***UChicago 2020 RD Results***

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
81

**Decision: Deferred ** ----->
**Decision: Waitlisted ** ----->
**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I and/or ACT (breakdown): C35 E34 R33 M36 S36 W36
SAT II (place score in parentheses):800 Math II 740 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):~3.5
Rank/Percentile:NA
AP (place score in parentheses):US History(5) Calc BC(5) Chem(4) Macro(4)
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: standard w/ 3 APs
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):na

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):standard
Job/Work Experience:standard
Volunteer/Community Service:standard
Summer Activities:standard
Essays:8-9/10
Teacher Recommendations:no idea, probably good
Counselor Rec:no idea, probably good
Additional Rec:na
Interview: nailed it

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? nope
Projected Concentration:Psych+Econ
State/Country:International
School Type:Top 10 boarding in the States
Ethnicity:Chinese
Gender:M
Income Bracket:probably high
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):nada

Reflection
Strengths:high school prestige, testing scores
Weaknesses:citizenship, low gpa
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: definitely because of my high school. No way that I could’ve got in without it.
Where else you are applying or have already applied:a lot
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: College is a crapshoot, it honestly is. It was an emotional roller coaster for me, but it was a good one.

82

[ size=+2][ color=orange][ b]Decision: Waitlisted**[/color][/size]

Objective:
SAT I: 2050 (580 m, 680 v, 790 w)
700 Bio, 700 Lit
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): ~3.7
Weighted GPA: 4.03
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 11/272 (top 4%)
AP (place score in parenthesis): Eur Hist (5), Eng Comp (4) US Hist (5)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Bio, AP Calc, H. Anatomy, H. English
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): a few school and regional awards, AP scholar, silver in national Spanish exam, bronze in state writing - nothing earth shattering

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):VP band, 2 summer bio college lab internships, NHS, school paper, drama club, freshman softball
Volunteer/Community service: library volunteer
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 9, personal experience overcoming some unique challenges
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 7-8, pretty good, nothing great

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: Bio
State (if domestic applicant): MA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity:W
Gender: F
Income Bracket: 150k

Reflection
Strengths: writing, bio lab experience
Weaknesses: math (SAT), unweighted GPA
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: the compelling side of the app described in essay couldn’t quite make up for lower (relative to this kind of app pool) GPA/test scores
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: rejected all Ivies except Brown (didn’t apply), Stanford, Amherst, Swarthmore (was deferred E/A Harvard then rejected)
Waitlisted: U Chicago, Tufts, Tulane (?)
Accepted: Boston University, UMass

General Comments:
Submitting for my daughter - before applying, we were comfortable with the flagship state school where she can graduate with no debt and conduct research; all other schools except BU/Tulane were reaches, but we figured it was a lottery and just needed one school to take a bite - almost worked. Didn’t apply to any other higher tier private schools since their aid would be too low to make it worthwhile. She’s getting ready for UMass & its quality biology/research opportunities (BU is very expensive, provides little aid and isn’t a significant step up from UMass), but would definitely accept off of waitlist from Chicago.

83

Decision: Accepted

Objective
• ACT: 35 for all ACT tests
• SAT II: 740s for 3 subjects tests
• GPA: 95.6/100
• Rank: Top 20% in a senior class of over 800 students
• AP courses: Chem, Bio, Pre Calc, History, Psych, Comp Sci (grades are a mix between 94% and 97%)
• Senior Year Course Load: Fairly loaded but nothing out of the ordinary.
• Number of other EA applicants in your school: Don’t really know
• Major Awards: None

Subjective
• Extracurriculars: Honor Society, Student Mentor, Symphonic Band, Junior Varsity Assistant Coach, Student assistant to two professors.
• Job/Work Experience: Worked two summers in two different Neuro Labs at two prestigious Hospitals; Continued to work in the labs while at Junior year; assisting professors at the Brain and Psychiatric centers.
• Volunteer / Community service: Worked as a summer tutor for underprivileged children; Worked an entire summer at an orphanage in Asian city of a developing country (third world).
• Writing:
• Common App Main: (10/10) Discussed my love for scientific research in a highly technical essay and how it relates to brain function and musical prowess.
• Extended essay: (10/10) Jazz musician and my love for music
• Why Chicago: (10/10) Fairly straightforward about how I like UChicago’s Neuroscience program and why and how I could benefit from it. Interspersed it with my love for music theory.
• Teacher Rec #1: (9/10) Science teacher – he really loves me
• Teacher Rec #2: (9/10) English teacher – he loves me more
• Counselor Rec: (10/10) I love and adore my Guidance counselor and she has known me since my freshman year. I hang out in her office constantly and help her with whatever she needs.
• Additional Rec: None
• Interview: None
• Art Supplement: None

