Chances for UChicago?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

Hi there-

My oldest daughter McKinsley Sage is applying for college. She just got deferred from Yale EA, and after the Ivies/Stanford/MIT, her second choice is UChicago. She wants to apply RD since she thinks she can get into an Ivy, but I’m nervous and want her to apply ED2. She’s a brilliant special girl, so we have our fingers crossed at home. Would you mind chancing her so we can make a decision? Here are some of her stats:

Major: Triple Major in Molecular Engineering, Computational Neuroscience, & Biological Chemistry (pre-med track)

ACT: 35

Reading: 33
Math: 36
Science: 36
Grammar: 35

SAT: 1490

SAT2s: 1590

Math2: 800
Physics: 790

GPA:

3.89 UW/4.26W

Extracurriculars:

School Treasurer
Co-president of debate team
Internship at Columbia Medicine
Varsity Soccer
Varsity Basketball
Varsity Softball
Summer@Brown course in Alternative Engineering
Sailing Camp Counselor in Nantucket
Part-time employee at a local boutique

Demonstrated Interest: none so far. We all thought she’d get into Yale for sure.

I am deeply paranoid since this is our family’s first time going through the process (only four more kids to go through!), so some of my husband and I’s worries may be unfounded, but here are some of our main concerns: We’re afraid that the reading section of the ACT will be a disqualifier for her since it’s so low compared to her other scores. She should have gotten a 36. Moreover, she didn’t break 1500 on the SAT which isn’t very good, and the curve on the physics SAT2 is so big that everyone gets an 800 and she didn’t. Furthermore, we’re concerned that her unweighted GPA doesn’t look high enough. Also, we’re concerned about some aspects of her extracurriculars. We don’t think it looks good that she’s only the school’s treasurer instead of the president. We also think since she’s co-president of the debate team that it looks bad (since she should be the sole president but the co-president slept with the old president of debate so she got a spot too). Moreover, she’s on varsity sports but she’s not good enough to get recruited so we think it seems like a waste of her time to colleges. We’re also afraid that since Columbia isn’t the highest ranked Ivy that it’ll raise some red flags from colleges (because they might rather see that she interned at Harvard). We’re also concerned that her job at a local boutique doesn’t seem as prestigious as a job at a bank, for example. McKinsley Sage also only got an 89 in her Alternative Engineering course so we’re not sure it’s a good idea to put that on the Common App. Also, we are concerned that if we list that she was a camp counselor for several years that it’ll seem like she didn’t have her sights set higher.

Please, let us know what we should do to get McKinsley Sage into UChicago! She’s a brilliant girl and we know she belongs at a top 20 school! Any advice is welcome!

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Someone please answer I am waiting

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LOL. Almost regret that this one’s probably going to get removed. Love the photo.

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Bless her heart, she does sound very special. I agree with her assessment that an RD app is sufficient.

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I don’t want to participate in any chance me threat because not only I think it is a waste of time but I do think it may unnecessarily raise or depress a candidate hope. We are parents and not AO. Our speculation literally has nothing to do with the admission criteria set by the ladies and gentlemen at Rosenwald Hall. And I do believe their criteria change every year.

I do want to comment on application plan. This is no secret that UChicago will fill out most of class with ED1/ED2 applicants. If you want your kid to come here, then have her apply ED2. RD chance drops significantly.

This is the dilemma facing most parents and kids when they think they have a good chance getting into one of the T20 schools. Should they ED (which has a much higher chance of admission but forgo all the rest if they are admitted) or just play the chance game of RD? No one can answer that for you. You and and your kid have to make that difficult choice. Good luck.

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85 - even with the tv show, the book royalties, and UChicago’s policy of meeting full demonstrated need, not sure Ms.Gosselin can afford ED for her brood. Young McKinsley Sage will need to cling to the hope that she’s a 4%'er.

Fortunately, UChicago doesn’t request financial information from the non-custodial parent.

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In other words, “This thread is a joke.”

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@proudmama42598 , Jonathan Swift nods with approval of your efforts on behalf of your gifted daughter. Will we hear more of her fate?

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MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Sadly, no.