Surprise Acceptance to UChicago's Class of 2023?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

Today, January 11th, 2019, I was accepted into the University of Chicago. I applied Regular Decision in late November of 2019. As you can probably infer, this was a major surprise! Was anyone else accepted? Can anyone explain why a Regular Decision student might be accepted MONTHS before the RD Decision Release date in March?

In case you were wondering, I’ll post my stats below (from a template I copy-pasted from the ED thread).

[ b]Objective:**
[ *] SAT I (breakdown): N/A
[ *] ACT (breakdown): 33C, 34 Superscore (35E, 29M, 36R, 35S)
[ *] SAT II: 700 Biology E 720 Literature
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.91
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 26 of 471
[ *] AP (place score in parentheses): Biology (5) Lang (4) World (4)
[ *] IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: Human Anatomy & Physiology, AP Lit, AP Art History, Pre-Calc, AP Psych, AP COGO, APUSH
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None!

[ /list][ b]Subjective:**
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Sos Club for Mental Health (President& Founder) Various Volunteer work, nothing special
[ *] Job/Work Experience: Senior Lifeguard (Management Level) Swim Lesson Instructor (Management Level), other experiences at dog kennels
[ *] Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer at Five Acres Animal Shelter in St. Charles, Missouri (low commitment)
[ *] Summer Activities: Work, nothing special
[ *] Essays: Both were very strong, I spent much time on them. I’ll let you read them if you’d like, 9/10
[ *] Teacher Recommendation: 7/10, I ended up asking different teachers for more recommendations about a month after sending my Uchicago application because I thought my initial ones were weak (I waved my FERPA rights but my teachers chose to show me). However, UChicago received the ones I considered to be weak rather than the stronger ones.
[ *] Counselor Rec: I haven’t read it, but I assume it’s alright lol
[ *] Additional Rec: From the Sponsor of my club, which I spend most of my after-school time on. 9/10
[ *] Interview: Didn’t Interview!
[ *] Supplementary Material: N/A

[ /list][ b]Other**
[ *]Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes, idk why
[ *] State (if domestic applicant): MISSOURI!
Country (if international applicant):
[ *] School Type: Public
[ *] Ethnicity: Black
[ *] Gender: Female
[ *] Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): Greater than 400k
[ *] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM

[ /list][ b]Reflection**
[ *] Strengths: Essays, I spent much time on them. I guess my ACT score was okay but not extraordinary. My Recs might have been the reason I received random Early acceptance?
[ *] Weaknesses: My class rank-- I am in the top 5% of my class but I am not Valedictorian. I didn’t have any MAJOR awards other than AP Scholar with Honor, which isn’t all that special.
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I HAVE LITERALLY NO CLUE
[ *] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I was accepted to Loyola University Chicago with a 23k Scholarship, and Deferred from Harvard Early Action.

[ /list][ b]General Comments: ** :)) :)) I LITERALLY FEEL SO LUCKY LIKE I AM AN AVERAGE JOE AS COMPARED TO THE REST OF YOU… and my friend who is Valedictorian of my school was deferred early action :frowning: I am beyond elated and will be heavily considering taking a place at the University of Chicago for 2023!

2

Congrats. Maybe your response (heavily considering…) is what they were after by admitting you so early.

3

It happens. It’s called a likely letter. It means they really want you to come and think you’re going to get into lots of other schools so they want to make a good first impression.

4

How did you find out. Email or update to portal. Would think likely letter would not explicitly state acceptance? What does your letter say?

5

Well, they already gave me the option to put down my deposit and accept my place, I wouldn’t call it a likely letter-- they have invited me to admitted student’s weekend, and my portal reflects that I am an admitted student… kind of extreme for just a likely letter @HydeSnark

6

Why would that be extreme for a likely letter? the point is to get you to come lol
In any case, congrats!

7

Congratulations! I’d assume it is psrtly because you are hooked (URM), and they are aggressive in general pursuing any applicant they really want.

Do not share your essays, even via PM. You run the risk of someone plagerizing them, and it could cause trouble for you.

8

“Congratulations! I’d assume it is psrtly because you are hooked (URM), and they are aggressive in general pursuing any applicant they really want.”

