UChicago defers the majority of EA applicants, and the eventual admit rate for deferred EA applicants in the spring is abysmal.
It sounds like your child would like to do ED2. If that is the case, the 2 best options based on what you have said are to switch the deferred EA UChicago app to ED2, or choose Vanderbilt for ED2.
ED2 to Vanderbilt had an admit rate of 10.3% last year for the class of 2026. Nobody knows exactly what the UChicago ED1 and ED2 rates are. Personally, I think the UChicago ED rates are heavily influenced by which high school your child attends.
If your child attends a well known private school, the UChicago ED admit rates are better. If they attend a public school (with the exception of high end public schools like New York’s Stuyvesant) the UChicago admit rates are lower. But overall, the UChicago ED2 rate is probably somewhere around 10-15%, and ED1 may be slightly higher.
If you just keep UChicago as a deferred EA application, you should assume it is highly, highly unlikely that it will be changed to an admit in the spring.
So I’m thinking; I’m majoring in cognitive studies; should I apply ED2 to Vanderbilt’s peabody school or do ED2 for UChicago. Fellow deferred student
If it helps I am from a overrepresented area - think bay area public school
Not like I’d like to go to both equally - in fact I’d heavily prefer UChicago. But I would also like to not regret doing ED2 to a place I could have had a better shot if I land up at my state school
If there is a major advantage to Vanderbilt ED2 in my case, I’d like to consider it
There is unlikely to be a major advantage applying ED to Vanderbilt given that the acceptance rate is estimated to be roughly the same last year for ED2 (based on what people guesstimate the Chicago ED rate to be). It seems all of the southern schools had 20 to 25 percent increase in applications this year so your odds may be better at Chicago. Add in that Chicago is your preference and you will be showing sustained interest applying both EA and ED. I would stick with Chicago.
To add, my application for RD’s are significantly better. My personal statement for my early schools was mediocre - not bad, but no introspective masterpiece - but my new one is in my opinion my best work. Would this be a huge disadvantage to UChicago. My why UChicago and uncommon essay were excellent, though
I’m no expert on UChicgo, but they apparently love ED candidates, even compared to EA. Given you greatly prefer Chicago and Vandy is likely to be equally or even a more difficult admit ED2, I would stick with Chicago in your shoes. If you want more of a sure thing for ED2, you likely need to look beyond the T25 schools.
I don’t think there will be a major difference in the class of 2027 ED2 admissions rate comparing Vanderbilt to UChicago. After getting denied ED1 at Penn, you should either pick your next favorite university for ED2 if they offer it, or pick no ED2 and just go RD for everything else if your second favorite option doesn’t offer ED2. If UChicago and Vanderbilt are like your 6th and 12th favorite options, I don’t think you should pick either one for ED2.
I also think some people overestimate the UChicago ED1/2 acceptance rates. I’ve seen some exaggerated guesses … if you take the known data that UChicago has released or that has filtered out from speeches and emails, it is not hard to extrapolate the possible range. But numbers like 20-25% or greater are a laughable over exaggeration. One reason this happens is because I’m pretty confident that UChicago does admit greater than 20 or 25% of applicants who apply ED from certain favored private schools and a few public schools … so word gets out in those specific communities that lots of ED applicants get into UChicago. That is not true on a broader national/international scale at all - it is only true if you are coming from the top 50 - 75 or so US private schools and maybe a handful of top public high schools in the country. I have seen this policy in action, it is real.
But to answer your main question, I don’t think that Vanderbilt will be an easier ED2 admit this year compared to UChicago, in general or for you personally. They will probably be fairly similar, so if you feel obligated to pick one or the other, pick the one you like better.
And I agree with Baltmom: if you really feel the need to get accepted to an ED2 university even if you are not extremely interested in going to that university, you should look for an ED2 that has a significantly higher ED acceptance rate than UChicago or Vanderbilt because both only accept a small percentage of ED2 applicants.
I guess you are right - it is extremely unlikely - especially since the same application, minus the supplements, was sent to UPenn CAS, the easier college. I guess I can find hope in the fact that people get rejected ED2 UChicago and get in Princeton or something.
You asked several days ago if you could update your ECs after a deferral. The answer is yes. My S21 (deferred EA and accepted RD in 2021) emailed his admissions officer in January after the deferral. He expressed his continued strong interest in the university and updated her with several additional awards he had earned in his top 3 ECs. I strongly recommend you send an email to your AO! Best of luck to you.
I know that for Stuyvesant the admissions officer used to be an alumni. But he retired in the past year so the admit rate from the school has gone down significantly.
Thank you for letting me know. Some schools (USC for e.g.) are doing accept or defer - no reject - for EAs. Wanted to get a sense for if Chicago was doing the same thing.
