<p>Eth- Asian/Chinese
GPA- 3.9/4.0 (No Weighted)
Class Rank- 20/490
Many Honors, Gifted, and AP Will finish with; AP Chem, AP calc, AP Gov, APUSH, and Gifted AP English. (5 out of the 7 seven offered; Really you can only take 5 Either Ap Chem vs Ap bio and AP calc vs AP stats, You must choose one)
ACT- 29 - I know, trying to raise another couple of points but right now, 29.
150-200 Hours of Community Service
martial Arts for 10 years- 2 Gold Medals at National Event (ChinWoo)
NYLC
LEAD (Hopefully)
DECA- 2nd at State- Hoping for Nationals this year
NHS
Chinese Coach- Everymorning at 7 tutoring in chinese for 1 hour
Basketball- Freshman year
Great Recs, Strong Essays-</p>
<p>i think you would have a good chance, just write good essays. and they don't have a business major as far as I know, they have economics though. That's what I want to go into. elite program</p>
<p>first, how many times have you taken the ACT? A 29 is not a bad score, but you can definitely improve. i probably had a 29 the first time taking the ACT, but I studied until I had a 32, I probably took the ACT a total of 5 or 6 times. I recommend you study harder for the test, buy some test prep books, get a tutor if you have to. try the SAT, try taking some SAT II's (maybe in Chinese?). Good luck, and everything else looks great. remember, getting into these schools is all about how you can spin it.</p>
<p>I recommend this article to everybody that's applying to college. It happens to be about UChicago, but it applies everywhere. I don't think much has changed in the last ten years process wise, just more and better prepared applicants.</p>
<p>29 is not bad. I got a 27 and was admitted EA before my retake could come back in the mail. So I didn't bother to send it. You seem like you'll do fine. Essays are what you need to focus on.</p>
<p>You can take as many AP exams as you like, no need for a high school course first. Just study the relevant books, pay for the test, and off you go ...</p>
<p>i disagree that they don't put as much weight on test scores. I applied early action with a 33 on the act and a 1980 on the SATs and was deferred. My counselor was surprised that I was deferred and so he called the counselor at UChicago who reviewed my application and she distinctly told him that while my grades were stellar and my essays and ec's were pretty good, they did not want to accept me just yet coz of the 1980 on the SATs. Hopefully i'll get in regular tho...good luck!</p>
<p>I know guys, that's why I found it strange. But I applied early action, and the UChicago counselor told my counselor that they do not want to see any test scores below a 700, particularly in critical reading and writing, coz they want students in early action who for sure would get accepted during regular decision. It's especially strange since I got a 34 in critical reading on the act so it's not like I can't do critical reading sections or something.
I'm not at all bitter or anything at the staff...a little surprised though.</p>
<p>P.S. I took the sat's twice and did even worse the second time, which could have factored into the decision.</p>
<p>I cannot respond to why those people got in with 27's...I can only congratulate them and wish them the best of luck at wherever they go for college. Maybe my essays weren't stellar like theirs, all i know is my counselor said the UChicago counselor thought my essays were "not bad"</p>
<p>And I would like to say that I got a 34 in Reading too. But the thing with tests is that they don't account for what happened that day or the night before. And though it is kinda low for UChicago, 27 is still a good score. But like everyone has said, if you ask the people at Chicago test score are proly the smallest factor. </p>
<p>As for the people downing the school for admitting people with scores like me I know a girl that got into Harvard with a 25. Don't let the ACT/SAT companies fool you. You are more than the number they give you. And most schools will see that. The top ones in particular.</p>
<p>I don't have completely scientific data to back up what I am saying, but my opinion is scores matter and matter big time. Have you checked the EA threads of MIT and Chicago? I did thoroughly. I came away with a clear sense that between MIT and Chicago, it's Chicago that puts more emphasis on the scores than MIT. There was a sizable body of applicants to both schools. Interestingly, those who got EA from Chicago but deferred by MIT were the ones with top scores but a little thinner in the soft stuff like ECs, etc. Conversely, the one who got EA from MIT and was deferred from Chicago were the ones with weaker scores and better soft stuff. Of course, across the board, URMs do better. It's also notable that there is a thread going on in the MIT board that MIT's admission policies seem recently to reward less the intellectual potential of the candidates, and value more of the "soft stuff".</p>
<p>Chicago puts tremendous emphasis on intellectual rigor of their program. Whether you like it or not, scores form, not infallible, but good data points to gauge the applicants' ability to handle a rigorous program. </p>
<p>The fact that Chicago adcoms say they don't consider scores to be very important is besides the point. I am not saying they are lying per se. They may "believe" that they do not see scores as a monolithic yard stick. But, they are only humans after all, the whole atmosphere and preference may be such that they may just be "naturally" inclined to look at the high scores and have them influence their decision, NOT as an official policies, but almost on a subconscious level. </p>
<p>After all, no college will ever admit that they consider scores to be their top priority: it's simply NOT politically correct. They will ALWAYS say that scores are not that important: that sounds far more enlightened, doesn't it?</p>
<p>Yes, we all hear anecdotal reports of so and so with SAT below 1900 or ACT below 30 getting into the top schools, but they are just that, anecdotal reports: AND I bet these candidates had some other amazing/unusual things going. Should people plan for their retirement based on the anecdotal reports of people winning $50M lottery? Only one in six (?) chance of getting killed by playing Russian Roulette: so, should you play that game?</p>