Decision: Waitlisted
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2170 (730R, 750W, 690M)
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II (place score in parentheses): U.S History: 800, Literature: 750
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.1… I know…
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 30%
Senior Year Course Load: AP Computer Science, AP Biology, AP Lit, AP Gov, AP Music Theory, 3D Studio Art, AP Statistics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Debate Stuff, Music stuff, Stuff
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Lincoln Douglass Debate, Music Composition, Activism
Job/Work Experience: Sports store, I currently intern for a Congresswoman and have done some cool work for police reform.
Volunteer/Community Service: A lot of fundraising and activism
Summer Activities: Music Program at Berklee
Essays: They were strengths.
Teacher Recommendations: no clue
Counselor Rec: horrible
Additional Rec: no clue
Interview: I know of no interview for I had no interview
Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yep! :3
Projected Major: Philosophy
State (if domestic applicant): FL
Country (if international applicant): U.S.
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Indian
Gender: I am male
Income Bracket: $100,000-$150,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I am a cool guy
Reflection
Strengths: Awards: Honestly? I think my essays struck a chord. Why UChi was the last essay I wrote and I kind of spilled my heart into it. I also sent original music compositions. Oh, and I sent an update that was pretty quirky and chicago-ey.
Weaknesses: I am what many call a “fuck up.”
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I am an individual and I guess I demonstrated that.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: I have been rejected from everywhere so far-- Oxford, Vanderbilt, Northeastern-- Waiting on a bunch.
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Okay, since I’ve been a vague asshole in this post, here is my Why Uchicago Essay. Personally, I think this might have helped.
It seems that prompts like this are predicated on the idea of certainty. As though I, at the tender age of seventeen, am sure of what kind of learning I seek and what my aspirations are, to such a fine degree that I can write a substantive essay on it.
The truth is, I am not certain.
I think I possess an intellectual affinity. I like satirical political discussions, trying weird foods, science, and Lincoln-Douglas debate, but who is to say this is my nature? Maybe if I was born in Compton, I would, at this point, like knife-fights, peddling cocaine, and veiled misogyny, but likewise, could we really call this my nature? Would these interests be of such solvency that I could confidently relate them to “I?”, I being the most fundamental version of me. I being the lion beneath the mane-- the core of the human apple. The answer is no. Therefore, while I have done quite a bit of research on the University of Chicago, I am still grappling with “my desire,” and thus, find it difficult to substantively and directly answer this prompt.
However, I suppose all pieces of writing must somehow resolve themselves, lest they fall to the skeletal hands of aesthetic incompletion, and so I will conclude this essay with an analytical reflection on the previous essay----We must break down the metaphysical wall of intellectual aristocracy. The University of Chicago, Harvard, Yale, and all the such, do not hold a monopoly on knowledge, and if one so desired, s(he) could gain the same information one spend $150,000 dollars to gain at Columbia, Penn, or Williams for a $1.50 in late fees at the public library. And yet, society as a whole has inadvertently perpetuated the idea that we must attend a reputable university to do so. The idea that a degree is necessary for a respectable career has translated into the idea that a degree is a validation of knowledge.
I have, in my short time, come to know better.
I have spoken to Columbia graduates with puffed chests and empty brains, just as well as I have spoken to my friend’s father, a humble construction site manager with a historical acumen like no other. If there is a certainty worthy of acting as a conclusion, it is that the only hypothetical instance in which the University of Chicago would be a necessity to satisfy my desires, would be in an instance in which my sole and primary desire was to go to the University of Chicago, in which case the only logical satisfaction of this desire would be to go to the University of Chicago.
While I am still grappling with my identity and sense of self, I can state with certainty that the satisfaction of “my desire,” is not predicated on attending any particular university. I will always walk the path of self-discovery whether that path be on the University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt, by the side of the Yangtze River in Northeast China in an effort to rescue North Korean refugees, or on the thin plaid carpet at the local library, I will always walk it.
