<p>JHS - Having lived in Philly for a while and getting to know some Penn GSE grads who teach in the area, I know the Phila high school scene pretty well too. I’m going to have to disagree with you on a couple fronts. I think Chicago does well with the top publics (Masterman, for example), and quite well with the friends schools (GFS, Friends select, etc.), but very badly with all the top private schools in the area (Shipley, Chestnut Hill Academy, Penn Charter, etc.). </p>
<p>There’s a lot of talent slipping through the cracks here. I agree, Chicago does a good job of creating thoughtful brochures that cater to just the sort of people the U of C wants, but the message has not been broad enough. From what I know, Chicago just is not on the radar at all for top, thoughtful kids at an Episcopal or Penn Charter or Shipley. I’d imagine in the entire Inter-ac, Chicago just does not get many applications. </p>
<p>One reason for this is I think that Chicago, unlike other schools that recruit more aggresively, tends to stick with its core schools, and is a bit more reticent about reaching out to schools that do not serve as much as feeders. So, for example, Chicago does great at the friends schools in Philly, at places like Stuyvesant and Bronx Science in New York, Andover in New England, Indiana Sciences Academy in the midwest, etc. It doesn’t branch out perhaps as much as it should beyond this.</p>
<p>I do think, though, that this is changing. I believe Ted O’Neill made a visit to one of the inter-ac schools, either Chestnut Hill Academy or Haverford recently, and he spoke along with the dean from Penn. I expect Nondorf to follow suit. </p>
<p>Another big problem Chicago faces is that I really don’t think it stands as a prominent choice for top midwestern applicants. Penn dominates in Philly and gets the lionshare of great students, and Duke dominates in the Southeast, and Stanford is a prime choice around their region. Winning on the “home turf” is key for the top schools, and helps solidify a school’s standing in its region. Chicago still does poorly on this front. From what I know when I was at U of C, the top students at New Trier or Highland Park still saw Chicago as “that weird school on the south side.” </p>
<p>On this front, the Chicago admissions staff needs to work twice as hard - they need to cement the school as what should be a desirable, top-choice destination for bright, thoughtful students in the region. This comes through nurturing relationships with schools and, I think, with expanding the size of Chicago’s admissions office itself. The office seems spread too thin, and the school should invest more resources on this front. To be blunt, they’re playing catchup with the other Joneses in the neighborhood.</p>
<p>Having said all this - I think Nondorf is a great choice, and should lead Chicago down this general direction. He knows about cultivating relationships with counselors at schools, and everything seems to be picking up steam in Hyde Park. I do think it’s possible for Chicago to meet its target - getting a great applicant pool of around 15k-20k students. Zimmer has quantitative goals on this front. From what I can tell, in terms of the hard numbers, I think he’d want to get to around 20k apps in 4-5 years, with around a 15% acceptance rate. That puts Chicago on comfortable ground in terms of the “perception” of eliteness, but won’t lead to a mass-market appeal for gratuitous applications (something schools like Duke, Wash U, and Penn certainly look for each year). </p>
<p>Within 4-5 years under good stewardship, I think this is a forseeable goal for the school.</p>