<p>Many people would think that acceptance rate determines the quality of the university. For most colleges it is true. But what about chicago? why in such a prestigious school the acceptance rate is so high? why do people refrain from applying here? WHy should someone go to a school with an acceptance rate of 41 (Chicago) rather then 18 (Amherst) Thanx</p>
<p>my best friend is going to Chicago next year, and from what I've heard, it houses a very specific type of student... i guess people either love it or hate it, which brings the amount of applicants down a little, which in turn brings up the aceptance rate. Chicago is still one of the top schools in the country, and in my opinion, definately holds its own next to Amherst</p>
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Not many people who know what they're talking about. Acceptance rate is only one factor in selectivity which is only one factor in prestige which is only one small factor in quality.</p>
<p>U Chicago is a wonderful school - I'd personally go there over Amherst in a heartbeat, but that's just me.</p>
<p>edit: it's called self-selection: U Chicago provides a pretty unique education/college experience, which although many people regard as highly prestigious, they may not want to actually go through themselves (so they don't apply). That's how a school can be both 'prestigious' and have a high acceptance rate at the same time.</p>
<p>"WHy should someone go to a school with an acceptance rate of 41 (Chicago) rather then 18 (Amherst) Thanx"</p>
<p>Because it's a dumb measurement of "popularity" and marketing. Give me $10,000,000 to spend on marketing and I could get pretty much any decent school down to a 25% acceptance rate. Someone posted a long list of unspectacular schools with low acceptance rates.</p>
<p>Yes self-selection is part of it. Also, colleges that inflate the number of applications through marketing campaigns and making it easy to apply can artificially lower the acceptance rate.</p>
<p>UChicago also suffers from having another top-notch school like Northwestern in the Chicago area. Northwestern provides a more typical college experience (big-time sports, suburban campus), so it would seem to drain off a lot of the more well-rounded students in the area, and increase the self-selection. Also, a lot of people involved with the U of C claim it's real safe there, but it's on the South Side, and has a VERY different vibe than Northwestern's campus has.</p>
<p>there was an old groucho marx joke about him not wanting to belong to any club that would be willing to have him as a member.</p>
<p>if you think acceptance rate will be the deciding factor in determining whether a college is the best place for you to spend 4 years of your life, you have a lot of research to be doing. why determine those 4 years based on how many other people the school didn't accept? what does that have to do with what your experience at a school will be? will it really make you happier there knowing so many other people wanted to attend and couldn't? time to look at what you want from your college education.</p>
<p>Less than 15 years ago, 40% acceptance rates were very common among elite universities like Penn, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern etc... Chicago is definitely an elite university. Nobody will debate that point. But Chicago is not very collegiate and as such, will only attract a specific type of student. Columbia is similar to Chicago, but at least Columbia is an Ivy League and is located in NYC, so it receives a higher number of applicants and its yield is significantly higher. But don't be fooled by Chicago's admission rate. the students at Chicago are gifted and the university is one of the top 10 in the nation.</p>