<p>Hey, I am done applying and I am beginning the long and grueling wait until April... Out of curiousity how do you guys feel about my chances. be brutal I know they are dismal.
GPA 3.85 uw all AP's except chem
SAT 1400 640m 760v
5-10% rank I think 7%
medium sized public high school
class schedule:
AP euro
AP english
AP calc
chemistry
College biotech class
3rd year French
teaching assistant (also last years APUSH teacher/ coach wrote amazing rec)
these are the only schools I don't think I could get that I applied to :
Northwestern
Notre Dame
UCHicago
ecs:
x country 3 years
track 4 years
youth group 4 yrs
ASB officer
tutor 3 yrs
lots of clubs with positions still pretty meaningless (NHS, Link Crew, teen advisory council, etc)
volunteer:
political campaigns
food bank
children's museum
my old catholic school's library
I have a lot of hours of community service and I invested a lot of time in running, but I am not good enough to continue in college. Anyways, I know I have excellent rec's because my teachers let me read them, (I know this is bad) I couldn't resist anyway, what do you guys think?
btw: I really liked my essays, except uchi's wasn't as "quirky" as I had hoped.
Thanks!</p>
<p>Have you taken any AP's prior to your senior year? AP or SAT II Scores? I think you have a pretty good shot. Are you going to run at UChicago? That could help. But your SAT is above average anyway. Good Luck!</p>
<p>You need to distinguish yourself through your essays/recs. Everything is typical, and while nothing makes you look really bad, nothing makes you look really good. If you're not aware, Chicago places enormous emphasis on the essay. Chicago's essay was the only one that I edited, and I think it went a long way. Humor/quirkiness are crucial, in my opinion.</p>
<p>Thanks guys! I have taken all AP throughout junior/senior year and honors before that, I don't think I am fast enough to run in college, and dang it I think I may have blown it on the essay! It was good but not uchi good if you know what I mean. Well do you think I have a shot at either nd or nwestern?</p>
<p>You have a great shot at all of those schools, unless your UChicago essay is as bad as you claim.</p>
<p>If you want to PM me the essay, I'll be happy to honestly assess it for you.</p>
<p>UChicago Acceptee,
Brinestorm</p>
<p>wow thanks, I'll do that!</p>
<p>I agree. You are certainly a candidate for acceptance. However, Early Action would have given you a nice boost, and that's what Brinestorm did. My overall assessment: don't be surprised with either outcome. Just think positively. If you don't get in, big deal. If you do, kickass. Don't stress.</p>
<p>shoot so you think I should've applied early? I thought my app would pale in comparison to the rest of the pool. DANG IT. Thank you so much for your help.</p>
<p>Yes, EA gives a definite boost at Chicago, though it's not as substantial as EA at other schools. I really don't think you hurt yourself TOO much by doing RD. I'm applying RD as well, and I expect to be accepted (I just have a feeling). As everyone always says, Chicago's pool is self-selecting, EA more so than RD. I have a real-life example. My friend Tim was accepted EA. He was rank one, 1480 SAT, 700/740/670. Nice ECs and everything. The thing is, he was/is gung-ho Chicago. He's already enrolled and he's psyched. I, on the other hand, am primarily interested in Cornell, Chicago, and Berkeley. I probably look slightly better on paper than Tim, but I didn't make the effort to send the app in by Nov 1. I applied RD, and this reflects the fact that I am not as dedicated to Chicago as Tim. I hope that helps.</p>
<p>I see, dang I probably should've applied early because uchi is definitely my first choice. Hey, do you know if where you live matters? Like if you aren't in the area does it show more of an interest?</p>
<p>Location really doesn't matter much at all. There might be a slight bias in favor of those living in Chicago, though that's just speculation. I believe Chicago does have affirmative action, and this might favor people from the Deep South or international students. But overall, don't worry about it.</p>
<p>ok sorry to ask so many questions, but here's another: I'm assuming your essay was quirky and humorous as you said it was "crucial" above. Am I absolutely out if it wasn't all that quirky? I just don't write that way. Maybe that means I am just not uchi material. Hmm.. I realize this isn't something you can really answer it's just none of my friends are really into getting into the perfect school (they all want to go to close state schools) and if they knew how much I cared I'd get made fun of :) So I need someone to talk to about it with! Anyway, I guess I'm asking if you really meant "crucial" because I tried to be as honest as i could and I feel like it is very well written but I definitely wouldn't call it quirky, you know?</p>
<p>To be honest, you never know what they want. To see how some people stacked up, go look at the EA acceptances thread in this forum. I may be hard on myself, but I thought my essay was kind of dumb, but it was the mustard one, and I got accpeted. My SAT was a bit higher than yours, and I had two perfect SATIIs, but no sports and only one AP under my belt. </p>
<p>For my essay, I did some thing on "faith the size of a mustard seed" from the Gospel of Matthew. I set up a crude experiment to find the faith content in a jar of mustard. Kinda like E=mc Squared. I thought it was actually worse than my MIT essay, which deferred me. Right now, I would say 60-40 In:Out</p>
<p>thanks. I'm sure your essay was at least more creative than mine. Good luck to us both.</p>
<p>oh just kidding, you already got in. you are an inspiration then! not because you have poor stats or anything just because anyone who got in is my hero. I hope we get to go to school together although it sounds like uchi isn't your top choice.</p>
<p>Actually, UChicago is one of my firrst choices. It beats a few other schools on my list, probably including MIT. I am applying to a few other top 10 schools and Cornell and am in at UIUC. I figure UIUC is out, Cornell is a close rival to Chicago simply cuz I could transfer to Engineering and it is in a great town and they might give better financial aid. The other top schools I would go to if I got in, but since I figure I won't, then it will be between Cornell and Chicago, and right now, Chicago is way ahead. So yeah, I am pretty much telling people that I am about 90% sure I found my school! Where else are you applying? What do you want to major in? I will be a physics major.</p>
<p>I've heard that EA actually can hurt your chances slightly instead of helping like ED does because you're asking the colleges to commit early without your commitment. My Chicago interviewer suggested that if I wasn't the strongest candidate I apply RD...so don't worry about not applying EA.</p>
<p>On the contrary, the EA helps at least a little bit at just about every school that has it. The applicant pool is shrunken and tends to be slightly weaker than the RD pool. There is a well-regarded book whose name I'm forgetting that makes this case using deep statistical analysis. The authors assert that applying EA to an average school in America is the equivalent of a 100-point SAT score boost. This is probably not true for UChicago since the EA pool is stronger than in comparable schools. Still, I definitely think EA gives a nice boost.</p>
<p>According to "the Truth About Getting In" EA is only for very qualified students, but most colleges don't like having to commit in December knowing that you won't commit until May and may actually be applying ED somewhere as you send in your app to them. I don't really know -- I'm not an admissions officer -- but that's what I've heard...</p>
<p>a 100 point SAT boost? dang! That is pretty awesome. I think college has a great shot, I'm no expert, but he/she is certainly solid everywhere. At least in a Notre Dame, I'm kind of doubting Northwestern though.</p>