Does UChicago really value a person’s individuality when it comes to essays and their personal story, or are they just as tough as other high caliber schools when it comes to admissions? (5.9% for the class of 2023)
U.Chicago is an academically very challenging university. The average SAT for incoming students according to Prepscholar is 1530, with a 25th and 50th percentile higher than Stanford (75th percentile is the same). That plus an acceptance rate lower than MIT should give you a good sense of what it takes to get accepted.
A friend of D1 went there. He is indeed an individual with a very good and very unique personality. However, he is also an exceptionally strong student with high grades, high test scores, and a willingness to work hard.
I would say that U.Chicago is “for real” in the sense that it is a very strong university on the level of the very top universities in the world.
“Does UChicago really value a person’s individuality when it comes to essays and their personal story, or are they just as tough as other high caliber schools when it comes to admissions? (5.9% for the class of 2023)”
Both
Can you explain why you think these are mutually exclusive?
All of the above commenters make salient points. They probably love reading everyone’s story, but their admissions methods are apparently quite analytical and down to a “science” from what others have posted. This shouldn’t be too surprising, nor should we expect that other top schools are going to be much different. Things are no doubt a lot more streamlined now with ED1 and ED2; however, this article from yesteryear does give a peek into the process:
https://www.newsweek.com/inside-admissions-game-164802
(Interesting bit on how test scores don’t really factor into the committee discussions, but then these are the applicants that everyone is clearly undecided on and want to debate over, so essays are going to come into major play at this point. Probably a good idea for every candidate to assume they will be in this pile, even the ED’s)
@JBStillFlying Those numbers seem quaintly out of date 
but it was a very interesting read. Thank you for including the link.
@surelyhuman it was around that same time period that the admit rate finally dipped below 50%, from 70% only a few years earlier. The College has been in a state of transition for about 20 years now. still, I recognize quite a bit of current admissions policies (at those those that are disclosed) in that article. Not sure their overall attention to detail has changed much, although as mentioned above, introducing ED in both the early and regular cycle has to help streamline the process.