Chance at uChicago?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

Hello! I am new to this forum, and thus preemptively apologize for any etiquette mistakes I may make. I am a high school senior and am currently planning on going into civil and/or constitutional law. I recently submitted my ED legacy (though I don’t believe this will affect my admittance) application to uChicago, and have been biting my nails ever since. Would anybody mind submitting their two cents?

Bio:

  • Citizenship: US
  • State of residence: Kentucky
  • Income: ~$52,000
  • Race: White
  • Gender: Cisgender Female

School:

  • Type (Public/private & size): Well-known public school that has about 500 students per class.
  • Graduates (How many go to Ivy’s/top 20): It seems like all students go on to collegiate studies. Many of them do go to top-tier schools. A decent number of students every year go to Ivy schools. I personally know a couple this year who almost certainly will.
  • AP’s Offered: 38. The issue with this––and this is something I fear uChicago will not see when they view my record––is that many of these classes are available only to students within specific magnets [i.e. art AP’s, advanced math AP’s (not including Calculus AB, in which I am currently enrolled.), music AP’s].

Academic Profile:

  • Unweighted GPA: 3.74
  • Weighted GPA: 3.95 (I struggled with personal issues that I outlined in my Common Application), but a 4.3 during the first semester of senior year.
  • AP’s: Human Geography (5), World History (didn’t take test), Seminar (4), U.S. History (3, and not reporting), Language and Composition (5), Literature and Composition (enrolled), Comparative Government and Politics (enrolled), Calculus AB (enrolled), Environmental Science (enrolled).
  • ACT: 33.
  • SAT: Not submitting.
  • SAT II: Not submitting.
  • Rank: My district has a no-ranking policy.
  • Course Rigor: I have no idea. I feel that many students take more AP’s than I have, but that I am way more involved in my magnet. I have exclusively taken Honors and AP classes in courses where they are available, however.
  • Current Courses: Yearbook, Literary Magazine, Editorial Leadership (a required class for publication editors), AP Calculus AB, AP Literature and Composition, AP Comparative Government and Politics, AP Environmental Science, Spanish 5.

EC (Not really in order of importance/commitment):

  • Editor-in-Chief of the yearbook (we win national awards every year). (12)
  • Copy Editor of the yearbook. (11)
  • Staffer on the yearbook. (9, 10)
  • Designer on our literary magazine (also nationally award-winning). (9, 10, 11, 12)
  • Wrote for a controversial local youth magazine. (9, 10, 11, 12)
  • Media Manager at local food justice non-profit. (10, 11, 12)
  • Volunteering by teaching instruments at Girls Rock Camp. (9, 10, 11, 12)
  • Co-founded a local social justice non-profit. (9, 10)
  • Barista. (11, 12)
  • Spanish Teacher Intern at local middle school. (12)
  • In a band that played with Speedy Ortiz and Girlpool. (9, 10, 11, 12)
  • Have played piano since I was six.

Honors:

  • Medalled on the National Spanish Exam. (9, 10, 11, and hopefully 12)
  • Honorable Mention in the National Scholastic Art & Writing Competition.
  • Advanced Diploma.
  • Rising Star Award (it’s just a school media competition).

Intended Major: I want to study Political Science and Spanish in-depth. I want to study Arabic, French, astrophysics, computer programming, and creative writing on the side.

Strengths and Weaknesses: I believe that my essays, EC’s, and ACT score are decent. I am, however, worried about my AP’s and overall GPA.

I know that uChicago wants eclectic intellectuals who want to expand the boundaries of knowledge, and thus look at applications holistically in order to ensure that they aren’t just receiving good performers. I’m not sure, however, that my application even warrants this holistic review due to unfortunate academic mediocrity as an underclassman. Do you think I even have half of a shot? Thank you for your time!

2

Bump––please help if you have time!

3

UChicago is a reach to a high reach for all. Don’t stop working on your other applications. The one thing I would say, and this is often debated on CC, is the not reporting of the 3 on your APUSH. When you report some scores, but not others, how does the AO interpret that? Do they assume that you got a 1 or 2? A lot of posters here recommend putting the 3 score so that they don’t think worse. Of course you still have the issue with the test you didn’t take. Does anyone know, could you physically put World History DNT? This would make it clear that you took the class but not the test.

4

Thank you for pointing that out to me! I just placed my APUSH score onto my Common App. DNT is unfortunately not an option. Do you think there’s even a slight chance I may be able to get in or put on a waitlist? I almost certainly have demonstrated interest and I believe that my essays were effective!

5

I’d say with your legacy status and strong enough test scores/ECs you have a good shot at getting in! Do you have an idea of the amount of classmates at your school that are also applying ED UChicago?

6

I don’t know of anybody else who is applying ED! Most of the students who attend my school are very well-off financially, and thus can’t afford to.

7

I realize that my last comment was slightly vague; they don’t know what their financial aid package would be at uChicago because of their high EFCs and they also aren’t as interested, it seems.

8

Good luck! You’re clearly a capable and interesting applicant and you’ve done what you can to maximize your odds of admission at UofC. Hard to predict outcomes, but I do feel confident saying there’s no reason to believe your application won’t be taken seriously.

9

You certainly have a chance. Don’t worry at all about having “only” 9 APs. That is plenty. They don’t care if your school has 38 APs. They only care whether or not you took APs (or at least honors) in core subjects when they made sense and were available. Your AP scores of 5, 5, 4, 3 are good even if not fantastic.

It’s true that 3.74UW is not quite as high as many, but it’s at least likely to come down to essays, recs, and how you seem to connect with the school than some other things. Legacy may help a little, and ED will definitely help some.

10

None of the application is a red flag - even the 3.74 is ok in the context of the number of AP’s. (Nine is still a large number, even if it’s less than a third of what your school offers!). UChicago wants kids who challenge themselves even at the risk of slightly lower grades - kids who love to learn, not just want the highest GPA.

ED will definitely help, legacy too though not sure how much (in the sense that you know a lot more about the school than the average applicant). My kid applied EA and is double legacy - and was deferred. Then she switched to EDII and was accepted. So ED had the edge there, in my book. :slight_smile: The essays are the one piece of your application that you 100% manage so hopefully you gave them a real sense of YOU and why UChicago is the school. Good luck!

11

Solid chance… ACT and GPA are fine once they reach a certain line.