Stats:
SAT I: 2120 (superscore), 2070 (one sitting)
ACT: 34 (English 35, Math 35, Reading 34, Science 31)
GPA: 3.926 out of 4.000 I honestly messed up real bad my junior year…
Freshman year: 4.477, Sophomore year: around a 4.000, Junior year: around a 3.5 (yes I know my GPA plummeted, yes it is completely my fault), Senior year: right now it’s around a 4.200
Rank/percentile: Top 20%
Extracurriculars:
Varsity Golf for 1 year
Varsity Lacrosse for 3 years (captain junior year)
Student volunteer at local hospital for 3 years (orthopedics dept and PACU)
Local youth symphony orchestra for 3 years (first violin)
Chamber quartet for 2 years (1st violin)
Latin club for 3 years
National Latin Exam award winner for 3 years
National Latin Honor Society for 3 years
National Honors Society for 2 years (private one on one math tutor starting senior year)
FBLA Secretary
All-school mass instrumentalist, member of orch pit for school plays and musicals
High honors awards (school)
Internship/work experience
Over the summer, I interned at a a plastic surgeon’s office in another country. Got a very enriching experience about hospitality and the health care profession, in which I hope to have a career (orthodontist).
I also taught english to middle schoolers while I was in another country this summer
Essays: common app is solid, supplement is great
Teacher Rec (2): both pretty good
Counselor Rec: absolutely the best
Currently a senior at a medium sized private catholic school (VERY rigorous)
Transferred to another school in a different state my sophomore year
Fluent in two languages
Lived in 2 countries, 3 states
Minority female (asian), upper middle class
I live in Indiana
Categorized as an international student because I am not a citizen, although I have gone to school in the US since 1st grade. (No green card yet, but soon)
Thanks!
Also: Would UChicago care more about GPA or standardized test scores?
SAT out of 2400 isn’t much use in chancing you, as Chicago only looks at CR+M.
We’d need to know your unweighted GPA and CR+M score to even begin to chance you, as most colleges ignore weighted GPA (every high school calculates it differently) and look at your UW instead. They then calculate rigor for themselves by looking at your courseload and comparing it to the rest of your school.
Any AP courses? Dual-enrolment classes at a nearby college?
Unfortunately, being an asian applicant hurts you, as you’re an overrepresented minority at most top schools. A class rank in the 20% range and extracurriculars that seem OK but not exceptional will likely hurt your chances. That isn’t to say you shouldn’t apply, but be aware that Chicago is a long shot for everyone, and your odds are probably slightly below-average. As long as you can manage expectations, hoping for the best isn’t a bad thing.
Honors classes I’ve taken in the past four years:
Freshman: All possible honors
Sophomore: Algebra II Honors. I wasn’t able to get into chem and english 10 honors. No social studies classes are available for sophomores at my school. Theology is a requirement so my schedule wasn’t too rigorous this year unfortunately.
Junior: APUSH, AP Bio, AP Macroeconomics, Precalculus Honors, American Lit H
Senior: AP Calculus AB, AP Chem, AP Latin, AP US Gov.
Right now I’m just hoping for the best, as there is nothing much I can really do except rely on other things like my essays and rec letters.
@goingnutsmom Well, I am in the same boat as her. When the admissions rep came to my school I felt somewhat reassured about how UChicago picks their students because they seem like they really look at your app holistically, even though UChicago is a top tier school. Fingers crossed though!
Any low scores on your junior year AP tests? If you have any 3’s, they won’t help, as a 3 (or lower) coupled with high grades in an AP class suggest grade inflation. Otherwise, these won’t matter much.
Your course rigor is fairly standard for UChicago, so I don’t see much reason to change the odds I posted above. Your chances go down a notch if you have some low AP scores, but remain about the same otherwise.
