<p>Newmassdad - perhaps I wasn’t clear enough in what I was posting. As opposed to Brown, Penn, Williams, etc., where a variety of concerns (legacy status, ability to play squash, etc.) get attention, at Chicago, intellectual merit and ability, coupled w curiosity, are the driving factors in U of C admissions. Since Chicago cares less about yield, the fact is they will just accept a lot more students than Harvard, etc., and just take as many as they can get. </p>
<p>So, instead of accepting 500 allstars, and then 2000 so-so applicants to make the class, chicago will accept 3500 really top-notch students, and hope that about 1200 or so will come. This makes chicago admissions competitive and very distinct from its immediate peers.</p>