@ThankYouforHelp: A Harvard/Amherst comparison has little relevance to a UChicago/Amherst comparison. For example, in the NYT article you link to it states that at Harvard after four years some undergraduates do not know a faculty member well enough to get a letter of recommendation. UChicago is highly committed to undergraduate teaching and we both know that. When I was an undergrad faculty were most accessible and I got to know several very well. The summer after my junior year I was invited to live with the family of a faculty in return for taking care of the couple’s two sons. I published a journal article with the professor in my senior year.
In addition to being a college alum, my contacts with the UChicago’s econ department and the Booth School of Business include co-authoring a paper with a Ph.D. candidate who did the econometric analysis. It was published six months ago in a top accounting journal. IMHOP UChicago has unmatched opportunities for studying economics and other business fields. If a student is the right fit for a highly academic and intellectual environment, the college experience there is outstanding.