<p>title explains it all</p>
<p>Chicago</a> Maroon » College apps jump by record numbers</p>
<p>so out of around 4,500 applicants, about 1,500 were accepted. dang.</p>
<p>33%. I wonder what RD acceptances will look like.</p>
<p>yea i was expecting lower. but i think the rd acceptnce rate will be definitely lower, in order to utilize the waitlist.</p>
<p>I was expecting a lower EA admit rate, too -- on the lines of 28-30%. I'd guess they're expecting a lower yield from EA (if in fact, many applicants applied to Chicago in response to the end of EA elsewhere) and a higher one from RD. Pure hypothesizing on my part, though.</p>
<p>I think your hypothesis is right because they over-accepted for the past 2 years and I don't think they want a 3rd large class. So I agree that a low EA yield is expected. I'm also guessing that RD acceptances may be cautious and they will want to be able to use the wait list to control enrollment .</p>
<p>Too bad the 20 percent increase in applications had to come when my D applied. Turning that deferral into an acceptance isn't going to be easy!</p>
<p>It's just gotten increasingly scary but I think a good part of the increase may be due to more students writing more apps. So when the dust settles, I hope your D is in!</p>
<p>I was chatting to two students from my school today, both whom are strong, and both were denied EA. (One got into another T20 ED, so he's happy). Considering that Chicago was denying students of their caliber, I would take a deferral as a compliment!</p>
<p>Maybe Chicago is expecting a (relatively) lower EA yield because there are few schools of its caliber that offer EA, so they admitted more than we expected. (Although 33% isn't that high -- just a few years ago, their RD admit rate was near 40%!) Chicago probably also got a lot of EA applicants who are would-be Harvard and Princeton EDers.</p>
<p>thats another reason why i personally think uchicago should become more selective. sure, a nerdy, intellectual, quirky environment is great but only if the students wanted to be there in the first place, not in cambridge or in new haven. even in the facebook group of admitted students theres numerous kids waiting to here from hyp and willing to choose one of the three over chicago almost instantaneously.</p>
<p>I don't think Chicago has been or will ever be a "hot" school, unless it changes significantly in the next 5-10 years, and I don't think it will ever outrun the Holy Acronym of elite schools. In other words, the school can't just choose to become less selective, though if it wanted to manipulate its ranks further, establishing a binding Early Decision program, eliminating Core, and somehow getting Shorey House to stop selling "Where Fun Comes to Die" shirts would be places to start. We have a relatively high acceptance rate, but as Alicia Silverstone so famously said, "What- everrrrr." As long as the people I meet here continue to be awesome, I don't care where they come from or how many of them get in.</p>
<p>Another observation: I know I think and talk about college admissions all the time on these message boards, but I know to the typical college student, what happened in their college admissions past is long behind them. I know zero students who are bitter about not getting into dream school Y and still think about it (scratch that, I know one, who, if prodded in the right way, will unleash some vitriol). I also know quite a few students who turned down schools that have far more curbside appeal than Chicago, even though those other schools offered better financial aid packages or courted them more vigorously, and I also know students who were admitted to Chicago EA and decided not to apply elsewhere. (I happen to be one of them).</p>
<p>To be honest, I dont think a binding early action would hurt at all. Financially, no one would be bound yet there would be the option of expressing one's interest in Chicago as the first choice. I mean, I just saw the EA numbers for this year, and with a 33 percent acceptance rate, the yield rate for admits early is gonna be very low. Maybe its just me, but it irks me a bit to think of my school as a second choice for prestige whores applying a "safety net" on admissions. At least with a single choice, you really know who wants to be there and the yield rate will go up. If theres a reason why Chicago hasnt utilized SCEA and i dont know it please offer insight.</p>
<p>You guys are right. We should make EA binding.</p>
<p>^I personally wouldn't like SCEA because of unique circumstances. Although I'm sure this doesn't apply to that many people, my state school (UConn) told me that I had to apply EA to them to ensure a spot on the honors program... otherwise they'd fill up. I wouldn't sacrifice my backup just to show interest in Chicago. Frankly, I don't think interest should be a factor at all.</p>
<p>"sure, a nerdy, intellectual, quirky environment is great but only if the students wanted to be there in the first place, not in cambridge or in new haven."</p>
<p>-I don't see this logic. It's not like these Yale and Harvard wannabes sit in Chicago miserable, alone, and isolated from people for four years you know.</p>
<p>exactly why you would be someone that applies rd round, lol. you're making my point.</p>
<p>Uhh no I didn't. You said that you don't want Chicago to have kids who wanted to go somewhere else. All I want is to not be disadvantaged in Chicago's admissions because I had to have a safety school.</p>
<p>Well then pick another safety school? I mean, a student that wants to go to Harvard would sacrifice their safety to get a leg up in the SCEA round. It should be the same for kids applying to Chicago.</p>
<p>If you think that kind of strategizing should exist in college admissions, then we're just going to have to agree to disagree.</p>
<p>Agreed. 10</p>