@marlowe1 and @JBStillFlying - wow, the percentage of varsity athletes is quite high! It seems to indicate that, with academic strength being equal, certain “tips” (like athletic ability) may make a difference.
Also, I don’t think Chicago is lowering academic standards for athletes - certainly not to the extent of D1 schools, but I do think it’s clearly focused on athletes as an institutional initiative, and offers special pathways for athletes.
For instance, “likely letters” and more coach input on recruits probably occurs for athletes. This in and of itself is a really nice advantage - likely letters are great at securing yield, but also give athletes a lot of advanced notice on their admission.
Back in the day, athletes were actually frowned upon by the admissions office (I heard coaches complain that they were met with actual disdain by admissions officers), and I think those days are long gone. Our Admissions Dean cut his teeth (and is a athlete and graduate of) Yale, and our Athletics Director was a deputy at Princeton, our football coach was at Dartmouth, so this isn’t too surprising. They found successful models at their prior institutions, and seem to be instituting some of this (in a less intense way) at Chicago.