Chance Me for UChic- Sophomore in HS.

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
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<p>Hi, I'm a sophomore, British Indian (although born in USA), and in the top 5% of my class (a class of about 400). I will have taken about 6 or 7 AP's before I graduate, and all other classes as Level 1 (Honors, highest) or Enriched (even higher than Honors for only math classes). I attend a somewhat highly-ranked public high school (top 10 in state). I currently have a weighted 4.3 GPA, unweighted of 3.7.</p>

<p>I'm hoping to bring that up my junior and senior year, which will be a challenge because of APs.</p>

<p>I took the PSAT and scored a 201/240 first try (rough equivalent of 2010 on SATs). I'll be taking the PSAT again and then SAT I in the Fall most likely. Any studying suggestions/ ways to do well? Also, do colleges look at the essay section?</p>

<p>FYI: I will be applying Financial Aid to probably all colleges...</p>

<p>EC's:
-Piano for 10 years- Master Classes and competitions
-I have rowed crew and been in track for the past two years in HS (JV crew, JV track)
-Heavily involved in Mock Trial and Debate Club- invited to opportunities within Town Government, shadowing state officials, I'm now applying to my State Youth Council chosen by the senator.
-Participate in MIT Splash program, take science classes- lab assistant
-Show Choir for past two years (Varsity)</p>

<p>Community Service:
-I live right next to a very impoverished city, so I am part of a tutoring program where I help students with their schoolwork, teach them music, etc.
-Volunteered at a senior home where I helped out, and also played piano for them.</p>

<p>-Total Hours: Around 200. I hope to be doing more this summer.</p>

<p>Misc:
-fluent in Hindi (can read, write, speak, understand)
-hobby of mine is scuba diving- I have been certified for 2 years now.</p>

<p>I know I'm only a sophomore, but I understand that I need to start thinking about college early. My dream school would be Cornell A&S because I am passionate about writing, government, etc., but I also love science and chemistry. The combination would be a great environment for me I think. My plan would be to apply ED.</p>

<p>Other colleges I'm interested in are:
UC Berkeley
UChicago
UNC Chapel Hill
Northwestern
Rice
UMich
Boston College
Safety schools: UMass Amherst, UMass Lowell</p>

<p>Again, since I'm a sophomore, I'm not too sure of exactly where I want to go, but I just want to know how I'm doing to be a contender for top-tier colleges. Please tell me what I should be doing more of, or changing. Please don't be afraid to be harsh.</p>

<p>Thanks for your time!</p>

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<p>These chance threads are not always good predictors of your actual chances. Your stats look very good, meaning you are competitive for admission, provided you score VERY high SAT’s (2250+). For Chicago, in specific, they seem to really care about the essays. It’d be useless to write them now because they change every year, but be aware of this in the future. Don’t stress out too much. Try to enjoy what you have left of high school.</p>

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<p>^ To elaborate on my first statement (message was typed on a rush), while CC DOES have members with some good insights, of all ages, relying on other high schoolers’ opinions of where you stand is not the best gauge. Based on MY PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS, you do not need to have 15+ EC’s and 10+ AP’s with 5’s to get in to the most prestigious schools. This could be because the people in my area have hooks for being Hispanics, and one of the least represented Hispanic groups at that. Internationals and Asians, from what I’ve gleamed through reading the stats of those accepted/denied, seem to have higher expectations to meet because of the insane competition amongst them. Universities do not have set quotas to meet, but they want to build diverse classes and as it is do not have enough physical space for all qualified applicants. Once you reach such a competitive level, admissions really can be unpredictable. As cheesy as this will sound, the best advice I can give you, as a Senior that experienced a particularly harsh year for my region, is to make your studies your number one priority and follow your passions. Take the (rigorous) classes and do the EC’s that interest you the most, so that it doesn’t even feel like work. That way, you’ll be accepted in a place that fits you for sure and you’ll thrive in.</p>

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<p>Last Post: Of your list, the most competitive schools will be Cornell, Chicago, Northwestern and UC Berkeley. My not very qualified opinion would be that you have a good shot at those.</p>

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<p>Bump bump!</p>

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<p>Chicago, like many of the top schools, have a very holistic admissions process. They will look at you frmo all angles, not just your test scores/transcript.</p>

<p>That being said, your current 3.7 unweighted will be on the low part of the spectrum whe it comes to GPA. Getting that up will be very important. Whe it comes to the essays, Chicago is looking for a student who they feel will match their academically curious, so be sure the UChicago essays are stellar. If you look at the prompts, they are not what you would expect :)</p>

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<p>Getting into University of Chicago will be very tough.</p>

<p>My son did not get in, and my friend’s son did not get in, and both had high SATs and class ranks.</p>

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<p>Bump bump…!</p>

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<p>If you have a will, you have a way…</p>

<p>Keep up your work and you will succeed… However, even you got admitted, youf family need to support the high COA of Chicago, it gives very little FA to middleclass families.</p>