<p>Application</a> Inflation - Admissions & Student Aid - The Chronicle of Higher Education</p>
<p>Also, a blog post on the chronicle about this:</p>
<p>This was a good article on the trends that started at UChicago since Nondorf took over. Pretty interesting stuff, I think. Big numbers admissions is certainly flourishing. </p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>Cue7, thank you for sharing these articles. I enjoyed reading them immensely. With a well thought out strategy to play the selectivity game by reducing the admission rate and increasing the yield, UChicago is doing a great job and seems to be achieving the goal.</p>
<p>There is always a Yin Yang in play, just like everything in life. While UChicago is gaining popularity in the college applicant pool, some are concerned it may lose its identity. I believe the U of C can become more popular without losing its intellectual identity along the way as long as the University can maintain a healthy balance.</p>
<p>I find it amusing that a lot of people are “surprised” to see Chicago surpass Stanford and MIT this year in the USNWR ranking and start talking about Chicago more and more among parents who have matriculating students. So I guess selectivity factor plays a role in most students/parents decision making process in choosing a college. Application inflation is meaningless? Perhaps. </p>
<p>Whatever Mr. Nondorf and Boyer are doing, it is working well. What do you think?</p>
<p>Excellent article in the Chronicle, thanks Cue7 for posting it. U of C has become a marketing machine!!!</p>
<p>Just to preempt this discussion, I don’t understand how an expanded candidate pool will dilute either intellectual/academic qualities on campus or quirkiness. The candidates you select for have always or will always be the candidates you select for. This would be different if the ADCOMs selected for higher GPA/SAT kids and the groups of quirky students and the group of high scoring kids were largely exclusive. I don’t think they are.</p>
<p>Also possibly more importantly, I’ve heard every year here: “the kids are getting less and less quirky. Each and each class is getting more professional.” But I don’t think that’s true. I think it’s the traditions that make these kids seem quirky or nonquirky. We don’t come in to college as static figures and stay the same between 18 and 22. We discover ourselves in so many different ways. Who else would do Icelandic rituals to the sun at 5 in the morning? And do crazy scavenger hunt items? Not “people accepted to the UofC” per se. It’s the kids that are here.</p>
<p>UChicago deserves any increase in prestige. It’s an excellent school, and it’s great that more and more kids are finding out about it. Of course, that makes it more selective but it also means more kids can see if it’s right for them. The quirky factor shouldn’t be a thing. The traditions will remain there, and a prospective student will either be attracted to or turned off by them, depending on their interests.</p>