Can I get into UChicago with weak extracurriculars?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

My Stats

  • ~4.65W, 4.0UW
  • 34 ACT (35E 36R 34M 32S), currently waiting on new score reports
  • 1500/1520 PSAT, currently waiting on SAT score reports
  • SAT II: Will take them in the summer, Math II and probably Bio and/or Lit
  • Have taken the most difficult class each year
  • Freshman: honors everything, study hall
  • Sophomore: AP US Gov (5), honors everything else, study hall
  • Right now/junior: AP Calc BC, APUSH, APLAC, AP Physics 1, AP Comparative Government & Politics, honors French
  • Senior: AP Psych, AP Bio, AP Macro, AP Micro, AP Lit, AP French 4, honors calculus 3

Extracurriculars

  • Officer of school cultural club for past 2 years, currently VP, probably president next year
  • Student Council, officer sophomore year & next year
  • National French Honor Society (French tutoring every week)
  • National Honor Society
  • Babysitting 3-4 days a week from when I get home to 7/8pm ever since freshman year
  • College preparatory program
  • PolySci research project in the summer at Carleton College (Summer Quantitative Reasoning Institute)

As you can see, I haven’t done anything profound or dramatic, changed any lives, etc… I’m hoping to show consistency and passion for what I do. However, considering I will be competing with kids with the same stats as me, would my weak EC’s make or break my admission? After all, there are top kids out there that have won state/national awards, or made an app, or started a organization, or whatever else. Could strong essays (i.e. showing who I am) supplement that?

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this!! Any help, advice, etc., would be very much appreciated. (: I don’t know, I’m nearing the end of my junior year, and I can feel the stress of college creeping on. I made a CC account in hopes of being more sure of myself in this process but I think I just stressed myself out more with all of these numbers and stats.

2

Apply early decision (if that makes sense given your priorities and finances) and write great essays. ECs matter less at UChicago than they do at HYPS. And, historically, essays have mattered much more.

Re showing who you are, this is one of those situations where it’s more a matter of showing how your mind works than of describing yourself, if that makes sense. Choose a topic you can have fun with and write in such a way that someone who knows you would read your essay, smile, and think “yes, that’s what I love about [your name here]!”

Finally, you’ve done really well in HS and you will get into a good college. In lots of ways, it doesn’t matter which one because there’s so much for you to learn and so many different, interesting places to study. Make sure you find at least a couple of “safety schools”* that you are excited about. It will make the whole process less stressful.

*which here means schools that your family can afford and where 40% or more of the applicants are admitted.