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<p>I agree, except for the pesky fact that there is zero historical or factual evidence that:</p>
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<p>Did I miss anything? Perhaps, I should point out to the easy to find “corrections” needed to what amount to pure speculation on every count. </p>
<p>Easy as in researching what created the changes in the ranking of the USNews, as opposed to think that an increase in applications created the rise in the rankings and overlook that a fair amount of lipstick liberally applied to the porcine helped a tiny bit. </p>
<p>Easy as identifying when the “world university rankings” actually came out of the twisted minds of those Chinese and English pseudo-scientists. </p>
<p>Easy as remembering --or realizing-- that the admission rate accounts for a whopping 1.5 percent of the overall USNews rankings. </p>
<p>On the other hand, knowing that the marketing arm of Chicago did reach plenty of Texan hicks a decade ago, and that the efforts to reach the “destitute” in far places existed a long time ago are indeed a bit harder to evaluate. </p>
<p>The reality is that rise in applications is not quite as romantic as one might think, or want to think. It is a combination of factors that play differently among the “new applicants” and does stem from a departure from an unattractive proposal and the PERCEIVED rise in prestige attached to a higher acceptance rate than at most of the peers.</p>
<p>All in all, Chicago has NOW reached admission statistics that do reflect its place in the peer group. The rise has been dramatic because it was … so far, and probably inexplicably, way behind schools with which could compete academically, or even surpass. </p>
<p>The fact that the school was not WELL-KNOWN is a loudly quacking canard. It was well-known but not considered as highly desirable as equally prestigious schools, and most importantly, some of its attributes were plainly off-putting. Like it or not, the school was often (and is still to a large extent) the next best thing for … HYPS rejects, as more than a few anecdotes of MY generation amply demonstrated on this forum. </p>
<p>In the end, concluding that the recent changes in volume of applications come from reaching to far places and reaching out to the less fortunate is purely speculative. As an alternative, one could suggest that the climb in the rankings did generate plenty of interest from the not-so-small group of students that applies to the USNews 10 top ranked school without rhyme or reason. That group sometimes derisively labeled as trophy hunters and prestige whores. And a group that has contributed to a massive increase in the number of applications (versus applicants) at the highest ranked schools.</p>
<p>Here you go!</p>