<p>Hello, I'm planning on applying Regular Dec. to the U. of Chicago, and was wondering if anyone here had a good enough understanding of the evaluative process to comment on a reccomendations dillema I have: I've made it clear throughout every line in my application that I defintely intend on pursuing an English. Lit/Political Science major and have subtly shown that i utterly detest anything related to science/math. I currently have two reccomendations from English Teachers, one from a History teacher, and another one from an internship mentor--all of which are excellent to the say the least. I honestly have not made a lasting impression on any sci,/math teacher and thus cannot hope to get a decent letter from one. Do you think not having a letter of rec. from a sci/math teacher will be looked down upon? Additionally, does this suggest that U of C is looking for canidates who are intellectually gifted in all academic areas?? Please do share your thoughts---I'm actually in a bit of a panic, since I really am very interested in the school!</p>
<p>Same situation. Just ask a really nice teacher of yours, no matter how low of a grade you received or how much you detest the subject, to write you one. It will probably be mediocre but its better than nothing and since you have others, it probably wont carry too much weight. I asked my AP biology teacher because my other option, my junior year math teacher, is more likely to write a painfully honest recommendation (sometimes did hw...talked a lot..etc) and my bio teacher was ridiculously nice.</p>
<p>"Do you think not having a letter of rec. from a sci/math teacher will be looked down upon?"</p>
<p>im thinking if you dont have a rec froma sci/math teacher they wont even look at your app as being complete considering one of the recs HAS to be from a math/sci teacher.</p>
<p>Definitely get one from a math/sci teacher. I actually had a similar question that I called about on friday. My problem was that I had already asked my physics and french teachers for recs for ED, and had planned on using those for everywhere I applied, until I looked at chicago's app. They specifically wanted one from an english/humanities teacher. When I called and spoke to an admissions person, she said that the french one could not count for english/humanities, even though I have had that particular teacher for four years (up through AP). I would deeeeefinitely get that math/sci one...if you want to get in.</p>
<p>BTW, why do you hate math/science so much? I think any competitive school would seek out people who are relatively competent and curious in all areas...but particularly passionate in one or two.</p>
<p>I think part of the challenge, if you will, is being able to get recommendations from teachers of different disciplines. I agree with wondrlst that a mild, friendly, if bland and impersonal recommendation is way better than a harsh one. It, at worst, could have no effect. Which is better than a negative effect. All I can say is pick an English teacher that LOVES you. And writes well. I think that's key, how well written the recommendations are, as they lend credibility to the teacher's judgement.</p>
<p>I think you are applying to the wrong school. Chicago has very tough core requirements where you not only have to take math and science no matter your major, you have to take series of 2 and 3 classes that build upon each other. in those and the other core areas. Better read up on this. Someone who 'utterly detests science and math' is making a mistake to apply to Chi for this reason.</p>
<p>As others have said, at Chi you are required to submit a math/sci recco as well as an Eng/Hist rec. They were so iron clad on this, that although dd had a science recco that was stellar, she also got one from a physics teacher because it was not a math heavy or mainstream science.</p>
<p>I think you are headed in the wrong direction here.</p>
<p>I agree with Bettina.</p>
<p>Since Chicago requires at least calculus and laboratory science in its core curriculum, someone who has not taken (or not done very well in) math/science courses should not consider Chicago.</p>
<p>I dont think that's necessarily true. I detested HS math and science because they were nothing but memorization and application of the same mindnumbing concept over and over and over- I know, you ahve to learn the basics. But i'd take reading about string theory or chaos theory, or any advanced science any day. High school turns a lot of students off to math and science- especially people big on thinking outside the box. The biggest reason i liked literature was because it was so broad and full of possibilities-nothing particularily right or wrong. It wasn't monotonous. That doesnt mean I shouldn't apply to chicago because i'll be forced to take classes i might not want to- thats actually great for me because it will force me to take classes that high school might have initially turned me off to, and maybe i'll find that i really love the discovery element of science. Besides, everyone has their likes and dislikes- isn't that what chicago's core curriculum is for- to open student's eyes to classes they might not have even consdiered taking and expose them to areas they always thought were dull? No way does every student at Chicago go in loving every single subject. I think FigureFive's fine- just get a science/math rec, anything, however unenthusiastic. It's absolutely necessary. they might not even read your app if you dont- its not recomended that you ahve one math/science, its requried.</p>
