<p>:O A Brazilian! Thank you, @UChicago!! Seriously!</p>
<p>Thanks a lot, Grace!!!</p>
<p>Hi, there! (: I was put on UChi’s wait list for the class of 2018. I’ve heard that some of my fellow waitlisters received emails saying that admissions would no longer be considering them for admission. I checked my UChicago account, as well as the Spam folder of my email, and I didn’t notice an email. Might this have been a mistake, or is there still a small wait list out there? UChi is an amazing place; I’d love to know whether it’s still a possibility</p>
<p>@ocflav, I’d check in with your regional admissions counselor to discuss this. </p>
<p>This is a silly question that’s been bothering me. I am an alumna from the late 80s, now shepherding my kid thru the process. I still call the University of Chicago the “U of C” but somewhere along the line the branding seems to have changed to UChicago. I don’t recall noticing the change in the magazine or other alumni mailings. When did that re-branding happen and why? </p>
<p>@VSGPeanut101 this has been a gradual shift over the past few years. I believe the shift was made mostly out of the sense that people affiliated with the University knew the ‘true’ meaning of “U of C”, but that outside of the community the “U of C” shorthand was used by several other schools which caused it to be unspecific when communicating with a wide audience. For more info/branding nerd-out time-- <a href=“Communications | University of Chicago”>Communications | University of Chicago;
<p>@UChicago okay thanks—will do!</p>
<p>@UChicago </p>
<p>When does UofC plan on staring the molecular engineering major?</p>
<p>Interested in knowing to what extent intro and intermediate level courses are taught by faculty or graduate students; or large lectures with grad students leading discussion groups; or predominately small class sizes with faculty teaching. Trying to get a sense of undergraduate experience at Chicago versus small liberal arts colleges who promote that all classes are taught by faculty in relatively small classes. Thanks.</p>
<p>Hey Grace, </p>
<p>My question pertains to the supplement essay question, “How does the University of Chicago satisfy your desire for a particular type of learning, community, and future? Please address your own wishes and how they relate to the University of Chicago.” Since it says “a particular type of learning” does this mean we can only focus in on one aspect? Or are we allowed to mention multiple things we love about the University with regards to community, learning, and the future? </p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>@madglav this is a program that we hope will be available as a full major in the coming year; we will announce when it is officially a major. It is currently available as an undergraduate minor as well as a PhD program. </p>
<p>@latichever, our introductory courses in the Core curriculum have a class-size cap of 19 to 21 students in most cases, and 80% of courses overall have less than 20 students. The majority of courses in the Core as well as generally at UChicago are small, discussion-style courses led by faculty members. In some cases, advanced graduate students may assist the professor for breakout writing tutorials/science lab sections, and occasionally teach sections of courses, but overall courses are small both at the introductory and advanced levels and in a discussion-style format. </p>
<p>@shivie101, you can really write whatever you want for that essay-- the question is a guideline and is not meant to limit to one particular point of discussion. </p>
<p>@UChicago Does UChicago plan to offer a neuroscience major?</p>
<p>@neurogirl07 we do currently offer a biology degree with a specialization in neuroscience; it is not a neuroscience major in name exclusively, but offers a very similar program of study to most other neuroscience undergraduate programs. <a href=“Biological Sciences < University of Chicago Catalog”>http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/thecollege/biologicalsciences/</a></p>
<p>@UChicago Also, for the “pose a question of your own” choice is it a wise decision to re-use old UChicago prompts?</p>
<p>@UChicago How does the admissions office go about making its decisions? Is there one person who reads your application and makes a decision? Does the entire committee read every app? </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>@UChicago I am a prospective student (freshman, domestic), and I was wondering how students go about declaring/applying to a major. I was wondering this since applications to Uchicago seem to not be oriented to a specific department or program. Are there cut-offs for majors? Is there a limit to the number of economics majors or mathematics majors, and so on?</p>
<p>Hey @UChicago, thanks so much for taking the time to answer our questions 
</p>
<p>Onto my question: </p>
<p>I’m planning to apply to UChicago, intending to major in physics. I’m quite passionate about physics and hope to pursue some serious research and theory in college. However, I don’t currently have any substantial research experience under my belt. Will that be a major hindrance to getting into UChicago, or getting research positions if I am accepted? Can I compensate by highlighting my fervor for the field? </p>
<p>Thanks again! </p>
<p>@UChicago. Thanks for your answer re class size. To followup: is student work mostly graded by faculty or do grad students play a role? </p>
<p>I’m curious – for international FA, does it put one in a less difficult situation (with regards to admissions) if the family can contribute around 50k, as opposed to requiring more substantial FA? And does the ability to contribute about 50k mean then that FA is hard to get (since that technically covers tuition)? </p>
<p>@neurogirl07 you are welcome to use a past UChicago essay prompt as a “create your own question” option if you find that a past prompt is particularly interesting!</p>
<p>@jsteinberg13, each state/country (for international applicants) has an admissions officer familiar with the area who reads a student’s application and makes a recommendation. Applications are also reviewed by another admissions officer before the original officer advocates for the student in a committee of several members of our staff, where a final admissions decision is made. </p>
<p>@yikesyikesyikes, students apply to the UChicago generally, and there is no initial separate application process to most of our majors. We only have one undergraduate college, and so acceptance to “the College” grants you access to every major we offer! Students are then free to choose from among all of our major options; there are no “caps” or strict enrollment requirements for most majors, including very popular majors like Economics, although most majors do require a certain major-specific GPA to be able to graduate in that program (these are not particularly difficult barriers to cross-- for example the econ GPA requirement is 2.0 with no Econ course grade less than a C-). We only have two majors that have a required application and enrollment cap, these being our Fundamentals: Issues and Texts program and the Law, Letters, and Society program. Students apply to those programs at the end of their first year and the cap exists because the programs act as a cohort and take the majority of their major-sequence courses together through the rest of their time in the College. </p>
<p>@cloudchamber we realize it is not usually feasible for students to have research experience in high school, and this will not be harmful to your application. You’re welcome to give us a sense of your excitement for physics as part of your application even if you have not done research in the field. </p>
<p>@latichever it depends on the course; in the majority of our courses, most of which are small and discussion-style, the work is graded by the faculty instructor. Occasionally in larger courses (intro Econ, general chemistry, etc) the course will be taught by faculty but problem sets/quizzes and tests are graded by graduate student assistants. </p>
<p>@weepingmermaid I’m not an international aid expert, and so would encourage you to discuss this question with our international admissions officers at <a href=“mailto:internationaladmissions@uchicago.edu”>internationaladmissions@uchicago.edu</a>. </p>