@omguchicago Rude. Don’t insult people you don’t know anything about.
You said: “The question is what Chicago wants to be in 2026. If the powers that be want to make Chicago another HYP, the U of C can cut 4-5 hours a week from the average student’s coursework, inflate GPAs by 0.3, spend more money on extracurricular initiatives and less on faculty, and accept more students who have the financial security to spend 4 years as full-time Maroon editors/quarterbacks/thespians/NGO founders and part-time students.”
Please note - I think Chicago should use Yale (or other schools) as comparators, NOT as end goals. If they choose to model part of the experience based on other schools, that’s fine - but emulating a particular school should NOT be an end goal.
This being said, we’re getting a bit far afield. My key point is this: I’d like Chicago to have more easy options for socializing very close to campus. There should be more to do right near campus on Friday and Saturday nights, and something besides the library should be a key space for centralized campus interactions. At a minimum, the Reynolds Club should be expanded, and some late night eateries/bars should be right near campus.
That’s it - I don’t think we need to tinker with the core of Chicago. Rather, just bring some more auxiliary stuff around campus. Have food trucks open late at night on Fridays and Saturdays. Have a sports bar or late night restaurant open up on 55th or south of the midway. Through investment and offering space/resources, elevate the quality of some clubs so that they become campus draws.
I remember the academic life at Chicago being easy - meaning, I never had to work to find superb classes, great professors, etc. Everything was right there for me. Social life, on the other hand, sometimes felt like work - there wasn’t much right near campus, trips downtown could be long (and cold in the winter). Make the social aspect easier.
Then, in terms of providing arguably the best education and college experience in the country, we’d really be talking.
Will let you folks now in a year’s time what my son thinks of Social life at UChicago 
@Cue7 well I find it rather perverse to say that the administration is not invested in social spaces, especially with the barrage of construction of the last 15 years or so, with the new dorms (Max, South, North) and the restaurants that North will contain. And you are also overstating the difficulty of reaching the restaurants on 53rd St, as a lot of students live in Apartments on 54th St, and the rise of new technologies like Uber makes going anywhere easy (and cheap!)
My son is just now wrapping up his freshman year at UChicago and we cannot be more pleased with his experience thus far. He has done very well academically and has enjoyed the social scene a great deal. For those students who enjoy social activities – comedy clubs, concerts, restaurants, frats, working out, going downtown – it is all there to be enjoyed. He definitely feels that he picked the right college, and his only real criticism involves the students who love to complain about the workload far too much. He thinks the key to his first year has been using his time efficiently so that he could do well in classes but also have time for a normal college social life. He has certainly made the most of his opportunities to get engaged. His favorite thing about being a student there is the diverse student population and getting to know people from all over the world. UChicago has also been very helpful on the internship front and he had a summer job lined up shortly after returning from Winter Break. I have to admit that although I knew UChicago was tremendous academically, as a parent I was much more interested in knowing that students could have a well balanced life there. After my son’s freshman year, I can say that a fun and balanced life is there for all students who make that a priority. I have come to love UChicago more with each new visit to Hyde Park.