<p>This is April 8, we are still 3 weeks away from May 1. How would Chicago know it CAN go to its WL yet? Has this happen before at Chicago? My kid got off at 2 top 20 Unis and she didn’t find out until the second week of May.</p>
<p>oldfort, I have no idea how colleges work, particularly after this whole experience. What exactly are you insinuating?</p>
<p>Like I said, who cares why?</p>
<p>The most obvious answer is a wrestler turned down UChicago, opening up a spot for the OP’s son…</p>
<p>I don’t follow Chicago as much as other schools, so I do not know their normal practice when it comes to WL, but it just doesn’t make sense for them to go their WL so early. They have May 1 as their deadline for response, just like so many other schools. How would they know what their yield is going to be so early?</p>
<p>FWIW, last year Chicago didn’t go to their WL until second week of May. So I don’t think this is normal for Chicago.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1500911-official-2017-waitlist-discussion.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1500911-official-2017-waitlist-discussion.html</a></p>
<p>Maybe they made an exception because they need a wrestler? Anyway, congrats!</p>
<p>I don’t know and I agree with SlackerMomMD, I don’t care why</p>
<p>Athletics adds a whole other layer to admissions oldfort.</p>
<p>I am so glad to hear it worked out for him!!!</p>
<p>I am no expert when it comes to athletic recruit. The ones I knew were either recruited during ED (they knew the summer before and knew which day they would be called) or were given spots during the RD round, but they all knew why and how they were given a spot. As an example, a friend’s kid was given a nod from the MIT swim coach for EA, but unfortunately not given a spot. He then went back to Cornell and JHU to see if who would give him a guaranteed spot during the RD round, JHU did and Cornell didn’t, so he decided to go with JHU. But the kid knew exactly why/how he was denied and accepted.</p>
<p>If OP’s situation is an athletic recruit then the coach would have contacted the student to ask if he wanted a spot because someone had decided to take another offer. OP said they “do not know how colleges work.”</p>
<p>Honestly, the stats are probably not the reason for rejection… GPA is totally school-subjective; at a magnet school, a top student could have barely a 3.7, while 4.0s at many schools are worthless, because they are handed out so easily.
A 3.7 at my nearby magnet school would be at the very top of the very competitive class; also…the SAT is good…most likely the reason for rejection for a factor like essays or a courseload that was too easy (especially for these top schools, 1 AP isn’t too impressive, and about 80% of classes at my competitive hs are “honors”, which cheapens that quite a bit). </p>
<p>The real lesson to be learned here is that you can’t just apply to a bunch of top tier reach schools with just one safety that you don’t even want to go to even if you get accepted.</p>
<p>I think I know where you mind is going, Oldforte, but it’s nothing to do with the OP and son’s good fortune. Congratulations on the accept., OP.</p>
<p>It is entirely possible that a spot on the wrestling team opened up that was originally filled. These things do happen. UCh is D3, which does not always get its ducks all in a row (nor do a number of school that are even D1 if the program is not one that is all that important to the school). </p>
<p>If this is not a singular situation, it is possible UCh is playing games with its accept rates and yield. Their numbers have plummeted drastically, like more so than most any other school in this country. Some mighty fine schools (MIT, Emory, GW, to name a few) have been caught with some less than forthright, honest situations. A school can really protect the yield by underaccepting, and then using the waitlist to fill up the rest of the spaces.</p>
<p>But even if this were the case, it casts no aspersion on the OP or son. Just not a practice I, or a lot of those watching these colleges condone, however. Just think of the extra pain this cost you and son, if this were a deliberate strategy on their part, making sure they have some birds in hand from the wait list before issuing the accept when in ordinary practice, your son, along with a number of kids like him, should have been accepted , not wait listed. It’s too early for UCh to know who’s coming and who isn’t since the May1 deluge of accepts has not yet arrived. That’s why this is a bit suspicious.</p>
<p>MEGGA CONGRATS!!!
what a wonderful outcome!!!
