<p>Chicago is my 11th grader's first choice. We enjoyed a really good visit there last fall. She scored 1540 (800 r, 740 m, 760 w) on SAT, 36 on ACT, ranks top 5% is a well profiled hs. Very active and successful in band programs, sports and academics and service. Wants to attend a medium to large u near or in a large city. </p>
<p>Any thoughts on her odds of getting in? Any thoughts on merit scholarship opportunities at Chicago. (English/international studies interest). </p>
<p>She has emailed the admissions counselor at Chicago who is assigned our area, and he never responds. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>mom- I have found that the email responses from admissions people at Chicago can be very spotty, so don't worry about that. She should schedule a visit and meet with him. I think her chances of getting in are very good- the essays are very important.</p>
<p>Chicago definitely has merit scholarships, although it is not as aggressive in promoting them and using them as some other schools, and I think most of them are $10,000 or $20,000 / year, very few more than that. I don't have a sense what they are looking for; maybe some of the students here have a better idea.</p>
<p>In terms of admissions, Chicago is definitely capable of rejecting high-stats kids -- you see that on various schools' scattergrams. But it rejects fewer high stats kids than its peer institutions because it rejects fewer kids overall than most of them. And anecdotally I haven't heard many stories of high stats kids who really wanted to go there who didn't get in.</p>
<p>Speaking anecdotally, S had two friends who applied with him to Chicago. Both with higher stats than he, particularly in GPA, both rejected, one is at Duke, the other Princeton, I believe. A quick look at the student decision stats posted on this forum for the past three years or so, and in the U of C admissions blog also show quite a few high numbers applicants being rejected. I just say this to emphasize the old refrain of applying wisely to a range of schools.</p>
<p>Chicago has 10 full-tuition scholarships, and about 100, 1/3 tuition scholarships. I think sometimes there are amounts offered in between if a student meets certain criteria set up by outside contributors.</p>
<p>When looking at the number of scholarships offered, keep in mind that they are distributed among the entire accepted student population and not just students who decide to attend.</p>
<p>I went on an admissions tour and went to an info session with one of my friends this year (we were bored...), and during the info session the admissions officer talked about how scholarships were chosen. It is a competitive process. Admissions officers pick out files of students who they think may be well-suited for getting scholarships when they read applications. That group of files are passed on to a faculty committee made up of faculty members from all departments in the University. One person from Admissions is present to record votes but does not get a vote himself. The faculty members, in a closed-door setting, read and discuss the applications. I don't think anyone outside of that room really knows which factors go into discussion or the particular choices.</p>
<p>I'm a University Scholar ($10,000/year merit scholarship) freshman this fall. Quantifiable stats: 2330 SAT (one sitting), 800, 790, 780 SAT II's (Chem, Math II, US History), 5's on APs, valedictorian of a class of 350+ in suburban New York (5.4 out of 5.5 GPA, unweighted). Winner of NCTE writing contest, numerous Scholastics Art Awards, honor societies, newspaper photography editor, two summers volunteering at local hospitals, Science Olympiad, etc. Accepted to UPenn and Cornell, waitlisted at Harvard and Columbia. </p>
<p>However, I'm sure there were many other students with similar (and probably better) achievements who applied. Why did I get the scholarship? I'm not sure, but I can make a few guesses. I sent in a fairly well-designed CD of my artwork, which I think set me apart from some other applicants. My essays probably helped - I like to think that I'm a decent writer, and I tried to be creative, but above all genuine and honest, in my essays. I'm fairly well-rounded in that I've done well in a wide range of subjects, from the arts to the sciences. </p>
<p>Really, though, like corranged said, you never quite know what they're looking for, and I was extremely surprised (and happy, of course) when I found out. Good luck to your daughter - she definitely has an excellent chance of being accepted, imho. About scholarships, I don't know, all I can do is offer you the profile of one person who did receive one.</p>
<p>And, yes, in my scholarship letter, I was told that there are about 10 full tuition scholarships and 100 $10,000 scholarships offered to the ~3,000 students who are admitted.</p>
<p>I didn't interview at all (on-campus or alumni), and actually had very little contact with the school before being offered the admission&scholarship, so I don't think that counts for very much.</p>
<p>I normally don't post personal info like this (both for privacy and because I don't want to look like I'm bragging), but I wanted to contrast myself with Pinstriped. I also got the University Scholar scholarship. </p>
