<p>@PMCM18. I respect and understand your views. I use to be a devout “idealist” like you and many of the Chicago grads from early 80s. But having read through many of the more recent graduate posts from the likes of Cue7 and Phuriku and others I also understand why Chicago needs to stay RELEVANT in the eyes of the public whether we like it or not. The rankings may not matter to you and some of the “purests” that would be happy in the “ascetic life of the mind” at either Chicago or Caltech…when you do apply for jobs in the “real world” unfortunately they do “care” no matter how superficial it may seem. Even though you may not appreciate it now…what President Zimmer and Mr. Nondorf have done to make Chicago RELEVANT in the minds of uninformed parents, uninformed students, uninformed high school guidance counselors (they have historically been the worst group to dissuade students from applying to Chicago in the past) should be commended. </p>
<p>You could have one of the best educations to offer in the world but if the “general public” does not know about it they will not apply…and the general public is “biased” toward the rankings especially in the USNWR that Chicago never took seriously until recent years. It is a vicious cycle the more people apply the higher the ranking, the higher the ranking more people apply thus lowering the acceptance rate…so on and so on. For better or worse, Chicago has finally joined other schools like Stanford and Duke in doing what it needs to do.</p>