<p>I'm a freshman at UW-Madison, and I'm slightly unsure about my future here. I was originally denied from Northwestern and NYU, and accepted here (obviously), at UIllinois, and at Loyola Chicago (With 12.5k/year scholarship). I was pretty much a huge slacker in high school, but I'm off to a fairly good start. I would only transfer if accepted to Northwestern or UChicago (I'm originally from Chicago), and am curious about what you guys think. I'm guessing a longshot?</p>
<p>ACT-34
HS Rank--Top 22% (3.8W, 2.9UW...I know, I know)
AP's--Calc BC-5; Microeconomics-5; Macro-4; Chem-4; English Lit-4; English Lang (Jr. year)-4; US History (Jr. year)-3</p>
<p>I'm taking moderate level classes (all 200-level, but introductory) and expecting the following for first semester:</p>
<p>Psych 202-A
History of Science 201-A
Comparitive Lit 205-A
Journalism 201-AB Overall, 3.875ish</p>
<p>My extracurrics are also kind of weak. Do I stand a chance with the high ACT and grades?</p>
<p>Your stats are really good. In the case of UChicago, it really comes down to the essay you'll have to write as well as the recs required.</p>
<p>The high school GPA hurts the application, but everything else looks good. I think you stand a chance at both universities, and at coming home to Chicago. Best of luck.</p>
<p>Unless you are super academically motivated in a way that is not revealed by your stats and descriptions, I don't think you'll fit in at Chicago. For Chicago, I think you have to consider your motivation first and your grades second. Your grades look good-- but how much do you really want to come here, and how much you think the name will look flattering on a resume?</p>
<p>A few more things. I don't have many great extracurriculars (both in HS and here). Will this really hurt me? And I haven't participated much in my discussion sections, but my writing has been great and I plan to participate more in the remainder of the semester. With these things in mind, do I still have a good shot? Oh, and my ACT writing blows (I got an 8 on the test that I received a 34 on). I know that UChicago doesn't care, but should I send the 33 without writing to Northwestern? Last thing (I promise)--should both of my college recs come from first semester? Or can I get them after two months or so of class second semester...?</p>