U Chicago potentially will be the #1 most difficult school for admission this year

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
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Last year Chicago’s yield (% of students who are accepted and enroll) reached a record of 77%. At this rate, Chicago was second to Harvard and Stanford at 82%, and ahead of Yale, Princeton, Penn and Columbia (down at 65%). Unfortunately, this surprise increase in yield resulted in a class of around 1,800, ahead of Chicago’s +/- 7,000 student target to align with Stanford in terms of undergraduate population.

The implications of last year’s enrollment to this year’s admissions are critical. The 7,000 goal relates to a cold hard reality of beds available. Thus this year class enrollment will likely come down to 1,600. Assuming a yield of 80%, and assuming applications rise to +/- 38,000, a 5% admit rate would result in 1,900 acceptance letters. An 80% yield would produce an enrollment of 1,520, and leave a little room for another yield surprise.

While this is rough math, it is meant to show that Chicago’s now decade long explosion in both applications and yield have the Maroon’s knocking on Stanford’s door as the hardest school in the USA into which to earn admittance at +/-5%.

As for other interesting statistics from last year’s enrolled class:

• Chicago had an average SAT score of 1508, putting it at or near the #1 rank in the USA.

• Stuyvesant, NYC’s elite public school was the #1 feeder with 31 kids, and Bronx Science, another public school, was #4 with 14. The rest of the top 6 feeders were private schools with Horace Mann #2 at 16, Andover #3 at 15, and Exeter #5 at 12, and Choate #6 at 9.

• California is number 1 source of students (225), NY a close second (220), and IL third (194). Texas, a state that is nearly 60% larger than New York, only had 68 students enroll.

• 53% of class need based aid, and 12% Pell grants.

• 164 were first generation to college—a personal favorite category, along with the Chicago first announcement and expansion that police, firefighters and teacher’s children being offered full scholarships are at an all-time high.

• 274 internationals, with:

 China 68,
 UK 30,
 India 26,
 Turkey 16,
 Singapore 15,

 Hong Kong 14,

One possible explanation for all this success could be that Chicago’s crime statistics have taken a major turn down in both 2017 and 2018. Another explanation is the Booth’s School of Business #1 global ranking is also drawing attention. Or, quite honestly, the Chicago commitment to open and free speech (zero safe spaces from intense intellectual discourse) may just be recognized as the best place in the world to compare, contrast, and hone one’s intellect so as to prepare for a diverse world.

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…or using ED to game admissions statistics?

Talk about going out of your way to support your narrative, sheesh.

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The arrival of the New Year brings with it my hope that students keep the admissions game in perspective. Gaining admission to the most selective college/colleges just “because they can” is like competing to win the hand in marriage of the most popular and most desired male or female. You might win but you also might end up having a miserable time.

It’s about “chemistry” and trying to uncover the proper fit. That’s where the real work and/or intuition lies. Try to know yourself first. Then find that academic match that allows you to thrive in the best learning environment FOR YOU. The school should hold to many of the same values that make you feel good about yourself.

I know, I sound like an aging dad who surveys the unknowns of a new year. Lessons learned.

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I was under the impression from past discussions here that U Chicago was intentionally increasing its class size over the next few years. I think your assumption that 1600 should be this year’s target enrollment is flawed - that would go in the opposite direction.

Where does the average SAT of 1508 come from?

I don’t think that acceptance rates and yields for schools with ED are directly comparable to those for schools with EA, though SCEA is also a unique animal.

Keep in mind that U Chicago’s test optional policy almost surely will increase apps and, toward the ranking end of things, perhaps that will increase Pell recipients, now a bigger focus in US News. My understanding is that acceptance rate is no longer part of the ranking computation there.

Bragging about most difficult acceptance leaves a bad taste. The types of applicants Stanford and U Chicago seem to be looking for are not all the same; for the right type of student, U Chicago might be the easier acceptance, or vice versa.

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interesting statistics- wonder what the source is?

That said, I would encourage those who are going ED2 snd RD to keep their spirits up…I know s couple of the kids from my sons HS who have been accepted EA- they are all round very good kids, but they are not Einstein or Michael Jordan either.

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" it is meant to show that Chicago’s now decade long explosion in both applications and yield have the Maroon’s knocking on Stanford’s door as the hardest school in the USA into which to earn admittance at +/-5%. "

This is a sad commentary right? The application process is hard enough without emphasizing the horse race aspect of it all (this is intended as a statement about the state of college applications and not as an insult to the poster-who I am sure meant to be helpful). Best solution for students: take the schools that are gaming the process off their list to punish the schools (ain’t happen’n I know but should-take Chicago off the list). A byproduct of schools working hard to increase number of applicants and yield is harm to students- in terms of cost, time and all kinds of other things. And yes, US News & World report lead the charge-not intentionally-but the end result is the current farce where kids and families pay a huge price-all unnecessarily-and so does society because the focus on shaping students into successful applicants to a small set of schools is ruining academics which in turn restrains scholarship-something that harms society.

