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.