On the quads

The numbers keep rising: a record 9,100 applications reached the College this year, up 12 percent from last year. With one of the largest nationwide increases among elite schools, Chicago’s spike was tied by Yale and fell slightly behind Dartmouth, which saw a 13 percent rise, according to the Yale Daily News. Chicago’s largest regional increase—23 percent—came from overseas: mostly international students and some U.S. citizens abroad, says dean of College admissions Ted O’Neill, AM’70. The number of applicants who scored 1500–1600 on the SAT, meanwhile, rose 34 percent.....

After the political science department made its B.A. paper optional, the sociology department instead created two possible tracks: honors students will work with a faculty member while the rest will work with one of two graduate-student preceptors. Andreas Glaeser, who has been pushing for changes since before becoming program chair in 1999, also moved the B.A. paper seminar from fall fourth-year to spring third-year so it no longer coincides with job searches. And ”to keep up with grade inflation,” Glaeser says, he raised the honors prerequisite from a 3.0 general G.P.A. to 3.25, and from 3.25 to 3.5 in the concentration....

Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow? Because while most students procrastinate, for some it’s a manifestation of anxiety that “impairs their academic progress and paralyzes them,” says Susan Snapp, a social worker with the University’s Student Counseling and Resource Services. Snapp leads group therapy sessions for students who chronically procrastinate. Undergraduate groups of six students each—first screened by Snapp—began meeting the first day of spring quarter....

In February the wrestling team won its third straight UAA title at the conference championship tournament at New York University. The Maroons beat NYU 28–15 and Case Western 27–12. Seven wrestlers also were named UAA champions in their individual weight classes, and third-year Nick Kehagias was tagged the 2003 UAA Most Outstanding Wrestler.

—A.B.