<p>Hey! So I’ve gotten the handwritten note from the admissions rep, the call from the UChicago student, and the scarf/tshirt. Just today, however, my parents also received a package containing a hat, two shirts, a car sticker, pen, and calender.</p>
<p>Just wanted to let you guys know it’s coming if you haven’t gotten it!:)</p>
<p>Yes. My friend’s parents also got these. So… now they’re also bribing the parents, eh?</p>
<p>Seems like they really want that yield rate to go up haha! Probably want to break the 50% mark, wasn’t it like 46% last year?</p>
<p>This is really good to know. I’m so much eager to get that T-shirt! :)</p>
<p>It’s interesting. I wish the car decal was shorter though. It spells out “The University of Chicago.”</p>
<p>A little too long for my taste, to put on a car anyway.</p>
<p>This is actually starting to seem a little creepy… like, don’t they have anything better to spend money on there? Do they REALLY have to charge $60K a year when they can afford to do this?</p>
<p>Well, I remember they sent us car sticker, pen, calendar last year. So a couple of extra goodie this year. considering the number of total admitted students somewhere around 3,000, really we are not talking about big money here. So envious of parents of class 2017, I so wish I got hat & t shirt. :)</p>
<p>happy fit. the same here. No hats, or t shirts last year. Welcome class 2017 !</p>
<p>The school appears to be really worried about yield falling back to below 40%. They are doing their very best to ensure that last year is not viewed as an anomaly.</p>
<p>kenyanpride, do not worried, it won’t be an anomaly. UChicago is a superb university that is finally perceived as such for many in the US, and the rest of the world. # 4 in the US News rankings, and #8 in the world ranking. They do not need to send hats or free shirts.</p>
<p>kenyanpride is a Duke ■■■■■ who should just be thankful he/she got into that school in North Carolina with his URM status…he seems to be trolling constantly for anything positive about Chicago to knock it down. It is sad. He hasn’t even started school at that school…I just think he is having buyer’s remorse for having to attend that school…wait until you get out into the real world or better yet let’s see how you do at that school in North Carolina…you will be humbled soon…</p>
<p>DH and I got the package today - t-shirt, hat, pen, car sticker,and calendar! Very nice!</p>
<p>mommaof5 !!! Nice , as a proud MOM of a class 2016 student, welcome to a great university, students and parents community!!</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m a ■■■■■ because I have an opinion, and because I make it known to the people on the HYP forums that you relentlessly try to make not so subtle comparisons between their schools and Chicago. As far as your ad hominem regarding my being a URM is concerned, I am secure in the knowledge that I was admitted to Duke on merit (what with a 2330 SAT score and a near perfect GPA). Furthermore, I am not an American citizen so the question of getting a boost in admissions doesn’t arise (although you are welcome to debate that if you like). I don’t see how my participation in the conversation is detrimental to Chicago (or to Duke for the matter) in any way. Can’t we all just be civil? Or is that too much to ask? I am merely intrigued by the steps that Chicago is taking to enhance its brand. I am sure that the posters on this forum will all concur with me when I say that I have always been courteous and respectful of them at all times (barring a few minor indiscretions). Cheers.</p>
<p>You seem fine. I applied to Duke too, congratulations on your acceptance. However I don’t think that there is any worry that the yield will go down for Chicago. What with it’s peers ED acceptances and Chicago’s moving up in the rankings (not saying that the rankings are necessarily accurate), I think that the excessive “gift-giving” is more of an attempt to supplement a large yield increase, not an attempt to subvert a loss. It’s the general consensus that, at least recently, Chicago has become more aware/caring of statistics like yield and selectivity. They have been very successful in increasing the overall number of applicants, and now they want to increase yield. Plus, I think Chicago is just a fun and quirky type of school that likes doing things like this 
But that’s just a little bit of my opinion.</p>
<p>I think that they are probably setting a yield goal this year of around 50%, and hope to, in the next few years, get it to about 55-60, to put it in league with Columbia. Still, it’s sort of amazing that without a binding early agreement, Chicago has a near 50% yield.</p>
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<p>Exactly. What is amazing about Chicago’s yield is that it has no Early Decision. Dartmouth and Duke for example, both have Early Decision, but they have yields of 49% and 45%, respectively.</p>
<p>I think that if Chicago were to implement an ED policy, although I’m happy they didn’t have one when I applied :), they might experience a slight decrease in selectivity but their yield would increase a lot. I think it would surely put it in place with Columbia. While both are statistics that are used to determine the prestige/quality/whatever of a university, I think that because acceptance rate is more prominently used and seen by applicants, they won’t be instituting an ED policy anytime soon. Unless they are happy with the projected 9.5% acceptance rate this year… which could or could not be the case with schools like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Columbia all being in the 6-8% range.</p>
<p>I feel like being marginally less selective but having a tremendous yield is the way to go. I know that Duke is following that approach (look for a higher yield this year at the expense of a precipitous drop in the admissions rate). The implementation of ED would do Chicago a great deal of good in the long run because they would be able to lock down great students who would otherwise be snared up by HYP (often students will apply to a marginally less selective school because they are not too sure of themselves, and that can confer a great advantage upon schools like Chicago and its peers).</p>
<p>ED is evil. Sorry. It’s not to Duke’s credit, or that of any other college, that they boost their yield by using it.</p>
<p>Obviously, Duke isn’t alone in using ED, and it’s very popular with well-to-do, sophisticated applicants, so it’s not going away anything soon. But Chicago is to be commended for not adopting it.</p>
<p>You can tell how much better for students EA is than ED simply by comparing early admissions at Chicago and Duke, two colleges with different vibes but which are very comparable. Duke has traditionally gotten more total applications than Chicago, but far fewer early applications.</p>