We’ve all seen the typical shadow before. Wide, shifting eyes trying to absorb as much as they possibly can in seven, short hours, nervous small-talk and laughter with their host and their friends, and enough poker-face to make it difficult to recognize whether they’re enjoying themselves. But this year, the Parker Upper School hasn’t welcomed as many of these shadows as in previous years.

This year, the Admissions Department decided to alter the shadow criteria for students applying to Parker for 9th grade from the old policy, which was that anyone applying to Parker could request a Shadow Day. This year the school only allowed affiliated applicants and admitted students to shadow.

“Applicants who were children of faculty and staff, alumni, or siblings were able to visit,” Director of Admission and Financial Aid, Karen Fisher, said. “Applicants in the general pool who receive an offer of admission will also be offered a shadow day.”

According to Fisher, no specific aspect of this year’s applicant pool caused the Admissions team to change the shadow criteria. She said, “There were several factors impacting this decision.”

The Admissions Department also needed to adjust the format of this year’s Upper School Open House in order to accommodate the particularly large number of people registered to attend.

Although no can tell what applicant pools will look like in the future, Upper School English teacher and Freshman Gradehead Cory Zeller thinks this practice is only temporary. “That’s just for this year,” she said, “because given that we had 500 people sign up for the November Open House day, they thought it would be too overwhelming to have 500 kids come through the program and shadow when there are so few spots.”

Fisher said, “We will review whether it will continue.”

Private schools in the Chicago area offers various practices when it comes to shadowing. The University of Chicago Lab School and North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka offer prospective students shadow opportunities as a part of the application process. At Latin School of Chicago, only admitted students can visit the school for a day.

Sophomore Carlos Lopez, who was new in 9th grade and unaffiliated with Parker when he applied, thinks this year’s different approach will have a negative impact on the Parker community. “It makes absolutely no sense,” he said, “because if you’re a completely new student, you want to come here and shadow a day because that might change your opinion.”

New freshman Tandi Weeks agreed. “I was applying to Latin, and I was going to do my shadow day, and they wouldn’t let me,” she said. “I ended up not finishing my application. Applying to schools like this is ridiculous––there’s a bunch of work to do––and I wouldn’t want to go through that if I didn’t like the school.”