UChicago Class of 2018 EA Decisions/Results

ohhayitsme · December 18, 2013, 5:32pm

@movieman706 @NorthAtlantaKid You don’t withdraw apps until you accept a financial aid deal. I got accepted to Northwestern’s journalism program, but they offered me $0 (that is the literal dollar amount written on the paper), so I might have to break my decision due to financing (aka the only reason you can break that contract).

bigdadreed · December 18, 2013, 5:34pm

ohhay-

If you are accepted to Northwestern already, that would be binding ED - right?

Just saw your response. I thought binding was binding.

mathispchill · December 18, 2013, 5:35pm

DECISION: ACCEPTED

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Writing: 800 Math: 740 Reading: 770
ACT: N/A
SAT II: Math II- 800 US History- 760
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): Not doing the 4.0 conversion… 94 unweighted
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (5), AP Physics B (5).
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Macroeconomics, AP Literature, AP Physics C, Advanced Theatre/PACE 4, Spanish 4 Regular
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Commended Student

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): NHS, Quizbowl (VP), A billion theatre things (Director and actor included)
Job/Work Experience: Worked in local children’s bookstore (hourly wage retail job)
Volunteer/Community service: Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, two years
Summer Activities: intensive theatre program at Carnegie Mellon (6 weeks), Survey in Modern Mathematics at Columbia (3 weeks)
Essays: Common App was about my desk which I converted into a vanity, I got very passionate in my “Why UChicago” essay, I did my Uncommon Application essay based on the “explain your favorite joke without ruining it” prompt about my father’s sense of humor about the time my grandfather got hit by a bus and was miraculously unscathed
Teacher Recommendation: One was from a teacher who is an adviser for Quizbowl and whose class changed the way I view history, the other was from a math teacher who inspired me to pursue mathematics (not sure what they said because I waived my right to read)
Counselor Rec: Probably good?
Additional Rec: From my professor at the math course I took at Columbia/the TA who lead the lab portion of the program… not actually sure if they ever received it
Interview: I did indeed have one

Other
State (if domestic applicant): New York
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Large-ish public school
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: >$100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Girl interested in mathematics
Reflection
Strengths: I like to believe my passion for the school came across in my application (We are kindred spirits, UChicago and I)
Weaknesses: Not many leadership positions, no “hook” besides girl in STEM, a year behind in language (due to transferring schools), weak Regents scores
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Pure, unadulterated passion (I don’t have stuff on my application that I am not 100% committed to/proud of)
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: This is the first result I’ve gotten, and I already submitted my deposit
General Comments: Still in shock with how happy I am

westofguam · December 18, 2013, 5:36pm

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t Send
ACT: 33
SAT II: Didn’t Send
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): ~3.86
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 4%
AP (place score in parenthesis): 4 on Bio and USH
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Most Rigorous
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None
Academic Awards: NA Outstanding Participant, Local Award
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Intern at Museum, French Club, Science Club at local college, Volunteer a lot, Domestic Abuse/Sexism Club, Government/ Law Club
Job/Work Experience:None. Lol no one will hire me!
Volunteer/Community service: A bunch. 300 hours
Summer Activities: College Classes. Summer Programs, not much.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): CommonApp- 8/10. Why UChi?- 6/10. I looked back at it and it was so bad. I thought it was cute when I wrote it. Favorites - Not a real essay. I made a list of my favorites out of the word. (Films, Actors, Villians, etc.) Uncommon - History Topic 8/10. I wrote that “they” are the makers of history and it’s not their fault history is kept from us but it is our job to find the truth.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 6/10 Good but kind of generic.
Teacher Rec #2: Didn’t read but they love me so it should have been good.
Counselor Rec: Didn’t read but they like me.
Additional Rec: Nope.
Interview: I hate interviews! I didn’t want one.

