Chances at U Chicago?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Ethnicity: Indian
State: Pennsylvania

Standardized Test Scores
ACT: 33 (English-28, Reading-32, Math-34, Science-36)
SAT 2: Chemistry-780, Math II-800

APs Taken: Calc BC, Computer Science, Chemistry, Statistics, English 3, Physics 1 & 2, Biology, US History

Senior Year APs: Psychology, English 4, Economics, Physics C, German

Current Unweighted GPA: 3.5

Medical Research
University of Pittsburgh Bioinformatics Department: Impact of Internet Support Groups on Depression.
University of Pennsylvania: Public opinion of Obamacare.
Duke University Department of Biological Sciences: Neuron receptors and neural circuits in Drosophila.

Publications
“Can Varying the Salutation and Subject Lines of E-Mail Prompts Increase Patient Log-Ins to an Internet Support Group for Mood and Anxiety Disorders,?” (co-author), under review in Journal of Pathology Informatics

Honors and Awards
2013-16 Member of National Honors Society and National Junior Honors Society
2014 Silver Medalist in National German Exam
2015 Silver Medalist in National German Exam
2013 Scholar Athlete
2013 Presidential Scholar
2013-14 1st place, Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Sciences, States
2015 2nd place, Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Sciences, States
2012-14 Member of German Club & Vice-President (2013-14)
2015-16 Member of Technology Student Association & Vice-President
2012-15 Member of Key Club
2014 Participated in University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute program and lecture series
2015 National Forensics League, Double-Octafinalist at Laird Lewis National Tournament for Public Forum
2015 National Forensics League, Octafinalist at Harvard National Tournament 2014 National Forensics League, Triple-Octafinalist at Yale National Tournament for Public Forum
2014 National Forensics League, 1st at Keystone Oaks Regional Tournament for Public Forum
2014 National Forensics League, 2nd in Pennsylvania State Tournament for Policy Debate
2013 National Forensics League, 2nd at Upper Saint Clair Regional Tournament for Public Forum
2013 National Forensics League, Octafinalist at Walt Whitman National Tournament for Public Forum
2012 National Forensics League, 6th at Mercer Regional Tournament for Public Forum
2012 National Forensics League, 4th at Knoch Regional Tournament for Public Forum
2013 Model United Nations, 1st at Riverview

Volunteer Work
2013 Volunteer, Department of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
2014-15 Secretary of Student Union
2015-16 President of Student Union
2009-15 Indian Youth Organization, community service. Various opportunities such as serving food, cleaning up parking lot,
2012-14 Pittsburgh Temple, SAT preparatory class instructor in math and essay writing
2006-09 Private Volunteer Tutor in chemistry, mathematics, physics, and statistics
2015 Pittsburgh Forensics Institute, taught Public Forum Debate to children from around Pittsburgh
2014-15 Forensics Institute, Lead Public Forum instructor. Taught Public Forum Debate to middle school students

My CommonApp essay and supplements are great. My counselor, teacher, and outside rec letters are probably good as well. Additionally, I am getting a rec letter from my lab director at Duke.

What are my chances given my grades? Also, does the rec letter from a professor help? Thanks!

2

Your stats are in range; all that really matters at this point are your essays. Chicago really likes quirky unique essays.

3

About the same as your chances for Duke. Why have separate threads for the same thing?

4

Actually no, your GPA is low for the UofChicago, and this is especially true as an Indian applicant.

5

Thanks for the comments guys. I also think the GPA could end up being a problem.

What would you guys say are my chances for Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Rice, Vanderbilt, U Penn?

6

Same for those other schools. Very low GPA will hurt you.

7

Duke, Penn and UChicago are all roughly as selective as each other, with a 9-10% overall acceptance rate, and fairly similar GPA and test profiles. They all have somewhat different profiles and look for slightly different things, but in terms of basic competitiveness it will be similar.

Rice, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Cornell and Vanderbilt have slightly higher acceptance rates and slightly lower test score profiles, but are still extremely selective.

In general, targeting wisely and making a compelling case for what kind of schools fit you is a better strategy than throwing darts at a dartboard. That’s kind of what I’m sensing right now.

8

The low GPA will hurt your chances.

9

I understand the low GPA will hurt my chances, but how does the rest of the application look? Additionally, I am not merely “throwing darts.” I have a solid application, but I lack the GPA because of taking excessively hard classes, as I have been enrolled in 13 AP classes in high school.

10

Forget Penn, GPA is very important to them. And maybe higher standardized test scores. Check the CDS for Penn.

11

These colleges expect a very high unweighted GPA and course rigor. 3.5 is very low for someone with no hook. You have impressive ECs but it is first and foremost academics. Very few students actually write great essays. U Chicago does accept students with a 3.5 GPA. Taking 13 AP classes is impressive but you would have been better served by taking 8 and getting a 3 9 GPA