I applied Early Action for UChicago and was deferred. I’m interested in applying Early Decision II for UChicago and I was wondering about whether the acceptance rate is higher/lower than Early Action.
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I have heard that EDII is higher than early action. Hopefully someone will chime in with more info on this, but I’m fairly certain that you will have a better chance at EDII.
U Chicago does not break out acceptance rate by round of admission.
It’s likely that ED2 would have a higher rate of acceptance than EA, because ED2 is binding, whereas many EA applicants are deferred. U Chicago does NOT want to burn an admit on EA applicants for whom they aren’t the first choice, notably the ones who applied ED elsewhere. Of course they don’t know who applied ED elsewhere, but for strong applicants (especially if they are full pay) there’s a strong inference they applied ED/REA/SCEA elsewhere.
But, that’s not really your frame of reference right now. Your choice is ED2 or RD, and certainly your chances are better in ED2. With that said, U Chicago would have to be your top choice and affordable per their NPC…is that the case for you?
The admit rate for ED2 is probably higher as fewer applicants are in that pool. That, of course, does not imply that one’s personal chances are higher. Many (most?) were deferred from elsewhere - UChicago clearly doesn’t have a problem with that since they offer the option and admit many ED2. It really comes down to where to cast your ED2 chances - UChicago or elsewhere. Another consideration is that the pool might be quite different from those applying EA or ED1 as it will include a whole lot of SCEA-deferreds from HYPS who see UChicago either as tied for first choice or as a strong second choice. Many of these will be excellent candidates and admitted; in fact, it’s possible that UChicago offered ED2 primarily for these applicants - whereas before they were part of the large RD dump, now they have a chance to clarify how they feel about UChicago.
Still, it seems that some EA-deferreds from UChicago are admitted in the ED2 round every year. One of ours was admitted that way so the door is open. It really depends on what the candidate is looking for and whether they are a good fit. If so, ED is an excellent way to get UC’s attention.
A quick word about “full pay” - yes, many who apply to UChicago or any other top school are able to pay in full and so get to apply to their #1 w/o consideration of finances. However, UChicago is serious when they say they are need-blind. Anyone, not just the financially privileged - should be able to apply w/o worrying about affordability. My two were both admitted ED2 and both received generous need-based aid. Anyone with questions should speak to the Office of Financial Aid. We found them very helpful when we were first going down this path.
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Hey all. Back in December, I was deferred from UChicago in the EA decision pool. I have a pretty good resume I think: 4.0+ weighted GPA, 1500+ SAT, sports, community service, worked at Goodwill for a summer, other stuff. I figured that because I liked the school a lot and because I got rejected outright by my ED1 school (Brown), I should apply EDII to UChicago. Now I’ve heard that UChicago seems to like admitting the “Ivy League Rejects” like myself through the EDII pool and I was wondering if anyone could corroborate that.
I applied to Brown ED1 too and I was completely rejected as well and I applied ED2 to UChicago after being deferred from early action. I have a 4.4 weighted GPA (my school only gives extra weight for AP/IB classes) and I have a 1560 SAT. I did a lot of community sevice in the last couple years and I am a shift manager at Starbucks among other extracurricular activities (no sports though). I think that UChicago’s better than about half of the ivies and ranking-wise its a lot better than Brown (I really liked the academic culture at Brown though). I wouldn’t say that UChicago specifically looks for ivy rejects but most ivy rejects, such as yourself, are really qualified so it just tends to work out that way. Just demonstrate your interest and you’ll be fine!
Thank you for your kind words! Here’s to both of us getting accepted
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You shouldn’t think of yourself as an Ivy League reject! Anyone can be an Ivy League reject. You are a very highly qualified applicant.
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Rejected. Good luck to all other applicants!
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