Is 7.1%.
1.6% lower than last year.
Gap year! Start 2 charities and try again…
All the college’s admission rates are going down as applicants from China flood the market and Americans send out more applications to more and more schools, hoping to win a lottery. Not sure if its actually getting harder to get in.
Two words explain this.
Early. Decision.
Also going to make a crazy prediction. Yield went up too!
Funny how that happens.
Considering the number of mailings they sent us “asking” the kid to apply, it’s not surprising.
If most admits come from ED, UChicago will bear a great cost from such strategy. As majority of the best students aspire to have a chance at HYPSMC—all EA schools (for good reason), the possibility of being excluded from those schools may be a high enough cost to keep a lot of them away from UChicago.
That’s probably exactly why, when Chicago decided to add early decision a couple years ago, they decided to be one of the relatively few schools to offer ED2.
ED2 at Chicago would be a very nice option for kid who missed the target at HYPS (which are ED-lite schools with SCEA). Only MIT and Caltech are fully unrestricted EA.
ED2 doesn’t quite solve the problem as a lot of deferred HYPSMC kids still hope for a chance during RD.
I would submit that anything sub 10% is a hard to get into school. I got into West Point over 30 years ago. I would have trouble making the cut today. I am dismayed at how challenging it is for a high stats kid to get into the elites without a hook. I do wish more ED schools would adopt the Stanford model from a few years ago. They try to render a final decision for all ED applications. My oldest son was denied. He was bummed, but appreciated the closure. Today, one of my sons applied Harvard ED and was deferred. He would have preferred a decision.
“ED2 doesn’t quite solve the problem as a lot of deferred HYPSMC kids still hope for a chance during RD.”
Chicago isn’t trying to solve the problems of the kids who are pining away for HYPS. Chicago picks its admissions policies to solve Chicago’s problems.
Chicago’s policies were a bit out of spec a few years ago, being slotted in between the SCEA schools just above them (HYPS) and the heavy ED schools just below them (often filling 40-50% of their seats via ED).
ED (by definition) drives up yield, which means it drives down the admit rate you need to fill out the class.
With the recent add of ED1 and ED2 and also UChi’s super-aggressive marketing efforts, it would be surprising if their admit rate did not go down.
Heavier use of ED1, ED2, and Z-List would explain the drop in admit rate.
With almost all schools filling varying percentages of a graduating class via ED, SCEA, Z-List, spring admit, and transfers, virtually no two schools’ admit rates are directly comparable these days.
I’m so glad my kid applied when the admit rate at UofC was ~30%. That was about 20 years ago. The only reason he applied was that I encouraged him to. He never visited UofC until after he was accepted. He decided to attend when he visited on admitted students day. Since graduating he has had a very good career and been a credit to the university. But under present-day admissions conditions, I’m not sure he would ever reach admitted students day at UofC, b/c he never wanted to play the admissions game.
And the stats for the incoming class are the highest ever. UChicago clearly is getting its fair share of top candidates. Obviously, the ED1/ED2 works. The recent rankings and wide perception that UChicago is a hot school have also been very helpful.
@Chrchill - link?
Chicago always got the extremely dedicated and exceptional students. I think it is fairly recent that they have mass marketed and solicited for more applications. The relative size of the uni hasn’t changed so logic tells you that will drive down the percent admitted if the entering class size is constant.
You have to admit the UChicago marketing is pretty over the top. I cannot say how many pieces of mail we’ve received from them in the past year and my kid is a junior. Not surprised at all.
No matter how many apps they get or how low the acceptance rate goes, they just can’t seem to gain the same stature as HYPS. Somehow it has the reputation of not so much intellectuals or world-changers, but grinds.
Also, we visited recently and they said they waive the application fee if you apply for financial aid. And they don’t require the CSS. Easier than ever to apply. Clearly a strategy to get their numbers more competitive.
@momofthreeboys, actually, the U of C is one of the few top privates to have increased their undergrad enrollment substantially over the past 2 decades. 50% more compared to 20 years ago, I believe. They use to be almost like a gigantic research U with an undergrad LAC attached. So they’ve had to change strategies to push their admit rate down.
@preppedparent Absurd. UChicago is widely regarded globally as a world leading university. The College now ranks third with Yale. What UChicago does not have is a reputation for preppies. It also is not viewed as a party school.