Do you think that a 3.91 weighted GPA and 3.41 unweighted GPA is good enough to get into UChicago? I’m applying ED1 to it. I have a 1520 in the SAT, AP Scholar with Honors, and took 10 AP courses by the end of my senior year (I did bad in freshman year so I was trying to show an upward trend) Also I have multiple extracurriculars such as a soon-to-be Eagle Scout, 100+ community service hours, multiple clubs, and varsity swimming. For swimming, I’m also talking to the coach at UChicago and he said I was on the priority list for ED1.
I think that Chicago is a very high reach for you. The only reason that you might have a chance is if the swimming coach helps to get you in, plus your very good SAT. Prepscholar shows Chicago as having an average admitted GPA of 4.29 (which answers the question of whether they are showing weighted GPA) and an average SAT of 1530. Thus while your SAT is excellent, it is just average at Chicago.
A friend of my daughter’s went to Chicago. He is VERY smart and VERY hardworking, and was pretty close to a straight A student for his entire life before going to Chicago. He said that it was academically very demanding. He used to visit us over Christmas break and complain how hard it was (“Chicago is where fun goes to die”).
Why do you want to go to the University of Chicago?
I am usually not a big fan of ED unless you are sure that a school is your first choice, and the NPC shows that you are likely to be able to afford it. If you need aid and the NPC predicts aid, you might want to print out the result so that if the aid doesn’t show up, you can show the school the results (I have heard of cases of NPC results not being reproduceable – although for us running the same NPC on any one school did keep showing the same results). However, I know almost nothing about athletic scholarships.
What is your unweighted GPA without your freshman year?
Do you have other much more likely schools that you will be applying to?
I do think your best chance is ED1, and I am 100% sure you won’t get in if you don’t apply. If the coach says you are a priority for him, I think you will probably have a much better chance. Has he committed to supporting you in the application process? We were in this situation a few years ago and it was hard for us to use our ED1 at a University if the coach isn’t going to be much help as other schools also are telling you the same thing. So do you use the ED1 at UChicago or maybe a different school where you might not need the coaches assistance. My son just asked the coach the question “Will you support my application?” The other thing to realize is that ED students won’t get much merit. If you can afford it after financial aid and it is your favorite school, I think the ED1 pathway is the best for you.
Also, is your school a pretty good feeder into top Universities? If so, that will help you too.