What’s in the water in Chicagoland? (Univ. of Chicago & Northwestern)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UChicago had acceptance rate of 40% in mid-2000. A new admission dean, common app, and aggressive marketing made the difference.

Keep in mind that, in the before times, MIT had an acceptance rate of about 35 percent. Schools like MIT weren’t trying to appeal to a mass applicant audience; they were trying to appeal to students who sincerely thought solving a calculus proof was fun.

IKR? This poster has probably posted this at least 30 times over the last few years demonstrating repeatedly their lack of critical thinking skills. Def not UChicago material.

[Anonymous]

OP, the two schools are wildly different. Your DC should naturally gravitate toward one and, if it is their top choice, apply ED.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:where have you been?

+1 No different than 30 years ago.

+2
NU, Class of '98

+3

Bobb McCulloch Board member 1991-1992
I only ran to get a connection room *bows*

I lived in the end basement room in Bobb McCulloch (the one with the crazy large closet) the year before!

I'm the '98 grad and lived in Bobb my freshman year!! Those connection rooms were sweet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:U Chicago games the system by mailing kids who will never get in and encouraging them to apply. This makes the school
Appear competitive.

I hate this! DS has been receiving mails from them weekly and almost daily emails. Same with Havard and Columbia and I really thought these two don't market at all because their prestige.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread reads like a paid infomercial program.

Positivity bothers you. Classic DCUM.

it's not even positivity -- it's just facts. Northwestern and U of Chicago have always been top tier, sought after schools that attract high achieving students (albeit generally different in vibe).

They are great schools. You wish the administrators at U Chicago were as confident, they are not. So much so they have to adopt ED to lock students, then still not enough, and have to device an ED II to lock more rejects by other top schools. High schoolers were bombarded by Chicago's flyers every couple of weeks throughout the year to invite them to apply. This is the only school doing this much ad aside from U of Pheonix. If not for that we already know it is a legitimate school we would think this is some scam. Why so? How about some confidence.

It's not so much about their lack of confidence but the recognition of the reality that without two rounds of ED many of the admitted will go elsewhere. In 2005 the admission rate was 40.3%. The yield was about 40%. They changed to use common app in 2009. The 'new' dean of admission was hired in 2010 resulting some of the aggressive marketing changes you see today. In 2021, many top schools saw huge increases -- in the range of 40 - 60% -- in the number of applicants for the ED/EA round . UChicago only saw 7% increase in the early round. UChicago is still not as desired as some other top schools. The administrators are also not as confident as other schools' that they refuse to publish their numbers to Common Data Set. The two EDs will need to stay.

[Anonymous]

Growing up in Minnesota and New England in the 70s, Northwestern was a known and well respected name. UChicago was lesser known but people who knew were also greatly impressed.

[Anonymous]

still confused by normal people with Northeastern and UIC

[Anonymous]

nonsense

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:still confused by normal people with Northeastern and UIC

What??
Northwestern is far more well known and respected than Northeastern.

And U of Chicago is definitely a niche school, but that niche is incredibly intelligent students. https://news.uchicago.edu/explainer/first-nuclear-reactor-explained

[Anonymous]

My girlfriend back in the day went there and had a shirt: University of Chicago on the front: ‘Yes, hell does freeze over’ on the back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:still confused by normal people with Northeastern and UIC

Dunno anyone who confuses NWU for NEU, and I’m in the northeast. If anything NEU grads grumble about constantly being mixed up for NWU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:still confused by normal people with Northeastern and UIC

It's the Penn/Penn State troll checking in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve observed with increasing interest that the two main universities in the Chicago area, Northwestern and Univ. of Chicago have exploded both in popularity and general awareness but also seem to be climbing the rankings steadily. What are these colleges doing right? Niece is interested in both and a ton of her friends have either or both of those two schools on their wish-lists.

Nobody cares about either undergraduate college in real life, it’s just US News obsessed middle class strivers spamming message boards. And truth be told both campuses are not really in Chicago; NU is in a boring northern suburb and UC is 30 minutes south of downtown surrounded by a war zone.

[Anonymous]

This is a relatively easy question to answer
1) They have both been Tier 1 universities for a very long time
2) Urban Cities have become much more popular than rural college towns in the last ten years
3) It has become extremely difficult to get into the Ivy league, Stanford and MIT, so students are casting a wider net
4) They generally have good endowments, which allows them to offer decent financial aid, career services, internship subsidies and amenities to their students
5) Other than the weather, Chicago is actually a fun city to go to college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve observed with increasing interest that the two main universities in the Chicago area, Northwestern and Univ. of Chicago have exploded both in popularity and general awareness but also seem to be climbing the rankings steadily. What are these colleges doing right? Niece is interested in both and a ton of her friends have either or both of those two schools on their wish-lists.

Nobody cares about either undergraduate college in real life, it’s just US News obsessed middle class strivers spamming message boards. And truth be told both campuses are not really in Chicago; NU is in a boring northern suburb and UC is 30 minutes south of downtown surrounded by a war zone.

This just sounds bitter and jealous