<p>Here is an article about Zimmer’s admissions goals:</p>
<p>[Prospective</a> students judge evolving admissionsprocess - The Chicago Maroon](<a href=“Alcohol bans felt at third of campuses nationwide – Chicago Maroon”>Alcohol bans felt at third of campuses nationwide – Chicago Maroon)</p>
<p>To be blunt, I can’t remember Randel ever making such specific statements about the admissions process. I think Randel wanted admissions to improve, and he let O’Neill continue the work of strengthening Chicago’s applicant pool. Zimmer, on the other hand, seems much more engaged in creating a highly selective, elite college - one that resembles its mid-ivy brethren. Saying that we “need” 15000 applications for a healthy college seems a bit suspect, and falls more in line with the “big numbers” admissions strategies employed at Duke, Penn, Brown, etc. </p>
<p>In any case, with 13500 applications this year, Chicago should achieve the goal of 15k applications in the next year or two - a full two years ahead of Zimmer’s proposed plans. If all goes to plan, within 4 years or so (assuming a modest 5-7% growth in admissions each year), Chicago should receive around 17,000 applications a year. Assuming we still admit roughly the same number of students, that’ll work out to around a 18% acceptance rate. It’s not inconceivable, with more aggressive growth, that Chicago’s admit rate dips to 14-15% within six years. These numbers rival the stats found at any college, save for the top 5 or so. </p>
<p>Since I doubt admissions can change drastically at Chicago’s peer schools, I’d imagine the rates of admission at Dartmouth, Brown, etc. will hover around 15%. After literally decades of accepting 50-75% of students, in about 9 years, Chicago’s accept rate will have dropped by 35%. These are significant changes over a short period of time, and I’m assuming Dean O’Neill, if asked in private, would have some strong opinions on this trend.</p>