<p>What do the admissions look for in prospective CHicago students? I have been curious what magnitude GPA and class rank have on a student's chances. </p>
<p>Also - Has anyone else been receiving their monthly post card series?</p>
<p>Hey EASD! haha yeah, I've received their postcard series (I sent in every single one =). As for admissions at UChicago, I'm not too sure, but I do know that the essay is heavily weighted, so you'll want to give it your all. Also, I know someone that goes there, and told me that they also look heavily upon ACT scores (well, I'm in the midwest so the ACT is big here, I'm assuming if you're somewhere like the west coast you most likely took the SAT). </p>
<p>Now, of course they will look into GPA and class rank, but UChicago has always been known for its wacky essay topics (which is why its weighed so heavily).</p>
<p>Phew, that is great to know because I am a great writer and I have been doinf the essays too. I am still working on the book shelf one. I love it! </p>
<p>And yes, no one takes ACT where I live but I'm glad you suggest it. I'll look into it because I know little about it. I scored very high on the PSAT though. Thanks!</p>
<p>they look into how "fit" you are, meaning how well you'll fit into the university, meaning how weird you are</p>
<p>and by weird i mean eating sammiches at UMarket and discussing how corn beef on rye is a microcosm of pop culture</p>
<p>so try to make your essay "fit"</p>
<p>My child is currently entering her third year at the U of Chicago and I was actively involved with her application there, so I am somewhat knowledgeable about what the school is looking for. First of all, the school is looking for "fit", but weird is really not the right definition of what they are looking for. They are looking for people who are intellectually curious and love to learn. That means that they want people who are curious about all sorts of topics and not just narrowly interested in one specific area, hence the core curriculum at the school where you are required to take science, art, math, etc. So well rounded is important. In my child's case, she was active in community service with retarded children, sang in a nationally reknowned choir ( and directed a church youth choir) and did reasonably well academically (top ten percent of her class, with a mixture of AP/honor classes and regular/high level courses). They like to see SAT scores in the 1400 range and in the past were not too concerned with the writing section of the SAT, but that might have changed. They do like to see a specific interest in the U of Chicago by the prospective student and you should research the school and let them know why you specifically think you will fit in and why. Arts are blossoming there with a massive new arts center being built and sports are also blossoming with a relatively new sports complex having been built and a pretty active intramural and division III sports scene.
Community service and special talents are looked at with great importance as are recommendations. If possible, an on campus interview is recommended, but is not required and local alumnus interviews can be arranged. While not necessarily numbers driven, the types of courses and level of those courses that you took in high school are important to show intellectual curiousity and the ability to handle the type of work tackled at Chicago, so an average in the range of 3.5 or higher would probably be recommended. Minority recruitment is high on their agenda,so if you are a good student and a minority, it can help you. Lots of luck.</p>
<p>on my UChicago tour, we started talking about the post cards and the tour guide said, "yeah, they're pilling up in the admissions office mail room... we dont really know what to do with them yet..."</p>
<p>For the record, it doesn't matter how good of a writer you are. They don't take any consideration into the writing portion of the SAT for that reason. Instead, they want to see what your thought process is like. For instance, since one of the current prompts is "tell the story of a street" and you wrote down the dimensions of the street, the coefficient of friction of the street, and what material the street was made out of and then plugged it into an equation to find out how easy it is for a car to go from one end to the next, they'd be impressed to say the least</p>
<p>Newenglandparent said the majority of what I was going to say.</p>
<p>I'm too lazy to find the post now, where Libby (Chicago admissions person) talks about how admissions is not an exact formula. It's not as if your scores count for X much, your grades for Y much, and your teacher recs and essays for Z much. My feeling is (based on my personal experience and the experiences of people I know) that Chicago-- and other schools-- are interested in getting to know the whole you, and who you are sort of dictates what's important in your file.</p>
<p>What's a good fit for Chicago? In the simplest sense, it's somebody who works hard, does well when he/she works hard, likes working hard, and wants to work hard in college.</p>
<p>Would it be intelligent to write an essay to UChicago about how ridiculous their essays are?</p>
<p>I've heard of people who, instead of writing about a topic, they write the opposite. Actually, I read that a lot of people did this. </p>
<p>titan, if done well, yes, but I think such essay would sound like you're criticizing their essay topics, etc.
Why would you ridicule their essays?
Unless you do it in a funny way, like imply that their essays are ridiculous while you write an equally ridiculous essay - I would find the irony humorous and appreciable.</p>
<p>BTW, here's an excerpt from their acceptance letter to show you that they do not just consider numbers:</p>
<p>"You have been selected by our faculty and admissions counselors because you recognize the pleasure - the absolute joy - to be found in active, creative learning. Our decision was not based on numbers but on your achievements and your words, a difficult determination to make but one that gives proper honor to the University and to you."</p>
<p>Makes you feel all tingly inside.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, I remember getting that letter from The Ted! That one brought tears to my mom's eyes-- it also helped her write the fat check :-)</p>
<p>Their acceptance letter is so nice! Ahh, UChicago...such a wonderful school.</p>