<p>It absolutely is a big deal. Why do you think UChicago is up 15% this year, once again more than other schools? If UChicago merely tied the other schools for the long run, it wouldn’t be much to its advantage. But since its admissions selectivity is rising faster than any other school in the country it absolutely matters. In 1988-89 UChicago was accepting maybe 61% of applicants; this year it may be 12%. That’s a 50% percentage point drop. This is exactly how Stanford University made its climb–passing up one school at a time. Clearly the people at Penn think it matters. This is a rare case where I would say Penn has a better understanding of the situation than some UChicago alums.</p>
<p>Admissions officers can explain it to you. It’s not an immediate overnight 100% change. But increasing selectivity and rising rankings definitely affect applicants. If you ever read a post on College Confidential, you will see what people say about admissions.</p>
<p>[Applications</a> at Elite Colleges Slow - Bloomberg](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)</p>
<p>More news, Columbia down 9%. MIT up +1%</p>
<p>You’re just going to have to learn to live with the fact that UChicago is becoming more popular and will pass up more schools in selectivity.</p>