<p>unalove - I didn’t mean to argue that there is a “conspiracy theory” present at ivy league schools, rather, at the ivies, the admissions committee simply must appeal to a wider range of constituent groups. Dean Boyer at Chicago has often said that the University will continue to accept those students “that the faculty would most love to teach.” This sort of rhetoric, as far as I can see, is simply not present in most ivy league schools.</p>
<p>Yes, the ivies have a need for those students with a ton of brainpower - that’s why you see valedictorians and perfect SAT scorers flock to Harvard, Princeton etc. in droves. The ivies, however, also have a broader set of needs than Chicago. Each ivy league school needs squash players and rowers and swimmers and a healthy set of legacy admits. Moreover, the ivies look to train future leaders, whereas Chicago’s goal - at least from much of the rhetoric I can find - remains to train the future intelligentsia of the nation. Accordingly, the ivies might forgive a perceived lack of academic ability for certain leadership qualities more than Chicago would. Put another way, I feel like a Dartmouth or Yale would care more about getting the soccer captain and eagle scout with 1300 SATs, whereas Chicago would most covet the science brainiac with 1550 SATs and a penchant for conducting science experiments on his own time.</p>
<p>That’s not to see the soccer captain wouldn’t be accepted at Chicago, or the science brainiac wouldn’t have a place at Dartmouth. They both would, but I feel like the two schools place different values on these two types of students. </p>
<p>At Chicago, what I think is peculiar is, for the most part, the faculty interests and the alum interests ARE ALIGNED. If Chicago does poorly in soccer or club crew or whatever, no one really cares. If Yale performs poorly in crew or football, after a few years, there is tangible tension. Moreover, I never felt there was much pressure for Chicago to admit legacies, but this is certainly more emphasized at the ivy league schools.</p>
<p>Again, put another way, I feel like Yale would get most excited about a kid who could some day be the next president. I feel like Chicago would be most excited by the kid who someday could win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry or a MacArthur Genius Grant. That’s not to say Chicago wouldn’t want the future president (it would), or Yale wouldn’t want the future MacArthur winner (it would), but the two schools do value different things in their respective undergrad communities. </p>
<p>What does this all lead to? A student body that is probably more cohesive but generally eggheaded at Chicago, and a more varied student body at many of the ivies. Again, I didn’t mean to imply that there’s a conspiracy theory here, just that the ivies - point blank - have more interest groups that have a voice in the admissions process.</p>