Deferred from University of Chicago

Hey guys! I applied to UChicago EA and just found out I was deferred. Given that it is my top choice and excellent for my intended major, I’d like to continue into the ED II round. I know that being thrown into the Regular Decision pool eliminates your chances practically, and based on my stats I feel as if I had applied ED rather than EA I may have been accepted. Of course, another part of me feels as if I’m completely out of my league.
As a general overview of my stats: 4.1 gpa w/ highest possible rigor of courses, 1570 SAT, 800 M2 + 790 chem, likely top 10% of my year, 7 APs and fives on all but 2, president of a club and highly involved in two other, board of an organization outside of school that has gone throughout our county establishing new branches for underprivileged student tutoring network.
As for my essays, I think I did a pretty good job of making them creative and interesting.
Would ED II still do little to help my chances? Is there actually a drastic help compared to the RD round? Or should I just call it a day and accept that I basically don’t have a chance at all?

If it is your number 1 choice and financial aid is not a major issue, I see no downside to upgrading your application to ED2. Who know why you were deferred, but if the reason was UC thinking that you were using UC as a “safer” EA and had other schools ranked ahead of it, going to ED2 would take care of that concern.

The admit rate for those deferred from EA and accepted in RD is 0.5%. Thats not a typo. But based on the posts here in this sub, it appears that the ED2 accept rate is probably around 15-20%. So changing to ED2 will greatly improve your chances.

^ Skeptical of that 15% - 20% admit rate for two reasons: 1) that’s higher than the ED1 admit rate, when a few hundred more ED1’s are likely accepted; and 2) If EVERY deferred EA switches to ED2 whatever “favorable” admit rate might have existed before would plummet. Also, admit rates aren’t personal chances; some might need to show the love, while a whole lot of others are basically forcing UChicago to waitlist you early.

OP, as you feel that you would have been accepted ED, ED2 for you might make a lot of sense, assuming you are comfortable with the financial end of it.

I think it is key to note that admit rate doesn’t equal probability of acceptance. Much of the RD pool will have no business applying. The non-UChicago type student will have a 0% probability of acceptance where the UChicago Type of student will have a much higher probability.

Another fallacy in the OPs post. “…My Stats, I’d be approved ED.” I really don’t think stats do more than get you past the first gate. There is a person who applied ED in the “decisions” thread who had better stats and was rejected. Make sure the whole application is UChicago student. There are many posts on this board that will help you know what that may look like.

Good Luck.

I’m betting it’s the GPA. If you’re taking the most rigorous course load and weighted GPA is only 4.1, then your unweighted GPA is probably a lot lower and you’re using AP classes to pad your GPA. That’s fine for most any university, but a hyper-competitive school like Chicago, you need to have a high weighted/unweighted to have a realistic chance of getting in, because that’s who you’re competing with.

You make no mention of your commitment nor engagement to UChicago, which is a verified portion of the rating system. Did you visit, interview, request information, communicate with your RAC, etc.? The academic stats are good to get you through the first pass but it’s a wholistic review.

Switch to EDII if it’s your #1 and best of luck.

I was deferred EA also. I am trying to define a path forward to do ED2 and provide additional support to my application. I did not do a video in my initial application. Should I do a video, a letter of continued interest, both? Would additional letters of recommendation be appropriate? I do not want to appear desperate and add too much to my application. Suggestions?

@franklin124 I am a firm believer that if you believe you are the type of student that would benefit the UChicago, you should get that message to them in whatever means it takes to convey that message. So if you were deferred, they did not get that message the first time. If you are allowed to now submit a video and a Letter of Continuing Interest, I would do that in such a manner that adds that very important message to the application file.

I don’t think you want to send more than they allow you to send (but that is the compliance professional in me, I like to follow directions), but if they give you a vehicle to help you let them know that they’ll miss out if they don’t grant you admission, then use that vehicle.

Good Luck!

" I did not do a video in my initial application. Should I do a video, a letter of continued interest, both? Would additional letters of recommendation be appropriate? I do not want to appear desperate and add too much to my application. Suggestions?"

I’d follow the directions they lay out for the deferred students:

https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/uncommon-blog/message-our-applicants-0

I’m a first year at UChicago. My class didn’t have the video option, but it sounds cool. Definitely do it if you have the time. Also your best chance is to switch to EDII. Getting in RD after being deferred is almost impossible. Dean Boyer said during O-week that we were slightly over capacity, and that the College only had a few beds available. So my best guess is that admissions will be handing out fewer acceptances this year.

Also keep in mind that in my class there were lots of kids who were accepted and asked to defer for a year. So many of the spots for the class of 2023 are already filled (between ED1 and gap years).