<p>^^^ Visit was awesome! I liked everything about it and I’m ready to go… oh wait, I don’t get to go, except vicariously through D. 
Seriously, D loved it too. She experienced snow for the first time and was not deterred. I was most concerned about the neighborhood, having heard a lot of horror stories. But D and I found the area, especially to the east and north, quite nice… much nicer than anticipated. I have absolutely no reservations about sending D. We did a tour (in 20 degree weather) and D met with the careers in law advisor, sat in on a class, and did a dorm overnight. Since she is already an EA admit, we skipped the info session. Her overall impression: “Everyone here is so smart!” Students and staff were friendly, informative, enthusiastic, helpful, encouraging. Asked D what she liked least about the visit. The only thing she could think of was the bundling up and un-bundling going inside and outside.</p>
<p>Glad you had a nice visit there.</p>
<p>The safety concern was exaggerated. It might be true a while ago. I had the same concern before visiting last year. During my visits there I felt pretty safe on the campus and the east of campus. I had not had enough time to go to the north. I did drive through Washington Park neighborhood to Midway airport. Some areas did not look as nice as Hyde Park. But I think students rarely go there and a large park separates it from campus.</p>
<p>DGDzDad: Glad you had a nice visit. It’s interesting that your daughter had that impression about the people there. I kind of felt the same way. Good luck to her in making her final decision.</p>
<p>Actual numbers won’t be available until May 1, as many (most?) EA admits will wait on financial-aid negotiations and decisions at other schools before making a choice with regard to Chicago. The information DGDzDad got sounds like extrapolation from a clutch of early housing deposits.</p>
<p>All I can tell you is that someone in admissions said this year’s EA admittee pool is committing (sending deposits) at a faster rate than they expected compared to previous years and that the projection is that this will, by necessity, translate to a lower acceptance rate for the RD pool.</p>