<ul>
<li><p>in the full IB diploma program (6 IB classes)</p></li>
<li><p>3 AP classes taken junior year only</p></li>
<li><p>SAT I: took it twice,
---- in march scored 1920 (600CR, 590M, 730W),
---- in june got 2000 (600CR, 640M, 760W).<br>
considering retaking in october</p></li>
<li><p>3.35 unweighted GPA, 4.25 weighted GPA. i do have some scattered C's on semester grades for freshman and sophomore years only, but my junior year was very good (no C's) and the overall transcript shows a good upward trend.</p></li>
<li><p>attend one of the best high schools in the country according to newsweek, west coast of florida. it produces huge classes (140+ each year) of IB diploma recipients, and is incredibly competitive. </p></li>
<li><p>class rank currently about 85/140 for the IB class, probably just over 15% for the whole high school senior class (approx. 500 students)</p></li>
<li><p>over 250 volunteer hours (due to IB), most since freshman year at the same place.
some other website design volunteer work for a museum and my synagogue</p></li>
<li><p>was once in mu alpha theta, currently in spanish honor society, NHS, film club, etc etc etc</p></li>
<li><p>no job ever held</p></li>
<li><p>very much into art, computers and design, and architecture...i have independently studied lots of programming and design over the past 6 or 7 years. however, i may go into medicine or business.</p></li>
<li><p>Legacy at Chicago....father did medical residency there.</p></li>
<li><p>white male, lives in florida</p></li>
</ul>
<p>as i said, i know it's a reach, but what are your thoughts? i would do Early Action and write a great essay. </p>
<p>Chicago has a very high acceptance rate for such an elite school. (Over 30%). You have a good chance. Don't, though, take the SAT a third time. You have to stick with what you've got. The worst thing for college is to take the SAT over and over and over. Colleges hate that because they see a kid who's too grade-oriented, rather than genuinely interested. </p>
<p>Give Chicago a go ED or EA, you have a fighting chance. Also look at some good state schools. I know University of Florida has excellent scholarships.</p>
<p>I will be using University of Florida as my "safety" school Early Decision definitely. I wouldn't want to endanger my chances at UF (and UF is already getting quite competitive, but I have a brother there now and they accept the most IB kids in the world, so I shouldn't have any real problem getting accepted).</p>
<p>That leaves Early Action for Chicago (in fact, they only have a nonbinding Early Action and the Regular Decision).</p>
<p>It appears that Chicago has a 40% (!!) acceptance rate -- that seems pretty helpful for someone like me.</p>
<p>the high acceptance rate of UChicago doesnt really mean it's easier to get into ... it has a 'self selecting' applicant pool...meaning almost all of those who apply have good enough grades/SAT scores/etc to get in. i'm assuming this is partly due to the fact that it doesnt use the common app...so only students who are seriously considering it are willing to fill out a whole different app...</p>
<p>Be careful with your SAT. The Writing boosts it up but a lot of colleges have said they won't look at it very much, if at all. Your decision whether to take it again though, if you studied and worked hard this summer, maybe it could go and help you. 3 times is usually the said limit. I think you have a good chance if your essays were amazing.</p>
<p>i second calz, the stupid preconception about UChic is they have a high acceptance rate, hence they are easier to get into. While in fact many professionals say UChic is as hard as most ivy's to get into. The 8k applicant pool practically consists of 1450+ on the SAT and 97+ averages, so it's definately not easier to get into. Secondly the number of times you took your SAT, with a pretty good (but not on of the better) score combined with a low gpa really hurts your chances in my opinion</p>
<p>Have you thought about taking the ACT? Chicago sees a good number of ACT scores, especially being in the midwest, and you have the luxury with the ACT of sending only the one test results that come out the best.</p>
<p>Since Chicago doesn't require the SAT II's, you would not even have to submit your scores from CollegeBoard with your application.</p>