Size and quality of the applicant pool

With 2 days until the Chicago Booth deadline, I am becoming increasingly nervous/stressed/obsessive about the potential results. Last year at this time, I was scheduling my flights to Chicago for my interview. This year, I am anxiously waiting to hear from them. As I stalked people and blogs today looking for information that might help calm my nerves and illustrate that there are a plethora of invites yet to come or that no reapplicant has received an invite to this point I began to wonder: what's the applicant pool look like at this point? Last year, the pool was supposedly shrinking according to a number of those "in the business". Well their predictions were muddled at best. Some schools received more, some less. Some saw their pools shrink, yet became increasingly competitive. I remember reading that Haas saw a huge increase in application numbers while UCLA became much easier to gain a coveted admit letter. This year, I am seeking more information about the current pool. All the speculation I've heard (and done) has benefited me. The pool must be shrinking as the economy bounces back. Each applicant is applying to more schools which means they will all admit more students. Schools favor reapplicants...and on and on (OK, that last one benefited me more than speaking to the applicant pool). But as it stands, I have not found any concrete or compelling information about the competition this year. Sites like GMAT Club have provided data points here and there but are a self selective group which is believed to be above the bar. All this does is lead to more speculating and more nervous energy, at least for me.

At this point, it's getting late in the day and I'm tired of guessing. It's doubtful today will be my day to hear from any schools. However, if any of you have any information or thoughts on the applicant pool I'm all ears. Please do share.

As a side note, I know these posts are becoming more rambling than I initially intended but I think it's a factor of the circumstances. Thinking about the process doesn't always lead to rationale thoughts and often the more I think about it, the less I want to which results in abrupt endings. I know I'm not alone here but felt compelled to share that piece of information.