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This blog is now defunct; further entries will be made on the new blog:

https://blogs.uchicago.edu/collegeadmissions/

ThickEnvelope closes on July 1

Hi everyone, for the last time. Sniff. ThickEnvelope, including the bulletin boards, will close on July 1. We're expecting you to have moved over to the Class of 2012 website, including their bulletin boards. Also the discussion on Facebook has been pretty lively.

If you're still awaiting your student ID number or email address and you are a US citizen or permanent resident, you can claim your email address (also known as a CNetID) here.

If you are an international student and you don't have your student ID number, it's because you haven't turned in your I-20 forms to Isabel Gomez, and you need to do it immediately! When she receives your completed forms to get your student visa, she will email you your student ID number so you can claim your email address. Even Canadian students need to do some things, so pay attention to the letter you received in the admit packet and any emails she sends you.

Check back on July 1 at 3 p.m. to see our awesome new website. ThickEnvelope and the Uncommon Application are no more, but we're integrating them into the college admissions website with a new design. Lolcats will ensue.

Also, July 1 is the deadline to defer your enrollment for a year or two. If you still want to do that, just write an email to the dean of admissions, Ted O'Neill, and he'll approve your request. The only way he wouldn't approve it is if you're enrolling full-time in a degree-seeking program at another four-year university.

I'll see you all at orientation.

Housing change deadline is June 1

This is just a reminder that this Sunday, June 1, 2008 is the deadline for changing any preferences on your housing application in ThickEnvelope. This includes roommate preferences, room type preferences (single, double, triple), residence hall preferences, rankings, etc. After June 1, 2008 it will not be possible to make any changes to your housing application. Also we'd like to remind you that roommate preferences are considered to be more important than any other preference – room type or residence hall.

Class of 2012 website is ready!

https://classof2012.uchicago.edu/

Thus begins the long, slow process of extricating you from the grasp of the admissions office and putting you in the capable hands of the College Programming Office. The Class of 2012 website has bulletin boards (ours will eventually go down), all the summer mailings (so no calling me if you didn't get something... it's right there), the forms you need to complete before arriving, and other fun interactive stuff.

Students who were admitted from the waiting list

First, congratulations on your admission! Second, you do not have access to ThickEnvelope! Because you are a member of a such a small and elite group, you will have to fill out your enrollment and housing forms on paper.

Claiming your email address

Students can now claim their email addresses here. You just need to have a social security number.

If you're an international student, I can email you your student ID so that you, too, can claim your email address. Just email me at question@phoenix.uchicago.edu.

Also... make your own academic sentence. Now you don't even need to go here!

Two Scav Hunt videos

With a bonus incentive--videos that get the most views will be televised on Channel 55 in Chicago.

Blues Brothers-style public dancing at Chicago's Daley Center

Does anyone feel like they just saw a Feist video?

Riding a Unicyle on a Monowheel

That one is cool for a few seconds, and then there's just a lot of screaming. Our students are so supportive!

The Scav Hunt

We were going to do a Scav Hunt post... but then we were looking at Facebook, and we realized that other people took way more and way better photos than we did. So, go to Facebook and look at Will Deitz and Grace Chapin's photos. You should be able to see them from inside the UChicago network. (Oh, and you can claim your email address and join the network now.) Hooray for other people doing our work for us, and better than we could!

It's not just you - no one can log into ThickEnvelope

No one has been able to log into ThickEnvelope today, and we believe it's because of a routine upgrade to our database. We are working on the problem and hope to have you logging in by noon.

UPDATE: We're just going to leave ThickEnvelope down for the whole day, but it will come back up by tomorrow morning.

Your bumper sticker

If you received a letter from Deans Art and Boyer with no bumper sticker, just email me your name at questions@phoenix.uchicago.edu and I'll make sure you get your bumper sticker and whatever I have lying around the office that is flat and would be funny to mail to a random person.

Scav Hunt started!

