<p>Hey I was wondering if this looks like what University of Chicago tends to like for music/creative writing majors:</p>
<p>*GPA: 4.19 weighted (going to rise)
3.82 unweighted (same)
*Rank: 31/317
*SAT: (they're not fair)..writing 610, crit reading 520, math 550.
*ACT: Taking it June 10th.
*9th grade i took almost all honors (I have 2 B's on my transcript and 1 b+), 10th grade i took 2 honors but got A's across the board, this year (11) i took 1 ap and 4 honors and have all A's. Next year, I am taking 4 AP's (2 AP and 2 ap weighted honors) and 1 actual honors class.</p>
<p>Extracurriculars/interesting facts:
*People to people student ambassador program (summer of 2002)
*GLSEN board member (helps teach others about diversity)
*junior mendelssohn choir (2 years i a row, and soon to be next year!)
*voice lessons (past 2 years and when i was 8 and 9)
*piano lessons (11 1/2 years)
*cantoring for my rabbi for high holidays
*jazz choir (including a performance at PNC park, Pittsburgh's baseball stadium--soon to be 2 years)
*chamber choir (most elite choir in high school-soon to be 4 years)
*County chorus
*Showchoir in middle school (7th/8th grade)
*District chorus
*Played piano for high school orchestra in 9th grade
*3 piano competitions in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade
*Classical Singer competition
*Music Theory class over the summer (coming)
*National Honors Society
*Played piano/sung in numerous nursing homes for the past several years.
* (I might be writing for the local "free" newspaper to get experienced w/writing).<br>
*6 months of Saxophone (5th grade!)
*1.5 years of guitar in 8/9 grade
*Anime Club in 9th grade
There are about 3 or 4 I forgot about by the way ^_^</p>
<p>Thanks!!</p>
<p>+400~500 on SAT would be very helpful</p>
<p>what if i got like a 29 or 29+ on the ACT and well on the SAT IIs? would that help much?</p>
<p>For U of C you should at least have 32+ on ACT if you are going to take it because even thought on collegeboard U of C acceptance rate is around 40%, all the acceptance are so brilliant that you should try to achieve for a higher scores but everything else looks excellent</p>
<p>Don't listen to King. Your academics and extra-curriculars look fine so far. Your essays carry by far the most weight.</p>
<p>Just keep on doing what you've been doing and write some compelling essays when the time comes.</p>
<p>crit reading 520</p>
<p>u know wat the average verbal for Chicago is for ENROLLED,</p>
<p>it is a 720, buddy, i am sorry to break this to you, if u dont increase your score by about 180 pts, ur prob gonna get rejected, and ur ap prob wont even be read</p>
<p>Diocletian </p>
<p>you do still realize his SAT dont even meet the Chicago enrolled average... Yes the idea of being rejected is harsh but at least Im giving him a realistic chance unlike you, who are trying to flower him with yes, but that wont do him any good.</p>
<p>Yes, it couldn't hurt to retake the SATs. I did and improved my score significantly.</p>
<p>But Chicago wants capable, passionate people. One black mark on an otherwise great transcript won't make Chicago throw him out. Really. I swear. I know admissions people and that's just not how the process works.</p>
<p>I will say this. His grades are as good as mine, but I had better standardized test scores. However, I had no extra-curriculars of which to speak besides NHS. That's it. I got in RD with no problem.</p>
<p>So while my essays had to show my passion, his will probably have to show his intelligence. Of course, maybe not. If you do well on the AP tests I can definitely see the admissions folk overlooking your SAT scores. I can't stress this enough: the essays are by far the most important part of the process. So long as no other aspect of your transcript is abyssmal (and his isn't), that's what is going to determine admission.</p>
<p>Just read the bloody College Admissions page: <a href="http://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/level3.asp?id=313%5B/url%5D">http://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/level3.asp?id=313</a></p>
<p>Some good quotes:
"The admissions committee has no rigid formula for the successful applicant and considers a candidate's entire applicationacademic and extracurricular records, essays, letters of recommendation, and SAT or ACT scores."</p>
<p>"Our goal in the admissions office is to extend our knowledge of a student well beyond a test score or GPA and understand, as much as possible, that student's personal and academic qualities."</p>
<p>"The University of Chicago does not employ numerical cut-offs when evaluating applications for admission."</p>
<p>Also, Jeremy, you might want to look at this: <a href="http://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/level3.asp?id=314%5B/url%5D">http://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/level3.asp?id=314</a></p>
<p>Chicago really wants to know about <em>you</em>, as a person, not just your test scores and grades. Those say nothing about that.</p>
<p>While essays are particulary valued by the UChicago admissions staff, I still think that they are less important than grades and test scores. If you operate from the assumption that everyone applying to UChicago has a 1400+ SAT and 3.6+ GPA, then, of course, it is easy to make the claim that "essays are the most important". The fact is, however, not everyone has these credentials. There are real limits in the admission process, even at UChicago. </p>
<p>I have been told by sources that my essay was particulary outstanding and "passionate" yet I was wait listed..clearly, the reason being I had modest test scores, 1350 SAT, and less than perfect grades and class rank, 3.8uw and 19 respectively. </p>
<p>Jeremybeach, you should apply to UChicago if you you are seriously interested in the college, but mind you the odds are against you simply because of your relatively low SAT scores.</p>
<p>Good post, Blaze.</p>
<p>Also, I have a friend who, after getting waitlisted, sent in a collage she made of her life. She's pretty sure that's what got her in.</p>
<p>junior mendelssohn choir? i know people who do/have done that! i'm presuming you're in District 1, not District 5 (or else i would probably know you) ...but you are in my Region! woot for PMEA Region 1!</p>
<p>other than that, try to get your SATs up and mostly, write awesome essays. my SATs are not amazing, but U of C gave me an academic scholarship--i'm sure my essays were instrumental to that.</p>
<p>i've always had this strong feeling that they glance over the essays first and then look at the rest of the app...i've never felt that U of C would toss an app because of low SATs...read this:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.scfun.net/sceduc-cl-newsweek.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.scfun.net/sceduc-cl-newsweek.pdf</a></p>
<p>(above is also posted in part at: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=1543451&postcount=109%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=1543451&postcount=109</a>)</p>
<p>best of luck!</p>