For Three Quick Questions, I send the same three questions to admissions representatives at colleges all over the country (the subject line of the e-mail is “Three quick questions”), and then I hope to hear back from them. When I do, I post them on Apply with Sanity. It’s that simple.

The three questions are meant to probe some of the things that make a school unique but that aren’t easily captured as a stat to go in a book or web search.

This response is from Diana Zhu, Admission Counselor at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Illinois.

What is a course, tradition, program or event that is unique to Illinois Institute of Technology?

What makes Illinois Tech unique from other universities, is our strong passion for learning and research. Being the only STEM-focused university in Chicago, we strive to give our students the best education towards the STEM field as possible. We support an Active Learning Environment through unique features like our Interprofessional Projects Program (IPRO), Idea Shop, Accelerated Master's Program, and more. Another fact about Illinois Tech that makes us unique, is that we are #1 in Illinois for Return On Investment (ROI), making our students who graduate from us as successful as they can be.

Naturally every college wants to recruit the perfect student--high grades, high test scores, involved in their community, leadership...everything. But what kinds of imperfect students tend to flourish at Illinois Tech?

At Illinois Tech, we review our students' admissibility not based on the highest scores, rather their passion towards learning, development, and research. When reviewing an application, we will look at a student's application holistically, taking into account their scores and also their commitment to learning and extracurricular activities. We are not actively seeking a "perfect" student, rather we strive to help develop our students to their most improved version of themselves while learning at Illinois Tech.

When people come to visit Chicago, what's a place off campus that you recommend they check out while they're there?

Chicago is our student's playground! There is so much culture and diversity to be seen in one of the best cities. We encourage our students to use our Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) trains to travel throughout the city. Definitely check out downtown Chicago, where the Willis Tower, Cloud Gate (famously known as "The Bean"), and so many more famous architecture is located! Other cool neighborhoods that are popular are Wicker Park, Chinatown, and Wrigleyville. Safe travels!

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Photo by Angela Elisabeth.