This horse race mentality towards education has also turned the entire process of applying to schools into a huge money maker (and for families, a money pit and worse) for what was a cottage industry but now is a mansion industry-college advisors (the need for them not the individuals involved with it) top my list of unfortunate outcomes, as do tutors who prep students for the tests (instead of helping student master material, etc). It’s all pretty sad and harmful to academics (via students). And, by the way, remember academics? And Chicago, with its intellectual environment, is a school best reserved for academically oriented students (not those who have spent their high school careers chasing A’s) or are they now promoting posh dorms, climbing walls and splashy food courts instead?

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@evergreen5 - the College has said they will take in fewer for class of 2023. This fall’s class was overenrolled with 2,348 accepted and over 1,800 enrolled. Dean Boyer has specifically said next year’s class won’t be as big. However, 1,600 seems small. With the new dorm going live in the near future, 1,700 per class seems about right, IMHO, unless I missed a pertinent comment from Admin.

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Stuyvesant has a class size of of around 840 seniors per class. That gives an matriculation ratio of 3.65%. Exeter and Andover each has a far smaller senior class and so their matriculation ratio is on par (if not better) than Stuyvesant.

One of the top Selective Enrollment Schools of the CPS system, the Northside College Prep, actually has a much higher matriculation ratio than Stuyvesant. Given the average school size of 184 seniors, Horace Mann has an extremely impressive 10% matriculation ratio at UChicago in the last 5 years. Indeed Horace Mann has sent more students to UChicago than any other individual Ivy League schools. No wonder Dean Nondorf spends so much time in recruiting in NYC.

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“This horse race mentality towards education has also turned the entire process of applying to schools into a huge money maker (and for families, a money pit and worse) for what was a cottage industry but now is a mansion industry-college advisors (the need for them not the individuals involved with it) top my list of unfortunate outcomes, as do tutors who prep students for the tests (instead of helping student master material, etc). It’s all pretty sad and harmful to academics (via students). And, by the way, remember academics? And Chicago, with its intellectual environment, is a school best reserved for academically oriented students (not those who have spent their high school careers chasing A’s) or are they now promoting posh dorms, climbing walls and splashy food courts instead?”

Hm, we must have missed this memo. My son is a first year at UChicago. He graduated from a public HS and we didn’t pay for private tutors, college consulting or test prep. Oh, wait, I think he did buy one SAT practice test book to work on after he did the free Khan Academy online questions, so total family spending on that was perhaps $40. He’s in a dorm that is close to 100 years old with no AC and could in no way be described as posh but which he and his friends love. Not sure if there is a climbing wall, it’s not the sort of thing he’d do. And while the food courts are clean and have a variety of foods, they’re basic compared to many of the LAC or other USNWR T20 school food offerings so certainly weren’t a draw.

He was drawn to the academics, was admitted because of his skills and potential not because of who his parents were or how far he throws a ball. It’s been a great fit, he’s utterly enchanted with the classes, people and professors and he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

UChicago is a unique environment and if it’s not a fit for a student from an academic standpoint, then by all means that student shouldn’t waste their time or money with an app. But for students that fit, ignore the rantings of people who are allowing their emotion to cloud their judgment and don’t be discouraged.

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Coming from a long time Chicagoan perspective, I believe most Chicagoans (especially people like me in the suburbs) are indifferent to the fluctuations of crime statistics. Unfortunately, most of the violent crime are committed in the urban ghetto that many middle class families are insulated from. The minor ups and downs in the entire Chicago crime rate is therefore unlikely to affect number of College applications. After all, you are going to school in Hyde Park and not in Englewood or West Garfield Park.

U of C Business School and Law School have been in the top 5 (or sometimes top 3) ranking for the last 5 decade. So is our famed Department of Economics. That is nothing new. Most MBA students have a couple of years of work experience. Business School operates their admission completely independent of The College. Hence the ranking of professional schools has very little to do with reputation of the The College other than enhancing the profile of the entire university to the layman.

In my honest opinion, successive university administrations after Hanna Grey have put forward a concerted effort in raising the profile of The College to attract high school seniors. We always have our illustrious professional schools and graduate divisions. But The College until mid 1990’s had always been the ugly duckling of the entire university. However, after millions of dollars spent on new dorms and new buildings, the school is physically now far more welcoming than it used to be half a century ago. And the extensive use of early decision to lock down the class will of course jack up the enrollment statistics. So a multi-million construction effort and a razor sharp marketing plan will perpetuate a cycle (whether this is a virtuous or vicious one will depend on your preference) that will continue to flame the admission frenzy to The College.

