<p>It's a big white, thick envelope.</p>
<p>The ultimate mind game would be for UChicago to send acceptances in large envelopes and deferrals in both large and small envelopes. A large deferral envelope would simply contain a fold-out cardboard sign that says, "Maybe in January, pal."</p>
<p>I think it'd be less cruel if everything were in a small envelope...</p>
<p>Decision:Accepted </p>
<p>Stats:
[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 1400
[</em>]SAT IIs: none
[<em>]ACT: 33
[</em>]GPA:3.8
[<em>]Rank:top 10%
[</em>]Other stats: IB/AP
[/ul]
Subjective:
[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Good 3rd (on not being able to take advanced social studies but discovering jewelry), decent 1st and 2nd.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Good, my english teacher hasnt had me long but was good. My science teachers was really good because I was the best student in her first year ever teaching IB
[<em>]Counselor Rec: I didn't see it but it was from our IB coordinator instead of the counselor that I barely know so I am assuming it was strong.
[</em>]Hook (if any): Letter from Janet Rowley
[/ul]
Location/Person:
[ul]
[<em>]State or Country: MN
[</em>]School Type: Public (not really sure how competetive it is outside of IB but its not the strongest)
[<em>]Ethnicity: Caucasian
[</em>]Gender:Male
[/ul]
Other Factors:
[ul]
[li]Captain of multiple varsity sports, range of activities (including 4 years as an orchestra officer)[/li][/ul]</p>
<p>General Comments: I really want to go to uchicago and hey...now I can (really hope I get good aid though)</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted </p>
<p>Stats:
[ul]
[<em>]SAT/ACT: 1520- 740V, 780 M/ 35
[</em>]SAT IIs: none
[<em>]GPA:4.65W
[</em>]Rank: 2/704
[<em>]Other stats: Rigorous courseload.
[/ul]
Subjective:
[ul]
[</em>]Essays: Very good, I thought.
[<em>]Teacher Recs: I had a really good relationship with one teacher who supposedly writes the best reccomendations, so that turned out well.
[</em>]Counselor Rec: Football coach, but I became friends with him, and he was very cool, so I think that he gave me a good one.
[<em>]Hook (if any): My great interest in the school that I showed since last year.
[/ul]
Location/Person:
[ul]
[</em>]State or Country: Illinois
[<em>]School Type: Public (3k + students)
[</em>]Ethnicity: Arabic
[<em>]Gender: Male
[/ul]
Other Factors:
[ul]
[</em>] I had a lot of leadership as an NHS officer, Quizbowl Captain, and Church activities. I think I have a lot to contribute.
[/ul]</p>
<p>acceptees can i read your essays please?</p>
<p>Decision: Deferred</p>
<p>Stats:
SAT: 1460 (790M 670V)
SAT IIs: 800 physics, 800 chem, 800 iic, 710 writing
GPA:nil
Rank:13/120
Other stats: ECs suck, Hong Kong Certificate of Education Exam: 6A2B1D
Subjective:
Essays:I guess it was okay
Teacher Recs:good
Counselor Rec:the stereotyped ilk
Hook (if any):
Location/Person:Hong Kong
State or Country:Hong Kong, China
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Chinese
Gender:male
Other Factors: none
They emailed their decision. Can anyone tell me which the biggest factor contributing to my deferral is?
Congratulations to those got got accepted.
Best of luck to deferees.
Rejectees, other equally great institutions are waiting for you.</p>
<p>size=+1]Decision:ACCEPTED!!! [/size]</p>
<p>Stats:
[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 780 Math 670 Verbal
[</em>]SAT IIs: 750 Math IIC 740 US History 740 Writing
[<em>]GPA: 4.5something
[</em>]Rank: top 5%
[<em>]Other stats: Legacy(mother went to GSB)
[/ul]
Subjective:
[ul]
[</em>]Essays: OK. Everyone said my mustard one was the ****
[<em>]Teacher Recs: Never saw
[</em>]Counselor Rec: OK I guess
[<em>]Hook (if any): I'm openly gay, but I don't think I wrote that on the app
[/ul]
Location/Person:
[ul]
[</em>]State or Country: New Jersey
[<em>]School Type: Public
[</em>]Ethnicity: Asian/Caucasian
[li]Gender: Male[/li][/ul]
Other Factors:
[ul]
[/ul]</p>
<p>General Comments: Yay!!!</p>
<p>Want_1600, it's pointless to ask people on this board why you were deferred. Your best bet is to call the U/Chicago admissions office and ask to speak with the admissions officer responsible for your region. They may or may not be willing to give you insight but if they are, that will be gold. Everything else is speculation.</p>
<p>message deleted due to inappropriate language</p>
<p>Moderator JEM</p>
<p>Decision: Deferred</p>
<p>Stats:
SAT: 1320 (710m, 610v)
SAT IIs: None
GPA:4.0 UW
Rank:14/250
Other stats: Very competative jesuit high school</p>
<p>Subjective:
Essays:Good.
