<p>Decision: Waitlisted</p>
<p>Objective:[ul][<em>] SAT I: didn’t send
[</em>] ACT (breakdown): 35: 36, 35, 36, 31
[<em>] ACT superscore (breakdown): 35: 36, 36, 36, 33
[</em>] SAT II (subject, score): Math II - 800, Biology M - 760
[<em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.99
[</em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 1/2/3% in class over 700 (it’s unranked)
[<em>] AP (place score in parentheses): 5: Chemistry, Biology, Calculus BC, Calculus AB Subscore, US Government and Politics, English Language, Computer Science
Taking: Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Physics C Mechanics, Physics C E & M
[</em>] IB (place score in parentheses):
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C, Linear Algebra/Multivariable Calculus, AP Economics, AP Senior English, CS Data Structures, Dual-credit Digital Electronics
[</em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): Eagle Scout, FIRST Robotics State Champion
[li] Common Awards:[/li]National Merit Commended Student, AP Scholar with Distinction, National Honor Society, National Latin Honor Society, National Latin Exam etc.
[/ul]</p>
<p>Subjective:
[ul][<em>] Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): FTC Robotics: 11, 12; (team captain of state championship winning team that started in 2011)
Boy Scouts of America (Senior Patrol Leader): 9, 10, 11, 12; Eagle Scout
Congressional Debate: 9, 10, 11, 12; Qualified Legislation for State Tournament.
recent cofounder of a club
Others: Advisory Council to the Superintendent (9, 10), Recreational Tennis (9, 10, 11), Latin Club, and A/V Technician.
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: Information Technology Intern with small business for junior year, electrical engineering aid with local business for senior year, and editor to credential-earning gaming website
[<em>] Volunteer/Community Service: around 200 hours including Eagle Scout Project.
[</em>] Summer Activities: Camping with Boy Scouts and employment
[<em>] Essays: My “Why Chicago” essay was 2 full pages single spaced and talked about everything from specific classes to Scav. I thought it was a pretty honest account of specific parts of UChicago that appealed to me. My “Where’s Waldo” essay was, I guess, lacking. After talking with other applicants, my topic wasn’t particular varying. I described Waldo as a ubiquitous goal, with each book being a different activity of life. That is, I described one book for robotics, the other for debate, etc. Each page of the book builds up to the final goal, and each page requires a process to find Waldo. For extra emphasis, I watermarked Waldo behind my essay to show his ubiquity.
[</em>] Teacher Recommendation #1: Didn’t read, but it was from my AP Government teacher. I went to her wedding, so I imagine it was good.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation #2: My AP Computer Science teacher wrote a rather vague and general recommendation for me. Certainly not the best recommendation possible, but it was still very positive.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: I presume that this was lackluster, as I do not particularly known my counselor very well. He manages around 500 students.
[<em>] Additional Info/Rec: Probably should have submitted one in retrospect.
[</em>] Interview: On campus. Much briefer than I wanted it to be; in fact, I was cut off due to the time[/ul]
Other[ul]
[<em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[</em>] Intended Major: Biology or Physics
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): Illinois
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: White
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Income Bracket: 150k
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nope!
[/ul]
Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: Follow-through with activities, GPA, demonstrated interest(?)
[<em>] Weaknesses: Essays weren’t “UChicago-ish” enough, no hooks, from Chicago-area, letters of recommendation.
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied: UChicago is just way too competitive this year. I know two friends that got it, but the majority of my (35?) classmates were wait listed. Also, somebody else from my school got in for sports.
[/ul]
General Comments:
Congratulations to everyone that got in! I’ll be sending a follow up for the waitlist. After getting deferred then denied from MIT, and waitlisted from WUSTL, I was really hoping on UChicago. Alas, not today. Luckily, I have some things to submit with my letter for the waitlist that relate directly to UChicago (Argonne Lab and Fermilab).</p>
I’ve observed that all those who got 800 on both CR and M got in!</p>
Good luck to everyone and thank you CC!</p>