@Northwestern777 I agree with the unfortunate fact that many qualified applicants are being turned down, but I genuinely believe NU is making significant strides in improving its intrinsic product. NU is making leaps in recruiting on all fronts as a result.
For example, football recruiting is heating up, with the latest recruit Ethan Bonner picking NU over Yale, Princeton and Dartmouth:
http://www.insidenu.com/2017/4/8/15231802/2018-football-recruiting-cornerback-ethan-bonner-commits-northwestern-woodlands-texas
Also, economics recruiting did very well this cycle, picking up 3 of the “top 8” Restud junior market economists:
https://www.econjobrumors.com/topic/restud-tour-3
In the case of Dworczak, he picked NU over Harvard, Princeton and Yale.
I think Shapiro and his administration are doing a great job improving the school, and its results are showing up in a lot of areas.
NCAA marketing was big, but so is Trevor Siemian in the Rockies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxjZKLCLOTE
http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/enterprise-siemian161109/how-denver-broncos-qb-trevor-siemian-got-job
FYI T$ picked NU over Harvard.