Other
State (if domestic applicant): Northern
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: African-American. First generation American.
Gender: XX
Income Bracket: ~90,000 if you count both parents. But more like ~50,000 if you don’t because one can’t afford to pay anything. They were very generous
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM. Did a program at UChicago.
Reflection: I’m so happy! I can’t believe it!
Strengths: I don’t know? Good essays. Dual Citizen.
Weaknesses: Grades. 3 or so B’s. 31 on ACT Math.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Program I did. Love for UChicago. Probably only one from my school to apply in… ever. I honestly have no clue though. I would say essays, test scores, I showed who I was through my app blahh blahh but I know everyone on her did too. It was all luck!
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to Georgetown, Fordham. Applied to 5 ivies, NYU/AD, and Brandeis.

General Comments: Congrats to everyone else who got accepted and good luck throughout the college process to the defferred/waitlisted/rejected. If you are on this site you are probably amazing and if UChicago didn’t realize that, it’s their loss.

jcxlcc · December 18, 2013, 5:48pm

Decision: Deferred

Also taking out irrelevant parts:

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I superscore (breakdown): 2380 (1580 for UChicago - 800 CR, 780 M)
[] SAT II: 760 Mol Bio, 800 Maths II, 800 Lit
[] IB (place score in parentheses): 42/45 (3/3 core, 3 7s at HL)
[] Number of other EA applicants in your school: none that I know of
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none [/ul][/li]
Subjective:[ul]
[li] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Glee club (leader) - 1 year; varsity lacrosse - 4th year; club lacrosse, where I played in an international lacrosse tournament; piano - Diploma in performance, Colours Award for Music, accompaniment for choir; school student liaison leader, prefect, student consultant; intl financial competition (group leader) - came first[/li]
[] Job/Work Experience: none
[] Volunteer/Community service: teaching assistant at a school catering to students with severe learning disabilities, mentor and coordination coach at my school’s Learning Support Centre (for students with special needs), volunteer at a remote village in Vietnam, teacher at a village in China that was in an earthquake-hit region - I advised the students on their earthquake evac drills and taught them first aid and how to transport injured survivors of disasters (I went to a summer camp about this)[/ul]

Writing (Write a brief description and Rate Quality on 1-10 Scale; 10 as Best):[ul]
[] Essays (Include Subjects):[list]
[li] Common App Main: wrote about ‘giving help and warmth’ - sounds cheesy, but the execution was good according to my friends. They said it was solid if not stellar.[/li][] EC Short Answer: put a whole bunch of stuff in the ‘favorite books’ section - some fantasy books, a bunch of poems, films and TV shows.
[] Extended essay (which topic): ‘make your own prompt’ - I asked myself what the most important thing I could be doing was, and wrote about intolerance in society and volunteering at a crisis hotline
[] Optional Essay: ?
[] Why Chicago: wrote about the strong community service programs, the energy of the professors, the highly diverse student body and the learning environment.
[/ul]
[li] Teacher Recommendation #1: Lit teacher - probably quite good[/li][] Teacher Recommendation #2: History teacher - actually unsure how good a rec she would’ve written - she wouldn’t have written a bad/limp one, but it might not have been really good
[] Counselor Rec: written by my tutor who knows me quite well, should have been good - he told me my app was strong
[] Additional Rec: none
[] Interview: went really well, though it was just an informal interview anyway. We talked about lots of stuff and it went on for like one and a half hours.
[] Art Supplement: none[/list]
Other[ul]
[] Date Submitted App: Nov 8 (bit on the late side?)
[] Country (if international applicant): Hong Kong
[] School Type: private
[] Ethnicity: Chinese
[] Gender: female
[] Income Bracket: ~$150k
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none [/ul]
Reflection [ul]
[] Strengths: SAT scores, some of my activities (which supported what I wrote about in my essays)
[] Weaknesses: most likely my essays. I’m not sure if they hit the right note. Also, not having a lot of stellar activities.
[] Why you think you were deferred: again, probably some weaknesses with my essays. The adcom might also have wanted to see me doing more in terms of my activities.
[] What would you have done differently?:[list]
[li] written about another topic/taken a different angle to the ‘make your own prompt’ question for the extended essay[/li][] jammed my lacrosse activities into one activity - the Common App system asks if what you did was ‘JV/Varsity’ or ‘Club’, so I separated varsity lax and my int’l tournament over the summer. I had to axe an activity I quite wanted to put in (though I’d already put in a lot of community service activities).
[/ul]
[/list]

**General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations, etc: slightly disappointed but soldiering on. Good luck with your universities, no matter what decision you saw today! **

ohhayitsme · December 18, 2013, 5:51pm

@bigdadreed Yes, my ED is binding in that I can’t apply to other EDs. I am, however, allowed to apply to other schools EA (but not SCEA obviously), and keep my applications open for as long as it takes them to offer with a sufficient financial aid package (or until I break the contract because they can’t).