So, you've all enrolled. You now have nothing to do. Since we're not trying to get you to enroll any more, neither do we. But you know who really has nothing to do, because he isn't an admissions counselor any more? Austin Bean. So we've given him a camera and he will once again photograph Scav Hunt for us, which started last night at midnight.

I think the most time-consuming and difficult thing to do is be a University of Chicago undergraduate. The second most is to be an admissions counselor at any school. The third most is to be a graduate student, and that's what Austin is. Therefore he has enough time to do this.

Austin Bean made some great posts on Scav Hunt last year, all of which you can read here in chronological order (like we said, you have nothing else to do):

1. Countdown to ScavHunt
2. Scav Hunt - Thursday Morning 8:30 - 9:00 a.m.
3. Scav Hunt 11:00 am - 2:00 pm
4. Inside the ScavenHQ: Snell-Hitchcock
5. Item 320: The Masque of Youth
6. Back to the ScavQuarters: Max Palevsky
7. Weekend Update (with no pictures)
8. ScavUpdate - Monday
9. Chronological ScavHunt Recap
10. Saturday AM: Boat "Race"
11. Saturday PM: The Scav Olympics!
12. Saturday PM/Monday AM
13. JUDGMENT DAY!

Austin apparently didn't have anything to do last year either.

And finally... here is the Scav Hunt website! And the list for this year, available as a PDF! By linking to this list the University of Chicago admissions office does not endorse or condone any items or the language used to describe the items on this list.

But if you really want to laugh, you should read this puff piece on me and this blog. Not a shining example of journalism... and not all correct. It was Austin who played ding-dong ditch on President Zimmer. And I'm not just saying that because he doesn't work here any more. But I am proud that it is currently the most popular article, just before "U of C acceptance rate hits record low."

Edit housing options IS working!

Yay!

Remember, all changes to housing options must be done by June 1 so we can match roommates and place people.

"Edit housing options" is not working!

People have been emailing me about the fact that when you try to edit your housing options, you're just redirected to your homepage on ThickEnvelope. This is to let you know that I know, and we're working on it. Thanks!

And thanks to everyone who enrolled! We're going to have a great class. The best class ever, as Ted will tell you when you arrive on September 20.

Have made you a decision?

I'm currently in Berkeley at the Doubletree out by the Marina. It's very beautiful. I just finished giving a 10-minute presentation to juniors and their families, and I was thinking... isn't it almost May 1? I'm not sure any more. I start my presentation by saying, "Do you know what day it is? April 30. Do you know what tomorrow is for seniors around the country? The Socialist Workers' Holiday! JK, it's the National Reply Deadline. All seniors must deposit at the colleges they're going to attend. So just think, in a year and a day, you will know where you are going to college." And then I tell them to change their email address from monkeybutt45@aol.com to something more respectable for the coming year.

So then I was thinking... if it's a year and a day for juniors... it's ONLY A DAY for you!

So, deposit!

But, most of you won't deposit at Chicago. You'll go to other places. Some of those people will write their regional admissions counselors really sweet emails about how they had fun applying to Chicago, but that the other place is more for them. That's fine. Just tell us where you're going! It's very important that we know that you're not coming, almost as important as knowing that you are.

So, that's that. It's the 11th hour. At our daily breakfasts with your high school counselors, they're all saying that you're ringing your hands and waiting until the last minute. That minute comes soon! Roll a die, take out a deck of cards, flip a coin. And if you don't like the outcome, go to the other school.

Now that April programs are over, what is there to do?

Apparently get parking tickets in San Francisco.

Right now we're on the road, recruiting those pesky little guys we call high school juniors. Do you remember coming to our info sessions last year? Seeing a PowerPoint maybe? In a big hotel ballroom with four other top institutions, or the Chicago-Only Show in DC, New York, or Boston? You'll be pleased to know that we made a lol version of our PowerPoint to amuse ourselves:

Unenrollin'

So, you also have to unenroll by May 1 to get your deposit back. How? Send me an email at questions@phoenix.uchicago.edu. If you do it before May 1, we will refund your $350. If not, we keep it! I think this deadline is also strict, since it's a by-law of the National Association of College Admissions Counseling (NACAC, pronounced AF-lack... er... NAC-ack.)

