<p>I’m a Penn ED reject too, and right now my confidence level is at the bottom as well because of the rejection. But UChicago was always my first choice secretly. I only applied ED to Penn because my parents made me do it.</p>
<p>My friend showed me an email from Babson college where he applied EA. A part of that email says “If you have already been admitted under another colleges binding Early Decision program, please notify us immediately at <a href=“mailto:ugradadmission@babson.edu”>ugradadmission@babson.edu</a>, as we do not want to jeopardize your enrollment there by sending you an admission decision.”</p>
<p>Does this mean that if someone gets into ED in some school and don’t notify the other schools that they applied EA to, they could be jeopardizing their enrollment in their ED school?</p>
<p>@shiver,</p>
<p>Yes, that is precisely what it means. Not only are you jeopardizing your enrollment in that EA school, but also the ED school.</p>
<p>In case it’s not obvious, some schools exchange admission info with some other schools.</p>
<p>@vonlost</p>
<p>where are you getting that claim from?</p>
<p>From one who did so. 
Think of it as confirmation of “common knowledge.” Does anyone doubt it? :eek:</p>
<p>It is kind of funny how we all are/were all Penn applicants! Now if we could all just get an acceptance on monday I will feel so much better, and regain my confidence.</p>
<p>@mingyec</p>
<p>My attitude exactly.</p>
<p>As a UChicago student who turned down Penn, I have to say that you guys really aren’t missing much. I am not at all jealous at my high school friends who go to Penn; I secretly feel sorry for them. Their dorm food is pretty awful. Classes are really big. Their career service is nowhere near the calibre of UChicago’s (unless you are in business). Their dorms are really old (I lived with three of my high school friends there for ten days a year ago). And their campus is overall… not the most pleasant aesthetically, despite what my Penn friends often say. When I visited as an admitted student, I felt really impersonal; there were simply too many students! I felt like I was just a number in a sea of students, and I felt like I was at a giant factory. They do know how to party though. Spring Fling is pretty fun.</p>
<p>I also chose Chicago over Penn, but many, many years ago, back when Penn was the “ivy league gutter” school and Chicago was the “where fun comes to die” school. </p>
<p>Also, while the schools are ranked similarly and both are top urban schools, I’m a bit surprised by the overlap in applicants. I always thought Northwestern and Penn were quite similar, but not Chicago and Penn. Chicago is significantly smaller, with a much more structured core curriculum, and no under grad pre-professional schools at all.</p>
<p>That being said, I’m also curious, did most of you apply to Penn’s College of Arts and Sciences, or Wharton, or what? When someone says they applied “ED to Penn,” that tells me almost nothing - was it to the College, Nursing School, Engineering, Wharton? Was it to apply for a specific sub-program, such as Huntsman or Vagelos? Penn is much bigger and more varied, so a general “I applied to UPenn” just doesn’t say much.</p>
<p>Finally, Divine Comedy, I think you’re being a bit harsh on our compatriots at UPenn. Chicago has nicer facilities and amenities for its students (better dorms, a swankier new arts center, generally nicer libraries), but Penn has some great facilities, and I do wish Chicago would take note of some of Penn’s campus-wide traditions. Hey Day, Spring Fling, febclub, “toasting,” etc. - Penn does have a bit more of that “state school” vibe, where it seems like the ENTIRE student body come out for certain events. Chicago really has nothing like that (maybe 1/3 of the students do scav hunt, the rest hate it, maybe 1/3 of the students do the Kuvia winter fair, the rest don’t bother, etc.)</p>
<p>At the end of the day, they are both great schools, but still disparate from one another. Although as Chicago solidifies its rank as a “top 5” school and Penn maintains its rank similarly, there will be more and more overlap between the two schools. They are still the two most “unknown” of the top schools, and they very well may draw in an overlapping applicant pool.</p>
<p>uh… I was rejected Northwestern ED, does that mean I have no chance for Uchicago EA…?</p>
<p>Raichu, you have a chance. </p>
<p>Chillax.</p>
<p>I’m not sure I’m ready for another rejection tomorrow… Being rejected from you dream school sucks. Being rejected from BOTH your dream schools will suck even more.</p>
<p>@Cue7 - I had applied to Wharton simply because of its name. I never had that feeling of belonging in Upenn when I visited, and Penn admissions never did anything special to spark my interests. I hardly received any mail from them, and all the admission related talks were very mechanical. Whereas it has always been a different feeling with UChicago. The amount of mail that I received from there and the interest and care that was shown when I visited Campus gave me a special feeling right from the beginning. I honestly am glad I didn’t make it to Wharton. I would love to be in UChicago although I know that I have extremely tough competition.</p>
<p>I applied to the biological basis of behavior major (part of the college of arts and sciences). I loved the fact that it was interdisciplinary. In all reality, I like the size of Chicago a lot better, but Penn is much closer to home. Penn is still my dream school (fingers crossed) but if I get into Chicago I’ll be so happy. Keeping that in mind, I’m expecting rejection.</p>
<p>I’m surprised there are so many students applying here EA who’ve applied ED to Penn. I know they’re both urban and everything, but the schools really don’t have too much in common. Penn cares far less about the liberal arts, for one.</p>
<p>^ Actually, it makes sense to me. I know of one student in the year above me who aplied to Penn Wharton ED and chicago EA. He was a very motivated pre-professional type person but applied chicago EA anyway. In a presentation he and his parents gave us on tips on the college application process, they explicitly told us that Penn was their first choice, but chicago was great too because of its economics program and they used it almost like a ‘backup’ so that they don’t need to apply to any safeties in RD if he gets accepted.</p>
<p>Whoa I was rejected from Wharton too. We could all have an anti-Penn party or something. That being said, I would have rather got in, simply because it hurts to be rejected. I was always between Chicago and Penn.</p>
<p>Also rejected to Wharton, and still waiting on my EA decision from Chicago.
But at least I have UIUC to back me up :D</p>
<p>It’s interesting to see all the Wharton rejects/deferees also applying EA to Chicago. In a lot of ways, this is good for both Chicago and the Wharton applicants.</p>
<p>Chicago gets Wharton-caliber pre-professional types, and the Wharton applicants get a world-class school with quickly strengthening placement in the business world. Having Wharton as a first choice and Chicago as second certainly makes sense - if you’re intent on business as an undergrad, there really isn’t a better place in the nation than Wharton (I would quibble more with the students applying Penn CAS ED and Chicago EA - it’s a toss up as to which environment would be better for a particular applicant), so I understand having Wharton as the top pick.</p>
<p>Sometimes, I debate whether it would be to Chicago’s benefit to have an ED policy, so the ED applicants know Chicago is their absolute top choice. If Chicago went ED, however, I think that’d only increase the number of wonky, academic types on campus.</p>
<p>Chicago needs more of the Wharton-caliber pre-professional students, and it could use more of the trendy urbanites applying ED to Columbia and/or the the prepsters applying to Dartmouth or Williams. </p>
<p>By keeping an open EA policy, Chicago probably expands the general diversity of the early applicant pool. As Chicago transitions to the “new” Chicago, keeping the doors open wider and shedding the past “self-selective” version of admissions is probably a good trend.</p>
<p>To the Wharton hopefuls, I think you’ll find that Chicago has a tremendous amount to offer - especially with the new linkages between the business school and the undergrad college! (Such linkages were unheard of in my day when the College was a scholastic island, but the new trend is a welcome one, I believe.) </p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>