Interesting tidbit: "Being need-blind is a statutory requirement for institutions to participate in an anti-trust exemption granted by Congress which remains in effect until September 30, 2022.[1] "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission
Had no idea that colleges were exempt from anti-trust laws for the time being. Always wondered why they weren’t investigated for price-fixing.
@marlowe1 I’m not disparaging UChicago at all. It’s certainly one of best colleges (and some departments are among the very best). On the other hand, Chicago can’t compete with the handful most elite colleges across the board. Not financially and not in attracting the absolute best students. IMO, this is the reason Chicago implemented ED1 and ED2 two years ago. It’s also the reason Chicago doesn’t release CDS data. All this is understandable since Chicago’s endowment (per student) is not at the level of the most elite colleges.
I didnt get any answers to my questions, 1NJParent, but merely the tired old mantra that the biggest endowments determine the pecking order of educational excellence and thatthe best studentsare easily identifiable by a single standard as if they were contestants in a beauty contest (theyre the ones wearing the HYPS sashes, of course!). Likewise the lazy assumption that the ED regime at Chicago represents a capitulation to Chicagos destiny as a second-rate institution instead of a sharp tool for determining just which applicants do in fact have thatdemonstrated interestwhich I believe essential to identifying Chicago-appropriate kids but you seem to believe obnoxious. These are large questions that have been debated endlessly on this board, and they are worth the debate. Yet this has nothing to do with theneed blindissue, for which I have yet to hear the Chicago detractors who are so certain that its all a sham and a delusion offer even a shred of evidence for the chicanery they allege. A Chicago student couldn`t get away with that sort of vague innuendo in a paper on almost any topic.
Chicago also claims it uses the same admission standard for both EA and ED applicants and there’s no advantage of one over the other. How many people believe that? This is not innuendo but factual.
@1NJParent where do they say that? Can you please provide the link?
@JBStillFlying Chicago info sessions
Where is this claimed, @1NJParent ? I would be interested in the precise words.
@1NJParent - I’ve heard them say that they use the same criteria to review each application - I’ve never heard them say there’s no advantage one over the other. They acknowledged an advantage of EA over RD when my daughter was attending info. sessions last year.
I’m not suggesting they lied. The statement may be true in some cases but it may not be 100% true in others. The issue is similar with need-blind vs need-aware policy. It’s not binary; there’re lots of gray areas.
@1NJParent - just to clarify, what they DON’T say is that applying ED will automatically give you an advantage. And that’s true - it doesn’t. When we attended an info session in the summer right before the first application cycle that included ED and EDII, they could only speak of the advantages of applying early (in general). They maintain that those who apply early have tended to have better quality applications which is probably also true. You’ll see from prior Maroon surveys that among early applicants, UChicago tends to be a strong first choice. That hasn’t changed, of course. Now, that won’t necessarily translate into an automatic advantage for every applicant (and the Info. Session counselors are speaking to an audience, not to any particular student), but in fact there probably will be a statistical advantage to applying ED. In fact, we know from other families’ conversations with Admissions that they are looking to fill most of the class with ED so unless the numbers of ED applicants skyrocket relative to EA there is likely still a statistical advantage to applying under that method.
ED vs EA question came up in a Q&A. Colleges love ED and generally can’t afford unrestricted EA. Chicago is one of the few that offer both. It offers EA in order to attract large number of applicants (that helps with acceptance rate) and ED to lock in the applicants (that helps with yield). This policy is designed to help the college, not the applicants.
@1NJParent. That sucks. 
I would have assumed that there must be an advantage in applying ED rather than EA - that is, that ones application will be looked at more favorably, even if the criteria are the same. I cant think why anyone would otherwise choose the former over the latter.
The college wants those of you who don’t mind giving up other options (and can live with the financial consequence) to apply ED, while telling other applicants to apply EA without telling them they’re disadvantaged relative to ED and even ED2 applicant pools.
I won’t try to argue you out of your bitterness and cynicism, @1NJParent , but isn’t it just a little bit plausible to you that the final purpose of the admissions process is identifying gifted kids who have a Chicago-specific orientation and really want to go to Chicago? If a kid is not entirely sold on the school there’s still the EA option. It’s quite clear to anyone who thinks about it that there’s a trade-off there - between maintaining one’s uncommitted status with EA or giving it up with ED for the sake of an edge. Why is giving a kid that choice so bad? Life is not a shell game, but it is about making choices.
@marlowe1 On what basis do you think I have bitterness? I just try to be observant and analytical. And I’d like to point out inaccuracies and misleading information. Sorry that made you uncomfortable.
SCEA is far more restrictive and I believe detrimental to the applicant compared to ED given the benefits of the early rounds at all institutions and not just the hyper selective.
I have my opinion about SCEA/REA vs ED, but this thread is not about that. It’s about whether you can believe what a college tells you at face value.
Well, then, my dear @1NJParent , you won’t claim that you’re not a cynic! Actually, I don’t see anything in the posts above (other than the Stanford and GWU cases) that would justify anyone in disbelieving “what a college tells you”. It was the several rather stark assertions to that effect that suggested bitterness.
@marlowe1 If you only take a look at the data that’re available on CC, you can see yourself that EA at UChicago IS practically a shell game. Now, granted, CC data are incomplete and only UChicago has the complete data. Why doesn’t Chicago release them? Why doesn’t it release even the basic CDS data, as other colleges do (Columbia is the only other college among the elites that doesn’t release CDS data)? I know you’re a fan of Chicago and you bought its story lock, stock and barrel, but let other people ask some critical questions.