<p>“You’re confusing prestigious and popular. U Chicago historically had a very self selecting applicant pool hence a high admissions rate. Anything “quirky” will self select, since you either groove on what Chicago is, or you don’t – but few people are neutral.”</p>
<p>It’s really because UChicago was not very selective at the undergraduate level. It only became selective in recent years because of overflow from the Ivies. When students have little chance of getting into Ivies, UChicago suddenly became a decent backup option.</p>
<p>Ivy Plus (alumni clubs around the country) always includes Stanford and MIT and sometimes includes Duke and UChicago.</p>