<p>I am fah-reaking out here...i really really want to go to UChicago, but for pretty much the last year I've been pretty sick mentally and physically, so my grades last tri junior year and first tri senior year were pretty dismal. I was told that I could possibly write my way into Chicago, but I havn't started my essay yet, since I'm JUST NOW starting to get better. </p>
<p>What do you think my chances are like at this point? I can get letters from my doctors explaining my situation, and I'm pretty sure I have good teacher recs and before I was sick my gpa was like, 3.9 or something....my sat scores are V690 M630 W680. </p>
<p>Varsity swimming - 4 years
Literary Magazine - 3 years, was made editor this year
lots of other clubs and community service, i won't list here. </p>
<p>does it help that I did summer programs at Andover and Oxford these last two summers? </p>
<p>Please be brutally honest, I would loooove to go to Chicago, but I don't want false hopes at this point.</p>
<p>no promises, but I'm sure they'll take your condition into consideration-- they'll realize you have potential and that you're trying your hardest to get better. besides, nobody lives in a vacuum, and I think if you show them that you really wanna go, your chances of getting in will be good.</p>
<p>What kind of school do you go to (i.e. competitive Californian or remote Alaskan)? I'm sure they'll take that into account when looking at ur GPA.</p>
<p>And what did you do at Andover - research or classes?</p>
<p>I checked the admissions info, and due date is January 3 this year so you actually do have time to complete the essays and get in enough editting passes on them by then. It sounds like you are still not up to par, though - have you considered doing a gap year?</p>
<p>i go to one of the three best private schools in colorado, it's really intense and competitive. at both andover and oxford i took classes, ranging from physics to film studies.</p>