<p>I want to know how you made it in and if you have any tips/suggestions/warnings about admissions as well as high school curriculum leading up to applying :) Thanks!</p>
<p>I was accepted early decision, and I was within the GPA range (3.9 unweighted) and the SAT range (700 CR, 800 M, 750 W), but I feel that my essays and recommendations got me in. UChicago’s essay prompts are very unorthodox, and require a decent amount of thought and a lot of creativity. For my application, I chose the find x prompt, and took a very philosophical route in answering it, which I think was unexpected seeing as I want to be a math or econ major. Be sure to show your personality through your essays (and interview), because you do not have much personal contact with the admissions office itself, so these mediums are your chance to show them who you are. As for the recommendations, just choose who knows you the best. I chose my advisor who was also my math teacher in eight, ninth and tenth grade, and my physics teacher from freshman year and this year. I also had an additional recommendation from the director of performing arts at my school, as I am very involved in theater. Even though I did not choose teachers from different academic fields, my recommendations were one of the strongest, if not the strongest, piece of my application.</p>
<p>As for other tips, I would say try to show a diverse range of interests, challenge yourself, and be involved. Take a wide variety of classes that challenge you yet also interest you. Also, try to be involved in as many activities as possible. I am a peer tutor, admissions ambassador, run cross country, play baseball, do theatre, choir, and mock trial. I did very little community service, as I never found anything that interested me, but I feel it had very little effect on my application as I was involved in so many other activities. Don’t worry about college too much in high school. Just enjoy your time there. When I signed up for classes or activities, it wasn’t because I wanted to impress a college. I just wanted to do it. I’m sure there are people who did exactly the opposite, but I did just fine doing what I wanted to do.</p>
<p>Finally, when/if you apply, be sure to be in contact with students/teachers/admissions throughout the application process. I must have sent twenty emails to my admissions representative, all with valid, pointed questions, and also contacted professors and students. I think that because I had so much contact, the admissions representative was able to see my personality and maybe know me a little better as he was reviewing my application. Good luck in your high school endeavors and your college application/decision process.</p>
<p>No one really knows what got them in. We ain’t adcoms.</p>