@DallasMan I would. And I would take the opportunity to add a well-crafted sentence that expresses your continued interest. It can’t hurt. Good luck and congrats on being valedictorian!
My RAO just emailed me today confirming that UChicago is not done with the waitlist quite yet. They mentioned that decisions will be confirmed by the end of June at the latest, but will probably be finalized before then. Either way, good luck to everyone!
…has anyone done anything?? Not sure what more I could do…I’ll probably send another one once school is over
Another what if you don’t mind me asking? A loci?
So has anyone received an update yet? Have they sent any rejections at all?
Hello, I sent an LOCI to my admissions officer a little over a month ago and a follow up about two weeks later. I’ve gotten absolute radio silence, so I honestly don’t know if they’ve even been received. Should I bother sending anything else? Or would it just be considered annoying? I’d love to be admitted. Thanks for any insight. 
@joejoehoe I sent a LOCI and an email on April 13th and 14th, respectively. I received a response from my Admissions Counselor within 3 hours. Considering that it has been a while now, I don’t think emailing again would be considered annoying. You may want to check that you sent them to the correct place and that they actually went through before sending another email, though.
@joejoehoe Unfortunately, not all the AOs are equally responsive. Some respond promptly, others simply don’t. Given the time that’s elapsed, it can’t hurt to send your AO a polite follow-up to confirm that s/he has received your LOCI (I would consider cc:ing Admissions on it).
Also, nobody asked for this but I just felt like posting my thoughts and feelings and experiences so…
I am going absolutely insane waiting for these waitlist decisions to come out. I think I’ve read through every comment on this thread at least twice, my search history is littered with "uchicago"s, and when I type the letter “u” into the URL area, it brings up the applicant portal first. ? I’m glad to know that it’s not over yet, but I’m not optimistic. Since May 1st I’ve uploaded a Video Profile that was basically another “Why UChicago” Essay AND changed my waitlist response to be considered for 2025 admission, even though I initially didn’t want to. UChicago is my top choice, and I only wish I had realized sooner how perfect a fit it was for me; I would’ve applied ED (and maybe boosted my chances since they’re so focused on raising yield rates). Also, I really hate the college that I had to commit to (Colorado School of Mines, since I’m stupid and didn’t apply to any middle ground schools between that and the Top 20), and I’m waitlisted at UC Berkeley and WashU St. Louis. Anyway, I love UChicago with all of my heart, and I definitely would not hesitate at the chance to attend.
I’ve had a really crappy run at the college admissions process, and I have a lot of regrets. I applied to 15 schools*, 14 of which were T20, and got rejected from all of them except those listed above. MIT was my first choice for a long time (like my entire life), and I applied EA and got deferred, only to be rejected later. My scores and grades were equivalent to, if not above, the average of all the schools I applied to, and my extracurriculars are average (speech and debate, orchestra, tutoring, multiple jobs). My essays certainly weren’t as great as they could’ve been, as I filled out and submitted 14 applications within a 2-week time span (like I said, I’m really stupid and I believed that MIT would pan out just because I badly wanted it to, so I put off the other applications until the two weeks before they were due), but they were certainly nothing to scoff at. My point is, I was an equally-qualified applicant, and chances were I would get into at least one, yet I somehow defied the odds (and not in the way I had hoped ?). There were quite a few things I wish I had done differently to give myself a better shot, but there’s nothing necessarily wrong with my application as it was. I think it just goes to further emphasize how much of a crapshoot this whole thing is. However, frustrating as all of that is, I am so grateful to have been waitlisted at the schools that I was, as the other decisions indicate that maybe I shouldn’t have been selected at all. Even if I am forced to attend Mines, I won’t give up because I know I can make it to one of these schools as a transfer student if I just keep pushing and working hard.
As you can probably see, quarantine (paired with the stress of my uncertain future and regretful past) is killing me— making me second-guess every decision and do dumb things like creating more information for the poor UChicago Admissions Committee to sort through. In conclusion, I’m really sorry for this long and unnecessary post, and I sincerely commend you if you made it this far. ? Good luck to my fellow students stuck in limbo. I know we’re all amazing candidates and all worthy of a place, and I’m proud to be among you.
*For those curious: UChicago (of course), MIT, Brown, Stanford (personalized rejection letter— that one really hurt), Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, CalTech, Wash U St. Louis, Northwestern, Duke, Vanderbilt, UC Berkeley, and Colorado School of Mines.
