Chicago is more selective than Penn, Duke, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell etc. on paper. Whether that really means anything is open to debate. There must be hundreds of threads dedicated to how Chicago solicits applications from students with questionable credentials. Also, I’m not a big fan of the way they use the waitlist. Students admitted to HYPSM calibre schools will often find themselves waitlisted at Chicago. I suspect that this is a form of yield protection but it seems like it’s working for them so who am I to question it.
Chicago went from being an afterthought (at the undergrad level) to being super selective in the span of 5-10 years. I may not agree with their methods but I can’t help but admire the results.
Okay @usualhopeful and @dnstudent26 , you two have got to be the biggest quacks i know!!! Lets start with you @dnstudent26 …i did not in ANY WAY say UChicago was an easy school to get into. In fact its one of the most selective schools in the world (and also one of the most prestigious). Therefore, I encourage you to go back and CAREFULLY read my threads.
Now in regards to you @usualhopeful , you wrote: “The difficulty list was probably backwards, although all these schools are about the same difficulty.” yeah that makes a ton of sense.
@HisTyNess I would say UChicago is most difficult, followed by Duke, etc., but the differences in difficulty are very minor and not worth coming up with a list.
OP -does your school have Naviance? I ask because my daughter goes to a very difficult private school with notorious grade deflation and a 3.6 there with a 34 ACT would definitely be in the running for Northwestern. If you have Naviance, I would use that to determine your chances over asking others because it’s hard for people to know how your school compares in terms of strength of curriculum.