Here's a good time to talk about double-depositing. Double-depositing is where you put down and keep deposits at two universities past May 1. Double-depositing is not allowed. You are only supposed to deposit at (and go to) one. However, it has become a huge issue lately. Sometimes people keep their two deposits in well into Orientation Week. If they don't like their first few nights, they leave and attend the other place. That's not how this is supposed to work! We're not supposed to be recruiting you well into the start of classes, and you're not supposed to have to make your decision after May 1. We all agreed that May 1 was the national reply deadline.

Plus, if we find out that you have double deposited, we will rescind your offer of admission. How's that? How do we find out? Well, in order to enroll, you must send us a final transcript. We hope that your guidance offices will not send two final transcripts, or that if they are asked to, they're savvy enough to know something fishy is going on. If they're asked to by you, they'll probably tell you to withdraw your enrollment pretty quick, or they might even tell us what you did. Don't do it! The stakes are too high!

So, if you're not going to get your deposit back anyway, why unenroll from the university you know you're not going to attend? Besides the embarrassment of having your offer rescinded when we find out you have two deposits down, you will be taking a spot away from a wait listed candidate who really wants it. And that's just wrong.

Update: Email is writing, so emailing your unenrollment is just fine.

April 17-18 Program

Hooray for our last program! It will be a big one. Maybe a bad one - it's slated to thunder and lightning and wind and rain the whole time. But be moderately warm. Last week people didn't seem to mind the rain, but people will surely mind if they are knocked over by a gust of wind or struck by lightning. Not that that will happen! Nor will you be eaten by a cougar, apparently.

Here are the class visits for April 17 and 18. Remember, classes could cancel at the last minute, and you could get here to find that your class was the first to be snapped up. We only allow four people in each class by default, but sometimes it's two or even one. No tears in my class visit room!

We've been having some trouble sending the confirmation email because of server problems (you'll notice that the class visit list is hosted on my personal UChicago website... which you all will get if you enroll), but it should go out tonight. The main highlight is the tentative schedule, which you can view here.

Other links:

• Directions to campus
• Google Maps
• Accommodations Your parents need to stay somewhere!
• What's happening on campus on Thursday, April 17 (Besides an awesome game of Frisbee with me in the gym.)

There will be photos!

Hey guys, if you were here last week and took some pictures, add them to the flickr pool on your right. Libby forgot her camera so we didn't catch any this time. I promise we'll take some this week and add them early next week.

Still want to come this weekend? You can still register online at http://thickenvelope.uchicago.edu. You have until tomorrow morning.

Finally, this may be the weirdest thing to happen in town since I saw a guy jump off the El: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-chicago-cougar-shot-webapr15,0,98147.story. The Admissions Office is very sad about the cougar's death.

Enrollin'

Here are two notes on enrolling.

1. Do it before May 1. Because we want to be able to use the waiting list this year, and so as not to over enroll for the third year in a row, we are going to be very stingy about people who try to enroll a day late. Don't wait until the last minute! You can enroll in an instant on ThickEnvelope. If you postmark your paper forms on May 2, we may actually send them back. We may actually do it. This isn't like applying. There is no Baker Island any more.

2. A lot of people have been emailing about claiming their Chicago email address. Well, here is the link to do it. Does it work for you? I don't know if the university even knows if you've enrolled, or how they would... let me know if you're able to use this link.

3. (Bonus!) I enrolled somewhere, too! I enrolled at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy. It was very fun, though it was sad to turn down the other schools' offers. I wanted to go everywhere I was admitted, and I have to say that I was not completely ecstatic in every way like I was when I enrolled here for college. Maybe because I didn't have an amazing April Program to bolster my decision (I just had a kind of dour and weird one.) More on this later, maybe.

Or, I'll open it up for discussion. Have you enrolled somewhere? Was it sweet? Bitter? Bittersweet? Are you going to wait until the last minute? Let us know.

