Chances of getting into uChicago?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I am a 16 year old African-American male (rising junior) attending one of the top 15 private day schools in the country. I recently toured the University of Chicago and I was completely blown away by the campus, core curriculum, and study abroad opportunities. I have not taken the SAT or ACT yet, but will be taking them this winter and spring, respectively. I know I still have two more years left in HS, but getting a head start on the college process would be great!

Intended Major: Economics, Psychology, Political Science (I’m an aspiring lawyer)

GPA: My school doesn’t do GPAs at all, but from what I’ve determined, my current weighted is 3.7, unweighted 3.5

AP classes (junior year): AP Latin V, AP European History, AP English Literature

EC: Class vice president (1 yr), mock trial (1 yr, first in existence), Model UN (2 yrs), literary magazine editor (2 yrs), selective writing fellowship (1 yr max allowed), history club (1 yr, first in existence), varsity track and field (1 yr), piano (13 yrs), cello (4 yrs), trading card nonprofit, annual road race volunteer, regular community service at local church

History and English, specifically the writing and literary analysis portions, come naturally to me. I write as a hobby (both poetry and fiction, primarily fantasy fiction) and hope to publish a novel before I graduate from high school.

2

Can’t really know without a test score. Your ECs are pretty solid but your GPA is low for a college like U Chicago. You can try to bring it up your junior year, but it may be difficult to get in with your GPA. Nevertheless, there is always a chance!

3

What minimum GPA would you estimate for uChicago?

4

There is no minimum, but the higher the better. So just try to get all A’s junior year.

5

That AP load seems a bit light. Congratulations, on the one hand, for resisting the pressure to take 20 APs. On the other hand, this sort of thing is a prisoner’s dilemma; it would be better if students took fewer AP courses, but if you’re the only student doing so you’ll lose out.

Assuming you never get an A- again in your high school career, that GPA will be a maximum of 3.8 or so even if your junior/senior courseload is heavier than your schedule up until now. It’s something you’ll need to make up for with strong test scores and ECs. Pick a few of the latter that you really enjoy and focus on them in coming years.

6

Thanks everyone for your responses!

@NotVerySmart Out of the ECs I listed, which do you think are the most outstanding/unique?

7

@mylhu1011 -Obviously, there’s your piano-I can’t imagine you could play for many years without getting to be a decent pianist at the very least (although I’m evidence to the contrary). You’ve been doing the cello for a while as well. If you enjoy those, stick with them. Out of your other activities, pick the ones you really care about and try doing something more with them-if you love MUN, try making several conferences a year, for instance.

The ECs that will really be outstanding/unique are the ones you’re committed to. If you care about the activities and invest serious time in them, it’ll show.

8

If you really want to be a lawyer stay far away from U Chicago. You’ll have a great education but Your gpa will be destroyed there. Law schools primary focus is on your undergrad gpa. I know someone who went to the University of Colorado even though he got into Cornell and then got into Harvard law and Stanford law. He had a 4.0 at Colorado by the way and was able to get good experience.

9

@NotVerySmart Sadly I’ve become more dedicated to my cello than piano in recent years, as I’m restricted to playing on a Sony keyboard that’s close to dying. As for MUN, our team has signed up for very few conferences in the past two years; I focus more on Mock Trial, but this upcoming school year will only be the team’s second year in existence (we almost made it to state last year though). I was narrowly beaten twice for outstanding witness awards, but I’ll try again this year for outstanding lawyer :stuck_out_tongue:

@MegaMetalHead Wouldn’t law schools recognize the fact that I went to a top undergrad school though?

10

That’s true to an extent but if your comparing a 3.3 from Chicago to a 3.7 from for example Tulane, they’ll take the 3.7. Sure everyone prefers the top school but it’s the gpa that counts the most.

11

@mylhu1011 @MegaMetalHead -I would say OP shouldn’t be worrying about graduate school admissions before he even applies for freshman admission at the undergraduate level. Although he may want to be a lawyer now, who knows if that’ll be true in 6 years’ time. There’s any number of things that might happen at university that would lead him to choose a different field of graduate study.

I personally think OP should attend the university where he feels he’ll be happiest. No matter what, he’ll get into a good graduate school if he carries on working at his current standard, and college is the last opportunity most people will have to study some subjects not to advance their careers or enhance their CVs, but because they enjoy them. If OP has fallen in love with UChicago, I think going somewhere else out of concern for his GPA would be a mistake. As a general rule, anyone accepted at a top college (setting aside athletes and members of the Bush family) is admitted because the college thinks they’ll succeed there. If OP can get into UChicago, he’ll probably do well. If not, the point is moot.