U of Chicago and me?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi, all! </p>

<p>I decided this year—too late in the game?—that I would really like to attend a good school. It doesn’t have to be Harvard, but I want an excellent education. I just got a little book in the mail from University of Chicago, and the more I hear of that school, the more I’m interested in it. I really like the idea of consistent out-of-class discussion and discussion-like classes. I get the feeling that the majority of the student body is actively interested in stimulating their intellects, and there seems to be a real emphasis in choosing such students. </p>

<p>Anyway, I’m quite concerned about my portfolio. I’m only an average student, with no special talent in any of the arts or sciences, few extracurricular activities, and negligible volunteer experiences. I’m also homeschooled, and not sure how that affects my standing. I have not taken AP courses (though I have passed one CLEP test so far), and my standardized test scores are not outstanding. For example, the first time I took the ACT, I only earned a 23. Of course, I’m going to retake the test and I’ve been studying to improve that score (substantially, I hope). Also, I don’t have many credits, since in my freshman year I was a total bum with no goals, and as a sophomore I was just that—sophomoric. However, I enrolled in an online academy for the majority of my (admittedly unimpressive) classes this year, all of which I passed with relatively good grades. I’m taking a wild guess and estimating that my average this year is 91% (We don’t do GPAs…). It’s not stellar.</p>

<p>So, what are the chances that a mediocre student like me would be wanted enough by a school like the University of Chicago to get accepted and receive substantial scholarships? Any ideas?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for any comments or advice!</p>

<p>Sofia</p>

<p>Btw—I’m sorry I don’t have more stats. To be honest, I just decided that I wanted to go to college this year and to the U of Chicago…er, last week. Since I’m homeschooled, I have to work with a third party to get an official transcript, and my numbers aren’t nicely compiled… YET!</p>

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<p>Well, here's the problems:</p>

<p>You had a bad freshman year, a so-so sophomore year, and then a 3.6 equivalent U/W GPA in junior year with no honors courses, and your ACT score is 23, which equates to a 540/540/540 SAT. You also say you have few ECs and negligible volunteer work.</p>

<p>University of Chicago admittees have about a 3.75 GPA U/W with lots of honors courses and with an SAT score of about 720/710/710, and lots of ECs--especially academic ones and volunteer work.</p>

<p>Given this I think you know the answer--you have no chance at all at Univ of Chicago. </p>

<p>If you are from Illinois, and you can get your ACT up to at least 27 or 28, you have a shot at Univ of Illinois. Otherwise a good match with your current stats would be DePaul University.</p>

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<p>A 23 ACT would have a very hard time getting into UChicago.</p>

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<p>Right... which is why I'm retaking the ACT. I was a sophmore when I took it, and took it for the experience, not the grade. Since I had exams the two weeks prior to that, I put studying for it aside. Also, I just took the SAT on Saturday, so it's good to know the scores that Uof Chicago needs.</p>

<p>What constitutes an "honor" class? </p>

<p>Thanks for responding!</p>

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<p>If you write a really, really, really good essay, you might still have a chance. One thing that is so wonderful about Chicago is that they seem to genuinely care about the type of person they're admitting and even risk looking beyond stats. They've stated openly that a fantastic essay can make up for a mediocre resume.</p>

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<p>So I assume you loved that little letter that came with that book? I did - I wasn't even interested in U of Chicago, but after reading that weird little letter, I've decided to take a look at it. It's still not one of my top choices, but any college that says "To know this College, you need to know these people" earns my respect. Of course, the typo in the last sentence was not the high point of the letter. :)</p>

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<p>UChi has a habit of admitting really random people, so I'd say your chances are better there than most top schools.</p>

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<p>I used to be really into U. Chicago until I saw their essay topics. I mean, its not because I'm lazy, because I'm definitely not, but the topics were just a huge turn off. I'm seriously doubting how much I'm gonna like going to an university that proposes topics such as string theory for an essay, regardless of the excellent education I'd get.</p>

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<p>umm...string theory is one of the most interesting and engaging science topics out there- and this coming from a humanities person! In fact, it's been criticized for being more philosophy than science...</p>

<p>maybe you should check out PBS.org. They had an excellent series on NOVA about string theory hosted by Brian Greene, a prof at Columbia, which really demonstrates what an awesome topic it is.</p>

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<p>No I agree, its a very interesting topic, but I'd rather have different kind of topic for an essay. I've already seen that production hosted by Greene, it was a couple of dvd's called the elegant universe, if I'm not mistaken. Don't get me wrong, I find all that stuff interesting.
I'm the kind of person who reads econ. and math books during my spare time just because I love the topics...but still I'd rather write my college app essay on something less academic lets say, I'd rather write a short story, or a autobiography, something of that sort.</p>

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<p>haha, my bad then mega</p>

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<p>Nathan-- Yes, the letter that came with that little book was great. Their website is worded similarly... it's fun to read.</p>

<p>The fact that they care genuinely about the people that make up the school, not just stats, is one of the things that I love. </p>

<p>Anyway, thanks for all the posts.</p>

<p>Sofia</p>

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<p>Sofia,</p>

<p>I am also a homeschooled student who was interested in UChicago (I'm not really considering them much anymore after looking at their App, but I thoroughly researched them). Granted, my stats and ECs are better than yours (and I also have a few "hooks" that would help me), but I think that you have a chance if you work on your essays. The essays for Uchicago are probably even more important than your SATs or Transcript. If you need some help putting together a transcript or you have any homeschool college addmissions questions, I would be glad to help (if I can). You can PM or Email me. Good luck to ya!</p>

<p>~Tori</p>

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<p>Ah yes! "The Life of the Mind" was a very fun read. :)!</p>

<p>There was a lot of intellectual humor & I felt that the dialogues were very helpful.... I did notice though that the book strayed away from the </p>

<p>U of Chicago is known to have some pretty quirky admissions, if you write a very unique & witty essay, that could even outdo the 23 ACT.</p>

<p>But my advice would be to see what you get on your SAT's in June, you may do a lot better on the SAT's than the ACT's.</p>

<p>But my advice would be to try to find schools not as difficult to get in with an environment similar to U of C.</p>

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<p>i still dont get why ppl continue to say that chicago values essays more than test scores</p>

<p>news to me</p>

<p>SAT verbal range: 680-770
SAT math range: 670-760</p>

<p>how many other universities match this? There are probably only 6-7 other schools in this country that exceed these #s.</p>