Ask away- it's UChicago Prospective Students Advisory Committee

<p>Financial aid questions should be directed toward you regional admissions counselor or to the Office of College Aid (actually separate from our office: [Office</a> of College Aid](<a href=“http://collegeaid.uchicago.edu/]Office”>http://collegeaid.uchicago.edu/))</p>

<p>are teacher reqs now from any two teachers I choose or are they still from a math/science and a english/history teacher</p>

<p>I know most schools use a 4.0 grading system; what are the typical grades of accepted candidates whose schools grade out of 100 (unweighted)?</p>

<p>In addition to philosopher-kings question, usually what has more weight, the unweighted GPA, weighted GPA, or class rank?</p>

<p>Philosopher- since so many schools use different grading systems (4.0, 5.0, weighted, unweighted, percentages, 100, class rank, no rank, smiley faces instead of A’s…) UChicago does not keep statistics for average GPA for any category. </p>

<p>Ponder- going along with the above, since so many schools use different systems, no grading method carries more weight in terms of importance- you’ll be evaluated on your whole application holistically, not purely on one subsection of it. Concurrently, it is unreasonable to expect that one can place more weight on a certain portion of an application when the same portion may be so different among different schools or portions of the world- a 4.0 can mean very different things between a public school student, a private school student, and a student from a selective charter school, for example, or you may have a 13-way tie for 1st in class rank in one area while a student with a 4.0 GPA might be at #36 in another area. So, don’t worry about these things. While they will be looked at, none carries more weight than another, and above everything the story told by your transcript (what kinds of classes you took, and how you did in them), your recommendations and your essays are of more importance than anything else.</p>

<p>Thank you for answering!</p>

<p>I know these questions have been asked a million times, but I can’t find a definitive answer: First, how long should the optional essay be and what exactly should it include? In mine I discussed my favorite film and I analyzed how a combination of realism and surrealism play a role in the plot. I didn’t delve as far into the analysis as I could have because the essay would have been too long. I managed to condense my thoughts into a one page essay (all my essays are single-spaced), but I’m not entirely sure that a film analysis is what the admissions counselors are looking for. </p>

<p>Second, how long should the “Why UChicago” essay be? Mine is about one and a half to two pages long. </p>

<p>Lastly, how long should the main essay be? I’ve heard answers ranging from five pages single-spaced to 500 words. My essay (a response to prompt #2) is about seven pages typed. I know this is too long and I plan on using this weekend to condense my essay; I just would like to know how much I need to remove. </p>

<p>Thanks for your time and sorry for asking so many questions! :)</p>

<p>There’s no hard and fast guideline for how long essays might be, but do consider that admissions counselors have many (many!!) essays to read during admissions season. 500 words (about 2 pages) is a good guideline; if you’re a little more than that (say, two and a quarter) pages, don’t sweat it, but if you’re a lot more than that (5 pages +), it’s time to edit.</p>

<p>You’re welcome to do what you’d like for the optional essay- just remember that your essays are the time to show admissions counselors who you are in the absence of the real you. A film analysis, book analysis, poem analysis, etc. might be great as an example of your writing, but do try to ensure that the essay shows off a bit about you the person, not just you the film analyzer. You’re not getting a grade here- show your writing skill, but try to make sure it connects back to yourself.</p>

<p>Two pages double spaced or single spaced (I’m assuming double due to your previous post but just to make sure) for the essay?</p>

<p>Also, what is the admissions % for early action? Greater than regular, the same, or (hopefully not) less?</p>

<p>PaperChaserPop:</p>

<p>After being deferred EA, I decided to send in an essay I had written about dance as my optional essay (which I didn’t submit with the EA app), as well as a letter of continued interest. Obviously something worked in my favor. (I also found several errors in the essay that I had sent in after sending it in. That was an awesome feeling…)</p>

<p>motion, There isn’t a big difference between EA and RD at Chicago.</p>

<p>Last year Chicago got about 3,800 EA applications, and admitted about 1,150. So around 30%. It got about 9,500 RD applications and admitted another 2,450 (a little higher than the year before, based on the economy, and probably a little higher than it will be this year). Without knowing how many EA applications were deferred into the RD round, you really can’t know precisely what the RD admission rate was, but 25% is a perfectly good round number.</p>

<p>Remember, too, that even at Chicago the EA round probably includes some recruited athletes and other special cases, and it definitely includes Questbridge matches, so the real EA admit rate for run-of-the-mill, everyday fantastic college applicants was probably a skootch lower than 30%. So, really, not a lot of difference.</p>

