<p>Cue7,</p>
<p>yes. Ranking in #5 for a few years shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Stanford will DEFINITELY help. Note that the magnet school I mentioned has a lot of Asian students. Sorry to acknowledge, but their Asian parents are far less nuanced when it comes to recommending school choices to their kids. RANKING and prestige matter, and matter BIG TIME. </p>
<p>I don’t have stats for Stanford or Caltech, but I believe they do apply to those, though not in as high number as, say, MIT. By the way, in a town public high school (different form the magnet school D1 went to), kids apply to Stanford and Northwestern. For whatever reason, not so much U Chicago. this is the school my S2 went to, and I heard this from one of the GCs. Again, it’s all about brand equity and marketing presence. </p>
<p>Regarding “no fun” rep, the kids I am talking about probably are not bothered by these. These kids are serious students, so no problem. Besides, some of them are really competitive students, and they would go for U Chicago even if it’s no fun if it’s prestigious and on par with the likes of MIT, Penn, and Stanford. Well, Calthech has no fun reputation, right? They don’t have any problem grabbing mind share, do they? </p>
<p>This whole thing of “no fun” reputation being the major deal breaker is a myth among the students of the caliber of the nation’s top 10 schools. If the school’s other prestige factors are there, they will overcome the “non fun” reputation. Besides, I firmly believe, U Chicago does NOT have to appeal to “no fun, no way” kids. There are enough U Chicago fit kids who are currently not considering U Chicago seriously. Just better tapping that under-utilized pool will be enough to send U Chicago to a new level.</p>
<p>Why in the hell do most kids who apply to Northwestern from the East Coast skip U Chicago? Because they are all scared of the “life of the life”??? No, I think U Chicago simply is not in their mind scape as much as Northwestern. Most of them do not even know about the vaunted Life of the Mind tradition of U Chicago to be even scared of it. </p>
<p>Honestly, when we were working with our D1, we suggested U Chicago to him for the strength of its economics department. Truthfully, left to his own device, it would not have occurred to him to even apply since NONE of his friends were talking about it. They all compare notes, you know. Brand equity of U Chicago is very poor in this highly competitive, overachieving, upper middle class NJ county. </p>
<p>Only after he applied to Chicago, I started to do research and realized that it’s a perfect fit for my son. Now that he is there, my son is soooooooooooo happy. Joking that he should sent a big thank you note to Harvard for having rejected him. U Chicago could and should capture more kids like him, and they still are not doing a good job yet.</p>
<p>Let’s do some quick survey. I watch popular TV dramas while I exercise. It’s funny which colleges are mentioned in such dramas for casual reference when the show’s producers and writers want to convey the image of prestige, reputation, elite education, and excellence. Of course, they mention Ivys. Then they for go Duke, Northwestern, Georgetown, Stanford, etc. I have NEVER heard a single reference to U Chicago, NOT EVEN ONCE. Have you? So, there. This is where U Chicago stands. Again, you can blame all the mindless herd mentality public. But in doing so, you are missing a vast pool of 18 year olds who would have been a perfect fit for the school and will make the school and the ensuing alum network so much more vibrant.</p>