Hey Lella, I wish you the best and hope it works out for you but the Mines is a great school for STEM (I am assuming you are STEM given MIT desire) and you should be proud.
Your situation is a case study of what we have been discussing in another thread on how highly selective admissions really works. If you don’t mind me asking, are you full pay or do you require FA? Did you state your major as CS, Econ, or something else? Are you White/Asian or a URM? Do you have any other potential hook like 1st generation or underrepresented state like South Dakota, Wyoming? I assume you are not legacy for any of these schools because you applied to MIT EA which does not consider legacy although MIT will happily take major donation potential into account. Your answers to these question will be very illuminating as to your admissions outcomes. Unfortunately, such is the state of highly selective admissions these days.
@LellaSGK You come across a very talented young person, and I am confident you’ll land on your feet. The Colorado School of Mines is a great school and if you are still unhappy there at the end of the year, you can always apply to transfer (but make sure you pick schools not just from the T15 – because, yes, admissions there are a crapshoot; did you consider LACs with strong STEM programs, like Williams or Pomona or Swarthmore or Reed?). I would say persevere and don’t beat up on yourself – what’s done is done. Onwards and very best in your endeavors.
@Zoom10 Thanks for the well-wishes. To answer your questions: I require FA, my stated major was Mathematics with the backup being CS, I’m actually Asian and White, I’m only first gen on one side (I’m a 2nd gen immigrant on my dad’s side) so that doesn’t really count, and I’m from Colorado. Legacy and donations are definitely not a thing for me— my mom dropped out when she was younger, then went to community college to finish her degree much later in life; we’re pretty much your average suburban middle-class family. So yeah, there’s nothing outstanding about me; I’m just another academically-qualified applicant in the pool.
@levgid Thank you for your kind words. I hadn’t previously considered those schools, but I’ll look into them. Thanks for the recommendations.
Gee Lella, I don’t know you of course but you do sound like a great fit for a technical institute such as Mines. It’s disappointing that it was nowhere near your top choices and it’s hard to find perspective at this point, when both college admissions and Covid are coming together to wreak havoc on so many lives. But if possible, try to withhold how you feel about Mines specifically until you are there and taking courses. I’ve seen too many first years change their minds once they arrived on the campus of the school they didn’t care for.
If you need to transfer, then I’d add Harvey Mudd to Levgid’s suggestions. It’s a smaller LAC with a heavy stem emphasis.
One silver lining is that as an in-state resident you will realize some significant savings at Mines. That might help you down the road if you decide to pursue graduate study somewhere.
@LellaSGK Hang in there! Things will work out for you - maybe not the way you envisioned, but I’ll bet you will do well at Colorado School of Mines, meet some wonderful people, and have a new perspective a year from now. You may or may not end up transferring, but please give Colorado a sincerely open minded chance. You might he surprised. Best of luck to you and keep us posted about your UChicago status.
@LellaSGK don’t worry about the “poor” UChicago admissions. If they put you on the waitlist then it is their job to manage the waitlist. So go ahead and submit whatever you feel makes a good case for UChicago to select you. And the professionals that they are they will give it due weightage in their decision-making process. As Yogi Berra said - when you get to a fork in life - take it! Everything will work out just fine!
Does anyone know when they will be releasing the results? Because it’s been three months now.
There is a lot of uncertainty this year. Especially with international students. I would expect most universities to keep their WL open as long as they can. If the international students can’t get their paperwork, it could be an interesting summer.
@Eeyore123 I‘m not really sure about that… schools are being really flexible with international students who got accepted, giving them the option to take online classes and so on. Unless the international students themselves give up because of all the uncertainty, them getting their papers right now or not won‘t make a difference
I understand that the commitment rate for internationals at UC is well over 90%. Can’t give the exact number or the source but both are tops.
It isn’t about the commitment rate, it is more about will they be able to show up. What happens if students from China are not allowed in? Not sure how many UChicago has every year, but HY have about 15 new students each year. If they disappear late summer, that could cause some late need for people from the WL. That is why I think WL are going to stay open. This really gets interesting when you get to the state flagships. UIUC has about 750 new students from China each year. What happens to the schools “below” them if there is a late scurry for students?