<p>It used to be that being willing to apply to Chicago pretty much meant you were qualified. That was the notion behind the “self-selected” nature of the applicant pool. Anyone who was attracted to a place with a reputation as being no-fun, hyperintellectual, rigorous, and grade-deflated was probably the kind of person who could handle it. In recent years, Chicago has shaken off some of the unjustified parts of that reputation, so it is no longer the case that every applicant is necessarily a “Chicago” kind of person. Still, I don’t think Chicago gets anywhere near as many “for the hell of it” applications as Harvard and Yale, etc. By and large, students apply to Chicago because they want academic quality, not prestige.</p>
<p>Also, historically, Chicago wasn’t in a position to insist on “perfect” applicants, like Harvard/Yale etc. It took many smart, intellectual kids with flaws in their resumes. I think that’s still the case, but to a much lesser extent, because Chicago is getting so many more applications. It almost HAS to be pickier about the students it accepts – how else do you sort through 20,000 applications? But this application surge is still new enough that no one – not even Chicago’s admissions staff, probably – really knows what the new baseline looks like.</p>
<p>All of which is a long way of saying that I doubt there are many unqualified applicants in the pool. Kids don’t like to get rejected, and there’s no particular reason for kids who aren’t strong academically to lob an application in to Chicago to see what happens. I would guess a large majority of the kids applying this year are people who would have been strong candidates for admission five or six years ago.</p>