My Why Chicago essay is currently at a whopping 800 words
My extended essay is about 1000 words
Both seem a bit too long for me. Should I shorten it, and what should be the goal?
From the admissions FAQ section…
“Is there a word limit or suggested word limit to your essay responses?
There are no strict word limits. We suggest that for the extended essay (where you choose one of several prompts), you aim for around 650 words. While we won’t, as a rule, stop reading after 650 words, we’re only human and cannot promise that an overly wordy essay will hold our attention indefinitely. For the “Why UChicago” essay, we suggest about 250 words.”
I have the exact same problem I’m glad I have someone to relate to
At least I finally cut my Why Chicago to 600 words… still pretty long though 
Ask someone to help you edit (an adult). Better to have have too many reasons to go there than not enough, so at least you have something to work with. 
In general, the why Chicago essay can be more serviceable/less creative than the prompt essay. Be direct and concise in the why Chicago essay. If any of your statements could apply to another school, consider taking it out. Stuff like “rigorous”, “small class sizes”, etc – could be many top schools.
BION my D17 flipped those recommended lengths. She didn’t intend to - it just came out that way. She was accepted EDII after being deferred EA. Our takeaway was that content matters and so does early decision!
Would this be a specific?
Uchicago has a 12 time champion quizbowl team and is considered the epicenter of the game. Packets written there are widely used across the US and the uni hosts many tournaments
Applying ED1! If I don’t get in ED1, will try ED2
They may not let you switch to another ED plan if deferred from the first one. . Check with Admissions for clarification.
Didn’t they allow that last year? I know EA was allowed to
IIRC EDI was deferred to the RD, EA deferreds were allowed to switch to EDII.
From the admissions website:
"Changing Your Decision Plan
If you would like to switch from our non-binding EA or RD decision plans to a binding Early Decision option, please email collegeadmissions@uchicago.edu to let us know of your change in plans and download, complete, and submit an Early Decision agreement form by uploading it to the “Forms” section of your UChicago Account.
Please note that our deadline for decision plan change from Early Action to Early Decision I is November 15th. Our deadline for deferred Early Action candidates or students who previously selected Regular Decision as their decision to change to Early Decision II is January 6."
https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/apply/application/application-plans
The way this reads, those under non-binding plans can switch to binding. The reason that the EA’s can switch is that the deadline is Jan. 6th, clearly after the mid-Dec. decision date. What you would need to call and ask is that if your EDI application was deferred to RD (so are now under a non-binding decision plan) does that mean you can now switch to EDII. They really haven’t clarified these rules as well as they could have. We, too, are interested if our son applies EDI next year 
Also, to clarify for future applicants. Even if your school has a formal document to switch, you must submit the UChicago forms as your school forms are considered non-binding at UChicago.