<p>I believe last year the EA admit rate was about 40+% and the RD rate in the upper 20's for a combined rate of about 35%. This year the combined admit rate will probably be about 29%, RD low 20's.</p>
<p>ED or EASC or any sort of early binding/restriction runs counter to the whole U of C philosophy. The idea is to let a person make careful, well considered choices. Locking in a yield is not conducive to that concept. They are secure enough to know what they have to offer and let applicants make the choice. I think it is harder for admissions to go the ea route, they don't have a big portion of a class locked in in January, but they stay relaxed and accepting of student choice. It's then more likely that students--we are talking about 17,18 and 19 yo. people ---- can attend the school best for them. It's a gentler, freer and more thoughtful process inside the swirl of college app pressure.</p>
<p>Dean of Admissions Ted O'Neill was quoted (maybe in the Maroon?) as saying as much. However, I wouldn't be surprised if President Zimmer or somebody else decides we should offer ED.</p>
<p>^^ Hope not, I'd be writing letters about that change. So many students don't realize how important U of C is to them until they hold that ea acceptance in their hands. It's a welcome but not a demand. How often does a person experience that as a teenager?</p>
<p>Unalove, my D felt very happy to get a deferral over a rejection...in fact she really was happy to still be in the running. It's just very overwhelming seeing those numbers of applications. Hopefully they'll see how she would thrive at Chicago, but if they don't, she has some other really great choices...so it will be ok.</p>
<p>glasses, thank you for the good wishes!!! I also agree that Chicago should stay EA, not ED. After my older D's experiences with an ED application, no way was I going to let my other D apply ED to a school. While ED has it's place at some schools and for some kids, it just seems like it would be so out of character for Chicago.</p>
<p>I dont understand your point glasses. What is so demanding about a SCEA option? The students are not bound financially, or in terms of college choice. Believe me, I DO NOT support an ED policy, but if a student really wants to go to UChicago, then SCEA would be both helpful to him and to the university seeking applicants that have Chicago as number 1 on the list of priorities. I've just been accepted into the class of 2012, and although there are many people in the Facebook group that are set on Chicago, there are quite a few still waiting to hear from HYP, ready to choose any of the three over Chicago without second thought. Does a university really want to be the second choice to its peers for the rest of its history?</p>
<p>I guess part of my view is that U of C really doesn't care who their competition is or that they may be second choice ( is this my fantasy?). They have a great thing going and students can choose to apply/attend if it's right for them. It's just about being true to their own game and letting people buy in as they like. I think you have to really dig deep to research and discover Chicago because it doesn't rank tops in the high school prestige name game (on the east coast) and it can take a while to separate an amazing opportunity from the prestige game. Chicago is only second choice in that narrow bit of time at the end of HS. Once you are in college, no one cares and when you graduate, employers and grad schools will give you the same love and respect as HPY. At least that's my experience.</p>
<p>The SCEA option can be wrenching, you know, the early fall senior year, strategizing about the early app. If you love a reach school do you use your one vote (scea) to make your case and but then miss enhancing your chances at a high match that you also love and feel insecure about with RD? Restrictions add so much tension. I know I'm a wimp and don't think that making big decisions under pressure when you're young is any fun at all!</p>
<p>beefs--BTW-- congrats on your acceptance!</p>
<p>I'm not sure that I understand how being SCEA will solve Beefs' issue, except for Yale, and those kids can't apply to Chicago EA anyway. Harvard and Princeton offer no early program, so even if Chicago were SCEA, many would still apply RD to Harvard and Princeton and wait until the spring to commit anywhere. It would preclude a Columbia ED/Chicago EA applicant, but that student will be bound to Columbia if admitted anyway. I don't see how Chicago going SCEA will change anything. ED, yes, SCEA, not really.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
-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.
