<p>Haha hold on truth123 - if you look back at my other posts, I’m a proud Chicago alum, and I love the school. Trust me, it wouldn’t be hard for me to “live with the fact” that UChicago is becoming more popular.</p>
<p>My point, however, was a bit more nuanced than a blanket statement that acceptance rate isn’t important. I think, by the way, that acceptance rate is indeed important.</p>
<p>The basic point of my post, however, is that as acceptance rates continue to be whittled down, slight differences in accept rate aren’t particularly meaningful. Going back to my previous post, I highly doubt that students pick Wash U over Northwestern because it’s a bit more selective. Same goes for students picking Vanderbilt over Emory. </p>
<p>My more general, point, then, is that folks need to calm down a bit when it comes to focusing on very slight changes over time. As the Penn Dean of Admissions stated, if Penn saw a 10 or 20 percent drop in apps, that’s certainly significant. Similarly, if Chicago saw such a drop, it should be concerned. A drop of a couple % points doesn’t mean much.</p>
<p>I certainly agree, increasing selectivity and attracting applicants is extremely important, but, again, slight variations shouldn’t be analyzed to death.</p>
<p>Finally, you stated that Stanford gained popularity by passing one school at a time. I think Stanford’s rise had less to do with specific focus on admissions directives and much more to do with broader changes and initiatives on campus. Geographic separation (being the top private school on the entire west coast), an emphasis on both creating and linking itself to the tech boom, strong investments, investment into a top athletic program, etc. etc. all contributed a lot to Stanford’s rise. </p>
<p>So, to conclude, I don’t think a 2% drop in Penn’s applications should cause much hand-wringing in West Philly. I think it’s great that Chicago’s applications are increasing, but, if you look at the selective college world, Chicago is more playing catch up than anything else. It’s done this extremely adroitly, but U of C always should have been roughly as selective as Brown or Dartmouth. As Chicago’s admissions and marketing machine begins to match the actual strength of the school, apps naturally boom. </p>
<p>I am just as excited, however, about all the other initiatives going on at U of C - from the new arts center to the increasing strength of its athletic programs (great women’s basketball team this year!) to the growth of CAPS and linkages between the College and Chicago’s grad schools - as I am with the admissions efforts. </p>
<p>All the schools may be plateauing soon. I very much want Chicago to be “in the pack” (i.e. close in acceptance rate to Duke, Penn, etc.), which, as you state, it was not years ago. Was I concerned 10 years ago when Chicago had a 50% accept rate and Duke had a 20% accept rate? Of course. Do I care if this year Chicago’s accept rate is 12% and Penn’s is 12.5%? Not particularly. As long as Chicago is in the ballpark, that’s fine.</p>