Other
• Date Submitted App: Oct 2015
• State: NY
• School Type: Public
• Ethnicity: Asian / American
• Gender: Female
• Income Bracket: >200K
• Hooks: None really

Reflection
• Strengths: My extra-curricular activities are genuine and I really loved what I did and thrived in the environment. I did not do them to pad my activity sheet. I think I am a good writer, but more importantly, I took a lot of time producing the essays. Since each essay was tailor-fitted for each individual application, it took me weeks to finish the essays. I believe I got good recommendations (according to my teachers and my counselor). I know them very well and they saw me go through many stages of teenage angst, agony, victory, challenges and growth.
• Weaknesses: My grades could be better but my HS is very competitive and getting a 98 / 100 places you at the top 1% of the class.
• Why you think you were accepted: Applying on the EA round makes a big difference in UChicago. It shows interest, commitment, and planning. My essays were unique and unusual but not crazy. Finally, I applied for an unusual set of majors: Neuroscience and Music.
• What would you have done differently?: Nothing much really
• General Comments: I received a large merit scholarship and that really took the cake for me. None of the other schools where I was admitted offered me a scholarship. I do not know why I got the scholarship but I don’t intend to find out either. I am just happy I got it. I never visited UChicago prior to sending my application but I think it does not matter. UChicago is looking for a particular type of student who is smart but not in a stereotypical manner (i.e. high IQ, high but unique in many ways).
• Congratulations to all.

84

Decision: Accepted!

Pretty sure my dad posted my stats somewhere here but I’m putting up slightly more accurate and detailed ones.

Objective:
SAT I: didn’t submit. it was amusingly bad
ACT: 35 C (36 E 36 R 35 M 34 S) + 31 W
SAT II: Biology (740) Chemistry (720) Math II (790)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Rank/Percentile: my school doesn’t rank me
APs: Comp Sci (4), US History (4)
AP courseload: 6 in total
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus BC, AP English, AP Music Theory, AP (Bio focus) Psychology
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Latin Exam Silver medal (is this a “major” award?? lol)

Subjective:
Extracurriculars: neuroscience lab research, neuropsychology lab internship/journal club, hospital internship shadowing a neurologist and interacting with patients, president of neuroscience club, principal chair of symphonic band (tenor saxophone), piano for 10+ years (classical training), junior varsity volleyball coach for three years, nationally competing volleyball team, National Honor Society tutor
Volunteer/Community Service: tutoring of struggling first graders between freshman and sophomore year, orphanage in an impoverished town of the Philippines between sophomore and junior year
Summer Activities: volleyball club team, volunteering mentioned above, research mentioned above
Essays: Common App (9/10)
My Common App essay was about my research and it was pretty quirky actually because it was about worms… haha.
Why Chicago (8/10)
Out of my eleven college apps, this was the only one that I didn’t complete over the summer before senior year. I honestly don’t want to toot my own horn but I’ve had the most amazing English teachers ever since elementary school, so I consider my writing to be pretty good. I think this foundation was the only way I saved this essay that I wrote in basically the five days before the application was due.
Uncommon (10/10)
This was definitely the best essay I’ve ever written. It was about my love for music, which I could write infinite pages about. Enough said, I guess.
Optional (10/10???)
How do I even rate this one? It just asked for a list of things I liked. I happen to like a lot of anime, classical music, and old sci-fi movies (any old-school Star Wars fans here?)
Teacher Recommendations: Got one from a sophomore year math teacher who I just loved and I ended up tutoring sophomores under his supervision. When things were quiet, I would just talk to him about anything and everything - life, philosophy, music, anything. I was really close to him. At first I thought it was a disadvantage that he was a sophomore year teacher, but I think the fact that he really knew me as a person helped enormously.
My second rec was from my English teacher (for all of junior year, although I had different classes for the two semesters) who was really caring and smart. I knew his writing would be really good (which one should take into consideration for these things - writing that’s easier on the eyes will definitely be looked upon well) because his essay grading was brutal. He never seemed to be totally satisfied with anyone’s essays.
Counselor Rec: I’ve been friends with my guidance counselor since freshman year and I have complete faith in her that she did an amazing job.
Additional Rec: None. I heard they’re actually annoying… admissions officers are swamped with enough reading as it is.
Interview: Didn’t interview for UChicago

