Coming back to a point re what sort of transparency would be helpful – here’s a good article that goes into a lot of depth about how Chicago used to make its decisions:
https://www.newsweek.com/inside-admissions-game-164802
The article (and, as I remember, Chicago admissions brochures), offers info on avg. SAT scores for early and RD accepts, numbers of apps in each pool and the accept rate, the process the admissions office used, what they value and don’t value, etc.
It points to an ad comm that used to focus a lot on potential - and understandably had a wide range of test scores, a lower number of top 10% HS students, etc.
The admissions officers also noted how athletics played into it (it was more about demonstrating time management skills than proficiency in the sport - which totally relates to the level of athletic talent I saw in my day at Chicago).
I wonder what all the stats/info looks like now?