<p>I don't get it.. UChicago is such an AMAZING school! It's prestigious, has rigorous academics, impressive history, distinguished faculty and is just beautiful all around! I would imagine that a school like this would be much more selective than Uchicago is...</p>
<p>So.. what's up with the 40% acceptance rate? don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with this at all, it just makes me wonder..</p>
<p>Anyone have any reasons as to why the acceptance rate is so high for a school like Chicago?</p>
<p>Self-selection. For comparison's sake, Harvard gets almost 20,000 applications a year while Chicago gets between 9,000-10,000. Chicago's yield also stinks compared to Harvard (33% to roughly 75%), so the combination of a low yield (which is due to the fact that many Chicago applicants get accepted at an Ivy and choose it over Chicago) and small applicant pool forces Chicago to accept 40% of applicants in order to fill a class of 1,100. However, Chicago's acceptees and matriculants are just as qualified as those at any school--save perhaps Harvard and MIT.</p>
<p>Exactly, they dont take the common application so you cant just click a button and apply. The president of U Chicago said that if they really cared about US News they could easily go to the common application and be ranked as a top 5-6 school. However, they don't want to do that.</p>
<p>It's self selecting in their applicants. If you didnt really look into schools and were just applying to top schools, would you really pick the school where fun goes to die or any of those other little nasties that people spread about chicago. </p>
<p>You have to do the research AND be in to academics for chicago to even be a choice.</p>
<p>It's more than self-selection, I think. Chicago's yield isn't as high as many universties of similar quality, which definitely inflates the acceptance rate.</p>
<p>Chicago is only right for certain ppl and not for others whereas other schools appeal to a more general population, which makes the yield higher. I was admitted to the U of Chicago, but I was a lil disappointed in the fact that many of its alums are either nonchalant about the school or they do not care. Its alum network isn't tight like the ivies and alums for the most part, either don't give off their enthusiam for the school or they just didn't enjoy their time there. I think U of Chicago is a WONDERFUL place and it will definetely be one of my graduate school places I apply to. G Luck ppl.</p>
<p>Well, the low yield is the direct result of the self selection. When someone wants to make a $60 donation, they make to Harvard rather than Chicago even though they would get turned down at both places.</p>
<p>The high acceptance rate has not only to do with the number of applications, but also, the yield. Schools accept a certain number of students to be able to fill a class, and because Chicago's yield isn't as high as other places, they have to accept more students in order to complete the target class size. However, why should acceptance rate matter? Acceptance rate doesn't equal prestige, and the University of Chicago is very prestigious.</p>
<p>As another said, the acceptance rate it high because the yield is low.</p>
<p>Chicago suffers from the following limitations, all affecting either applicant numbers or yield, or both:</p>
<ul>
<li> It's a safety/backup school to ivies and stanford</li>
<li> It's location is perceived by many to be less than ideal - an urban oasis surrounded by urban blight. Penn and Hopkins have similar geography problems.</li>
<li> It is a school with neither big time sports nor a big time greek scene. This puts off a lot of kids that perceive these things to be associated with a fun college time.<br></li>
<li> It has low grade inflation, leading to a perception (and maybe a reality?) that one needs to work harder in order to get into a good professional school.</li>
<li> Chicago's prestige is a bit different from most other places. To many folks, there are no bragging rights associated with a Chicago degree. It does not have famous teams, unlike Notre Dame. It does not get press for having famous students or alums, unlike Yale. It IS famous for its intellectual side, but how many americans on the street can name ONE Nobel Prize winner in econ?</li>
</ul>
<p>So, in short, I think Chicago appeals the strongest to families and their kids who are not afraid to buck mainstream herd mentality - willing to make their own decisions on their own basis.</p>
<p>I would not call it a safety/back up school to the ivies at all, with the exception of Harvard. And the area of hyde park is actually quite charming.</p>
<p>yes, we know it's as good as the ivies, and Hyde Park is OK. That's why we're on this board. But others don't. Remember, it is the PERCEPTION that influences the behaviour, not the reality.</p>
<p>BTW, as the parent of a first year, I've met many of my D's friends. Most of them, shall we say, did not chose Chicago over an ivy.</p>
<p>I think nm-dad is spot-on, except I would suggest that Chicago is a match/backup to the Ivies (as opposed to safety). Without big time sports, greek or other social activities (many dorms are off campus, but moving closer), school spirit is not as high as it is at many schools. One measure is sweatshirts...when touring UoC and Northwestern, the difference was striking -- many kids at NU wore the school colors, but not so on the SouthSide.</p>
<p>fwiw: I'd also suggest that many Americans on the street (beyond the NE corridor) have never heard of Dartmouth, and think Penn is where JoePa coaches. LOL</p>
<p>FWIW, I just returned from Sweden from an intellectual property meeting. Folks all through Europe and Asia appear to know Chicago better than most Americans. Very curious.</p>
<p>as a high schooler, I'm really interested in Uchicago for exactly the reason above: the antithesis of everything bad about the ivies, but retaining the original intellectuality and value for learning.</p>
<p>Is this an over-hyped misconception, or is Uchicago really more intellectual than the Ivies? If anyone can compare it to Columbia, that'd be particularly informative...</p>
<p>The WSJ recently ran an article suggesting that UChicago has had more impact on the US than Harvard or any of the Ivies in the last 20 years in the areas of law, economics, government and international relations. Chicago has long been known for its intellectual strengths. I have found no one in my professional circles who does not know and greatly respect UChicago. At a recent conference at Stanford I was asked by several Stanford Alumni and students what was it like to be at a school so committed to the "life of the mind." Was it really as rigorous (and scary) as they had heard? Chicago's name has a powerful effect in the Academe. As far as enthusiastic alumni, I have many friends who attended "The University" and all love and support it. There are regular alumni events, lectures, trips, etc. Our blood runs Maroon.</p>