<p>Re: my earlier post about the U of C and Brown.
I meant that Brown admissions officers must spend less time convincing applicants and admits of the value of a liberal arts education than Chicago admissions officers do.
In my mind, this has less to do with some of the wonderful discussion on this thread between differing philosophies of education or the sophistication of the two schools’ applicants. I think it has more to do with 17 year olds perceiving more practical obstacles to their goals at the U of C than at Brown.
I also have a different take on the U of C Admissions Office than some. I think the push in the last decade or so has been to increase applications, not to discourage drive-by applications. Evidence for this includes sitting down with USN&WR to see how the school could submit its data to better advantage (resulting in a clear bump in the school’s rank), adopting the Common Application, and a much more professional marketing campaign. Think “The Life of the Mind”. I am almost ready to believe that the distinctive application questions are a part of the branding campaign, but I’m not sure whether or not that’s true.
In any case, current students less and less meet the U of C stereotype of students interested in learning for learning’s sake that characterized undergraduates ten and fifteen years ago, and for decades before that, from everything I’ve heard. In my opinion this has to do with demographics and wider changes in society, but plenty of people on campus blame the admissions office.</p>