<p>Im a junior really interested in University of Chicago (One of the top 3 on my list.) Is there any reason NOT to apply Early Action if I can? Are my chances of admission going to be higher?
Also, will being a National Merit Semifinalist greatly influence my chances of admission?</p>
<p>There is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't apply early to chicago, and the only thing which might prevent you from doing that is if there is an early decision or SCEA program at either of the other two schools on the top of your list. Being an EA admit myself, I think that regardless of whether or not your chances are higher, EA is very rewarding because knowing that ur in by December is a huge relief and a wonderful thing to carry with you into winter break. Also, at a time when all ur friends are franctic about apps and extremely anxious awaiting decisions, its very nice to know that you already have one in the bag, especially if, as it was in my case, it was your first choice school.</p>
<p>felipecocco is right, unless you're applying early action single choice (SCEA) to a school like Harvard or Yale, you can apply to Uchicago and another ED or EA school. applying early will tell the admissions counselors that you are seriously considering the u of c. however, the early applicant pool tends to be stronger, so dont expect to have an easy time getting in.</p>
<p>as for the semifinalist thing, u of c gets tons of people who are national merit semifinalists and finalists. that wont impress them much. focus more on your essays and getting recommendations from teachers who know you well. they will count much more.</p>
<p>out of curiosity, what are your other two choices?</p>
<p>Northwestern and Vanderbilt
If I dont get into those three, I will most likely got to U of Illinois.
Thanks for the comments!</p>
<p>Exactly what Felipe said.</p>
<p>I am an EA admit myself, and I was relieved that I had been admitted to my first choice school and was able to relax.</p>
<p>katharos what were ur "stats"... i'm probably no where near as brilliant as most of the applicants.. all i have going for me is my obsession with the school, i'm writing a paper on uchicago and how it compares to other ivy's and why it's just as great, i'm doing summer session.. and melissa meltzer.. i think she might know my name because i've seen her so many times.. i'm not a national merit finalist or semifinalist.. only in top11% of school.. (my school is so competitive we have 13 national merit finalists every yr, i go to a public school) i'm nervous about my chances.. but does one's love for u of c outweigh their "not as brilliant" records?</p>
<p>nada, dont worry about it..i was top 11%, and i wasnt a national merit finalist or semifinalist, but i got in RD. i also had melissa meltzer as my adcom, and i managed to get on a first-name basis with her, thanks to my constant barrage of emails. just write great essays, show how much you want to go to the u of c, and you'll probably be fine.</p>
<p>cjhss: u of c is definitely the hardest to get into of those three schools. northwestern's a little easier, and frankly, anyone who has even expressed interest in uchicago is probably an automatic admit at vanderbilt. u of c is very different from those two other schools. how did you come up with that list? </p>
<p>(ps: forgive my hyperbole for my talk about vanderbilt, but it's really not that difficult to get in.)</p>
<p>(i'm sorry, but isn't vanderbilt in tennessee :( ewww.. i'm sorry i'm a chicago girl at heart and um.. yeah.. i just don't like the south very much) even though one of my friends loves UVA</p>
<p>if you love uchicago the most (as you should), there is absolutely no reason not to do early action. i dont know about vanderbilt, but northwestern is early decision. that means you really have to decide whether you like uchicago more than northwestern. if you think you love uchicago more, you should apply to it early action and don't complicate matters by apply early decision to northwestern at the same time. if you were to get into northwestern and uchicago, you'd be forced to go to northwestern because of the binding early decision agreement. so my advice would be to research, and research well. there are kids who ended up making uninformed decisions only hours before may 1st. since you are ahead of the game having basically narrowed down your interest to three schools ... you should do the research to back up your decision.</p>
<p>Thank-(btw, I'm reading Slaughterhouse 5 right now so I know who Kilgore Trout is! gotta love that kurt vonnugut!)
I do not plan on applying to any school early decision for various reason, and so I am very glad U of Chicago offer EA instead of ED.</p>
<p>On my school choices: I've decided that 6 schools I will be applying to next year and they are all very, very differant schools (chicago, northwestern, vanderbily, illinois, bradley, and a joint program at jewsish theological seminary-Columbia university)
All of these schools have differant things to offer me that I want out of college (u of c has amazing academics, vanderbilt will probably offer a better social life and some merit aid, northwestern has very good academics and a better financial aid program than the oother two)</p>
<p>So i figure ill apply next year and see what happens. I've decided i'll apply early action to U of Chicago. Thanks for the advice!</p>
<p>Bradley!? Have you ever BEEN to Peoria?! I lived there. Still do! HELL no!</p>
<p>nada07-
My SATs are in the 700's and, believe it or not, I have no official AP courses or tests under my belt, though I have many AP-equivalent and college-level courses. I am homeschooled, and I have one "official" grade: an 'A' from a U. of C. summer course. It worked for me.</p>
<p>katharos-
hopefully i will be as succesful as you during summer session.. but ur SAT is amazing.. i hope my ACT and SAT scores get stronger.. thanks for the words of encouragement..</p>
<p>Whereas, In contrast I'm ranked 1 in my graduating high school class (of 762), have a 1430 SAT score with good sat 2's, I have taken 7 AP exams and I was waitlisted.
The essays matter, I guess they really didn't like mine too much :-/
Chicago is, in my mind, much more holistic in how they admit applicants. So if there's just something about you that makes you an attractive applicant you have a good shot.
I'm done though, looks like the waitlist is a no go this year...</p>
<p>can you do early decision to penn and early action to u chicago? is that allowed?</p>
<p>i guess what i now understand after a month of regularly checking this website is that.. there is no formula, equation or proof that you need to satisfy to get in.. it really just depends.. ridethecliche i'm sorry you didn't get in.. i'm a true believer that everything happens for a reason.. and my sister had her heart set on U of C and then she got deffered and rejected. She was sad but now she's at U of I for chemical engineering and is taking an extremely difficult courseload b/c u of i is ranked 3rd for chemical eng. .. she is happy and she still loves the city and the school.. but things always work out.. do u plan to transfer?</p>
<p>college89, you can apply ED and EA to two different schools, as long as you're not applying early action single choice. lucky for you, uchicago is one of the few elite schools that does EA non-single choice, so yes, you can apply to both Penn ED and chicago EA. however, keep in mind that if you are accepted to Penn ED you will have to accept their offer or have your acceptance rescinded. only apply to a school ED if you're sure it's your first choice.</p>
<p>Nope, I don't plan to transfer. I think it's a horrible idea to go to a school and plan to transfer without even giving it a chance.
Just like your sister, I think I'll like it where I go :-)
I'm fortunate to have gotten into a school that I really loved, and I'm going to Wesleyan this fall :-)</p>
<p>I agree, there is no formula or equation, but Chicago does 'rank' their applicants based on preliminary readings. There was an article around on this board about a newspaper sitting in on the Adcom and how they make decisions. It was pretty interesting.</p>
<p>Don't apply to a school ED if money is an issue because then you can't compare. Even if you can compare with RD, there's still no guarantee that they'll match anything but atleast you still have options.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>after having done the process and seen others through it, I highly discourage combining ED/EA, because not only are you "hogging" space in some ways (my ultracompetitive high school won't let you combine the two for that reason), if you get into both you'll be bummed that your decision is already made for you.</p>
<p>Either do an ED alone, or multiple schools EA (Georgetown! SUNY Binghamton! Wellesley (ish, kinda)!), or do EDI/EDII.</p>