Your brain on campus visits

The title to this entry is an homage to the new book out at the University of Chicago Press (the largest academic press in the woooorrrrllldd! I made that up. It's the largest in the country.), Your Brain on Cubs, about the ups and downs of Cubs fandom (largely downs.) We're White Sox fans down here, so we don't care if they suffer, but I thought it was a clever title, and some Chicago professors are contributing writers.

Also, while I was browsing the press, I found this book: Succeeding as an International Student in the United States and Canada, which addresses the myriad issues inside and outside the classroom that international students face.

And now onto the actual subject at hand. We had an extremely successful April 5 Dorm Preview Day, where 15 students walked up to us and handed in their enrollment forms, and 100 more enrolled over the weekend online! Hooray! The Dorm Preview Day is only a half-day program, and the two upcoming overnights are much more complicated, so here is an overview of the incredibly cool stuff that goes on, and a few hints on how to make the most of your two-day visit.

1. Dress appropriately. The weather is still pretty finicky here in Chicago, so bring an extra sweater, jacket, and umbrella. It's not supposed to rain, but it is supposed to be cloudy, and apparently those sometimes generate rain. Also, wear comfortable but appropriate clothing. Every year there's one girl who has on five-inch heels, or an incredibly short skirt, or a boy who is wearing a t-shirt with an offensive slogan he suddenly wishes he weren't wearing because he's meeting the vice president of the university. There's no need to wear a suit and tie, unless that's your normal wardrobe, but you also want to make sure you can transition from classroom to meeting with highly-ranked administrators to party to late-night Monopoly.

2. Get here early for primo class visits. We have more classes available than ever before, and you are only allowed to visit one on Thursday and one on Friday so that we can have more classes for more people. But all classes only allow four prospective students, and some only allow one or two. If you want the pick of things, come early and sign up for your class visit right after you check in. You will sign up for Thursday and Friday classes on Thursday morning, unless of course you arrive late on Thursday or on Friday, in which case we'll have the classes that are left available for signing up on Friday. The class visit booklet does not have room numbers this year! That means you will have to officially sign up to even know where it is. The top three complaints from professors are that 1) parents are showing up (not allowed!), 2) students are coming late and leaving early, and 3) more than four students show up. Don't ruin things for future admitted classes!

For your convenience, here is an unofficial list of the classes available this Thursday and Friday. This is just for you to browse through so that you can march into the room and know what you want. Don't be surprised, though, if your class was canceled, moved, or is already full. I don't want any tears in my class visit sign up room. I run it like a machine!

If you weren't sure about doing class visits, I have to say that they are extremely valuable. I sat in on two classes when I was a senior, and those classes... along with a million other things... really clinched my decision. They were fascinating - I did a Big Problems class called Science and Religion, and I did Western Civ, which I later took as a fourth-year. Make time to do one, and send parents and siblings to the other sessions that are available.

3. Know where to go. When you arrive in Ida Noyes, you will first check in and get your overnight assignment. Share your host's name and phone number with your parents. Then you will drop off your luggage, so bring it into the program! Parents can also bring luggage and store it with us. Then you will sign up for class visits. Then you are free to enjoy the program.

Here is the tentative schedule of events.

Parents, when they first arrive, might want to buy meal tickets to eat with you for lunch today and lunch tomorrow. Everyone is assigned to a dining hall, so parents, make sure to check which dining hall your student is in before buying a meal ticket. Bartlett does not require a meal ticket, but Pierce and Burton-Judson do. Parents can and should also buy parking validation during check-in, and sign up for the parent bus tour (check the schedule for more information on that.)

4. Know what the awesomest sessions are. There are three or four sessions per hour, and here are the ones I recommend, or that are the most popular.

9:30 Financial aid. The financial aid office will be available for walk-in appointments, but first they want you to come to this session to get an overview. Have your financial aid letter with you--the appointments aren't really helpful unless you've already gotten your decision and you're prepared to discuss it. If you haven't gotten a decision, call the aid office at 773-702-8655 to make sure your application is complete... or apply!

