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!