The University of Chicago Early Action figures are in. And for the fifth consecutive year, more students applied than ever before via Early Action. In all, 11,143 students applied Early Action to UChicago (UChicago’s Early Action policy isn’t binding) and this marked an 8% increase from last year’s 10,316 applicants from last year’s pool. The official count is apparently a 6.7% increase and this is due to 130 students who weren’t accounted for in last year’s initial official release numbers.

According to an article on the University of Chicago Early Action figures, “The Chicago Maroon,” “The number of early action applications has risen 89.4 percent since 2009, when James Nondorf became the dean of college admissions and financial aid and when the College began using the Common Application. The College has seen, on average, a 20-percent increase in the number of early applicants every year since 2010. According to University spokesperson Jeremy Manier, what this year’s comparatively low rate of increase signifies is unclear for now. ‘I think the expectation is that at some point you’ll see the number reach the natural level, and it’s difficult to tell whether we’re there yet,’ Manier said. Last year, early applications comprised about a third of the total pool of 30,396 applications. The overall acceptance rate was 8.8 percent.”

The University of Chicago application is famously very creative and unique. The admissions office, in their letter to applicants, said that they laughed at the jokes, cried a little at “some touching essays,” and “contemplated your mantis shrimp” (hey, they didn’t say they aren’t strange). Imagine what the numbers would be like if the University of Chicago didn’t have essays that only fit for their school (it discourages students from applying). But we salute the University of Chicago for their unique essays. In defiance of their “US News & World Report” ranking, they dare to go against the trend. They dare to seek out students who actually want to go to the University of Chicago. Good for them, we say!