@JBStillFlying asks: - You seem to be suggesting that having application numbers consistent with other top undergraduate programs of world-class research universities is somehow inappropriate for UChicago. Can you explain your viewpoint further?
My response: I think the application numbers at virtually ALL world-class research universities are unnecessary. To admit a class of ~1500, there’s no need to seek 35k or 40k or 45k applications. The game right now, is crazy. World-class research Us can build tremendous classes, with lots of talent, without conducting the widespread, expensive, and exhausting practice of making sure they get around 40k apps for 1500 spots.
Many admissions counselors are exhausted by the grind and the workload. But, say, is Harvard’s incoming class now so much better because they receive (and review!) 45,000 applications now, as opposed to 18,000 applications 20 years ago? It takes tremendous work, energy, and effort to get 45k apps a year, and for what? Is the class really orders of magnitude better now than before?
I think Chicago could take a small college’s human, small-ball approach and scale it up for a class size of 1500, rather than, say, 500. Haverford, for instance, gets a great class of 500 from around 6,000 apps a year. The students are bright, most finish on time, and are happy. Why couldn’t Chicago get a great class of 1500 from 18,000 apps a year?
Also, you assert that Chicago has fewer “demoralized” alums now than before. That has little to do with admissions - and much more to do with the support and investment made to the structure of the College itself. The support systems in place now are FAR from perfect, but they are a heck of a lot better than anything that existed 20 years ago. There are more centers and institutes, more ways to enjoy life outside of the classroom, more support and advising now than ever before. Those changes make alums happier - not the effort to get 5k applications more a year.
I don’t know how changing an admissions schema can make for happier alums. If you put Nondorf in the 1980s Chicago milieu, you’d still have plenty of demoralized alums.