<p>The admissions people always say that they are applying the same standard, but that the EA pool is stronger on average than the RD pool. The idea is that people who apply EA tend to be more confident in their records and to have been thinking about college more in advance, and less likely to have tossed an application in on a “what the hell” basis. The numbers don’t give much of a basis for doubting that the admissions people are telling the truth about that.</p>

<p>There isn’t really a lower admission standard for EA, but then there isn’t much downside to it, either. It’s not binding, the college still has to suck up to you after admission to get you to come, and it’s nice to get into a good college before spring. The only downside to applying EA is if you get rejected EA, and maybe you would have gotten admitted if your first semester grades and post-October test scores had been considered. If you think about it, there really are not going to be a lot of people who are so close to the line, and whose performance first semester is so great, that it would change “no” into “yes” without stopping in “waitlist” on the way. Also, if you want to apply SCEA to Yale or Stanford, or ED to Brown, you must agree not to submit an EA application to Chicago.</p>

<p>motion12345- Two pages single is fine. Just make sure you’re succinct. I’m not entirely sure of the statistics off of the top of my head, but I’m certain you can find them somewhere on our website at collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu.</p>

<p>maybe I’m not looking in the right places on there but I cannot seem to find it.</p>

<p>I don’t think you’ll find it. Chicago isn’t good about posting that kind of information. Here’s a news story; you can look for more:</p>

<p>[Acceptance</a> rate falls with CommonApplication - The Chicago Maroon](<a href=“Delays keep Proof from silver screen – Chicago Maroon”>Delays keep Proof from silver screen – Chicago Maroon)</p>

<p>Sorry, but I have another question: Would you say I would be okay if my Chicago supplemental essay was completely impersonal (I’m doing the game one) or is the purpose of the essay to connect the question given to something personal?</p>

<p>is it ok if teacher recs are sent two or three days late?</p>

<p>Hi! I have a few questions regarding the recommendation and the arts supplements.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>for the arts supplements, on the common app’s form it says to have “have an instructor who is familiar with your work send us a letter of recommendation.”
do they have to use the teacher recommendation form in the common app or can they just send a letter in?</p></li>
<li><p>can i submit multiple arts supplements? (i.e. visual arts and music)</p></li>
<li><p>for visual arts, how many images can we submit and what format would you like them to be (powerpoint, slides, 35mm slides, jpeg on a cd)?</p></li>
<li><p>for the supplement material section in <a href=“https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/admissions/firstyear/[/url]”>https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/admissions/firstyear/&lt;/a&gt; it says that we can submit a recommendation from someone who know me well. I know that is says that it cannot be submitted online so does that mean that it’s in additional to the 3 allotted teacher recommendations that we can submit via the common app? or is that the third recommendation that supposed to be mailed?
I had a third teacher submit a recommendation online already so am I supposed to delete it have him resend it via snail mail?</p></li>
<li><p>do the teacher recommendations have to be from a math/science and english/history teacher still or is it just 2 academic teachers in general?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>thanks!</p>

<p>Do our letters of recommendation have to be from teachers in certain subjects? I believe in previous years one had to come from English/Social Studies and and the other from Math/Science teachers, but some people are saying that policy is no longer in use.</p>

<p>Teacher recs should be sent in by the deadline for EA or RD, whatever you are choosing as your admissions deadline. Remember, you don’t have to apply EA! If your application won’t be complete for any reason by the EA deadline, there’s nothing wrong with waiting until it is finished to send it in RD, and you’re more likely to be admitted with a solid application sent in at the correct time for you than an incomplete or hastily done application sent in early. </p>

<p>Teacher recommendations must now be completed by teachers in two academic subjects, no longer limited to one humanities and one math/science. It is nice to have a balanced view of you academically, so it may still be a good idea to send in letters from teachers in different subjects, but you are not required to. If you have questions as to what constitutes an academic subject for a teacher (for example, a business teacher might be more economics based in one area, or more typing oriented in another, which could make them either very good or very inappropriate as a reference), contact your regional counselor.</p>

<p>Letigre- your questions about supplements should definitely be directed at your regional counselor. Call/e-mail them according to your region- you can find the contact info online here: <a href=“https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/php/contact/[/url]”>https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/php/contact/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Can you comment on why it still says you need one humanities and one math/science rec on the common app website when you click on supplement instructions? Has it just not been updated yet?</p>