My wife attended UChicago in the 1990s. It had a reputation as a place where “fun dies”. The classes were hard, lots of reading, trimester made for rapid pace. Coupled with the cold weather, it made for a lot of unhappy students.
But we know of several students in my son’s HS class who are now at Chicago. The grading standards have relaxed, the core is much reduced, and students are far happier. They have a new admissions director who is competing against east coast ivy league schools. The preparation for math/finance/econ careers at Chicago is excellent.