University of Chicago Fall 2022 Admissions - Class of 2026

Applied to UChicago in 2022? This is a space for the members of the class of 2026 to connect with other applicants and share stats, news or admissions updates.

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Anyone have any idea when they think decisions will be released?

My best guess based on past dates: March 11th.

I suspect the crossover of our children’s college list is quite extensive!!

We’re thinking 3/11 as well. Our D’s counseling office has a calendar on the wall with “best guess” dates based on either what they’ve heard from AOs or what they believe is likely based on prior, similar years.

Not putting much weight into UChicago. Her stats “fit” and her main essay was what I believe to be her best and funniest essay, but it’s UChicago. Visited Northwestern in the summer and was going to visit Chicago in the afternoon but a monsoon descended upon the city and it just didn’t work out. Based on fact she was going to RD, didn’t make economic sense to extend the trip another day. Would be a REALLY nice surprise, and throw an unexpected wrench into her decision process if she were to get lucky enough to be accepted.

Good luck all!

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Ha ha! Yes, it certainly seems that way :slightly_smiling_face:

Exactly the same for my D. Very good stats, nice “quirky” essay - but… she applied EA to a school that cares a lot about yield and offers ED to test applicants’ commitment. She got deferred, and picked to go RD instead of ED2. So, yeah… not expecting a positive response :sweat_smile:

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Funny you say that…Our GC actually suggested our D apply RD for that exact reason. Said that they weren’t going to accept her EA and that she might be signaling to UChicago that she was a “toe in the water” prestige applicant if she didn’t ED2. We asked for any hard stats or information to suggest that might be the case, and she said there really wasn’t any and it was merely “rumours and speculation.” But that was enough for our D to punt the essays until December in case she got into her ED.

The more we researched, the more I don’t really think it makes a difference. They do seem to be very yield reliant, and if an applicant is deemed to be worthy and a likely attendee…not sure when or how they applied is relevant.

My daughter too wrote a really good and quirky essay that she was very proud of :slight_smile: Originally she was planning to do EA but went with RD because she needed more time for the essay. Coincidentally she also got deferred from another school (EA) that really pushed her to do ED2 which she opted out of.

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Their web site still says “late March” but Mar 11 will be a nice surprise for sure.

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Wow very interesting observation and probably a smart move given( If we are talking about U Chicago) the higher likelihood (however small it might be) of getting in from RD than from EA -deferral -choosing not to ED2 and waiting for RD.

I don’t think that students who apply EA know before hand that there is a possibility of being deferred and immediately offered the chance to ED2. For some who may have been rejected in ED1 or been deferred and not feel very strong about the ED1 school any more it’s another chance at a school at a school that may be very high on their list. For others who have been deferred in ED1 and who still hold hope for that t school its a tough decision that they may or may not regret or wonder about in the end.

It’s a tough spot. Even if there’s no “penalty” by allowing to land in RD pool and not ED2 after an EA deferral, it might creep into a student’s head that it is.

Have the EA stats every been published? It seems like many people believe EA acceptances are very low.

Same thing if it’s where I’m thinking of. DS was deferred ea from that school and UChicago where he had all the stats and some of his best essays that he poured himself into. DH is a Chicago alum, so it was disappointing at the time. He wrote a LOCI. I think the RD deferred from EA is not going to be a great outcome. It is his first choice and he told them that in the LOCI, but because owning a small business makes calculators moot he could not go ED.

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LOL…I think my kid’s list would make 3…I see you two on several of the same threads as me!

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I looked into this a few weeks ago - the stats aren’t published, but James Nondorf gives a speech to admitted students every year and he has let slip a little data a few times…you can find his speeches on YouTube

It’s rumored that they Defer a LOT of EAs, to encourage ED2, but I’ve never seen data on exactly how many. However, I have seen data that suggests EA-RD conversions are on the order of 1% (based on what James Nondorf says in his speeches to admitted students).

I’ve also seen a good analysis on Reddit (hard to find though) that starts with the reported overall Yield rate and infers that the share of the class that MUST come from ED1 is about 80% - or, more succinctly, UC fills ~80% of the class in ED…it’s a sort of reverse engineered “what you would have to believe their yield is for RD and similar non-committal rounds in order to get such a high overall yield” type approach that appealed to the math guy in me…but I do recall looking at the EA/RD group (which couldn’t be fully differentiated based on the limited data they report) and concluding that there are FEW slots left for RD and Deferred EA, and that odds are quite long on an EA converting in RD…so the 1% type numbers that get thrown around don’t seem unrealistic to me.

That said, it all begs the question…why do they seem to defer SO many kids when they seem to know deferral odds are so, so low…My daughter had a hypothesis - Namely, she thinks her school has a very small, but consistent pipeline into UC, and that they likely value having such a relationship with various schools…and that they may be engaged in an effort to keep accepting 1-2 kids each year from her school to keep the pipeline of good candidates flowing…but with their desire for yield, coupled with the uncertainty of who might apply RD, she thinks they deferred her (and one other) waiting to see who else might apply from her school. The University of California schools do something just like this, evaluating kids in the local context, and she’s hopeful that the odds are not really 1%, but that she’s potentially being compared to just a few other high stats kids from her own school for a possible slot ala how UCLA and Berkeley do it. I have NO data to suggest UChigaco has an approach like that, but it helps her keep her head up about the odds!

This makes a ton of sense, and based on our experience here (with a fairly similar pipeline to UChicago over the years) I don’t think you’re that far off. Our D has applied RD and has NO real belief that she’ll be accepted, except for the sliver of hope that a) she’s from a northeast prep school that has consistently sent a few students to Chicago b) she’s in the “sweet spot” of accepted students from her school. The latter being not the top 1-3 in the class, but comfortably in the top 10%, excellent everything else, etc. An applicant that has a chance at every school she applies to, but is a long shot for all of the reaches because of the math. Seems like UChicago likes to pick those kids for some reason. So she will open the decision with a knowledge of what it will assuredly show, but with the “WTH” mindset lol.

Btw, she checked yesterday for the first time in a while. Not sure if it changed or has always been like that, but it does say on the portal “by mid-March” for RD. So…my $ is on this Friday big time. We’ll see!

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I agree. That matches the pattern over the past 3 years.
I’m expecting to see a tweet later today confirming the decision date.

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Yes this first point seems true. There was an article in the Chicago Maroon several years ago saying the admit rate for deferred students (EA) who chose RD was at or below 1% while the RD overall is several points higher. The fact that these kids are given another chance at showing their commitment through the ED2 option and chose not to would reveal that they are holding out for something else (yes financial considerations cause people to hold out but setting that aside). Chicago sees this and may look at them differently from the regular RD group. This may be another tactic they use in addition to ED/ED2 to increase yield.

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I hope you placed a bet.

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It’s this friday? Can you screenshot. I can’t seem to find it.