ChristianC · December 18, 2013, 6:04pm

Decision: Accepted

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 760 R, 740 M, 730 W
[] SAT I superscore (breakdown): all in one test
[] ACT (breakdown): 32 (35 E, 33 M, 32 R, 28 S)
[] ACT superscore (breakdown): 33 (36 E, 33 M, 32 R, 29 S)
[] SAT II: 690 Math II, 620 US History
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 (Cumulative is over 90% = 4.0 - I had bad freshman year grades but brought them up a lot)
[] Weighted GPA: School doesn’t weight
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Cumulatively ~ 40/120, Currently ~4/120
[] AP (place score in parentheses): 5 Music Theory, 4 US History
[] IB (place score in parentheses): School doesn’t offer
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Eng Lit, AP Calc AB, AP Gov (US + Comp), AP Physics (BII), AP Econ (macro + micro), AP Psych
[] Number of other EA applicants in your school: 3ish?
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): XC JV captain, Philosophy Guild Pres., Band VP,
[] Job/Work Experience: Pizza place phones grades 10-11
[] Volunteer/Community service:[/ul]Writing (Write a brief description and Rate Quality on 1-10 Scale; 10 as Best):[ul]
[] Essays (Include Subjects):[list]
[li] Common App Main: 9-10, wrote about how growing up in the city gave me a drive for experience[/li][] EC Short Answer:
[] Extended essay(which topic): Apples & Oranges, 8-9, compared philosophy and science
[] Optional Essay: 8-9, I enjoy things from classical to dubstep, plus I added my Pandora stations
[] Why Chicago: 9-10, talked about how education comes from a philosophical point and listed specifics of the school (also my HS has the house system)
[] Other:[/ul][] Teacher Recommendation #1: No idea but math dept. chair and he likes me
[] Teacher Recommendation #2: No idea but social studies dept. chair and he likes me
[] Counselor Rec: 10, described my past poor grades and covered my wide range of interests
[] Additional Rec:
[] Interview: 8-10, very casual, I asked as many questions about UC as she asked about me
[] Art Supplement:[/list]Other[ul]
[] Date Submitted App: Nov. 6 (lol)
[] State (if domestic applicant): Missouri (StL, we’re our own state)
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Private Religious single-sex
[] Ethnicity: All-White
[] Gender: Male
[] Income Bracket: 50-80k
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: SAT I score and Essays and ECs
[] Weaknesses: Past grades
[] Why you think you were accepted: My essays and diversity in my interests
[] What would you have done differently?:[/ul]

Comment: I got REJECTED from Northwestern Early Decision LOL. I’m actually very glad that happened now. I was trying to play the odds even though in my heart UC is my #1!

Congrats to all the other accepted students and best of luck to those who were deferred!

Nerd16 · December 18, 2013, 6:11pm

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT: 33
SAT II: 710 Bio M, 710 MathII, retook Math and Chemistry this month but scores are not out yet so were not taken into account for the decision.
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.78
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 25th percentile, school only does rank by quartiles
AP (place score in parenthesis): Sophomore year: Calc BC (3), World History (3); Junior year: Biology (3), English Lang and Comp. (3)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Statistics, AP French, AP Chemistry, AP Physics C, Humanities (regular English class)
Awards: AP Scholar with honor, State scholar, NHS, French NHS, 3rd place at regionals for science olympiad last year and received a bid to state, QuestBridge finalist
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Science Olympiad (Varsity Captain), French club (Senior Leader), Service club, tutor, hospital volunteer
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: Hospital volunteer, tutor
Summer Activities: Volunteer at Ann and Robert H. Lurie and tennis classes (not too impressive)
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I don’t know how to rate my essays, I think I did pretty well. For the options essay I chose the joke and wrote about an Egyptian joke and explained. For the other essays I just think I put in them my utmost effort. I do know though that I am not a very strong writer.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: didn’t see it, but my teacher had me for 2 years in a row in his class so it should have been good.
Teacher Rec #2: didn’t see it, but my teacher loved me so it should have been good.
Counselor Rec: didn’t see it, but she said she wrote an amazing letter.
Additional Rec:
Interview: I thought it went really well. I had an alum interview and we talked for over an hour and a half!!!

