<p>An an NU alum with friends who went to UChicago, I recall that back in the 80s they were in the unique position of having a pretty small number of applicants and a surprisingly high acceptance rate, which always somehow yielded an outstanding freshman class. Clearly the school was attracting a niche group of highly intellectual students who cared about academics but didn’t mind that, at that time anyway, there was a little less in the way of a social life and other typical college activities.</p>
<p>I think UChicago still attracts a different kind of student and therefore the number of applications will always be lower that your typical Tier 1 university, but that sort of self-selection still makes for a quality student body, and based on the billions of mailings the DD received, it appears they have made great strides in making it a more well-rounded place to attend. It may take years, however, for its application numbers to catch up with its academic peers. In the meantime, those figures are pretty meaningless for this particular school.</p>
<p>What does a deferral mean for your chances at NU? Damned if I know.</p>