<p>@Igor, your speculation not only has no basis in fact, your assumptions are flawed. First of all, it’s not like we all the sudden surged in US News ranking and that’s why the university has been more popular, it’s because the University has been making pains to let people know that the image of UChicago students as miserable sacks an antisocial awkwardness is incorrect. Student life here has improved significantly in the last 10 years and the students are much happier because of it. (Our transfer rate is down to 2% from 12%.) That is certainly NOT a tragedy. </p>
<p>Also, the University makes no claims to not be a rigorous academic institution. Literally every prospective student I talked to at the prospective students day expected UChicago to be one of, if not the most rigorous university on their list. Not everyone, especially top students, are terrified of difficult classes like you believe them to be. The University of Chicago does not try to hide that it’s difficult, they pride themselves in it, and the prevailing opinion for students who do nothing but complain about them is that they should go somewhere else because they knew what they were getting into. There’s no basis for thinking that this is all a slippery slope to the university becoming a non-rigorous institution.</p>
<p>Further, this doesn’t answer the question of how, if it’s continuing to trend upward without them having to pander to people that you have a low opinion, what reason is there to believe that it won’t continue rising?</p>
<p>Oh, and your hypothetical situation about the professors sounds like a tinfoil hat conspiracy theory. Capisce?</p>