10:30 Religion. We really spruced up the religion session this year, with representatives from five campus ministries and student organizations. Not to be missed, and it's in Rockefeller, a really beautiful space.

11:30 Study Abroad. One of the areas people are most consistently asking about, and Martha Merritt is really great.

12:30 Community Service. I like listening to Wallace Goode because he just knows so much about Chicago... community service is wonderful, but ask him about his childhood growing up near the university and the community's relationship with the university. He has a lot to say, and if you choose to come, these are issues you'll be thinking about all four years.

1:30 Your Dorm, Your Campus, Your City. Katie Callow-Wright and Ana Campos, the nicest ladies in the world and the directors of housing, and JoCathy Roberts from the UCPD will give a session on our unique housing system and safety in the neighborhood. People usually come out of this session saying they really feel comfortable letting their student live in Chicago for four years. Not always an easy feat!

2:30 Aims of Education. Important! Larry McEnerney is very excited to give this session for the first time in a few years. He told me to set up a flip chart and that he'll be handing out copies of the Gettysburg Address, so expect a little bit of doodling and an interesting speech.

3:30 Student Panel! The student panel is always funny and wonderful. At 4:30 we kick out the parents and admissions staff and continue with just students until you're dismissed to your dorms. Ask anything!

4:30 Parent Bus Tour. A free ride for parents to go downtown and listen to some Chicago history from our admissions staff.

6:30-10:00 Evening activities. I know that you were all invited to Alpha Delt on Facebook. But I really don't feel like peeling you off the floor of a frat (and it will be me, and you will be really embarrassed.) So come to our squeaky clean evening activities, including some new events this year. First the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs throws an ice cream social in their new building. Then we have the organization fair, where you can get lots of free knickknacks and food, and talk to representatives from over 100 clubs (we have over 400 total.) Then we're having an all-new performance night for an hour. If you don't feel like lots of improvisational comedy, come play Frisbee with me in the gym, basketball with Sallie, or kickball or soccer with Jeffrey. Then go to bed!

Friday

Dorm tours! Facilities tours! Check the schedule. Friday is a more laid-back day, when you maybe go to a Friday class, take some tours, and don't do anything too taxing. We'll offer the financial aid session again and more walk-in appointments. But the most important thing to do is to wake up and meet with your parents so they know you're alive. Set an alarm.

That's all the advice I have. Registration for April 10-11 is closed, but if you just want to walk-in and not have an overnight in the dorms, you're welcome to do all of our Thursday and Friday activities. See you then!

In Praise of the Shoreland, Fathers, and the 171

Read Ehud Havzalet's moving commentary in Sunday's NYTimes Magazine: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/magazine/06lives-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine&oref=slogin

Register for April overnights!

I accidentally took registration down for our two April overnight programs on April 10-11 and 17-18. Whoops! But now they're back up. Make sure to register early for the 10-11 one, in case we need to close it. The programs can get pretty big, and because we're providing space in the dorms we need to keep an eye on numbers. Hope everyone's having a good April, visiting all your schools. If anyone has funny stories, please share.

2008-2009 Course Catalog now available online

Wanna get a head start on figuring out what you want to take next year? The 2008-2009 course catalog is now available online. Find it at http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu.

Dorm Preview Day on April 5

We're taking down registration for Dorm Preview Day later today. Currently we have as many students signed up as we can comfortably serve. For students who live in the area and can come another time, there will be dorm tours on the second day of both overnight programs - Friday, April 11, and Friday, April 18. We encourage you to visit then!

Everyone submit an essay question!

The deadline to submit an essay question for next year is April 4, this Friday. Doooooooo it!

All about financial aid

Today Alicia Reyes, the director of college aid, came to our Monday morning staff meeting to give us some talking points. She shared a bunch of things I didn't really know, which is too bad because I give a lot of sessions on financial aid! Anyway, here is what I learned, and that I can pass on to you.

