Does anyone know whether you are allowed to enroll at another university for the year if you are offered a gap year spot from the waitlist? I was a little late submitting my application but ended up waitlisted which was surprising given that I was denied practically everywhere else. I am really hoping that I get in from the waitlist because UC is the perfect fit for me and because I really don’t want to go to any of the few places I was accepted but I don’t know what I would do if I was given the opportunity to take a gap year.
Second question: If I am no longer being considered, am I notified? If so, when? I don’t want to enroll at another college until I am sure of my chances at UC or until May 1st, whichever comes first but I also don’t want to miss having first dibs on housing/other things if I am certainly not going to be admitted.
@Waitlistedparent - the $2k/year college-sponsored NM award would be from dedicated funds that they need to dole out anyway. The RD-round admit rate is typically less than the overall, and the overall is around 6% . . . it’s an extremely competitive situation. I am crossing my fingers - sounds like your D feels this would be her best fit. However, having a full ride as her backup is still awesome and clearly reflects her achievements and academic promise. My guess is that she’s in an elite category there. Congrats to her whatever happens. Please do keep us posted! (and you never know - because they started pulling from the W/L so early this time, it might not be over yet).
Most likely NO. You can clarify that with them if offered the Z List but too many college credits causes you to lose your status of "first time in college" and you'd be kicked into "transfer" status. That's a different application process.
You can call the Admissions Office and find out if they are planning to pull anyone else from the W/L. In years past I think they've shared if they are done or not. Please post what you find out!
Thanks for the information. That was what I was thinking was probably going to be the case. I probably shouldn’t try to cross that bridge until I come to it anyway given the low probability of getting to that point.
As far as calling the admissions office, it’s still quite early and I’m honestly just being a little impatient so I’ll make myself wait a week or two before contacting them. I’ll be sure to report back when I do though.
@dalearn - good advice found here (the following is directly from UChicago. I can’t post a link unlike others so - just put a “.” before com): https://uchicagoadmissions.tumblr com/post/79867884547/advice-for-waitlisted-students/amp
The University doesn’t notify you if you aren’t being considered. If you are accepted off the waitlist, they’ll be in contact with you. If not, you won’t be getting more updates.
If you are on the WL, you should commit to somewhere else. Committing somewhere isn’t the same as enrolling there. If, after May 1, you get off the waitlist, you then can make the decision to come to UChi or not.
As for housing and things that you’re worried about @dalearn, there is no preference given on the housing application for early applicants/committers. Nor is anything else granted like that. So, even if you are taken up off the waitlist, you’re just as likely to get the housing decision you get as anyone else).
As for contacting the office, the office itself is closed; emailing is going to be the best way to contact an AO if you feel the need to do so (getting things in writing is usually better than a phone call imo). The general line is collegeadmissions@uchicago.edu; if you want to find your regional counselor, you can do so at the bottom of the collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/contact page.
Yes, housing at the other institution I will probably commit to if Chicago doesn’t work out is what I am concerned about. They have a few dorms that are great and a few that aren’t and housing applications just opened so I was hoping to jump in line early if possible. I could be wrong in my assumptions about how the process works though. I’m navigating the application process without a counselor so it could be that colleges outside my state work differently from the ones I am familiar with.
I emailed a LOCI on April 1st and haven’t heard anything from my regional admissions counselor (not even a confirmation of receiving the letter). Is this pretty standard, or do they usually respond to atleast say that they received the letter? I’m concerned that technologically, the message didn’t go through. Should I send another email to my counselor, or contact admissions? Or should I just continue waiting?
@khsje274729 I wouldn’t worry about it too much unless they don’t reply for another week. I didn’t get a response for about a week. Remember, they are dealing with the closure of the campus at one of the busiest times of the year and there may be something of a backlog. Just like hospital employees have trouble working from home since they are dealing with confidential data, admissions officers almost certainly have the same troubles and it undoubtedly took some time to get up and running from home.
College housing at the committed college can be difficult if you are on a WL, particularly if your committed choice is a public. Don’t miss any deadlines at committed college while you wait to hear from WL college. (At some publics, if you miss the deadline for housing by even a day, you can be SOL.)
That said, if you have to make a deposit by May 1 to hold your position in the committed class and you also make a housing deposit before you hear back from Chicago, you may lose both deposits if you choose to accept Chicago’s offer. Typically, deposits are not refundable.
I was waitlisted at UChicago. I emailed my regional admissions counselor this morning. Of course, the story of my life, I had a spelling error in the letter. I said “estatic” instead of “ecstatic”. My idiocy and my impatience sometimes amazes me. I also am starting to think that I waited too long to send my LOCI due to all the comments above describing how quickly they sent their letter and were accepted. Will this spelling error be a “death sentence” or will my counselor be understanding? Also, since I waited almost a month to send a letter, will this hurt me? I have not received an email back all day and I’m starting to worry. Again, my impatience gets the best of my emotions. Thank you.
@asob687 There’s no way to know for certain. I personally wouldn’t worry about the spelling—mistakes happen because we are human after all—but not sending the letter for almost a month may reflect poorly. There’s really no way to tell.
As far as your regional admissions officer not replying goes, remember, they are still dealing with the campus closure at one of the busiest times of the year so cut them some slack. I wouldn’t be worried unless they don’t respond for a week or two.
@asob687 I wouldn’t worry about those matters. They seem huge, of course, but they aren’t going to drive the decision one way or the other. Regarding the LOCI, some may have waited until they heard back from other schools which is understandable.
The primary reason for not getting an offer of admission (yet) is that they are currently admitting in order to “fine tune” the class they want. Whether anyone is selected will now be a random, low probability event. You are clearly qualified, but whether they need you vs. someone else is based on other factors and completely out of your hands. That’s why they tell everyone to proceed with the expectation of enrolling at their best available choice.
I submitted my LOCI yesterday, almost a month after the waitlist decision came out, because I wanted to fully make sure my letter was PERFECT! Since I sent it later, will it affect whether I get in or not?
Also, after I sent the email to my regional admissions counselor, the senior assistant director of admissions at UChicago responded (Mason Heller). Is this a good / bad sign, or am I overthinking it? (UChicago is my dream school and I am not sure if I am reading too far into things or not, and am trying to just have high hopes, low expectations).
Thanks for the words of wisdom guys. I would reply directly but I’m kind of inept. But here’s another thing to make you question how I even got waitlisted at Uchicago in the first place. When I sent the email, I had left out a subject. I planned to write “Letter of Continued Interest” in the subject line but I sent it before I remembered to. My brother told me that the reason he might not have responded is because he didn’t see it as usually emails without subject lines are ignored by officers who receive many emails a day. Or they go to spam. So, I copied the email over to a new one and sent it this time with a subject line. I also thought I might as well fix the spelling error I made because I’m assuming he has not read the first one yet. I hope he didn’t just see the first one and hadn’t responded yet. In that case he might think I’m annoying and trying to catch his attention. It’s been four hours and he has not responded to the new email either. I know it’s only four hours so I should relax. However, do you think I should’ve acknowledged why I resent the email in case he saw the first one already? Or is it fine that I just resent it this time with a subject line? I know I’m overthinking all this but it really bums me out to think that I might’ve ruined my chances due to simple disregard of email etiquette.
Just got a call from my admissions officer and I got off the waitlist for 2024! I didn’t send a LOCI, so I’m not sure how they’re going about admissions at this point.