<p>I'm much more the bookworm type than the math type. However, I still love math, despite it being one of my worst subjects, on an effort:results basis. Actually, I think it's MORE open than an English Lit class--while many English teachers basically want you to regurgitate analysis back to them (as the average student simply does not have the time or resources to study a book and gain anything but a 3rd rate analysis of it), there are so many different ways to approach many math problems. And once you get into the logic and theory behind math, it gets really interesting.</p>
<p>But if math REALLY turns you off and you're not very good at it, I really don't think you'd be a good fit at Chicago.</p>
<p>Thanks for the comments, I'm actually re-considering my earlier interest in Chicago. However, just want to say that I've consistently taken honors/AP math and science courses since freshman year and have defintely shown that I like to challenge myself no matter how much i dislike (err, I guess detest is kind of a harsh word!) the subject! I'm actually taking AP. Calc. this year; however, the problem is i am barely pulling a B. Supported by really amazing recs from English teachers, brillaint essays, and awards, I thought my strength in writing and passion for Politics would come through. I always thought that schools like Chicago would certainly value sheer excellence in less common intellectual pursuits such as creative writing, literature, philosphy, and political science, and would understand that utter brilliance in those subject areas may counterbalance a "lack" of real skill in the science/math areas. After all I am assuming that Chicago wants its English and Poly Sci. students to go on and become great writers and journalists, and I frankly cant imagine a Pulitzer Prize winning poet or journalist to hold a real for passion for physics or calculus =). Thanks a bunch.</p>
<p>I think you need to demonstrate a certain competence level, and I personally think the attitude of distaste you expressed in your original post would kill your application, where a 'B' wold not. Also Chicago does not allow you to declare your major until end of sophmore year. They do have the famous comprehensive core and pride themselves on changing ppl's minds</p>
<p>I agree with bettina, but if you still want to give Chicago a run, you have to get a science/math rec. My S, who was recently accepted, had the same situation. He is a social science guy all the way and only takes science because he has to. But he had his physics teacher write him a rec. In his cover letter to this teacher he wrote:</p>
<p>"While math and science are certainly not my strong suit, I enjoyed last years Physics class (in addition to the semester of Honors Chem you taught in my sophomore year). Of all the sciences, I related best to physics and plan to take it again in the future wherever I may land. Chicago will mostly view me as a humanities student, however, and I hope that your letter will allow them to view me through a different light the part of me that recognizes and appreciates the beauty and value of the hard sciences."</p>
<p>The part about taking physics wherever he goes is true, because it's the most palatable science for him and he figures that most of the schools he's applying to will have some sort of core science requirement. Doesn't mean that he loves the stuff, though. </p>
<p>I think you can get by at Chicago being a bit lopsided in your interests but that it probably really helps if you don't "utterly detest" any certain subjects. You might want to apply to a couple schools with no core curriculum if that's the case.</p>
<p>well said, bettina.</p>
<p>I'm a lot like you, figurefive, and english is my thing, definitely not science. since i have mostly Bs in science I picked the teacher that I liked most as a person, not the one that gave me the best math/science grades. turns out that they really liked me because i was clever and fun to have in class, even though I didn't add that much to their class academically, and they still wrote an excellent rec about my personality. even if math/science isn't your thing, if you're the kind of intelligent person who would fit in at chicago, chances are one of your teachers noticed it.</p>
<p>I'm no math person at all, but I know for a fact that a B - or even a C - in AP Calc doesn't kill your application. Well, not in BC anyway. I took BC Calculus my junior year and got a B, C, and a B- (we're on trimesters). The class at my school is extremely difficult, so I was pretty proud of that, and the fact that I got a 5 on the test. Most kids got Bs or Cs or lower, and 11 out of the 12 kids in the class got 4s or 5s on the test. I also got Bs in honors pre-calculus.</p>
<p>I'm not taking any math whatsoever this year and I still got in.</p>
<p>Also I got along really well with my calculus teacher, so she wrote me a pretty amazing rec. Also, she was named one of the HS Teachers of the Year from U of Chicago so that couldn't have hurt...</p>