<p>U</a>. of C. sees unprecedented jump in applications - Chicago Breaking News</p>
<p>Wow. So it looks like about a 12% RD acceptance rate.</p>
<p>maybe a bit lower- could be 11 and change depending on how many EA’s were deferred, which is a figure i haven’t seen. hats off to JHS for an accurate prediction. Also interesting to note positive commentary in the article on Chicago’s changing reputation, and the university’s decision to release the story to the tribune instead of burying it in the campus rags as usual. defs a new sheriff in town…</p>
<p>Very impressive move in one year. Here’s a BusinessWeek story that goes into some depth. Even a brief mention of CC:
[Chicago</a> Sees 42% Applicant Jump in Competition With Harvard - BusinessWeek](<a href=“Businessweek - Bloomberg”>Businessweek - Bloomberg)</p>
<p>Wow. For comparison, that’s about the same number of applications Yale got the year my daughter graduated from high school, 2005, and more than Princeton or Columbia got that year.</p>
<p>All I can say is I’m really glad S1 applied EA!</p>
<p>However, I’m a little concerned about the yield though. If the additional increase represents a greater overlap with HYPMS pool, then we may see lower overall yield. What do you think?</p>
<p>I have always felt that Chicago, in terms of academics, rivals any school and maybe is even better than most ivys.</p>
<p>I agree, taxguy, and was always amazed by their relatively small applicant pool compared to their academic peers. A daunting application and a reputation for being a haven for relentless grinds were no-doubt off-putting to some applicants.</p>
<p>Kudos to Chicago for reversing that situation in such short order. I expect this could boost their ranking (not that it means anything), which will drive even more applicants.</p>
<p>Forty-two percent!? I’m seriously impressed - but I think it makes sense, given the quality of the school. Chicago, welcome to the sub 15% club.</p>
<p>Well, it won’t be in the sub-15% club just yet. Its overall admission rate is going to be just under 20%, and the number of RD acceptances divided by the number of RD applications is probably going to be just over 15%. Only by taking into account the (unknown) number of EA deferrals can one say that the real RD admission rate will be around 13%. And that’s still much higher than the colleges it regards as its competition.</p>
<p>Isn’t this just a consequence , at least in part, of a prestigious school going to the common app? It is their second year and the word got out. All it takes is the click of a button and a charge card to apply. How do you think Harvard gets so many applications, guaranteeing a low acceptance rate?</p>
<p>higgens, the argument used to be that it was the Chicago style essay questions that were keeping students away. Since they are still part of the supplement, I don’t really see the logic there. But then life isn’t all logical. I do know that the only application my son had this year that wasn’t a Common Application was so badly designed for uploading that we ended up printing it out and mailing it in. (Which required a panicked trip to the PO 15 minutes before closing time!) So perhaps Common App does make a difference. </p>
<p>I think the ad campaign helped. I don’t think my older son got many mailings at all from Chicago and he was a stronger student than my younger son. That said, my younger son barely looked at most of the mailings he got - and found 90% of them turned him off not on any particular college.</p>
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<p>In Chicago’s case, going to the Common App was a double bonus: not only did it make it easy to add Chicago to one’s school list, it also replaced what was perhaps the most daunting application among US colleges. The app was many pages and included unique essays that couldn’t readily be “repurposed” from other apps. To its credit, the challenging app did serve as a pre-screen which filtered out applicants who weren’t all that serious about Chicago. It’s one thing to check off a box saying, “hey, I might go there,” and another to decide to spend hours laboring over essays and “short answer” questions.</p>
<p>Dismaying news, I think. D2 loved U of C when we visited with D1, and really wants to go there. Just the type of kid that fits in there - - smart and a little quirky. Hate to see a lot of kids add it just cuz it is easier to do so now…</p>
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<p>The truth of this statement is not contingent on the number of applications Chicago receives, if the main contention of Chicago students and alumni is that your school has always offered ivy-quality academics (which is, I think, a fair contention). Unless you want to make the counter-intuitive claim that Chicago’s academics improved when it went to the Common App…</p>
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<p>Many of these projections assume the same yield. This will not necessarily be the case. With the introduction of the Common App, it is likely that Chicago’s current applicant pool is not as “self-selecting” as it used to be, although the part about “self-selection” has always been sort of an urban legend…</p>
<p>Congratulations to University of Chicago.</p>
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<p>If you add Chicago for the heck of you’re “Why Chicago” essay is not going to be very well thought out and your extended essay won’t likely be either. It is easier than it used to be but three supplemental essays (even if two are shorter) are still a lot more than many of their peer schools.</p>
<p>some of us who were estimating the RD acceptance rate were counting on 1700 or so that will be accepted during the RD cycle, which is how we were projecting 11-12% acceptance rate including the EA deferrals (we estimated that to be about 3000). That said, the RD application number of 13500 (total minus EA applicant pool) is larger than anything any of us projected. The fact that they are admitting about the same number of student in total means that they are projecting the yield of the EA admitted pool is actually going to be LOWER than the past. Makes sense since many of them probably were just the “casting the net wide” applicants. (note that EA applicant pool grew by 54%). </p>
<p>I must say, I was shocked that they kept the EA admit rate about the same as previous year even though they had such a big jump in the application number: it almost looked reckless. Some of us thought that it was because they thought they could have a higher yield from the EA admits, but it does not even appear that way. I am still scratching my head why they admitted so many during the EA cycle.</p>
<p>Whichever way you look at it, I don’t think there was ever a case where the disparity between non-binding EA and RD acceptance rates was THIS BIG (28% vs. 12%). Given that within the target population, the only reason not to apply EA was the SCEA for Stanford and Yale, this is the year when missing the EA boat because the applicant did not get it all together early is going to cost so much. In fact, I don’t think this level of disparity exists even among ED schools!!! </p>
<p>I would also venture a guess that stats and all that will be probably higher among the RD admits. This is based on my impression that EA pool did not appear much that much stronger than the previous year. So similar level of qualification for two pools, where one pool has 28% and the other 12% chance. Ergo those that made it through the later pool are likely to be much stronger candidates.</p>
<p>Even though it does not affect us since I won’t have to deal with the Chicago application process (S1 is a freshman there already and S2 won’t be a Chicago candidate), I hate to see this much of a chance effect in college admission game (meaning, the timing of the application submission having this much effect on the chance of getting accepted). </p>
<p>I assume this is a one time deal: this year was whacky in that the applicant number jumped so much in one year. I hope the admission office will adjust their estimates and numbers next year and will come up with a better balance: a bit more selective during the EA round and a bit higher acceptance rate in the RD so that the disparity is not this pronounced.</p>
<p>Every year has a particular reason to be a whacky one. Maybe this year will be the one when everyone says “the heck with the Ivies, let’s all go to Chicago,” the yield goes through the roof, and HYPSM becomes HYPSMC. In any case, the publishing of “the essay” didn’t seem to discourage too many people from sending in their application.</p>