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“Best solution for students: take the schools that are gaming the process off their list to punish the schools (ain’t happen’n I know but should-take Chicago off the list). A byproduct of schools working hard to increase number of applicants and yield is harm to students- in terms of cost, time and all kinds of other things. And yes, US News & World report lead the charge”

  1. Schools gaming what process exactly? USNWR rankings do not include # of applicants or yield as part of the score calculation. So what exactly is UChicago gaming?

  2. If you’re one of the established elite in coastal New England, a descendant of academics or the Chicago pool from which UChicago traditionally drew, the increasing popularity of the college may make you feel as if interloping hordes are coming in to steal the rightful place of your children. But if you look at this from the college’s standpoint, how wonderful to have access to some of the best and brightest minds that previously wouldn’t have known about UChicago or known enough to apply. And for those high achieving applicants from the nontraditional pool, how wonderful for them to know and be drawn to this gem that was somewhat unknown to them in the past. The increase in applications represents a huge boon to both the college which has greater access to top students than ever and to top students from outside the traditional regions and populations served by the school, so it’s only a “harm” if viewed from a very privileged lens.

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Yes there is no doubt that the emphasis on The College has had its affect over the last decade, but the food still sucks at Bartlett (so says my DD).

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@CU123 I believe your DD. But college dorm food usually sucks :wink:

My friends’ kids said, however, Cathey food was decent (for whatever that is worth).

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milee30, I think you missed my point which means I did not express it well. My point was not about students at Chicago at all. It was about the elevated importance placed on viewing admissions as a horse race about yields and numbers (as indicative of a school’s value) is harmful in so many ways. Chicago has always had an “intellectual bent” as you’d expect of many colleges (but particularly Chicago). So there simply can’t be 38000 applicants for whom Chicago makes any sense unless the school has changed radically (and we know it has not) and are now highlighting climbing walls and posh dorms (which obviously they are not). Thus, the idea that 38000 have applied is not a testimony to how wonderful the school is. Rather the numbers suggests a general failure of the admissions process. They are not targeting those for whom the school makes sense. But instead of acknowledging this as a failure, we tend to view those numbers as showing how great a school is-because we stack up worth by the numbers, a la WU News and World Report. And all that harms families.

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This is just me ranting.

I do detect from many online posts (on CC, Reddit, etc.) that many applicants to UChicago care about getting in without understanding what and why they are getting into. The opinion seems to be: “This is a T10 school and I just need to get in one of those.” I do hope the Admission Office is smart enough to filter out these “tailgaters”.

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about this, "how wonderful to have access to some of the best and brightest minds that previously wouldn’t have known about UChicago or known enough to apply. ". Yes it is wonderful to access the best and brightest minds. So there is certainly a portion of those for whom Chicago makes sense-but that is a small portion.And I’m sure that they end up attracting that portion. But wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was a way to do so without attraction the 15000 (at least) applications for whom Chicago would make no sense at all?

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@85bears46 All of the top schools have this problem, and it seems fully half of the applicants at any Top 10 school are not really qualified for admittance.

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Please don’t misinterpret my post. I am not suggesting that Chicago is not one of the best academic institutions in the country/world. I am talking about the process that most schools are engaged in and that I think does a disservice to scholarship-the impact of which is evident from K-12 and in graduate/professional education which then impacts on the quality of everything from the knowledge base of your physician to what research is being conducted. The impact to society is immense.

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“Thus, the idea that 38000 have applied is not a testimony to how wonderful the school is. Rather the numbers suggests a general failure of the admissions process. They are not targeting those for whom the school makes sense. But instead of acknowledging this as a failure, we tend to view those numbers as showing how great a school is-because we stack up worth by the numbers, a la WU News and World Report. And all that harms families.”

Every school that has a positive reputation for something - whether that something is academics, football, networking, access to Silicon Valley, pot, parties - receives far more applications than it needs. There is no top school for which only the most fit and qualified apply, so why does this only represent a failure of UChicago’s admissions process? Do we really think every single kid who applies to Harvard is a kid who Harvard ‘makes sense’ for?

It’s silly to view this as a problem of the college. People are notoriously bad at self-assessment and even worse at assessing their children. No admissions process will ever change that. All a college can do is spread the work about what it does well, set up a process to pick out the applicants that fit and go from there…

So an extra 15,000 apply. So what? This is part of the beauty of our crazy college system. Families are free to assess their own chances, their own situations and make their own decisions. There are literally thousands of options and nobody is forced to apply anywhere.

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@lostaccount Therein lies the problem, you really need to cast the widest possible net in order to get the class that makes the most sense for UChicago. Its the admissions office that needs to do the hard work of filtering.

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