<p>More and more, there seems to be a correlation between the “ease” of the application process and the number of submitted apps to a college, thus impacting figures that impact ratings.</p>
<p>A school like WashU, which doesn’t require essays except from students applying for specific scholarships, received roughly the same # of apps this year as did UChicago, whose required essays are not easily tossed off by even the most able applicants.</p>
<p>I’m not really defending U Chicago, which apparently more or less hounded a large swath of college seeking juniors/ seniors over the past year (t-shirts, posters, near-daily postcards…) into applying, but one should view it and other schools (Tufts, Barnard, etc.) which require multiple, thought-provoking essays in perhaps a different light and consider that application #s for these schools may be more “impressive” by virtue of the “extra” work required of applicants.</p>