laws such as high taxes, gun laws, laws around immigration enforcement, ineffective prosecution of criminal activity (this last one isn’t the law itself but enforcement of it in court system).
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I didn’t want to go too far down a political path because that’s not what this board is for, so I’ll just say I think @SJ2727 and @sbinaz covered the sort of things I mean from two different perspectives.
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Changing tack. Is it ever appropriate for a parent to contact the admissions office? Situation: 10 days since C26 applied to a school and no portal email (website says “a day or two”). They emailed the admissions office a few days ago - no response. School counselor suggests their next step is to call. Complication: it’s a different time zone and AO hours are only when C26 is in school. Not sure how long to wait to see if an email response arrives (I know it’s probably a busy time of year) or whether we should call now, but practically that probably means I have to call.
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Unless there is an urgency like a concern that the kid’s app might be considered to miss a deadline upcoming, I’d probably have the kid email again early next week before I’d call as a parent. Kid could also leave a voicemail, perhaps in the morning before heading to school, so admissions gets it after if they don’t answer in the morning (assuming time zone issue is pacific v eastern). I’d be hesitant to call admissions on this as a parent.
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Funny! I literally had listened to the episode on my morning commute yesterday and was telling my work colleague about UChicago because of it 
I think it’s the most recent episode. I tend to skip around and then search for ones I will find interesting.
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My feeling is that the level of urgency would depend on what school it is, and whether your C26 is coming up against a deadline that would make it crucial to have that portal available. (For example UMD which is known to be super strict about all materials being in before EA deadline.) If urgency is high, I would go ahead and make the call today. If not so high, I would have the student call on Monday or another day next week before school (and leave a message if needed) as suggested by @ECCA2026.
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