<p>My SATs were lower than his, and my SAT IIs were drastically lower. I had 5s on all APs I took, but my school didn't offer many (officially offers 1 for junior year, I took 3--one because I was a year or two ahead in math and another because my English teacher thought I could do well on the English exam, meaning I didn't self-study for any). I barely made the top 15% of my class, and I didn't work very hard for or stress out about my grades the way other students did. I had a pretty good GPA, but it would be considered low for CC and for Chicago applicants in general, I think. I didn't enter or win any contests or competitions. I played a Varsity sport until I was injured in pre-season Junior year. I am a good musician and sent in a CD which I know got a very favorable review, though I don't play in college and never said that I would. I wrote the base of my essay very quickly but fooled with the last lines every time I sent in an application. I used the same essay for a lot of schools but changed the title, a couple phrases, and the last line or two to fit one of the Chicago prompts. It ended up being reasonably thought-provoking, I guess. I'm a white girl from New England. I write well, so my essay should have been good from that standpoint. My college counselor (who has a PhD in English) said that I would be admitted based on my Why Chicago? essay alone, but I doubt it was very much better than any other essay by a good writer who wants to go to the school. I interview very easily and effectively, and I had an on-campus interview. I suspect I had good letters of recommendation, though I didn't read any. I didn't have any spectacular ECs, but what I had probably reflected well on me. </p>
<p>What I'm trying to say is that it's not all about stats or what people list on "chanes" threads on CC. Sometimes an applicant comes across excellently in an application with no specific reasons why. Let your application reflect you, and be honest with it (ironically, my long essay was basically a lie... but that's a story for another day). </p>
<p>I suspected I was going to get a scholarship. I don't really know why because, as I've said, my application was not extraordinary. Maybe, at times, the parts of an application can combine to create a whole greater than what can be conventionally communicated through places like CC. It's hard to judge these things sometimes. I think I had good essays, a good interview, and good recommendations, as well as a solid transcript. I also suspect that they judged me on something more than simple stats or else I wouldn't have gotten a scholarship.</p>
<p>(I'm trying to procrastinate by posting at CC, wow.)</p>
<p>Corranged, I'm glad you posted that, because it's such a good example of why it's so hard to tell people their chances for merit scholarships, expecially at a school like UChic, where it's not just about score cutoffs and percentages. </p>
<p>And you bring up another point I'd forgotten to address - mom616: I also happen to be a Chinese girl, so I'm def. overrepresented already. I don't know how much weight that carries in the scholarship selection process, but I thought I would just throw that out there. Also, I've gotten good grades and competed in various things during high school, but I'm just as apt to obsess over a pair of shoes or the latest Ryan Gosling film. Which is to say from personal experience over the past few months: grades and the like speak for themselves, but sometimes just being a person, with curiosity and interests, strengths and flaws, carried over on paper more than I had expected. As has been pointed out, being 'intellectual' or academically perfect isn't always as important as it's made out to be, especially if there isn't much behind it.</p>
<p>I'm so glad Chicago is the type of school that's willing to look beyond stats and into the individual. And corranged, that was really helpful. :) By the way, did your scholarship cover 1/3 or all of tuition?</p>
<p>Yea, i'm sure if I had done one of these chance threads I would have gotten all sorts of raise your GPA, and mabye you should take the SAT's again advice. While these things don't hurt, the essay along with with the other unique parts of each application are a better way to measure how you would fare at the school. I can't speak definitively, but this is what I've gathered.</p>
<p>Corranged (or anyone), I've noticed the statement that the University Scholarships are offered to about 100 admitted students but I've never seen how many actually attend. Have you?</p>
<p>And, by the way, the scholarships are $10,000 per year--excellent, but no longer 1/3 tuition. Still pretty nice.</p>
<p>An added bonus for scholarship seekers that I should mention. National Merit Finalists receive college-sponsored National Merit scholarships--$1000/year for students who are not receiving need-based aid, and $2000 for those who are. So, for the many, I'd assume that the $10,000/year is really 11,000 or 12,000.</p>
<p>Actually, since tuition is about $35,000, $10,000 is around 1/3 tuition. It's not even close to 1/3 cost of attendance, though.</p>
<p>I've never heard anyone quote a number on how many attend. I'm sure it changes yearly. It's an interesting question because many of these students will have been accepted to a number of elite schools, perhaps including more prestigious institutions, but they will also be encouraged to attend by the scholarship offer.</p>
<p>I don't know about the partial ones, but I know that out of the full-tuition scholarships, 20 out of the 30 kids who get one choose to attend. Also do note that our financial aid is notoriously bad, so a lot of these kids - espcially the 10k scholarship ones - may have a better financial situation at some Ivys and whatnot, despite the scholarship they get...</p>