UChicago Publishes Common Data Set for the First Time

[DigitalDad]

@Mwfan1921

Bottom line U Chicago needs to do better in terms of enrolling Pell grant eligible and middle income students.

Yes, looks like 11.6% Pell grant recipients. I believe that puts them in the lower end of elite schools that are trying to have a socially/economically more diverse class.

[Mwfan1921]

There is a huge variance in practices across schools. Many schools don’t recalculate GPAs at all for admission purposes (or use common app Grades section, or use SRAR, etc), and many HS transcripts only show a weighted GPA. I would guess it’s most colleges that do not complete the average GPA section in the CDS.

The other thing I’ve mentioned before is that some institutional reporting departments (who are in charge of completing CDSs) calculate the average CDS GPA for matriculants in a completely different way than the way GPA is used in admissions. So, you have to know what you are looking at!

[Mwfan1921]

@DigitalDad

Yes, looks like 11.6% Pell grant recipients. I believe that puts them in the lower end of elite schools that are trying to have a socially/economically more diverse class.

IPEDs for 2020-21 shows 11.3% (865/7,636 students) of all undergrads received a Pell Grant, I think that’s the most recent data but not sure. College Navigator - University of Chicago

There are other sources that show different results though, and I’m not sure why.

For example, this database (cites 2020 data) puts the U Chicago Pell grant rate for all undergrads at 12.3% (14% for first years). One can also look up Chicago’s peer schools here to see how they compare: What the Pell?!? America’s Worst Colleges and Universities For Enrolling Students from Low-Income Households - Education Reform Now

[DigitalDad]

@Mwfan1921

For example, this database (cites 2020 data) puts the U Chicago Pell grant rate for all undergrads at 12.3%

So there’s one thing that Chicago can thrive for to fit with the Ivy’s?

[FStratford]

So GA tech and CalTech are worse than UChicago?

Is there a common thread among these 3 schools?

[prezbucky]

Yield was 83.5% – pretty good.

Of course, since they didn’t provide ED numbers, we have no idea what their RD yield is… which, IMO, is the true yield measure, since ED is basically 100% yield.

[Data10]

@vwlizard

Hmmm… do you think the massive amount of recurrent mailings to kids that were in no way qualified to be admitted to UC had anything to do with the increase in their applications? Funny how it occurred the year they decided to publish their CDS.

I expect publishing CDS had little to do with the mailings and increase in applications. Instead it primarily related to the Columbia incorrect stat debacle. The original report criticized Columbia for being among the few highly ranked colleges that did not make their CDS public, which contributed to making the incorrect stat reporting possible. Both Columbia and Chicago chose to make their CDS public a short time later.

[ucbalumnus]

@Mwfan1921

I don’t think this will happen, for any number of reasons. One barrier is the fact that larger schools don’t have the resources to calculate unweighted GPAs for all matriculants. This would also cause extra work for schools that do recalculate GPA for admission purposes (so UF, U South Carolina, et al)…meaning they would have to recalculate GPA a second time in a completely different way (the CDS prescribed way).

The CDS should include a question on what GPA is used:

• As recalculated by the college. If so, what method (including weightings used)?
• As provided by the high school.