Teacher Recs:Excellent
Counselor Rec: Decent
Hook (if any):Internship at JPMorgan Chase, recommendations from VP of both JPMorgan Chase and Lehman Brothers</p>
<p>Location/Person:
State or Country:New Jersey
School Type: Private (Jesuit)
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender:Male
Other Factors: Single Mom, didnt graduate college, been unemployed for over 2.5 years.</p>
<p>General Comments: I am very sad about this, i really wanted to go here......</p>
<p>Can the other deferees post what their letter said? do they send out the same letters for all deferrals?</p>
<p>Do i have any chance in hell to get in? or should i give up?</p>
<p>lalasushi, with a 4.0 unweighted and excellent recs, don't give up! Send in that midyear report and whatever else you've been doing. Contact your admissions rep and ask what you might do. I know you're sad--I'm very sad for my son right now, too, but you shouldn't give up. Just work on your other apps and keep your spirits up for this one, too. You could end up admitted OR at another school that ends up being even better for you!</p>
<p>Decision: Deferred </p>
<p>Stats:
SAT: 1530
SAT IIs:800,800,700
GPA:3.3
Rank:39/289
Other stats: 5 AP Chemistry, 5 AP Language Arts
Subjective:
Essays:excellent
Teacher Recs:awesome
Counselor Rec:the best
Hook (if any):caretaker of diabetic boy
Location/Person:
State or Country:Connecticut
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: indian
Gender:male
Other Factors:
Crazy music enthusiast, in every organization, President Tri-M, Plethora of sports, fairly strong service hours</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted </p>
<p>Stats:
SAT/ACT: 780M 690V (but sent in a score with a 770V from November test date)
SAT IIs: 800MathIIC 800 Fyzyx 690 Writing
GPA:4.00 UW
Rank: 6/160
Other stats: Rigorous courseload.
Subjective:
Essays: Eh, good enough I guess. I thought it was dumb though
Teacher Recs: "best in years" but rather terse.
Counselor Rec: good-great
Hook (if any): TONS of Music stuff (percussion!)
Location/Person:
State or Country: Minnesota
School Type: Public (700 students. Kinda sucky school)
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Other Factors: Volunteer work, Music, very big into manual labor job (15+ hours, great essay about it) The U Chicago is BY FAR the most prestigious school anyone in my school has gotten into, not to say that some wouldn't, but people here don't dream big dreams!</p>
<p>I was so worried! This is a relief. I thought they were supposed to give a financial aid estimate?</p>
<p>Decision: accepted!!! yay </p>
<p>Stats:
[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 760/760
[</em>]SAT IIs:770 IIC, 770 writing, 710 lit, 710 bioe
[<em>]GPA:low A- (we dont do GPAs)
[</em>]Rank:no ranking, but not even top 10% if we did...
