<p>I apologize if this is in the wrong forum, but here goes:</p>
<p>How does coming from a competitive high school affect a student's chances at top universities? Some background: I go to a top private school in North Carolina with about 145 kids per class, and on a good year we send perhaps 8-10 kids to Ivy league/top colleges. This year I'm a senior, and my class is the most competitive we've seen in years. So for a school like UChicago, do these schools generally have a limit to how many they can accept from a single high school, especially a small one like mine? Btw, I'm probably going to be salutatorian.</p>
<p>So basically, UChicago has accepted 2 kids early action from my school already. Do I, or anyone at my school, still have a chance in RD, or is UChicago basically done with my school?</p>
<p>Thanks for any feed back</p>
<p>Tarheel: Son is a freshman, RD, and I’ve been following this board now for about a year. I’ve not seen or heard any kind on limit of numbers of admits from one school. In fact, the official position of the school is there is not a limit.</p>
<p>Based on the fact that you are a salutatorian in a top private school, I would think you would be an attractive candidate if your test scores are more or less in the range and you can persuade the admissions group that you fit the UChicago profile through your essays and EC’s. </p>
<p>Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>kaukauna, you’re the best. congrats to your son for getting into such an awesome school!</p>
<p>This is probably a question your college counselor has a better grip on? </p>
<p>I went to the kind of high school where students got into every school every year and every student went to every school every year. Kids got into “the usual suspects” both in early and in regular.</p>
<p>thanks unalove, i didn’t bother asking my counselor b/c I don’t think he would ever admit that there was a quota per school, even if it was true. I appreciate the feedback</p>
<p>Tarheel: Just read your comment. Thank you for the kind words. I truly wish you the best in your college search. It is a very exciting and anxious time for students and parents. I am certain you will land somewhere terrific next fall, whether its UChicago or somewhere else. </p>
<p>Don’t be daunted by the 2 admits from your school. I strongly believe that when students really are in love with a school, and they have the requisite qualifications (by that I mean grades and scores that are in the range), somehow this desire comes through in the application and admissions persons pick up on it. Anyway, that’s my theory and I’m sticking to it!</p>
<p>@Tarheel:</p>
<p>I understand what you’re saying, but your counselor may have access to historical data to put your mind at ease.</p>
<p>The other way of looking at this is that even if there is a “school-based quota,” the sample size from your school and the distribution of the students by GPA/SAT/ACT in your high school who are applying to the same school is such that you’d never be able to determine for certain whether there is or is not a “school-based quota.”</p>
<p>Ten or so students to Ivy League or comparable colleges is good in the sense that your school presumably has a respectable curriculum, and is not at all a bar to your own admission. Chicago regularly takes 5-10 students a year from better known feeder high schools, and it is definitely on the low end of uptake compared to peer schools (they are some HS that place 20-30 students a year into elite colleges with which they have historic relationships). Limits really only apply to 50 or so secondary institutions across the US (places like Stuyvesant in New York City, Phillips Exeter, Andover, magnet high schools in Silicon Valley, etc.).</p>
<p>alright, I’m feeling slightly better about my chances now. Not much I can do now anyways except not screw up my second semester of senior year.</p>
<p>thanks a lot, you guys are the reason why I love college confidential</p>
<p>alright, I got my decision back and I was waitlisted. I know for a fact that I’m a better candidate (higher gpa, higher test scores, better essays) than at least one, if not two of the accepted students from my school who got into U of C early. I’m almost certain that if I applied in the early round, I would have been accepted, no question. I’m so freaking pissed, but that was on me. For future applicants-- if you can apply early to UChicago, DO IT. At least at my school, I was penalized for applying regular. </p>
<p>Also, nobody else got in from my school in RD. I know I’m the next best candidate at my school, and I’m guessing most everyone else from my school who applied RD were rejected.</p>
<p>Dude, I know a girl who got denied with a 2400 on her SATs, like 8 5s on her APs, a few 800s on the SAT IIs, stellar essays and recs, an insane internship at NASA over the summer, and a perfect GPA. You got denied because UChicago didn’t think you were right for them. Given what you’ve written, perhaps they were right. </p>
<p>Ouch man, why so salty? I have no idea whether that girl was made up or not, but if you’re telling the truth, there’s no reason she should have been denied. And yeah, I know that I came off kinda arrogant, but I’m not happy with my decision, and I was just giving some advice for future applicants.</p>
<p>You’ve got to realize they had a record number of EA applications (over 11k) even though the EA+RD number went down by almost 10%. An old proverb says “he who strikes first, strikes twice.” In any case, you are still on the waitlist and still have a chance. Good luck.</p>
<p>The girl is not made up at all. The point is, with an acceptance rate of below 10%, no one is guaranteed a spot. And the idea that you were penalized for applying RD as if the adcom was sitting with your application going "Tis a shame, if he applied EA, we would have taken him but no"is laughable. Plus, your attitude in this thread is more than “kinda arrogant.” This girl not only got denied from UChicago, she was also denied from Oxford and waitlisted at MIT and might very well be rejected or waitlisted from Stanford in a few days. College admissions is crazy and unless daddy bought you in (and even the extent to which that is possible is dubious) you aren’t guaranteed anywhere and you shouldn’t feel cheated when you don’t get in to schools like the ones to which you are applying. If you are as good as you say you are, I’m sure you will hit at least one. Good luck.</p>
<p>@hevydevy,</p>
<p>Hey man, no need to blow a gasket. If you want to call me arrogant, fine, but I friggin earned it. I worked my tail off in high school, so yeah, I think I deserve a spot in U of C. Like I said, I’m definitely a stronger candidate than at least one of the other students who got in, and that’s just a fact. Plus, it’s not like I showed this attitude to the admissions officers, and they have no reason to think that I’m arrogant, so how would they know that they shouldn’t accept me, arrogant or not? I don’t really understand what you mean by the “daddy bought [me] in” comment, so I’m not sure how to respond. Thanks for the fun, but I’m not really interested in continuing this argument anymore, so I’ll leave with this: I truly wish, with all my heart, that we were better strangers.</p>
<p>Cheers,
Tarheel714</p>
<p>UChicago has been on a marketing blitz over the last couple of years, trying to build applications (which in turn makes them more ‘selective’ b/c they turn down more students). For some unis- including UChicago- ED makes a big difference; for others (such as Georgetown) it doesn’t. Tarheel, they obviously see you as UChicago material, or you wouldn’t have been waitlisted. And, you may well be a ‘better’ candidate than the person from your class who was accepted but the extra commitment of applying ED tipped it- or it may be that there is some non-numeric element that you are unaware of that made the difference. </p>
<p>Of course, you know all of those pieces, and none of it takes away from the sting of being so close, and yet not close enough. I’m assuming that you have sent a short, strong email emphasizing your continued interest, and that you are re-evaluating your other choices. You must have heard this too many times by now, but I have seen so many students who were crushed by not getting their first choice, and yet have ended up supremely happy. The main thing is to go forward. Good luck!</p>
<p>Wow! You all are so funny! My son was waitlisted and was pretty pleased. But, yeah, he didn’t expect to get in, so he’s happy with the waitlist. </p>