Matriculating at GU vs. other schools

[RusskyHoya]

Not sure if this is old news or not, but courtesy of the New York Times, we have this comparison table of which school students tend to pick when they've been accepted to two.

If nothing else, I think this proves that the Ivy League has done a really good job of selling its name brand. And Tufts has not.

[Jack]

That study was very interesting, but it is now pretty significantly outdated- it was published in 2005 on data from 2003. I do like the methodology though- much better indicator of the true pecking order than anything coming from US News. The whole study is here:

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=601105

[hilltopper2000]

Interesting, Jack. Have you seen any movement this year? I'd love to know if we see any uptick as a result of the Final Four run. A host of academics dispute the so-called Flutie effect. I think we have a opportunity to see first hand if a sudden rise in athletic prominence has any impact on admissions.

[Jack]

Too early to tell on this year for sure, and it is nearly impossible to isolate increases in yield or applicants down to any single factor, but the spirit around campus cannot help but be a net positive for the admissions profile.

I am also sure that if there are 18,000 applicants next year (vs. 16,000 this year), people will be quick to point to a "Green/Hibbert Effect," but the fact is that the admissions office was already projecting more applicants next year due to a combination of demographics, changes in early programs at competitors, and a possible online part I of the application.

[GIGAFAN99]

afalcon10 take note, no Vandy or ND even in the matrix.

Just saying.

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

UChicago is doing a terrible job competing for students. I'd consider the school almost on a par with Stanford and they can't get anywhere near the same numbers.

[hilltopper2000]

UChicago is an amazing institution that I would never let my child attend. If you can get into Chicago, you can get into a school that is a little bit less life threatening. Seriously, plop Chicago in Georgetown and it would be Harvard.

[vcjack]

stpetersburghoya said:

UChicago is doing a terrible job competing for students. I'd consider the school almost on a par with Stanford and they can't get anywhere near the same numbers.

It's all about perception. When you are a high schooler and all you hear is that U of Chicago is "where fun goes to die", it reflects negatively. I don't think our final four run will influence more people per say but it will reinforce a growing perception (and a true one) that Georgetown is a place where you can get an Ivy level education and party hard. I think that more than anything has been the image we have been projecting and is responsible for the admissions increase.

Plus Chicago is cold and DC is not, notice U of C and other Illinois schools are bad at attracting non regional students mostly for this reason

[Jack]

Chicago is so desperate for applicants that they have abandoned their long-standing and well-publicized objection to the common application and will accept it next year. They will almost certainly receive a cheap bump of 2-3K applicants, but I doubt it will make the students they admit more likely to attend. It is unquestionably a school with an impressive academic pedigree and brilliant faculty, but ultimately it does not have a good reputation as a place for the whole undergraduate experience, nor does it have the hardcore science background of an MIT or Cal Tech. Consequently, they must admit almost 4 students to enroll 1.

[vcjack]

hilltopper2000 said:

UChicago is an amazing institution that I would never let my child attend. If you can get into Chicago, you can get into a school that is a little bit less life threatening. Seriously, plop Chicago in Georgetown and it would be Harvard.

Lincoln Park isn't that bad, hell I'd say other schools like Marquette or Fordham are in more of a fortress mentality (but I work on the South Side so I'm used to it). If you want a reason to prohibit your kid from going there, just tell him/her "do you want to have any fun with your life?"

[DFW HOYA]

vcjack said:

Lincoln Park isn't that bad, hell I'd say other schools like Marquette or Fordham are in more of a fortress mentality (but I work on the South Side so I'm used to it). If you want a reason to prohibit your kid from going there, just tell him/her "do you want to have any fun with your life?"

Lincoln Park is on the north side (DePaul). I think you mean Hyde Park.

[vcjack]

dfw said:

vcjack said:

Lincoln Park isn't that bad, hell I'd say other schools like Marquette or Fordham are in more of a fortress mentality (but I work on the South Side so I'm used to it). If you want a reason to prohibit your kid from going there, just tell him/her "do you want to have any fun with your life?"

Lincoln Park is on the north side (DePaul). I think you mean Hyde Park.

Oops, brain slip. And I just got back from Chicago 4 hours ago too

[The Stig]

U Chicago is in an absolutely beautiful part of Chicago that is exactly 2 blocks from an absolutely awful part of Chicago. 2 blocks in one direction and you're fine, but 2 blocks the wrong way and you're in big trouble.

It's a great school for the right type of person - somebody who loves burying themselves in books and being around people who are doing the same. They know their reputation and as far as I could tell they embraced it, but that reputation does come at a cost (low applications). It'd be a shame if they threw away their unique application - their essay prompts were always great stuff.

The Ivies certainly have the name recognition, but of my close friends, the one who's having the worst college experience is at an Ivy League school. People seem to think that the Ivies are the best schools out there for everybody, but that's simply not true.

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

vcjack said:

Lincoln Park isn't that bad

Have your heard the new single?

[RusskyHoya]

vcjack said:

stpetersburghoya said:

UChicago is doing a terrible job competing for students. I'd consider the school almost on a par with Stanford and they can't get anywhere near the same numbers.

It's all about perception. When you are a high schooler and all you hear is that U of Chicago is "where fun goes to die", it reflects negatively. I don't think our final four run will influence more people per say but it will reinforce a growing perception (and a true one) that Georgetown is a place where you can get an Ivy level education and party hard. I think that more than anything has been the image we have been projecting and is responsible for the admissions increase.

Plus Chicago is cold and DC is not, notice U of C and other Illinois schools are bad at attracting non regional students mostly for this reason

One of my housemates has a sister who is looking at schools now. She likes Chicago and wants to go to a school with a strong PoliSci program. We were discussing this today before anything on UC was posted on this thread, and when I brought up UChicago, his response was, "Oh, you mean where fun goes to die?"

They really need to hire some PR or marketing people or something...

[Cambridge]

vcjack said:

hilltopper2000 said:

UChicago is an amazing institution that I would never let my child attend. If you can get into Chicago, you can get into a school that is a little bit less life threatening. Seriously, plop Chicago in Georgetown and it would be Harvard.

Lincoln Park isn't that bad, hell I'd say other schools like Marquette or Fordham are in more of a fortress mentality (but I work on the South Side so I'm used to it). If you want a reason to prohibit your kid from going there, just tell him/her "do you want to have any fun with your life?"

Amen. Chicago is notoriously lame. I have friends who speak of it like a gulag.

[tgo]

thanks for posting that, very intersting chart. as a west coast interviewer i see a lot of applicants who get into stanford and Cal as well as us, Stanford has stolen a couple from us that would have come to GU but they had a much better aid package to offer.

tufts really gets spanked, will have to mention that to my wife and her two siblings, all tufts alums.

[Gold Hoya]

From a Chicago Tribune story from 2 years ago (no link, I accessed it through ProQuest archive) talking about a library expansion:

U. of C. officials say the multimillion-dollar addition to Regenstein, which sits on the former site of the school's football stadium, symbolizes the school's focus on scholarship.

"On our campus, it's not the football game that draws the biggest crowd, it's evening study in the library," said Provost Richard Saller. "We're a campus where the library is sort of the social center because it is the focus [of the university]."

Let me stress that the business school is NOT like this, since most students do not live in Hyde Park.

[CTHoya08]

I still can't understand how anyone could ever want to go to Brown.

[hoya9797]

I feel the same way about Notre Dame.