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University of Chicago Laboratory Schools

School rating 4 / 5 by

1362 East 59th Street Chicago IL 60637 United States
Day
PK to 12th
Gender
Coed

Academic

University of Chicago Laboratory Schools review by .

The school provides a rigorous academic program for it's students. There is the opportunity to take many AP courses and even some courses at the University of Chicago. The average student is highly driven to succeed and many of the students have families that are affiliated in one way or another with the University of Chicago. This creates an environment where you know you are surrounded by people who have an interest in learning. I personally found that this environment pushed me to keep up with my peers. I have always believed that homework takes as long as the student wants it to take and thus will not comment too much on course load. If you want to succeed you will spend the time necessary to do so. The one area where students often complain is the amount of writing preparation that we are given. This is not to say that all students feel this way, but some do find that when they enter college they are not as prepared as others.

College Counseling

Our school had two college counselors for about 110 students and each was available every....

Sample insights on college counseling

  • They have contacts at most of the major universities and feel perfectly comfortable picking up the phone and advocating for a student to get accepted somewhere they feel is a good fit for that student. However, these counselors are certainly not magic bullets. They cannot guarantee that a student will get into an Ivy League university...
  • For those wishing to move on to Oxford or Cambridge, the provision is second-to-none. In the months running up to application and interview, every subject faculty offers classes (often run by former Oxbridge tutors) exploring further areas of their subject as well as offering advice on personal statements, interview technique and more...

Admissions - Getting Accepted

This is a tricky subject for me because I attended the lower school and middle....

Sample insights on admissions

  • For the interview, dress conservatively. Try to be very clean and put together. Also, I was a tour guide for two years and at the end of every tour, we were asked to evaluate the candidate so if you think the tour is not apart of the process, you are very wrong. Ask questions and be interested. Also, tip for the parents: the kids speak on the tour. Do not ask their questions for them...
  • Most younger siblings have an easy time in the admissions process. I can only think of one case of a younger sibling not being admitted. About half of the students who entered with me had come from public schools. The remainder came from private K-6 schools, or had transferred from other New York private schools The Elizabeth Morrow School and St. Bernard were two of the larger feeder schools...

School Life

The school is in a generally safe area, although one does hear of the occasional mugging. It is located in the same area as the University of Chicago so there are campus police nearby 24 hours a day. The food in the school cafeteria is not very good, but the University of Chicago Business School is nearby and provides an excellent alternative as long as the student has time. The cost is about 10% more expensive, but the quality of the food is probably about five times better. The classrooms are in excellent condition and the science rooms were recently....

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