  • Agree with the second part of this statement. The first part - not so sure exactly how that plays in, since we know of at least one URM at my son's inner-city high school with exceptional academic credentials (35 ACT, High honors, lots of AP's including BC Calc. etc.) who was deferred EA. Not sure if she stayed in Regular or switched to EDII. Of course, there are many factors that go into a decision, and it's not clear that any one attribute will tip the scales in favor of one candidate over another, other than perhaps applying binding decision.
9

UC still is looking for a certain intellectual profile that isn’t just about test scores and APs taken. A hooked applicant who also ticks that profile box may get the early write over one who seems to fit the UC mold a bit less. Possibly they also had some reason to think the OP will accept the offer, and reason to believe that the other applicant won’t (maybe they assume the other applicant will be accepted to a HPYSM school given their higher test scores, and that their odds of that student attending UC would be less). So yield protection.

10

Let’s not assume it was a hook. OP may have done a great job in her app, she says she did take the time on the essays. I’d hate to see this win diminished.

“a provisional invitation to join the University of Chicago Class of 2023” It would be interesting to see other likely letters Chicago sent out in the past.

Enjoy it.

11

@intparent Ivies and many other schools send out likely letters, it’s not a unique UChicago practice.

It’s a wonderful feeling for the recipients. Congrats, OP!

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^@intparent - was thinking the same thing as you about my son’s classmate, that it was merely a matter of her going back and telling them they are #1 (which was his impression). It’s a good lesson that if you NEED merit aid, and thus apply EA, make sure to communicate your situation to the AO. Not everyone qualifies for need based but still might need that COA to come down. Of course, she might have done all this. The Admissions machine can remain a mystery, despite our best efforts to understand it.

13

@uocparent never said that likely letters aren’t a practice that other colleges engage in, of course it is. Maybe you misunderstood - what I said is that UC is going to lock in the student they think (1) they really want, and (2) they think will say yes. And they are VERY aggressive these days in UC admissions.

Maybe the classmate they are talking to got a likely from some other top school. And not getting a likely letter doesn’t mean a student won’t be admitted - top colleges don’t send likely letters to most of their RD class.

14

^@uocparent - don’t Ivies and many other schools tent to restrict their LLs to recruited athletes? Thought UChicago was a bit more liberal in its use of these, but could be wrong.

15

@JBStillFlying The colleges do not restrict likely letters to legacies and athletes. I only know this because my son’s classmates received likely letters from the ivies, and the ones that we know are not athletes nor legacies.

16

My Valedictorian friend has not received any other likely letters and her only major acceptance is to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbour, a public school. She is an amazing student and I was so surprised to get in after she got deferred! I really appreciate everyone’s insight on the matter and for helping me understand what’s happening! I am not a recruited athlete or a legacy— I am actually a legacy at Washington University in St. Louis, and I am a child of faculty there. How many likely letters are passed out during RD, if you had to guess?

17

@intparent Yes, top colleges do send likely letters to their rd applicants. Those classmates of my son’s who got likelies from ivies were regular decision.

18

@carey46 - not many at all. So yours is an exceptional accomplishment. We’ve known some children of notable faculty to get into top schools both early and RD, but who knows if that’s because there’s a bit of a hook or they tend to be very good fits for the rigors of a top program. (Haven’t heard of a LL in any of those cases). They probably viewed you as a great fit and wanted to give you the heads up before some other school grabbed you. You might call them to discuss merit before committing :smiley:

Congrats!

19

Are you misreading my posts? Yes, almost all top colleges do likely letters (really likely admits now that the paper letter isn’t a thing any more). Yes, they do it for their RD applicants, but by no means all of the RD students.

Likely letters have never been just for athletes (in fact, recruited athletes at schools with ED are strongly encouraged to apply ED anyway – but not all schools offer ED, of course). Every year there are students who are surprised and delighted to get likelies who are not even hooked.

Now… for those who get a likely, remember that a likely is in essence a marketing tool. The college is trying to curry favor with you by giving you an early admission – they hope you will feel fondly toward them on May 1 when it is time to decide between schools. They are hoping that glow from the likely carries over through your decision period and gives them an edge over other schools. Remember this: you probably will never see the people in the admissions office again after you start college. Maybe you run into someone you met once or twice in 4 years, but unless you are working part time in admissions, they are not really part of your college experience. So as warm and fuzzy as you feel towards them now, keep your focus on the best fit for you (academically, financially, socially, etc).

The shoe is on the other foot now – every college that accepts you has to convince you that they are the best choice. Go to accepted student visits at your top choices and keep an open mind until you’ve collected as much info as you can on your options. There is no need to rush to accept an offer. Any merit or FA they’ve offered isn’t going away.

20

^ The only LL’s I’ve specifically known about were for RA’s (including those applying ED as requested). Must not know a very high-brow crowd :))

Edit: not that many RA’s aren’t high-brow. No hating!