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
Projected Concentration: Neuroscience and music
State/Country: New York
School Type: Public-selective
Ethnicity: Asian-Hispanic
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: $175,000-200,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Hispanic roots, I guess, science focus but strong humanities grades, especially in English, first chair tenor saxophone for four years in the most selective band, president of a club

Reflection
Strengths: almost-perfect ACT, strong essays, strong extracurriculars + volunteer experiences, good recommendations, heavy senior courseload
Weaknesses: GPA? not sure, not that many major awards, teacher recommendation from a sophomore year teacher rather than a junior/senior year teacher, average SAT IIs, only two APs in junior year and 4s on both of those tests
Why you think you were accepted: the music essay (and the rest of my writing). I’m 99% sure it was because of that.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Accepted to University of Michigan, Northeastern University, rejected from Columbia University (with Columbia legacy too, thanks a lot -__-) and UCLA (what??? I was very confused by this one)
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Throughout this whole process I learned a few things.
One - a high GPA and SAT/ACT score are basically a requirement. You really won’t be considered without these because basically everyone applying to top-tier schools have them. SAT IIs are second on the list (even though I’m really not one to talk with my crappy Chemistry score, haha.)
Two - Do extracurriculars really matter? Not as much as everyone seems to think they do. I put all of my energy into getting awesome opportunities in my field, and specifically in my field, but another girl from my school was literally the president of her knitting club and volunteered at a zoo and she got in too. So…
Three - when I was at the open house, the dean of admissions - Mr. Nandorf - emphasized how ridiculously important the essays are in the process. The essays basically decide the decision.

Congrats to everyone that got in - see you next year! :wink:

85

Choose One:
**Decision: Accepted **

Got a call yesterday from my regional admissions officer that I would be offered a space in the class of 2021. I’ve wanted to take a gap year since my sophomore year, so it’s perfect.

Objective:
SAT I and/or ACT (breakdown): 34C third try: 35R 31M 35C 33S
SAT II (place score in parentheses): German 770, U.S. History 790
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.6 (haters gonna hate ;p). However, it is important to note that unweighted means relatively little at my school, even though I’m pretty sure my garbage unweighted is what got me put on the waitlist.
Rank/Percentile: top 10% (I think I’m #7, colleges dont see that though)
AP (place score in parentheses): 5s on: Calc AB, USH, Euro, Human Geo, Spanish, German. 4s on: English Lit, World History (Didn’t take the class fort these two tho.
IB (place score in parentheses): no
Senior Year Course Load: Calc BC, Physics IBHL, English IBHL, Econ IBHL, Spanish IBHL, History IBSL
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): hahaha

[ b]Subjective:**
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):
Job/Work Experience: Accounting internship over the summer (didn’t really talk about this tho)
Volunteer/Community Service: Too specific (for my privacy), but 11/10. I work with a high school in my native country (very poor, in South America)
Summer Activities: Internship before senior year, took precalc over the summer before junior.
Essays: Guys – this is 100% of why I got in. My “Why UChicago” outlined the legacy of Milton Friedman, and how no other University in the country had anything that matched that (I am devoutly fiscally conservative to an extent that cannot be conveyed with words). I also spoke of the Chicago boys (look them up, they’re savage) and how I could identify with them because I was also hispanic and into developmental economics.
Commonapp was my life story. Important because I moved around a lot and its shaped my world view.
My extended essay was also crazy. I made my own prompt, took the lyrics from two Chicago rappers, and applied them to my high school experience and charity work. Definitely why I got in. It was also really important because it explained why I want to study developmental economics.