The number one complaint of families, it seems, is that the parent contribution is too high. Well, I can't tell you antyhing about that. But I can tell you the number one complaint of the financial aid office--that people are waiting until the last minute to apply for financial aid, or to complete their forms. Please complete your aid application! If you need to hear about financial aid in order to make a decision about which admissions offer you'll accept, it's very important to get that financial aid offer before May 1. And to get it before May 1, you need to complete your application like now. Most people who have expressed an interest in financial aid have applied and are complete. The financial aid office has been mailing decisions since late last week, and will continue to do so throughout the month. To ask if your application is complete, call 773-702-8655.

National Merit

Apparently there are three kinds of National Merit awards. I just thought that we got a list with all the National Merit finalists who ranked us as their first choice, and then gave them all some of our own money -- $1,000 for students with no financial need or who didn't apply for financial aid, and $2,000 for students who do have financial need. Because this is our own money from our financial aid coffers, getting that $2,000 award makes your institutional grant (a.k.a. your grant directly from us) go down. And the grant is renewable for four years (which is apparently wrong on our website.)

However, there are two other kinds of National Merit awards as well! Some are sponsored by the National Merit corporation, and are awards of $2,500. And the third kind are sponsored by other corporations, such as BP or Citibank. These awards can range in size from $500 to $6,000, and last from one to four years.

The only way you can get a National Merit award from us is to rank us as your first choice. As the National Merit people finalize lists and make their decisions, the type of award you get may change over the next month. Be on the lookout for mail from these people--that is how you know what kind of award you'll get. If, for example, your award changes from one of the ones we fund to one that is funded by a corporation, we will send you a revised financial aid letter.

Our merit scholarships

I already knew this stuff, but it's a question every year. If you got a merit scholarship from us, it means you are a super hero and you should definitely enroll here. If you also applied for financial aid, we will use the merit scholarship to waive your student contribution first, usually through summer employment and term-time employment, which you should see reflected in your aid letter. However, if you still want to be employed in the summer and during the school year, and you want to use the award to reduce your parent contribution or your loans instead, you are welcome to do so. The merit award does not reduce your need-based grant aid, but you can use it to reduce any other part of the package we give out.

Appeals

Financial aid appeals are accepted, but the family must provide us with new and documented information. Alicia said something that I found pretty interesting. We required all these forms--the CSS PROFILE, the FAFSA, our financial aid form, signed copies of your tax returns with W-2s and schedules--and this allows us to put together a financial aid package most of the time. However, not all of the time! Sometimes we need more information, such as from a noncustodial parent, or about a home business, or something that can only be captured in a letter. I'll address noncustodial parents below.

Appeal letters must be signed, and the office prefers to receive them by fax at 773-834-4300. The letter must state why you are seeking an appeal. "I receive a better financial aid package from another college" is not a reason.

Non-custodial parents

Besides complaints about the size of the parent contribution, the other biggest complaint we get is about non-custodial parents. Our friends the federal government grant financial aid based on the financial situations of the two biological parents of the student in question, and so do we. It doesn't matter how many times people have remarried, dropped off the face of the earth, whatever... this is the information we require.

However, sometimes not everything works out, and a noncustodial parent can be out of touch or refuse to fill out information. If that is the case, the student can request a waiver of the non-custodial parent profile. This requires a letter from the custodial parent describing the situation, and a letter from a disinterested third party--not a family member, but a person of the cloth, a counselor at school, a therapist, etc.

What about this whole crazy lender issue?

Due to issues with the way the federal government is providing incentives and guarantees to those who provide student loans, some companies have opted out of providing educational loans at all this year. However, we believe that the banks we've listed in our brochure will be amenable to providing student and parent loans if you want to take them out.

You can download our brochure here.

If you have any other questions about financial aid, you should call the aid office at 773-702-8655 or put a comment here. Remember that even if you don't feel that you need financial aid now, if you are a US citizen or permanent resident you can apply for financial aid on May 2, during the summer, or any time during your four years here. Whew, that was long. I hope it's all correct!

