<p>You don’t write those essays for fun, meaning that the vast majority of Chicago applicants, I would say, are people who would seriously consider going there if they got in and are serious about applying. Most of the applicants are all at least moderately serious contenders for acceptance, so to be one of the ~30% accepted is as great a honor as to be one of the ~15% accepted to Dartmouth, Yale, Harvard, etc, many of which have significantly less exhausting essays/supplements.</p>