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>Hmmm, I'm sure THIS Ivy hopeful would sit alone and isolated for 4 years, heh.</p>
<p>U Chicago should never look up to Yale and Harvard as role models.</p>
<p>i dont think you guys get the point im trying to make.</p>
<p>Your thinking is that Chicago should go SCEA so that students who want to claim it as their first choice can have an advantage over those who are just applying to apply, right?</p>
<p>I see where you're coming from, beefs, and I'm sure the admissions office has considered other programs for strategy, but I personally think that all of this admissions "strategy," even SCEA business, is harmful to the high school senior who is just trying to find a school that he or she likes.</p>
<p>Some people like Chicago the moment they step on campus. Others hate Chicago from the moment they step on campus. A third, and I would say the majority of students who end up applying and attending, don't really know what they think about Chicago, and it's only until they're given a couple more months to think about what they want out of a school that they come to the conclusion that Chicago is a great place for them, and they are happy here, and any drama about college admissions is long, long past. Or they come to the conclusion that it isn't the right place for them, and they attend another school that's a better fit. Or they come to that conclusion that it isn't a good fit a couple of weeks into first quarter and desperately want to transfer (that happens on slight occasion).</p>
<p>I've mentioned before that if I were to apply to colleges all over again, knowing what I know now, I would have had a very different list from the one I had senior year. What happened between then and now? I got to experience college first-hand and think about what was important to me in a college and what wasn't. I got to think about myself and think about what I find important and what I don't. Chicago would have still been my first choice, as I cannot, for the life of my, think of a better school for me, but my feelings on what makes a school "good" (for me, at least) have changed pretty drastically.</p>
<p>If I ran the circus, I would have a standardized college admissions process where students could start applying to colleges in the winter of their junior year up to the spring of their senior year, and colleges would respond to students on a rolling basis and students would not have to declare a school until May.</p>
<p>I'm not really on this thread to debate about binding EA decisions... I just want to know how much of the class of 2012 was filled and how many spots are left for nervous suckers like me :]</p>
<p>Ah beefs, I think I may understand your view a little better. unalove, as usual, got it, right?
As far as reducing the competition from people who really want HPY but apply to Chicago for security, admissions can see who fits and who doesn't. With acceptance rates so high, I doubt that they miss many die hard Chicago lovers who are highly qualified.
Some ivy-dreamers who are not smitten with Chicago may take a second hard look and begin to really understand the school with an acceptance in hand. They may understand what they want a little better toward the last half of sr. year.
I think that not restricting apps is a luxury for the student and the university benefits in the end because students have been free to make a more leisurely, less pressured choice. EA adds a small dose of sanity.</p>
<p>Yea, i guess i agree. Honestly, its more the frustration of seeing kids that got into UC say that they're waiting for HYP decisions. It almost makes me feel like Chicago becomes the second choice for a lot of people, not something thats pleasant to think about. Regardless, youre right.The kids that belong at the school will end up there and those that dont will be elsewhere.</p>
<p>I do know how you feel when you see Chicago as their second choice. I always wonder how much they understand the schools and how much they are influenced by the name brand. I also wonder about the parents' need for the name (not nice of me).
On the flip side, people in my area looked at my S like he had 3 heads because he only wanted Chicago even though it looked like he was strong enough to have a chance anywhere. He's so happy at Chicago. That's what I wish for all-- happiness no matter where.</p>
<p>Miss Silvestris-- As far as I know, most students who were admitted EA haven't committed yet, so I would say that only 50-100 of the 1100 or so "spots" are taken. (Most EA applicants don't commit after acceptance, but I feel like I meet EA kids who do commit immediately-- people like me and glasses' son-- all the time). </p>
<p>Chicago's yield will probably be something like 35-40%, with its increase in popularity, but if beefs is correct, a section of EA admits will pack their bags and go to higher-ranked schools that admit them. Others will flock to other schools based on weather, affordability, flexibility of curriculum, etc. </p>
<p>I'll agree with glasses-- it takes a lot of gumption to like a school that either isn't "good" enough or that nobody else has ever heard of. I actually remember lying about where I was applying (or at least giving misleading hints) because I didn't want to hear what people I didn't know had to say about my choice.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
Miss Silvestris-- As far as I know, most students who were admitted EA haven't committed yet, so I would say that only 50-100 of the 1100 or so "spots" are taken. (Most EA applicants don't commit after acceptance, but I feel like I meet EA kids who do commit immediately-- people like me and glasses' son-- all the time).
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>Yay, there's still hope! Thanks unalove :)</p>