Chance Me for UChicago

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I am a current senior who recently applied to UChicago Early Action (Fall 2016) and got deferred. Will I get in through Regular Decision?
Here are my stats:

State: Washington
High School: private, nationally acclaimed, small (300 students)
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: White (Slavic background)
Class Rank: none at my school
GPA (unweighted): 3.99
SAT (Superscore): 2110
Total APs in high school: 8 (AP European History - 3, AP Calculus AB - 5, AP Calculus BC -?, AP Physics -?, AP Lang & Comp - 4, AP Lit and Comp - ?, AP US History - 5, AP French - 4)
SAT II:

  • Mathematics Level 2: 700
  • French: 620
    Senior Year Schedule: AP Calc BC, AP Physics, AP Lit and Comp, US Gov, Art History, Studio Art, Worldview Capstone (religious seminar-style class)
    First Semester Senior Year grades: All As, except for one A- in Calc BC

NHS Member
Eco Team Member (1 year)
International Club Member (2 years)
Community Service Club Member (1 year)
Student Relations Member (1 year)
Spirit of Excellence Award (awarded based on academic excellence at school)
AP Scholar with Distinction

Athletics:
1 year JV Volleyball, 3 years Varsity Volleyball (Most Inspirational Player, Most Valuable Player, Second Team All-State Award)
2 years Club Volleyball (traveled out-of-state, competed against elite teams from across the country)
2 years Varsity Golf Team
DO NOT INTEND TO PURSUE A VARSITY SPORT AT UCHICAGO

Volunteering:
50+ hours at Eastern Orthodox Church
100+ Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center (help children and adults with disabilities through equine therapy)
20+ hours at school-sponsored events, NHS events

UChicago Interview: Went very well, but not sure if weighted heavily by admissions committee since administered by UChicago alum

Interest in UChicago: emailed regional counselor over summer, attended UChicago info session at my school, showed interest at college fair, emailed counselor again after getting deferred indicating my continued interest in the university

Teacher recs: I assume pretty good as I have great relationships with the teachers
College essays: Pretty confident, explored my ethnic background further

So… what are my chances for getting in?

2

For UChicago, they are looking for essays to show why you belong at a school that pursues “the life of the mind” in every aspect of their college experience. As with any school, if they didn’t see that when you were deferred, they probably are not going to see much later on, but perhaps you could change that, and show why you possess that quality in another email?

By the way, I’m speaking as someone who was accepted EA last month and who has enrolled. My stats were not that much better than yours (worse GPA, better test scores, and no interview).

Good luck. I hope it works out, and I hope to see you on campus in September.

3

UChicago definitely stresses a well-written, creative essay. Your stats and ECs all look pretty good, so I think that’s what it will really come down to in the end. Good luck!

4

Thank you for your responses!

5

I think your issue may have been twofold:

  1. SAT II scores. Your 700 in math II and the 630 in French would both be at or below the 50th percentile.
  2. Extracurriculars. You've obviously got an impressive commitment to volleyball, but most of your extracurriculars seem to read "member of ... (1 year) or (2 years)"

A couple of question marks.

  1. SAT score without writing? Chicago only looks at CR+M - not sure what that 2110 would have looked like given that fact.
  2. Essays. Since we can't read your essays (nor will we - you definitely shouldn't post them on an online forum), we don't know how the application reader reacted to them, and Chicago weights these quite heavily, it's impossible for us to accurately gauge their effect.