Teacher Recommendations:both are 8-9/10. Eng and history teacher.
Counselor Rec: I assume it’s good?
Interview: Went super well. She was a senior, and we bonded over Economics and an investment banking job she had just landed. Talked for a pretty long time, and was the least awkard interview over all the other ones.

[ b]Other**
Applied for Financial Aid? nope (Im sure this plays a big role too)
Projected Major: ECON (definitely made it way harder)
State/Country: The best state (FL)
School Type: Private, class around 180.
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: The highest one
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, and savage essays. Gap Year was also super important.

[ b]Reflection**
Strengths: Essays, test scores, ECs.
Weaknesses: Grades (I had two Bs junior year, and one this year)
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: ECs, Essays (particularly connecting myself to the Chicago boys), 34, massive interest.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Only applied to 6 colleges. Five ivies and UChicago. Accepted Cornell, and rejected everywhere else. Plus: I’m the realest spick inside the A.
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:

Done. Finally done. No need to reapply during the gap year. Just try your hardest in everything, but LEARN TO SELL. This whole process is about selling yourself to colleges. It’s not who you are, but how you prevent yourself – and that’s not unmoral, it’s just a fact.

86

Decision: Waitlisted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2170 (CR 720 M 680 W 770) 2150 single sitting
ACT (breakdown): didn’t take
SAT II: didn’t send
Weighted GPA: 4.09
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): English Language and Composition (5), Music Theory (5)
Senior Year Course Load: 5 APs (Bio, Stat, French, Literature, HG) and 2 music ensembles
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Princeton Book Award, several music composition and music awards etc.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Music: Violin (concertmaster of several orchestras up to All State), Composition (works premiered by major orchestras), Vocal performance (Top tenor in the state),
Honors: French Honor Society (President), National Honor Society, International Thespian Society
Job/Work Experience: Freelance writing and editing business
Volunteer/Community service: Several trips, worked at hospital for several summers, trips to homeless shelters
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Some of the best things I’ve ever written - sure that they kept me waitlisted instead of rejected.
Common App: 9/10 - thought this was solid
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: AP Lang Teacher - 8/10 - didn’t read, assume it was good
Teacher Rec #2: Anatomy Teacher - 8.5/10 - didn’t read, assume it was good
Counselor Rec: 7.5/10 - sure it was fine, but you never know, counselors are often not amazing writers so
Additional Rec: Two supplemental letters - Capstone project mentor (9/10) and letter from composition professor (8.5/10)
Interview: 7/10 Though I think it actually went well in terms of what I did for my application, my interviewer TOTALLY turned me off UChicago, complaining about everything that’s wrong with it and why I should study elsewhere. Super strange…

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Music Composition and Biological Sciences (and Japanese?)
State (if domestic applicant): Northeast, foreign citizenship
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Irrelevant
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): International person, trilingual

Reflection

Strengths: Composition Portfolio, Essays, Interview, Grades, letters of rec (I think?)
Weaknesses: Test scores
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Essays kept me in the pool, ridiculously competitive pool kept me in the waitlist instead of accept pile. Not salty at all.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: Vanderbilt, Williams(waitlisted–>accepted), BU (Honors $50k merit), Grinnell ($15k merit), UConn (Honors $7k merit)
Waitlisted: Tufts, UChicago
Rejected: Northwestern, Harvard, Yale (deferred SCEA), Dartmouth

All I can say is Anchor Down :wink:

87

Hi there @kathkath42
I don’t know if you’re still active on College Confidential or will even get this, but if you are, is there any chance that I could talk to you about your college applications from last year? I know this is really random and maybe kinda creepy…but I’m really desperate to find people like me on here. My test scores and GPA are really similar to yours, and although I don’t want to say where, I am dancing professionally this year with the Second Company of a pretty large ballet company in the USA while also attending my regular high school.
Since attending college is not a norm among ballet dancers (especially ones whose careers have already started) I’ve been unable to find any applicants that look like me. Reading all of these stats on people, I can’t help but think that I’m such an irregular applicant that perhaps I’ll be looked at a little differently. I’m absent from school about 89% of the year, and I’m applying to some really selective “top schools” just like it sounds like you did. I’m really unsure as to how my decision to start my career a year early will look to schools, and I’d just love to hear from you as to if you feel like it helped or hurt your application.
Not sure if you can dm people on here…but if that’s an option I’d love to talk to you!