Low GPA - chances for UChicago?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
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<p>Hi everyone! I'm in love with UofC but I know it's a huge long shot with my stats...any other input would be helpful!</p>

<p>Applied EA</p>

<p>ACT: 32 comp (36R, 36E, 34E/W with a 10 on the essay, 30S, 26M)
SAT: 2170 comp, 1470 M/CR (800 CR, 670 M, 700 W), retook in Oct, scores not out yet
SATII: 730 Lit, 660 USH, 600 MII - NOT sending </p>

<p>GPA: 3.4 UW as of the end of junior year
Class rank: 19/302 (top 7%)</p>

<p><strong>no APs available to freshmen and sophomores</strong>
APs available: U.S. History, Physics (seniors only), Chemistry, Biology (seniors only), AB Calc, BC Calc (seniors only), Psychology (seniors only), Statistics (seniors only), Psychology (seniors only)</p>

<p>Freshman Year:
Honors Biology (B/B)
Honors World Studies (A/B) - teacher was psycho, got fired the next year
Honors English (A/A)
Honors Algebra 2 (B/C) - :(
Elective Creative Writing I (A/B) - slacked off, I admit
French II (no honors available) - (A/A)
Mandatory Fitness/Health 9 (A/A in both)</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:
Honors Civics (A/A)
Honors Chemistry (A/A)
Honors PreCalc (B/B)
Honors English (A/A)
French III (no honors available) (A/A)
Mandatory Fitness (A/A)
Mandarin Chinese I at college (A)</p>

<p>Junior Year:
Honors Physics (B/B)
Honors Calculus (B/B)
Honors English (A/A)
Creative Writing II - (A/A)
AP US History (A/A; 4 on the exam)
Honors French IV (B/B)
Mandatory Fitness (A/A)</p>

<p>Senior Year (grades listed are current first quarter grades):
Honors Foreign Policy (A)
AP Statistics (A)
AP Psychology (A)
CPR/First Aid (A)
Creative Writing III (A)
AP English (A)
AP French (A)
Elementary Russian at college (A)</p>

<p>ECs:</p>

<p>Editor of literary magazine (11, 12)
Editor of school's 50th anniversary publication (12)
Founder/President of GSA (11, 12)
President of large community service organization (lots of community service hours; I explained this EC in the short answer)
Secretary of French Club
Treasurer of National Honor Society
Private tutor (paid)
Teen conference facilitator
RYLA participant
Link Leader
Member of SADD and performance poetry club (I handle all of the publicity for the latter)
Published in community magazines of teen work, school publications, and Teen Ink print magazine</p>

<p>Awards:
National Merit Commended
Service Leader(09) Service Champion (10), Service Activist (10) - for my time commitment and leadership in the volunteer group
Academic Achievement Award (school award)
Excellence in various classes
CAPT Scholar (state test)</p>

<p>Essays: great, I think. My "find x" essay was pretty entertaining/original, at least to me. I wrote the optional essay about my love for a certain documentary filmmaker and my favorite authors, and the other about specific reasons why I want to go to UofC (boring, I know)
Recs: My GC rec will be great, I believe. My rec from my USH teacher was rather generic, but the other one from my English teacher should be very good.</p>

<p>thanks so much for any advice!</p>

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<p>Paperback, you have a really high class rank for a GPA that seems low out-of-context, so it’s likely that admissions counselors will look at your GPA in this frame as opposed to comparing it to 3.9’s from other schools. Can’t promise this, of course, but that’s how it’s coming off to me.</p>

<p>It looks like you have a lot of good achievements, though, so I’d definitely encourage you to sign up for an alumni interview if you can… might be a good way to have another venue in which to articulate why you think UChicago is a good fit for you, and to talk more about your ECs.</p>

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<p>yeah, the discrepancy is pretty huge. I can only think to explain it this way: my school is made up of perhaps 35 kids who are ultra competitive and work hard in classes, and the rest don’t really commit. I signed up for an interview earlier today–thanks so much for the advice!</p>