<p>This morning's Wall Street Journal had an article about the impact of the ED and EA policy changes at some schools on the number of early applications at others. While this is likely not be the sole reason for the big jump, Chicago's early apps are up 42% for a total of 4,349, and that is significant.</p>
<p>Here's the link--</p>
<p>oh my god.... i'm sooo screwwed</p>
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oh my god.... i'm sooo screwwed
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Do the math. Approximately [url=<a href="http://maroon.uchicago.edu/online_edition/news/2006/05/19/admissions-picks-selective-10-class/%5D40%%5B/url">http://maroon.uchicago.edu/online_edition/news/2006/05/19/admissions-picks-selective-10-class/]40%[/url</a>] of early admits choose to enroll. Early admits make up roughly a third (around 415) of the entering class (around 1250). Assuming that the yield and class size is consistent with years past, one can assume that roughly 25% of early applicants will be admitted.</p>
<p>We've become rather popular, haven't we? I think yield will be screwy this year, though, so they may choose to admit a higher amount of students.</p>
<p>why do you think the yield will be screwy?</p>
<p>Yield will be a little screwy because for the first time in recent memory the EA applicant pool will have included some really strong applicants who have Harvard or Princeton (or UVA, but not so many of them) as their first choice. In theory, that could account for all or most of the increase in EA applications, although only a fraction of them would in fact have been admitted early to Harvard or Princeton, and many of the ones who were deferred would have applied to Chicago RD anyway. But their preference-characteristics as a group are likely to look more like the RD pool and less like the traditional EA pool.</p>
<p>If I were the admissions office, I would be a little cautious with EA acceptances -- certainly no more than last year, which was about 1,300, or about 30% of this year's EA pool -- and defer lots of applicants to RD, waiting to see whether the bump in EA apps is really just a shift from RD to EA, an indication that there will be a lot more apps submitted, or a little of both.</p>
<p>It's all guess work, of course, but if I were the admissions office I would give even more consideration than in previous years to EA applicants who produced tangible evidence of their knowledge of and commitment to UChi, such as having attended summer programs at UChi.</p>
<p>40% is pretty wild. Depending on how many of these applicants are a response to US News versus the EA pools opening up, Chicago might get very competitive, very fast. Otherwise it will just be rejecting some people who never had much desire to come in the first place, which besides whatever prestige effect you attribute to this is rather lame overall.</p>
<p>This makes me really nervous. I guess all we can do is hope for the best.</p>
<p>If only I had skipped a grade in elementary school.</p>
<p>I really hope that they take my interest into consideration. I think my essay about why I want to go there was pretty specific and sincere and I hope they see that. I'm so nervous. Ah well, it's out of my hands.</p>
<p>The president said his goal was to get the admission rate below 25% within say five years?, so perhaps you are lucky nonetheless. </p>
<p>There was an article a few years back in Chicago magazine waxing about the 1980's, when places like Chicago and Penn admitted 80% of their "free thinking" applicants, most of whom were in the 50% that did not get into Yale.</p>
<p>Oh my goodness...</p>
<p>:( </p>
<p>10 char</p>
<p>more apps does not necessarily equal more competitive. Best of luck to everybody nonetheless!</p>
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The president said his goal was to get the admission rate below 25% within say five years?, so perhaps you are lucky nonetheless.
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Say wha? How is this a good thing?</p>
<p>So is this pretty much from the Common App? Chee.</p>
<p>Great. Because I needed another reason to listen to emo music.</p>
<p>Every day it seems like there is less and less hope of me getting into Chicago. :(</p>
<p>Ugh. Yeah, it just struck me that this is how things are before the common app. I don't even want to see what next year will bring (and I doubt the applicants do either).</p>
<p>Oh god no!!!</p>