Anonymous
Post 04/11/2026 11:24     Subject: 12 and counting to U Chicago this year from Sidwell
Anonymous wrote:I can't believe Chicago hater is so desperate that she's trying to recreate an identical thread to one last month that became so insane it was deleted by the mods.

Op here, fresh op I swear, dont know much about u chicago, just clicked on the Instagram link someone posted onto the dc area thread, and was like ...Huh.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2026 11:03     Subject: 12 and counting to U Chicago this year from Sidwell
I can't believe Chicago hater is so desperate that she's trying to recreate an identical thread to one last month that became so insane it was deleted by the mods.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2026 10:49     Subject: 12 and counting to U Chicago this year from Sidwell
It makes sense to me -Sidwell parents and their kids seem a perfect match for U if C.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2026 10:45     Subject: 12 and counting to U Chicago this year from Sidwell
agree—it’s hard to respect a school that doesn’t have the confidence to transparently share its stats…
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2026 10:40     Subject: 12 and counting to U Chicago this year from Sidwell
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Someone explain this to me


They take a lot ED who know they are not quite ivy level
They waitlist all ivy types in RD then immediately the following week ot two start networking calling private schools and making verbal offers to admit the their top pick off the waitlist if and only if that person would pick them over any options they get on ivy day. Many have better options and say no thanks. This continues for weeks moving lower down their list until class ls full.


They also go after those that got rejected or waitlisted from ED from other schools for their ED2 spots. They tell the privates that if your student applies, they will get in. It just seems so shady that they operate this way. And before you say that they are no different from other selective schools, point me to another school that is so shy about sharing stats.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2026 10:28     Subject: Re:12 and counting to U Chicago this year from Sidwell
Anonymous wrote:Question about Chicago - my 10th grade DC is getting tons of emails and physical recruiting mailings from Chicago. Almost more than any other school. She is a good student but not competitive for Ivy League or Chicago. Why does Chicago send so much recruiting to kids who don’t meet their grades/scores? Is it to bulk up the number of applications so admissions rates et even more selective?


We have been noticing this for years now, first with anecdotes from people we know from NYC, LA, and SF privates. Our kid did not want to apply and we did not push knowing this. Felt it would not be in our DC’s best interest to go to school with so many students who have been scaffolded their entire lives.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2026 10:21     Subject: 12 and counting to U Chicago this year from Sidwell
My DC absolutely hated the school when we toured. I am surprised so many kids like U Chicago. Very “quirky” kids everywhere.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2026 10:15     Subject: 12 and counting to U Chicago this year from Sidwell
Anonymous wrote:I think it's the synergy of private school CCOs wanting students settled satisfactorily ASAP, UChicago having ED0 and ED2, and a sort of general UMC agreement that Chicago is a "good" school. Combine that with an unpredictable admissions environment and fear of bad outcomes in RD. Kids apply SCEA/REA/ED, get deferred or rejected, and then jump to Chicago as the universal rescue plan, encouraged by counselors.

But my own kid who liked Chicago during his visit became very hesitant about it because he knew so many private school and other affluent but not super intellectual kids going. I think this kind of thing can backfire in the longer term, because it erodes the qualities that originally attracted everyone to the school. Long term kids don't want to go to a school that is every wealthy kid's backup plan.


Sorry, my last sentence sounded harsh and not what I meant - it's a great school. I mean more like it's not great to feel like you and your classmates are choosing out of risk aversion.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2026 10:10     Subject: 12 and counting to U Chicago this year from Sidwell
I think it's the synergy of private school CCOs wanting students settled satisfactorily ASAP, UChicago having ED0 and ED2, and a sort of general UMC agreement that Chicago is a "good" school. Combine that with an unpredictable admissions environment and fear of bad outcomes in RD. Kids apply SCEA/REA/ED, get deferred or rejected, and then jump to Chicago as the universal rescue plan, encouraged by counselors.

But my own kid who liked Chicago during his visit became very hesitant about it because he knew so many private school and other affluent but not super intellectual kids going. I think this kind of thing can backfire in the longer term, because it erodes the qualities that originally attracted everyone to the school. Long term kids don't want to go to a school that is every wealthy kid's backup plan.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2026 10:06     Subject: 12 and counting to U Chicago this year from Sidwell
It's no secret Chicago is zooming in on full pay kids from privates and elite public schools in affluent suburbs. The kids who'd have gone to Penn or Cornell or Brown 30 years ago. Smart of the school.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2026 10:04     Subject: 12 and counting to U Chicago this year from Sidwell
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:at our NYC private, I've been surprised by the kids getting in RD. very strong kids shut out of HYP early and scrambling and it works out! I just thought the RD rate was like 1%. it's clearly higher than that. we have several this year alone


or they only take from nyc privates (and similar)!


could be, I just had it in my mind they took no one RD. which is clearly not true
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2026 10:02     Subject: 12 and counting to U Chicago this year from Sidwell
Anonymous wrote:at our NYC private, I've been surprised by the kids getting in RD. very strong kids shut out of HYP early and scrambling and it works out! I just thought the RD rate was like 1%. it's clearly higher than that. we have several this year alone


or they only take from nyc privates (and similar)!
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2026 09:57     Subject: 12 and counting to U Chicago this year from Sidwell
at our NYC private, I've been surprised by the kids getting in RD. very strong kids shut out of HYP early and scrambling and it works out! I just thought the RD rate was like 1%. it's clearly higher than that. we have several this year alone
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2026 09:04     Subject: 12 and counting to U Chicago this year from Sidwell
At our Bay Area private feeder, Chicago is not popular because top students don’t want to settle for Chicago in ED. We send around 25% to ivies each year. Kids outside the top 25% to 50% sometimes ED there, acceptance rate from our school is high (90%) per Naviance.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2026 08:35     Subject: 12 and counting to U Chicago this year from Sidwell
My DS's NYC private has been sending about 10% of the class to Chicago in recent years, with most of them applying in the ED rounds. A lot of them do the summer program that qualifies them for ED0 and end up liking it enough to apply.