<p>Invasion:</p>
<p>Thanks for the post. Sam Lee’s possible intimations aside (I try to think the best of posters), and to answer his inquiries directly, what UChicago has done is very difficult, and they also benefit from a particularly unique set of logistical/situational factors. </p>
<p>Keep in mind, lots of other schools have, in the past, marketed very heavily (including Wash U, Penn, Duke, Vanderbilt, Tufts, and, lest people forget, NU in the mid-90s). UChicago, however, has benefited from a “perfect storm” of circumstances: a preeminent academic reputation, a highly respected, veteran college dean (boyer) focused on improving the College, strong ties to the white house with the Obama connection, the hiring of an innovative new admissions dean (Nondorf), and, especially very recently, extremely strong national rankings. To put it bluntly, UChicago had a wonderful “product” and then found the right man (Nondorf) to raise awareness about this great product. </p>
<p>This combination of factors allowed UChicago to engage in a three-pronged method of improvement: a.) increasing applications and lowering accept rate; b.) significantly increasing yield (to nearly 50%); and c.) significantly improving the quality of incoming classes at a rate that outpaces most of its peers.</p>
<p>It’s a little dismissive and myopic when people say that all UChicago does is “market a lot.” To an individual applicant receiving lots of e-mails, that may be what it looks like. On the macro level though, especially to achieve the three factors described above, the process is pretty sophisticated and pretty impressive. </p>
<p>Overall, while some like Sam Lee may (directly or not) deride UChicago’s approach, frankly, the approach really impresses me, and it’s both complicated and impactful. I think it’s about more than just sending out lots of brochures to everyone and then sitting back and watching apps roll in and yield increase. Further, as other posters have mentioned, Nondorf is becoming a hot, hot commodity in the admissions world. Frankly, if he decided he really wanted the Northwestern job (or the deanship post at most other top schools), NU would probably work very hard to find a place for him. This guy is sort of a rock star, and there are few who enjoy the three-pronged achievements described above at the sheer pace that Nondorf does.</p>