UChicago is Tops at Top Prep Schools

JBStillFlying
Sat, 02 Jan 2021 09:53:51 +0000

In reading through the above interesting commentary from Marlowe, Cate, UChiParent, Izzalu, and Data, I’m curious if any of the prep - savvy posters here know how many kids at their schools apply to UChicago ED1 or ED2. Sorry if I happened to miss it upthread. That just seems definitive that the school would be first or 2nd choice, for whatever reason. Given UChicago’s many admissions plans, I’d be looking closely at which ones those prep school students are choosing and my guess is that anyone with a connection to a guidance counselor can find this out. It doesn’t mean that UChicago is necessarily more “popular” than other places but what it might signal is the level of enthusiasm for matriculating there among those who do apply. And you can bet that Admissions understands that percentage as well. For instance - just to use Data’s percentages at TJ (not completely comparable, I know . . . ): if, say, all of the 21% who apply to H are in RD, but all of the 16% who apply to UChicago are ED1, then that might suggest that UChicago attracts a smaller but more enthusiastic group of applicants. Not sure what that says about popularity but I think it’s insightful nonetheless. The converse would be true as well: if all of the 21% applied SCEA to H and all of the 16% applied RD to UChicago, I’d say that might suggest UChicago is more of a backup compared to Harvard.