Is U Chicago a "stretch" or a "don't apply" for my S?

Hello, first and foremost we understand that a “stretch” still means the chances are exceedingly unlikely for acceptance, but will be applying to a few stretch schools as time and finances allow. We’d like to know if Chicago is a good target for one of these rare stretch applications. These are long shots even upon acceptance due to gap between EFC and the real world we live in, so we would like to target them intelligently.

My son is a current HS Junior. 36 comp ACT, 1530 SAT (I have mis typed that as 1540 in other threads here on CC), No subject tests yet, 3.9 UW GPA, 4.2 W GPA. Mix of honors and AP so far as schedule restrictions allow. Too early for NMSF, but he is likely to be a SF, possible F based on estimated PSAT SI. One sport Varsity athlete, and will have two years as yearbook editor, which takes an INCREDIBLE amount of his time. So his ECs are not notable, in other words the typical volunteer hours required by school and National Honor Society plus sports and the editor position.

Perhaps most importantly, as I have relayed elsewhere, my son does not have a passion or even preferred course of study. Although perfectly understandable to me, this presents a few challenges relative to school selection, and admittance. (e.g. he has math aptitude but enjoys History much more, and isn’t sure about either). Again, impossible to predict, but I would not assume any essay he writes is likely to wow the admissions officer - just not his strength. I could of course be wrong!

Lastly, he has not talked much about any specific schools (part of that lack of passion) but one of the few he does mention by name is Chicago. Vibe, size, broad based courses of study, and to some extent the city itself are minor draws for him.

I understand nothing can be predicted perfectly, but would be interested in thoughts. Thanks.

For sure he should apply. He’s got the stats that will get him a good look.

First off, I believe the more common terminology for these types of school is “reach” as opposed to “stretch”. Personally, I think his scores look pretty good and won’t be hurting his admission chances, but I feel like his lack of passion and as a result pretty lackluster ECs will be difficult to overcome.
The thing about the UChicago essays and what makes them unique is that you really can’t write a one unless you’re some what passionate about what you’re writing on. Heck it takes a great deal of passion to even come up with an answer to the question the prompts ask.
However, take my advice with a grain of salt.
As a side note, if he does become passionate about UChicago, you should urge him to apply ED. His chances are much better if he does so.

Thank you. I will try to use “reach” in lieu of “stretch” .

@DavidPuddy As I just went through this with my son who has similar stats. Don’t take his irrelevance as a sign of not wanting to apply to reach schools. The stress and anxiety that is generated from the entire process is overwhelming for the student.

With that being said, I think he should absolutely apply. The Chicago core sounds like it would be good for him to see what he wants to do and it’s pretty clear academically he qualifies.

You did not mention if he has any AP/IB/College courses. My son had very few EC’s other than sports, but had 16 AP/College classes and I feel this helped him tremendously through the process with the majority of his schools. Some of his acceptance letters actually stated that.

I would recommend having him visit the campus and doing some research. The admittance process looks at three different variables and assigns a rank, but I do not know the weighting.

1-5 : Academics
A-E : Personality - Extra Curricular, Essay responses, etc.
XYZ : UChicago fit - engagement

Highest rating is 1AX
Lowest rating is 5EZ

Would he be looking to take part in athletics ?

FWIW, my kid was admitted with lower stats (though a high class ranking) and I really don’t think that will the issue here…the issue is that uchicago is odd…odd in what they look for in a student and odd in what students are attracted to them. As opposed to, say, Vanderbilt which is all about the stats. I’d make sure to put this one on the early visit list…he’ll either love it or he won’t…and then you both can decide whether the effort to apply is well-placed.

Thank you all. A couple clarifications, and additions below.

@fbsdreams
I liked the notion of the Chicago Core when I was looking. Good fit.

He took 2 AP classes this year, and the balance Honors. Next year is 4 AP classes I believe. Unfortunately, his schedule (Yearbook and Latin in defined slots) hampers taking all the AP possible, but it should be sufficient to demonstrate rigor when viewed with the Honors courses and curriculum restrictions he has to work around. He would not be playing athletics at the University.

@SouthernHope
We may get a chance to visit this summer (and will add Northwestern). My Son is odd, so it may be a good fit.

And again, the cost component is real on this one, so we are definitely trying to look at it with eyes wide open…

All the top schools accept folks with lower stats and reject with similarly high stats. Stats are only one aspect here. BUt he certainly is in great shape Stats’ wise.

Definitely have him take a look and, if he likes what he sees, apply – assuming that he’s willing to put the time in on the essays. Basically, my sense is that Chicago is looking for intellectual kids and that’s completely consistent with having diverse interests that don’t respect conventional categories. My daughter was attracted to UofC in part because she wanted to be in a place where she could be a Bio kid and a Language/Lit kid, rather than feeling pushed to choose between STEM and Humanities. She liked the idea of the Core because she wanted to be surrounded by other kids who were interested in all kinds of things and were not just specialists or pre-professionals.