[<em>]Other stats: 4 on govt ap, taking ap latin/ calc AB/ physics C this year
[/ul]
Subjective:
[ul]
[</em>]Essays:amazing.... like they called my school to tell them how much they loved them
[<em>]Teacher Recs: 1 eh 1 great
[</em>]Counselor Rec: fine
[<em>]Hook (if any):amazing amazing interview
[/ul]
Location/Person:NYC
[ul]
[li]State or Country:[/li][</em>]School Type:v good private
[<em>]Ethnicity: white/israeli
[</em>]Gender:f
[/ul]
Other Factors:
[ul]
[/ul]</p>
<p>General Comments:</p>
<p>Called your school? Cool! Can I ask why, and what they were about? What did they have to say to your school? Just curious.</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted</p>
<p>Stats:
SAT: 1550
SAT IIs: 790, 730, 710
GPA:4.9
Rank:2
Other stats: 31 ACT
Subjective:
Essays:Excellent
Teacher Recs:Excellent (Knew both of my teachers for 4 years)
Counselor Rec:Excellent (Counselor is awesome and we both golf)
Hook (if any):IB Diploma, Econ Research
Location/Person: USA
State or Country:AZ
School Type:Public
Ethnicity: Scottish
Gender:Male
Other Factors: Part-Time job at Mayo Clinic in AZ, Student Administrator of award winning mentoring program at my school, Boys State State Treasurer, National Merit & American Legion National Finalist, school table tennis champion (I think it counts for something)</p>
<p>Wow, iliketangmix, where else are you applying?</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted! Golly gee whiz!</p>
<p>Stats:
[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 760 verbal, 770 math
[</em>]SAT IIs: 800 writing, u.s. history, and math IIc
[<em>]GPA: My school doesn't really tell us our GPA's, but I would guess it's around 4.1 or 4.2 out of 4.3 unweighted
[</em>]Rank: 2/327
[li]Other stats: I got 5's on both of my AP tests last year, Calculus AB and U.S. History[/li][/ul]
Subjective:
--Essays: I'm going to be one of the only people here to say that they weren't that good. My mustard essay was extremely short and I both started and finished it the night it was due. It wasn't well thought out, inspired, or brilliant in any way. My "Why Chicago?" essay had a lot of detail to it, so I guess that was good, but it certainly wasn't anything to write home about. And as for my favorite things essay, it was about how I like to read "People," "Entertainment," and "Us" magazines every friday as sort of literary junk food, so I was paranoid that it could have been interpreted as very un-intellectual, and thus un-Chicago.</p>
<p>--Teacher Recs: I only read my English/Social Sciences recommendation, which was three pages long and in my opinion made me sound so much better than I actually am. I'm not being self-effacing or anything--she made me out to be some kind of wunderkind! I didn't read my math teacher's rec, so I don't know what it said.</p>
<p>--Counselor Rec: It was really complimentary, but not very personal, mostly mentioning stuff that appeared in other parts of the application. My guidance counselor doesn't really know me that well (she became my GC is September of this year), but she still wrote things like "most academic potential I've seen in a long time," which makes me think she might write stuff like that for everyone. My school guidance department is so busy that it was sent out without being edited for spelling/grammar mistakes, so there were some really glaring ones in there. Guess that didn't matter either...</p>
<p>--Hook (if any): None whatsoever! I have boring, generic extracurriculars.</p>
<p>Location/Person:
[ul]
[<em>]State or Country: New Jersey
[</em>]School Type: Typical average public
[<em>]Ethnicity: Caucasian
[</em>]Gender: Female
[/ul]
Other Factors: I had an alumni interview, which I guess went all right. My interviewer impressed me and made me more interested in the U of C, but for all I know I might have come off as a total twit.
[ul]
[/ul]</p>
<p>General Comments: Right now, my theory is that I got in because of my grades and test scores. I know Chicago "doesn't care" about these factors, but my essays and ECs were entirely un-outstanding. I'm not holding out too much hope for a scholarship, though. For that, I'm sure they consider the essays and EC's much more carefully.</p>
<p>When school ended at 2:30, I called my dad and asked if anything had arrived for me. "An envelope from Chicago? As in the University of Chicago? Big or small? BIG OR SMALLL!?" He told me big, and then asked if he could open it for me, but I said no. I sat through Academic Competition team practice (where I answered a question about a phoenix...ohhh a sign), and then hurried home to open it myself. I thought the acceptance package was cool. Nicer than the one I got from Boston College. Actually, I've still got to read through it more carefully...and finish RD apps...but at least I got in :)</p>
<p>Congratulations to everyone else; maybe we'll be seeing each other next year.</p>
<p>Hey want_1600,</p>
<p>I think you answered the question yourself -- "ECs suck". :) Hey, I know HKCEE's curve is crazy; what subject did you get that "D" in? In US high schools, you have to be either incredibly dumb or rebellious (do absolutely nothing) to possibly get a "D". That's why I skipped form 5 and came here instead..hehe <grin></grin></p>