Can you answer a question? Did your son OR GC or you contact Chicago and let them know that if he got off the WL he would attend? Or did this just come out of the blue? It might be helpful for future applicants to Chicago to know the answer. </p>
<p>“I can tell you that my son emailed, called, and wrote anyone he could to indicate his desire to attend. He also had multiple additional awards that he was able to add to his application.”</p>
<p>Both I’m sure were important factors in their decision! Congratulations again!</p>
<p>’ How would Chicago know it CAN go to its WL yet? Has this happen before at Chicago? "
As I posted earlier, Chicago is one of the few top U’s that every year hold 20-40 spots for transfer students. Perhaps they decided to give away one of those spots to the OP’s son instead of waiting to see who to accept after May 1? Just conjecture on my part…</p>
<p>I am continuing to learn here…cptnofthehouse, don’t know if that is what happened to us or not (how could one?) but your post made me read up a bit on yield rates. No doubt this is no surprise to the faithful on this site, but found that many schools use ED or SCEA to inflate their rates. That tells me yield rates are not a good metric of “desirability,” despite being used as such. Also found that Northwestern admitted 45% of its 2018 graduating class from the ED pool. So for anyone applying RD there, the acceptance rate went from an estimated 13% to 5% just by applying RD. Good lessons here. </p>
<p>Still thrilled he will be going to U of C!</p>
<p>YAHOO!! 
Congratulations, techfall and mlfkoenig and son! I love the U of C, it is a great institution, and he will have tremendous opportunities there.</p>
<p>Regarding U of C admissions, they went from the Uncommon Application to the Common App in an obvious move to attract more applications and drive up their selectivity percentage. Previously, there was much more self-selection at work. This coincided with a change in the head of admissions. Personally, I deplore it, but what can you do…</p>
<p>Again, Mlfkoenig, it’s nothing for you to worry about. Just some musings on how a given college is operating because it is rare that an admissions from WL occurs before the May1 date. Being an athlete does make things a bit different, though. It’s also possible that UCh dropped the ball somewhere. I am convinced that this happened with my cousin’s son. He got a full NROTC award late in the process as he was an alternate, and I don’t think this got through to admissions at some schools. It could well be for your son, that when his response to be considered for the WL was received, an admissions officer, looked at the file and said, “wait a minute, this should have been an accept”. </p>
<p>The reason my suspicions were aroused is because UC’s rates make it like one of the absolute top colleges, if not the absolute top in accept changes. They have become waaay more selective, waaay out of the masses, so that does give me a pause. But, again, absolutely positively nothing on you and your son. I’m happy as can be for you. Congrats again to son and you.</p>
<p>Consolation, isn’t that what pretty much every institution is doing by using the Common App then? Not that it makes it right, just harder to take issue with one particular school joining the bandwagon. Ironic in a way though, because by doing that, they must decrease their yield… This whole process really has gotten insane. </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1635965-the-university-of-chicago-expects-jump-in-yield-for-class-of-2018.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1635965-the-university-of-chicago-expects-jump-in-yield-for-class-of-2018.html#latest</a></p>
<p>See, these sort of things interest me, Mlfkoenig. You see how your situation is a little cog in these deveiopments but may be a hint as to how a college is operating That your son is accepted and has accepted the school from the WL does contribute to the yield. IF UCh is doing this a number of times over, yes, it could make a difference in yield and accept %s. </p>
<p>The common app has made a huge difference in the admissions scene. I remember many years ago applying to top schools that each required its own essay and the difficultly in even submitting a half dozens such apps, never mind the poor recommenders who had to do the LORs. Remember the old carbon paper, typewriters, etc? No computers, email, fax, copy machines then. </p>
<p>What’s great is that kids who might never have applied to these schools can more easily include them in the fold. But it makes for a crazy admissions scene. You get kids, lots of them applying, some just to see if they can get it, because it’s not all that difficult to just add another school. The chickens come home to roost come decision time, May1, because a kid can only go to one school. The admissions officers are faced with banner years, record numbers of apps but no idea which ones are phantom, and you had better believe some heads will roll if they can’t fill a class with all of those application. They’d look like fools. But the reality is that there are fewer college aged kids out there these days, as the boomer kids era is past. So who are the REAL applicants? So we are seeing big waitlists as the school stalk them hoping to find out which ones are swearing to come to the school if accepted. If you look at the stats, that picture will start to emerge for you. </p>
<p>Some of us on the board are looking at those trends more than at individual situations, so no insinuations (that word has bad insinuations, IMO ) are intended in some of the remarks that might have you a bit concerned. I’m thrilled for your son, but I’m also looking past him at the UCh admissions scene as well. </p>
<p>My analysis of the situation: he’s a full-pay athlete with an excellent package of scores, grades, and ECs. One call from a GC from a respected magnet school on the East Coast and/or the wrestling coach at UofC was enough to make someone on the admissions committee give his file a second look. They decided they made a mistake…and they corrected it quickly while they still had the chance. </p>