Join us in welcoming our newly admitted students

As many of you have noticed by now, today we both posted our decisions on the application website and mailed them to all Regular Notification applicants. I expect this blog will start to get a bit more crowded. Congratulations to all of you!

Some of you might be wondering about merit scholarships, which we also mailed today. We notify scholarship winners ONLY through the mail. We notify only those applicants and admitted students who have won scholarships. There is no appeal process or waiting list for merit scholarships.

Over the next six weeks or so you will all be called upon to make a really big decision. And though we feel very strongly that all the students we admitted are excellent matches for The University of Chicago, I want to encourage to think carefully and make the decision that is best for you.

Admitted students have several opportunities to visit campus during the month of April. We're running three major programs - one dorm preview day and two overnight programs. Details can be found on thickenvelope, where you can also register for the aforementioned programs.

But in the meanwhile, use the comments to let us know what kinds of questions you might have and the things you want to know to help make your decision. Several admissions staff members and a couple of students will be here to answer your questions.

Again, congratulations to all.

Baseball team's trip to Japan

There was a pretty cool article in the Chicago Tribune the other day about our baseball team's spring break trip to Japan. In turns out that they're revisiting a rivalry started back in 1910. I hope they do OK!

Uncommon ≠ ThickEnvelope

Do you see that? That's a not-equal sign.

Yesterday we took down early action decisions, and therefore the link between Uncommon and ThickEnvelope for all you lucky admitted students. We're getting ready to put up regular notification decisions, and I think that two months is probably enough to drool over your decision letter. Maybe I'm wrong. But then I got a bunch of calls yesterday saying that admitted students "didn't have access to ThickEnvelope." Not true! Did you notice that when you're logging into Uncommon and viewing your decisions, that's not ThickEnvelope? Think of that.

To log into ThickEnvelope, and from now on instead of logging into Uncommon, you should go to thickenvelope.uchicago.edu. Easy peasy. Log in with your same user name and password as you used to log into Uncommon. There is no need for you to be using the online application any more. You applied, and it seems like it went pretty well! Now you are admitted, so you should be using ThickEnvelope, the admitted student website.

New photos on the photo pool

I want to draw your attention to the flickr photo pool - I've added pictures from first-year Grace Chapin, who's active on the bulletin boards answering your questions, and pictures of the opening gala for our new diversity center at 5710 South University. It was a really fun event, with lots of cake and foods of all kinds. The stuff in the glasses we're toasting with is sparkling apple juice, folks.

Grace's photos include pictures of dorms, classes, dining halls, and some outings into the city - things you've been requesting. Hope you enjoy!

If you have photos to add, make sure to request to join the UChicago photo group so we can see them.

Resources at The University of Chicago Libraries

Since deciding to give up buying books and music during Lent (I have a bit of a problem), I've started using the library system here for some of my non-application reading.

The university library system recently launched a new, more dynamic catalog searching tool called "Lens." Find it here: http://lens.lib.uchicago.edu/. Yesterday while looking up a book I ended up following a search trail and discovering that the brother of a classmate of mine had written a book about the Phillipines. Cool.

The library also a "suggestions and opinions" blog: http://lib.typepad.com/suggest.

Topics range from "I couldn't find that book!" to "please put grease on the shelving carts as they are really loud." Awesome.

Every month the university also publishes a list of its new acquisitions here: http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/newbooks/. So that way you can find out if your professor's book is on our shelves, or if we got that copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Stuff and Other Stuff in.

Bulletin boards are back up

The ability to connect from ThickEnvelope to the bulletin boards is working again. There was a timing issue that I'm blaming on leap year.

New university website!

The University of Chicago website has a new look! Web developers all over the university have been working for about a year to turn this thing out. For a university this complicated and decentralized, or for any website launch, that's a pretty quick turnaround! We're very proud of what we've accomplished.

