<p>From those who were accepted, how much emphasis did you put into your essay? I really want to go there, and if you look at my past threads, you can see my stats.</p>
<p>Even for people don't go there, I am curious if it is possible to get in with an amazing essay, but less than perfect grades.</p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>It's supposed to be one of the primary factors. You probably won't find many other schools that weight the essay as much as Chicago says it does.</p>
<p>I would contemplate about what to write about at least few weeks before the deadline. (the questions are online already) Because of the strange topics, I thought that finding something relevant to write about was significantly harder than the actual writing.</p>
<p>It most certainly is. Obviously you need great grades, but the essay at Chicago is valued far more than it is elsewhere. Spend a ton of time refining it and don't be afraid to get creative.</p>
<p>The essay is extremely important, given that they're quirky and different than traditional essays of other universities and the Common app. Although UChicago is now part of the Common app, I think the supplement will require you to write about their trademark essays.</p>
<p>Very important. Sometimes the admissions council personally remembers your essays and let's you know. It happened to me: they even sent me a book regarding some of my interests.</p>
<p>I started thinking about all three essays intently around October of my senior year. I wrote my two "smaller" essays in late November and revised them a little bit in December. After thinking for two months, I finally wrote my "big" Chicago essay some days before the due date--I took an angle I had never even expected in my months of contemplations and failed rough drafts. But it was one of my finest essays, that's for sure.</p>
<p>UChicago seems to take a far more personal approach to the whole admissions aspect than any other school I've seen. When admitting an atypical student, I hear a popular line is, "We're the University of Chicago: we can do whatever we want." I'm sure it's heard often :). The school has tons of personality, and you should definitely take what the adcoms say to heart: it's a very special school, and they're looking for very special students. Don't hold back on those essays: this isn't a school that's going to judge!</p>
<p>Yeah, on the essays, do not be afraid to be creative, or even humorous. You could treat it as if you were speaking to a friend. At least, that's how it felt when I was writing my essays. They were very frank, funny, and personal.</p>
<p>
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When admitting an atypical student, I hear a popular line is, "We're the University of Chicago: we can do whatever we want."
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</p>
<p>Yeah, I believe that's what Dean O'Neill said in front of a Newsweek reporter!</p>
<p>I agree that the essays are an important part of your application, but I imagine that a great essay-- paired with lackluster stats-- would provide a hard call for the admissions counselor.</p>
<p>There are students in that not great transcript/great essay group who have been waitlisted or denied and students of that same group who have been admitted. So I guess it comes down to: what is your transcript like, and why is it the way that it is? Does your essay demonstrate a lot of academic potential? Will the U of C bring out this potential in you?</p>
<p>At the same time, I know a lot of academically untraditional students who have been admitted (and have done fantastically here) so I know your application will be considered pretty seriously.</p>
<p>I just checked out your stats and I really do think you have a strong chance depending on how well you craft your overall application (primarily the essays). You say you've taken all AP, right? How many APs is that at your school? How does it compare to other students there? If you would be considered "the most rigorous course load," then considering what you said about your recommendations, you should definitely have a strong chance: the note about expressing your opinion eloquently sounds very befitting of the University of Chicago. Just let them know you "recognize the pleasure - the absolute joy - to be found in active, creative learning." I'm assuming you do if you're applying there, anyway! :)</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>Thanks JoeTumpet! I am taking the most rigorous course load. The most you can take in terms of APs is 5, including foreign language. I'm just worried that Uchicago will look at my isolated C's freshman year and turn me down based on that, despite my ACT, essay, and EC achievements.</p>
<p>Unalove, thanks for the info! I feel so stupid that I didn't try my hardest early in high school. I just hope the adcoms look past that!</p>
<p>I was also homeschooled for 5 years (3rd-8th), could I write about how this opened up my mind a lot, but was part of the reason I didn't do so well once I was thrown back in public school?</p>
<p>I would not spend valuable time-- either in your head, in your essay, or otherwise-- worrying about your lower grades freshman year.</p>
<p>If it's keeping you up at night, you can do one or both of two things:
1) Make sure your guidance counselor mentions it in his/her recommendation about you. Whenever you get to school, say hi to your GC and say, "Remember the time when I was homeschooled, and I was out of sync with grades?"
2) Write a note to the admissions office that accompanies your application. (Perhaps it might be useful to send an e-mail to your regional counselor and a hard copy to the office itself, just to have it in two forms). This letter shouldn't be overly apologetic, but rather explain the reasons for your grades being lower freshman year. </p>
<p>I remember the uncommon application had a free space for applicants to say anything they felt wasn't covered by the rest of the application-- I don't know if the supplement has that same space. However, I take that free space in the uncommon app as a cue that the admissions office wants to hear your story and make their decision having as much information on you as possible.</p>
<p>When you say sending to a regional counselor, what do you mean? And How long do you think my note should be? Being home-schooled really let me explore who I was as a person, without the drama and stress of being in public school. It allowed me to become passionate for the things I am interested in today. It's not that I didn't know the curricula when I arrived in HS, I just had a really hard time learning from teachers that wasn't myself. Being at school forced me to to look away from my passions and focus on pleasing the teachers. It took me a while to balance these two out, which is why you can see, from my stats, that there is an upward trend</p>
<p>But thank you SO much for the info!</p>
<p>bumpity bump ^^</p>
<p>Every student is assigned a regional counselor depending on their state (and one person for international admissions). I don't think the list of who will be reading files from your state is up yet, but when it is, you should get their contact information.</p>
<p>The letter should be as long as you need it to be, but probably 200-500 words.</p>
<p>okay, i'll look into that. Thanks!</p>
<p>bump!! ^^!!!</p>
<p>
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I am curious if it is possible to get in with an amazing essay, but less than perfect grades.
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Your transcript is the most important part of your Chicago application. Essays are all well and good, but poor or mediocre grades can only be counterbalanced so much. </p>
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</p>
<p>i think they really like it when you use one of their prompts. i thought i was basically IN at that school given my strong GPA/extracurriculars and terrific essay, but i was waitlisted. i think one of the main reason was because even though i thought my essay was well-written, they could tell i was too lazy to use one of their prompts. my topic could've easily been modified to fit the borges y yo prompt they had this year.</p>
<p>Oh that's the one I wrote about. I recycled an essay I used for another school, but did it well to fit the topic.</p>
<p>They may like it, but it certainly isn't necessary. My D wrote on topic 5 (write your own question) last year and was admitted. What is important is that your essay, whatever the topic, showcase you, your interests and your individuality. If they didn't want to receive essays based on prompts created by applicants they wouldn't provide that option.</p>