<p>So yeah, Uchicago is my top school, hands down. Applying EA exclusively.</p>
<p>Student:</p>
<p>User Name: borzicus
Gender: M
Location: Florida
College Class Year: 2017
High School: Public
High School Type: sends some grads to top schools
Will apply for financial aid: Yes</p>
<p>Academics:</p>
<p>GPA - Unweighted: 3.68
GPA - Weighted: 5.02
Class Rank: top 5%
Class Size: 1064</p>
<p>Scores:
Total SAT: 2310</p>
<p>SAT I Math: 770
SAT I Critical Reading: 740
SAT I Writing: 800
SAT II U.S. History: 730
SAT II Biology - M: 680</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:</p>
<p>Significant Extracurriculars: Debate Team
Science Bowl Team
Mu Alpha Theta
Science National Honor Society
Social Studies National Honor Society
Philosophy Honor Society
Chess Club
Model United Nations
Physician Shadowing
Leadership positions: President and Founder of Chess Club
President of Philosophy Honor Society
President of Model United Nations
Athletic Status - list sport and your level: None, pretty much
Volunteer/Service Work: Around 700 hours (will hit a thousand soon)
Children's Home in Miami
Volunteering at local hospital
Honors and Awards: Lots from both debate and Model United Nations
AP Scholar with Distinction
College Summer programs: Physician Shadowing at the Cleveland Clinic</p>
<p>AP's:
European History-4
Psychology-5
English-5
Calc AB-5
Calc BC-5
Biology-5
US History-5</p>
<p>Senior Schedule:
All APs
Literature
Physics B
Environmental Science
Human Geography
Microeconomics
Macroeconomics
American Government
Comparative Government</p>
<p>My recs are phenomenal. One is from my english teacher, who's a very close friend and who's recs have gotten kids into practically every Ivy or top school.
The other is from my AP Bio teacher, who also writes excellent rec letters.</p>
<p>Essay wise, I'm fine. Writing is my strong suit, and I'm confident in it. </p>
<p>No doubt that you are a great student- you display involvement in your community, your schoolwork, and time outside of school. </p>
<p>But I have to ask (because the information you provide is lacking such): what is your passion? Thousands of applicants each year, as you know, apply to the University of Chicago exclusively for Early Action, and very few get in. </p>
<p>If you are looking to get in Early Action, where are you going to stand out? I’m not questioning that you lack passion, rather, you haven’t told us. Early admissions for most top tier schools look for students who’ve gone out and invested their time into an interest, hobby, or activity. Some kids do research, others play on competitive teams year round, and others travel internationally. </p>
<p>Not all acceptances have that “unique” quality to their application; if you really want to guarantee a solid chance into a top tier, competitive school such as University of Chicago, you have to demonstrate your passion.</p>
<p>I really appreciate that response, jt. If I had to give you an answer, my passion is learning about people. It’s why I’ve focused the majority of my ECS around either medicine or the social sciences. I’m currently in the process of publishing a paper with my father and uncle about the state of medicine in my home country of Iran and how it can be reformed to supplement the growing societal demands of the world. I love UChicago because they’re one of the few schools that truly respect learning as a passion. Either way, your response, I felt, was very well spoken and it will give me a chance to reassess my priorities. Thank you.</p>
<p>You are certainly a solid applicant - I would still designate UChicago as a reach (just because of its selectivity), though not really a high reach I think.</p>
<p>Your unweighted GPA isn’t the greatest, but your class rank says that this may be because your school grades harshly. Great scores - Bio subject test is a bit low though, probably want that 700+.
I can see your interest in learning about/helping people through your ECs, which is good. However, I would still try to mention this in an extracurricular description or essay, since I wouldn’t call evidence of your passion totally obvious through this list. But you seem like you are active and involved, which is nice, with some leadership. I don’t see any of your ECs as standing out as particularly amazing, but they are solid. Volunteering is impressive.</p>
<p>Overall your chances are pretty decent. I will repeat, UChicago is a reach merely for the fact that it is UChicago, but you are a competitive applicant. I would say low/mid reach. Good luck!</p>
<p>Your SAT subject test score aren’t that great but your SAT-I is good. GPA is also in the admissible range. Your EC’s are good enough too. I think you have a 70% chance. Do note that I’m not an expert in the admission process but am just giving my view based on the other applicants that I’ve seen get accepted. Try applying to some other universities as well.</p>