UChicago is Tops at Top Prep Schools

1NJParent
Sat, 02 Jan 2021 11:48:25 +0000

aquapt:

So, how does UChicago have need-blind admissions and full-need-met aid, yet end up with noticeably more full-pay students than its peers? Emphasis on Early Decision is one way, but others like Penn and NYU and Rice do this too, and still have a higher share on financial aid. Admitting a bigger share of international students (who aren’t subject to the need-blind and full-need-met policies) is another way, but Columbia and NYU have lots of internationals too, and still have noticeably fewer full-pay students. Athletic scholarships aren’t taking up any slack, because Chicago is a DIII school.

So, perhaps targeted marketing to well-funded prep school students is another piece of their successful strategy in attracting a high share of full-pay students to support their bottom line.

Segmented targeting is clearly a strategy for UChicago, but I still think ED/ED2 is the main culprit. No school is close to UChicago in terms of the percentage of students admitted via ED/ED2. WashU is perhaps the second highest. Take a look at what their student composition is like.