Some Northwestern/UChicago admissions insight

[jym626]

<p>The U Chicago College rep responded with this:

… I try to keep my posts to the UChicago area only but you are welcome to quote what was said here and indicate that they may ask questions on this page. Unfortunately it is just very difficult for me to try and monitor multiple pages and I would not want to miss any questions if they were posted in a different location.

suggesting that the information from the previous response be quoted here. So here it is:

…we do hope to make campus a safe and welcoming place for all, which includes both general security guards/crosswalk guards as well as UCPD officers (some of whom are armed, as they operate as extensions of the CPD in Hyde Park, and thus carry the same responsibilities as CPD officers) in the campus area. However, I do not see a reason why a person would be questioned for entering a campus building unless the building was a restricted area (after hours entry without UChicago identification, construction zone, lab with hazardous materials, etc). All of our residence halls have front-desk staff that require identification upon entry of the residence but these staff members are not armed and are not members of the UCPD. The only situation in which I could imagine a student encountering a UCPD guard at entry is if the student had accidentally entered a restricted section of the hospital system, which, for patient privacy, does have UCPD guards at some entries requiring identification for entry. (Since the hospital is directly on campus-- one entry is right next to the bookstore-- it is possible to confuse it for a general classroom building). </p>

<p>In my time as both a student and a staff member on campus, I have found the UCPD to be very friendly and helpful; they are present in the neighborhood as a positive resource. If a prospective student or parent has come to you with a concern about an unpleasant or unfriendly encounter with a security officer, I would urge them to provide feedback here, as we do not hope this is the experience students or parents will encounter when visiting campus: Department of Safety and Security | The University of Chicago

</p>

[tk21769]

<p>(To bring this back to college marketing and the focus on rankings …) </p>

<p>I think we’ve been overlooking an important factor in Chicago’s marketing practices, namely the growth in its undergraduate enrollment. In response to budget deficits in the early 1990s, the university increased undergraduate enrollment from ~3400 in 1992 to ~5100 today (a 50% increase). Remarkably, Chicago did this while:</p>

<ul>
<li>increasing 6-year graduation rates (from 81% in 1992 to 92% in 2010)</li>
<li>increasing freshmen retention rates (from 87% in 1992 to 98% in 2010)</li>
<li>reducing the admission rate (from 71% in 1992 to ~13% in 2012)</li>
<li>increasing the percentage of classes with under 20 students, from 59% in 2005 to 78% in 2011</li>
<li>reducing the percentage of classes with 50 or more students, from 6% in 2005 to 4% in 2011 (lowest among the top 20 national universities)</li>
<li>increasing its endowment from $3.24 billion in 2002 to $6.58 billion in 2011</li>
<li>improving its USNWR “financial resources” rank, from 19th in 2005 to 8th in 2011</li>
<li>improving its USNWR “faculty resources” rank, from 12th in 2005 to 2nd in 2011</li>
<li>increasing applications from 4100 in 1992 to over 19000 in 2010</li>
</ul>

<p>These changes no doubt did require a robust marketing effort. Evidently, it worked. Another, controversial move was a reduction in Core requirements in the mid 90s to appeal to more prospective students. What has been the overall effect on learning outcomes? I really cannot tell from these numbers. I do think it is a more vital undergraduate environment today than it was 20 years ago, and certainly than it would have become had it continued to run $20M deficits for too many more years.</p>

<p>(<a href=“MIT Institutional Research”>MIT Institutional Research)</p>