The issue for your son won’t be lack of focus or number of APs or ECs. It’ll come down to whether he really wants a challenging, time-consuming, and broad-based curriculum and whether he’s able to write essays that convince admissions folk that he’s observant/thoughtful/interesting/engaged.

I’ll chime in with one thing in that the essays are very important here and at most other highly selective schools. Stats open the door but the essays seal the deal. Have him read some books on how to write an admissions essay to get him started.

Essays are important. Go visit. And find some excuses to interact with your regional admissions counselor. ED will make a big difference. Having 99.9th percentile scores and almost perfect grades help too.

My kid who is currently a student there had similar stats (more Bs though:)) and he pulled it off. He didn’t do anything particularly amazing in HS but if you had read his essays you would have thought he was the funniest and coolest kid ever. And he is. Despite never winning any national math or science contests or doing much outside of sports and a few clubs.

You may also want to look into and have him apply for summer programs. That will definitely help with engagement and his essays.

https://summer.uchicago.edu/high-school

For what it’s worth, we toured all the Ivy’s, MIT, NU as well as USC. I have no idea why, but on the way home from UChicago he told me he was a “Chicago guy.” Maybe it was the campus, the core, the students, the overnight, Michigan Ave, LSD, or how common place it is to combine two different studies as @exacademic mentions above.

I cannot say exactly why, but he clearly left with one heck of an impression.

Had to have been the LSD, I’m guessing.

Lol, I know the regulars know but for those not familiar I should clarify LSD = Lake Shore Drive

OP, FWIW:

“Perhaps most importantly, as I have relayed elsewhere, my son does not have a passion or even preferred course of study. Although perfectly understandable to me, this presents a few challenges relative to school selection, and admittance. (e.g. he has math aptitude but enjoys History much more, and isn’t sure about either). Again, impossible to predict, but I would not assume any essay he writes is likely to wow the admissions officer - just not his strength. I could of course be wrong!”

UChicago is actually a very good fit for this type of kid. Not just due to the Core, but that you don’t actually need to declare a major till (beginning of?) Junior year. My D17 really likes that! She feels that the pressure is off to figure out her life right away. She’s only 17, so I can hardly blame her. Given the liberal arts approach, she will be able to explore many subjects and double-major. She’s thrilled about that. She was definitely a good fit for a broad-based liberal arts education but didn’t care for the environment of most LAC’s (wanted a top research uni. etc.).

My daughter is the same way. Very good at everything but unsure of what her major will be. This is the main reason that I encouraged her to apply to undergraduate colleges and not universities (like Penn and Cornell), plus the core and what @JBStillFlying said above.

re #15:

“Very good at everything but unsure of what her major will be. This is the main reason that I encouraged her to apply to undergraduate colleges and not universities …”

I don’t understand your “main reason”. The universities that I’m most familiar with , including the two you cited, have an undergraduate College of Arts & Sciences that offers probably the same range of majors that U Chicago offers. Students entering these colleges at those universities do not have to choose a major upon entering, that happens much later on. IIRC they have to have declared a major by the time they enter junior year.

It’s true they do not have “the Core”, or particular courses all students must take.(other than Columbia, which does). But that does not mean their students don’t gain exposure to various areas of study. Arts & Sciences College students at these universities typically must fulfill their college’s required distribution requirements, which cover multiple areas of study. And with free electives they can take courses in any area outside of their major that may interest them. This is the same basically as at most LACs, though the precise set of distribution requirements varies by school.

IIRC Brown doesn’t have distribution requirements and that is one of their main “sales pitches” to people who don’t want to be forced to study things they don’t want to study. But Brown’s approach is not usual, most university Colleges of Arts & Sciences have distribution requirements, as do mot LACs… I’m sure there are differences in these vs. U Chicago’s requirements , but that was not your stated “main reason” in any event.

But I’m not aware of any university’s College of Arts & Sciences that requires students to commit to a specific major right off the bat. All of them I know about are appropriate places for a student whose major is undecided.

Exactly my point any college of Arts and Sciences has no engineering.

UC Essays are extremely important. I think the scores, GPA stuff cross the basic threshold. It is about “the other things” territory here. The EC on the yearbook is interesting but not necessarily “standing out” among the crowds. It is nice to have a candidate who has something to get passionate about (and demonstrate such interests in EC and/or Essays). UC is very analytic in its process, and they look for people with serious intellectual curiosity (even in a quirky way). If the Essays speak volume to such character, combine with the test scores, then odds will improve. Still, it is one of the toughest schools to get admission. There is an element of luck and randomness there. Good luck. JMHO.

Thanks for all the replies. Might I ask for some more pointed input on the very specific reason this is either a “reach” or a “no apply” situation, namely financial considerations? I assume there is no real opportunity for Merit, and it appears NMS award winners are not specially recognized at UChicago? Correct? Perhaps this is a scenario for ED and if the $$$ don’t add up, it is an early decline if if accepted (without financial favors).