Chances for getting into WashU or U of Chicago?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello! I’m a sophomore in HS and I’m interested in WashU of St. Louis, and University of Chicago. I’m an instate Missouri resident (if that helps).
My GPA is a 4.0, weighted it is 4.25 (I think - my school doesn’t record this).
I have 15 credit hours, 19 at the end of this year. I’ve taken two AP classes (AP World and AP Lang) and will probably score well on them.
For extra-curriculars:
Marching Band
Allies For Human Progress
MLC
Key Club (officer)
Academic Team
FBLA - placed 2nd in Business Communication, going to state for that
Science Olympiad - placed 1st and 5th in my events
Tennis (JV)
Play Violin for Golden Age (community service)
A+ Tutoring hours (10h)

I plan to do more community service hours, and take more AP classes. My school doesn’t offer that many so I will also take a lot of Dual Credit classes through Drury (I’m not sure if they will transfer to WashU).
I’m starting a French club next year (and will be president). I also want to try for officer positions in AHP and MLC. I’m also doing color guard in marching band next year. I feel like I should be doing more - maybe try to create a school newspaper.
Also I got a 30 on my ACT at the beginning of this year and can hopefully raise it to a 33. I got a perfect on the writing, science, and reading section.

Also I want to major in International Business Management. I’m not entirely sure how college works (and how majors work). I’m stressing out and my school counselor is swamped and doesn’t have a lot of time to meet with students. Please help! What are my chances???

2

I was just like you last year and those are my top schools too. First off, I would really try to raise that ACT currently you would be in the bottom 25% of those schools but you have time so if you study a lot you can do it. I think your GPA is good and trying to take dual credit classes is good if you can’t take AP. Also are you an minority because that can help or hurt your application. I don’t see anything dazzling about your EC’s, not to say they aren’t good and you should stop, but nothing that will definitely stand out. Maybe go hard into FBLA if you can. I would think about EA or ED if you really like those schools. Lastly, for UChicago especially, the essays are everything. Make sure to have teachers, parents, anyone look over it and start early. If you do all those things then I think you have a shot but just remember those schools are extremely selective and there’s no shame in not getting in.

3

Thank you! I’m half chinese and half white, so I’m not sure if I would qualify as a minority. I’m competing in some more things for FBLA as well later this year. I’m not sure how to make my extra curriculars stand out anymore :frowning: I know I need more community service hours.

I’m volunteering at the local hospital this summer, and I’m hoping to be able to go to a French foreign exchange camp for 3 weeks in the summer. Would becoming an officer in the clubs I’m already in help? What other things can I do to make my extra-curriculars better? My school is medium sized (800 people), and we really don’t have a lot to do EC wise. But I am submitting an essay for this cooperative competition so hopefully that goes well.

Also with my ACT - I think I would definitely be able to raise it by a couple points by senior year!

One more thing… what exactly is ED / EA? WashU and U of Chicago are the schools I definitely want to go to. Would being a Missouri resident help? (again thanks so much)

4

ED: You submit an application earlier in the admissions season. If you are admitted, you are bound to attend that university.

Unrestricted EA: Same as above. You are not bound to attend.

Essentially you will receive an earlier notification of acceptance, deferral, or rejection.

5

Being a Missouri resident won’t make any difference, as they are both private universities. The main way that state residence matters is for tuition at public universities. If you are from a seriously underrepresented state it could help a tiny bit, but I wouldn’t think Mo would qualify!

Chicago does Early Action, which as @chancethisanon points out is nonbinding. The advantage to you is that you know early if you are admitted and that your application will be looked at in a smaller pool. In general, there is less of a bump for EA, b/c from the college side they have committed a space to you without knowing if you will take it, so they are more likely to make offers to highly qualified applicants.

Wash U does Early Decision, which commits you to attending if you are offered a place (unless the Financial Aid is insufficient). You can only apply ED to one university; you can apply EA to more than one (except for some Single Choice Early Action- SCEA- schools, such as Stanford and Harvard). The plus for the university is that they know you will take the place, so it looks good for their yield (how many offers versus how many students accept the offer). The plus for you is that your application gets looked at against a smaller pool (so the AdComm people can read it a bit more carefully), you know early, and in many places a lot of the class is filled by ED students. At Wash you, 1502 students applied ED, and 42% (630) were accepted. Overall, 29K students applied, and 17% (5000) were accepted.

Rather than starting a new club (unless it’s something you really, really are interested in), try and develop your participation in 1-3 of the things that you are doing now, so that by the time you are a senior you have a leadership role.

As for majors, typically colleges ask you to meet some “General Education” (aka GenEd) requirements, usually during your first 2 years, and then you specialize in your major (and, optionally, minors). How many GenEds varies a lot by school. Usually you can double count classes that go to your major against Gen Ed.

If you go [url=<a href=“http://www.olin.wustl.edu/EN-US/academic-programs/bs-business-administration/academics/Pages/curriculum.aspx%5Dhere%5B/url”>http://www.olin.wustl.edu/EN-US/academic-programs/bs-business-administration/academics/Pages/curriculum.aspx]here[/url] you will see what the requirements are for the Business Administration major at WashU. Chicago does not have a business major, so you may need to re-think that!

6

You don’t really seem to fit the UChicago type to me (“life of the mind”) – and they don’t have the major you are interested in. I would suggest that you get a copy of the Fiske Guide to Colleges and look for a broader range of colleges. Work hard on your test scores and visit some different colleges in your junior year.

7

WashU doesn’t do well competing for kids who check a lot of boxes.

What boxes do you check?

8

@Arabella121

I would definitely shoot for at least a 33 on the ACT. Even then, it would be a nailbiter for both schools - especially UChicago.