Yours truly worked on the admissions page with Dena, who also develops ThickEnvelope, our admitted student website, and takes care of the main college admissions site with me. Erik, who manages the online application and makes it so darn pretty and functional, was the main designer. You'll notice that he took a lot of colors and layout tips from our own viewbook, the Life of the Mind. We've never been so proud of our hometown talent and our little publication that could.

Since applicants are one of our most valued constituent groups on the web (and usually the most web savvy!), we definitely want your feedback on the beta site.

But what if I don't know my grades?

There is a lot of snow on the ground, which is still, after almost a decade, confusing for this Florida boy.

We've gotten a number of emails and phone calls over the past couple of days about the midyear report, which is supposed to be submitted today. As Libby has written in previous posts, if your grades ARE NOT available at this time, you can submit the report online when they become available later this month. The site will remain open until March 1. You do NOT need to have your school send us a report card or updated transcript.

And every applicant, admitted student, or attending student is required to fill out the mid-year.

We hope you're all surviving winter. Application reading continues!

Aaaaaand the midyear

Here is the email.

Please look at the form or at least take the tour before you email or call with questions or protests. No matter who you are, you will find that there are questions on the midyear report that pertain to you.

It is due February 4, but will remain live until March 1 for students who get their grades or exam results after February 4.

Here is the previous post on the midyear report.

Disability Accommodation

The folks over at the Office of the Vice President and Dean of Students want you to know that if you will be seeking accommodations for a disability from the university, such as a physical or learning disability, you should start the accommodation process now. Here is their website. This is for students who know or are pretty sure that they will be enrolling. Since the accommodation process takes an awfully long time, it is better to start it now.

Notes on the midyear report

Everyone must fill out the midyear report, even if they've been admitted, even if they graduated from high school eight years ago, even if they have already enrolled, and even if they live in Singapore. No one is safe.

Our midyear report is to be filled out online by you the student. You should have your report card or transcript handy, and your counselor's name, email address, and phone number. We only want final grades for your first term, not provisional grades, not exam grades, not advisory grades.

If your school has already sent your transcript or report card, that is fine - you do not need to fill out the midyear report, especially since you were admitted. However, the midyear report is a great way to tell us a funny joke you've learned since we last corresponded.

We did make a boo-boo on January 10 and make the midyear report available for a few hours, until we noticed the mistake. Then we closed it. If you filled out your midyear report on January 10 (about 90 do-gooders did this), you do not need to do it again. In fact, you cannot do it again.

If you were one of those 90 do-gooders, or you're any kind of do-gooder, and you want your midyear report unlocked because you made a mistake, email me at questions@phoenix.uchicago.edu with your full name.

This midyear report will be available on January 24. It will be due on February 4. If you do not have midyear grades by then, it will be available until March 1.

If you do not get grades because you go to moon school, or you are in Singapore and are taking A-levels, still log into the midyear report and answer as many questions as you can. You are not only reporting your midyear grades, you are also telling us you haven't gotten arrested in the last few months.

Students who are taking A-levels get their results around late February, and the midyear report is a great way to report your A-level results to us without having to mail them all the way over here.

We do not require an official transcript at this time - all students will be required to submit a final transcript by July 1.

In case you missed your phone-a-thon call...

If you want to talk to a current student, you should email psac@uchicago.edu posthaste. They check the email address twice a day, so your question should be answered promptly.

Last night's phone-a-thon

Hi guys! A few more details on last night's phone-a-thon: if you didn't get a call, don't worry. It continues tonight and tomorrow night. We admitted a bunch of you, and it will take us some time. We also call by time zone, starting with the East Coast and moving West.

You may remember an earlier post that I wrote about almost running into James Heckman, one of our Nobel laureates in economics. Well, last night he walked through the lobby during our phone-a-thon, and he was eyeing our pizza.

I'm not saying anything new: THIS WILL HAPPEN TO YOU. All. The. Time.

I can has phoneathon?

Starting tonight, the Prospective Students Advisory Committee and its volunteers will be calling students who were admitted early action. So, if you get a call from a current student at the University of Chicago, try to not to be too confused.

The conversation will probably go a lot like the one depicted above.