DePaul University Admission
DePaul University Undergraduate Program
DePaul University Application

The Facts

DePaul University is a large private institution located in Chicago, Illinois that was originally founded by the Catholic church. It houses approximately 10,823 undergraduate students and about 9,025 graduate students. DePaul actually has eight campuses scattered throughout the state, but the two main campuses are located in “the Loop” area of Chicago, and the suburb of Lincoln Park. The university has several undergraduate colleges, including colleges of communications, arts and sciences, information, music and education. Some of the most commonly selected majors are communications, psychology, computer science, political science, and finance. There are literally hundreds more majors offered at the university besides these, and its programs in the performing arts are particularly lauded.

Admission to DePaul is not particularly competitive; last year, approximately 9,464 students applied and 6,904 were admitted; of those, 2,261 enrolled. The admitted students had an average combined SAT score ranging from 990 to 1220 and an average comprehensive ACT score ranging from 21 to 26. About 41% of admitted students were ranked in the top 25% of their high school graduating class with an average high school GPA of 3.3. There is an acceptable student to faculty ratio of 17:1. As is the case with most big schools, the introductory classes are quite large; however, many are in interesting areas of study, such as “Love and Committed Relationships.”

The core curriculum at the school is anything but ordinary. Students report that despite the sprawling nature of the school, professors are actually quite easy to get a hold of. The school offers a lot of innovative classes and programs geared towards giving students an identity within Chicago’s diverse urban environment.

The Social Scene

DePaul is known for its incredible amount of diversity, and this is reflected in the way the social scene happens. First of all, there are actually Greek houses, but most students hardly know they exist; even the members of the houses say that they would rather participate in community service than throw lavish and wild parties. Instead of hanging out at dorms, fraternities and sororities, students take advantage of the cultural and social offerings of Chicago, a world- class city with some of the best entertainment, dining, and artistic venues in the world. Students say that cars are not really a necessity, as Chicago’s public transportation system is top notch and quite inexpensive.

The Blue Demons basketball team is a big draw at the school and beyond. Games against the school’s major rival, Notre Dame, are huge social events, and students love nothing more than tailgating and letting loose just before the games commence.

The dating scene is quite good; expect to find chic urbanites of both sexes and persuasions ready to have a fantastically cultured time.

What's Good

“The school is so incredibly diverse, and you really feel comfortable among your peers.”

“The students here are really serious about their work and know where they want to go in life; there is a lot of fantastic intellectual discourse that goes on here.”

“Even though the academics are first rate, people are not too high-strung about things. Everyone is generally quite cool.”

What's Bad

“It’s hard to get a real sense of community at DePaul because there are so many campuses and they are so incredibly spread out.”

“The administration makes you hack through a lot of red tape before you can actually get to anything of substance.”

“There isn’t really a party scene here. You don’t really feel like people want to band together to have a good time.”

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