If you get a 33 in the ACT, then consider applying ED to Wash U for a little boost in your chances. Also, show Wash U lots of love. They don’t want to be your back-up in case you don’t get into an Ivy or UChicago.

However, read the many threads on CC about the disadvantages of ED. You will want to know the pros and cons of ED before you apply.

Being half Asian may be a disadvantage when you check off “Asian” in the application form. The student body of Wash U and UChicago that identify as Asians is 31% and 28%, respectively. You will be in an over-represented “minority.”

On College Data, it says state residency is not considered at Wash U.

My D got in ED for this fall to Wash U. She didn’t have the breath and depth of ECs as you. UW GPA wasn’t has high as yours. Her W GPA was higher. She’s taken every Honors courses available (no APs) in her HS. Her ACT was much higher. I think her CA essay was unique and made her stand out from the typical applicant. What’s your class rank?

Unless, you can get an ACT of 33 (or 34-35 for UChicago) your chances are low. Good thing is that what you score on the ACT is within your control.

Good luck.

9

If you apply ED to WashU, that is “the love” right there. But agree that WashU wants RD students to show interest.

10

@collegemom3717 @intparent @ClarinetDad16 (checking boxes = racially-wise? If so I usually check off white and east Asian) @ChicagoSportsFn (class rank - 1st btw:)

Thank you all! While I am still a sophomore and I’m sure my mind could change, I am pretty set on WashU. Thank you to everyone for clearing up EA / ED for me, I will research more about ED but I am definitely leaning towards applying ED for WashU. If it would help I would like to tour the campus as well (I am fairly close to the campus - a few hours away).
I was in a rush (and on my phone) when I typed my first post so I will now try to give a more accurate representation of what I’ve done and what I’m hopefully planning on doing.

Freshman year - No AP (none offered!), though I was in English II and French I. I took Algebra I in 8th grade and English I over the summer. I joined Key Club, Multicultural Leadership Club, FBLA, and Academic Team (invite only). I was also in marching band. I played violin in a dinner event and did minimal A+ hours.

Sophomore year (now) - AP World and AP Lang. (also French II). I’ve written multiple essays for both APs and I would say I’m fairly decent at crafting essays / writing in general. I became Activity Coordinator in Key Club. I competed for Business Communication (placed 2nd) and Financial Math (7th). I am going to state for Business Comm. next week. I also am competing in this local business college competition for Keyboard (yeah…) and Business Communication. (My teacher unexpectedly signed me up for keyboarding because I had a high WpM!). I also competed in Science Olympiad and placed 1st in a teamwork event and 5th in a physics event. I also auditioned and got into the talent show for playing violin. I also volunteered for the same violin dinner thing. And I played in JV tennis. I’ve been looking into nearby business grammar seminars to take because I find the topic interesting!
I also got a 30 on my ACT. My GPA at this time is 4.0 (unsure of weighted, online calculators say 4.25). My class rank is also 1st.

Summer - I am planning on revitalizing my Etsy business I tried to start for fun. I’m also turning 16, getting my driver’s license. I’m taking violin lessons. Also Udemy courses for programming (these are mostly for a hobby). I am going to submit some of the essays I’ve written for AP Lang to writing contests online. I’m also considering a 2 week study program for French in France, but I will have to pay a lot of my savings so I’m unsure about it. I’m also taking Driver’s Ed / DC Chem 1 at my school, and Intro to Soc. at the local campus here.

Junior - I will be the section leader for the clarinet section in band. I would probably take solos to all district / state. I hope to become officer in MLC / FBLA in addition to Key club. I do want to start a French club (I really love French!) and my French teacher would also like that. I know I want to raise my ACT by 3-4 points this year. I am submitting an essay for a junior-only local competition as well (winning takes you to Columbia, Washington DC, etc). I also want to apply for NHS. This year I will be able to drive and will get 100+ hours of A+ tutoring. I will be doing tennis again (hopefully varsity!). This year I will also likely letter for Academic Team.
major courses: French III (as AP), AP Gov, AP Lit / DC Psych, PC PDV Leadership, DC Biology 2. Also, Independent Study Business Law.

Senior year would also follow along these lines. In addition to this I really think I am able to get my ACT up. I took the ACT in 7th grade for a talent search program and I scored high on the English portion (I got a 23/24 overall). When I took the ACT this year (sophomore) I unfortunately greatly messed up on the English portion and didn’t finish the last 20 questions or so. I underestimated the time. I actually got a worse score in English (yikes) than I did in 7th grade! However my science, reading, and writing raised it and I was able to get a 30. I believe I could do well on the English the next time I take it and drastically raise my score.

I can’t figure out if the AP and DC classes will transfer to WashU either :confused: The DC are mostly through either MSU or Drury.

One more thing… I know French isn’t the most practical thing to take but I’m very passionate about it. I care very much about making a French club too. I also enjoy the class a lot. Should I ween myself off it because of its impracticality or continue to pursue it?

Phew, I hope this covers everything. Sorry it got so long! Again thanks for the help everyone!

11

You have NO IDEA if you want to ED if you have not even visited campus yet. You should try to visit schools of different sizes and types. Go on the tour, maybe try to sit in on a class (you have to go when they are in session), eat in the cafeteria, etc. It is too early to even consider for sure where to apply, let alone settle on an ED school. You should get a copy of the Fiske Guide to Colleges, it has very good writeups about schools. Also, focus on picking your matches and safeties first.

Do you know about the net price calculators? They are on each school website, and you can put in your family’s information to see what your expected cost of attendance would be. You should do this and discuss with your parents to try to figure out your financial situation for college.

If you like French, stick with it. Don’t worry about practicality (my D1’s boyfriend, age 26, is being sent to Paris for 3 weeks by his company next week – he wishes he could speak French!)