Other
State (if domestic applicant): Illinois
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Egyptian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 20,000 - 30,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I was born and lived the first 12 years of my life in Egypt. I moved to the US in the beginning of 8th grade.

Reflection
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

General Comments:

Decimation · December 18, 2013, 6:17pm

Decision: Deferred

Gonna copy a lot of this from an old thread of mine.

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 710 CR – 730 W – 640 M
ACT (breakdown): 30 (34E - 33M - 27R - 25S)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.52 – failed a class in sophomore year but redid it.
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 84/505
AP: mostly 4s – will have taken 12 AP classes by the end of this year
Senior Year Course Load: AP Bio, Debate III Honors, AP Lit, AP US Gov, AP Stats, AP Environmental Science, AP Calc AB
Number of other EA applicants in your school: 1 (also deferred)
Major Awards: AP Scholar with Distinction; lots of national/regional debate awards; JSA best speaker awards (regional)
Major: comp sci

Subjective
Extracurriculars:
• Debate (10, 11, 12). I did Congressional Debate, and our squad had the most national success this year of any debate team in the nation. I was a prominent member of Executive Board and functioned as my debate team’s webmaster. Coached novices. One of top 5 debate teams in nation.
•Co-Founder and Co-President (12) of Microfinancing Club (10, 11, 12). Acquired money through primarily donation; $6,000~ donated to the Grameen Foundation to revitalize Indian economies through microloans
• Junior State of America (10, 11, 12). Co-Webmaster of the head JSA website (national organization with thousands of members across the US). Chief Technology Specialist of the Southeast Region (elected).
• *Mentoring Tomorrow’s Leaders (11, 12). Founding member. We gathered kids in our school with GPAs below 2.0s, tutored them daily, and assumed the roles as counselors for them.
• Key Club (10, 11, 12). Director of Social Media. Participated in program called “Horses for Handicapped” where we helped children with cerebral palsy and ALS ride horses for fun.
• National English Honor Society (12). Secretary and head of our school’s NEHS Tutoring Committee.
• National Science Honor Society (12). Webmaster.
• Study Group Founder (won’t give you the name since it’ll give away my school) (9, 10, 11, 12). Founder. Study group for Class of 2014 with over 180 members.
• Boy Scouts (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)

Job/Work Experience:
• Founder of Online SEO pseudo-firm (9, 10, 11, 12). I started up my own online business which revolved around freelance Search Engine Optimization and general Website Optimization. Essentially, I helped a myriad of businesses and companies move up in search engine ranking to facilitate sales for their businesses. I did so buy utilizing reputable web resources (in the eyes of search engine crawlers) to manipulate search engine algorithms into thinking that businesses were becoming more popular, which made the bots give more value to my clients’ websites. I also worked directly with affiliate marketers on CPA and PPC campaigns by writing sales copies to help maximize their profits. I’ve worked with over 50 different business owners with a 100% approval rating on various internet marketing forums such as WF and DP.
• Server administrator for [Don’tWantToGiveClanNameHere]'s Counter Strike: Global Offensive servers (12) (more of a summer volunteer job for my gaming clan).
• Content Contributor for MyGamer (11, 12) Content writing about games and gaming news - provided articles for one of the oldest gaming domains on the web

Writing
Essays (Include Subjects):
Common App Main: talked about online business
Extended essay: Pose a question. Made it really funny. I’d give it a 9/10
Teacher Recommendation #1: Calc teacher referred to me as on of his brightest students he’s had in a while.
Teacher Recommendation #2: English teacher loved me.
Counselor Rec: no real relationship with
Additional Rec:
Interview: Great. The guy was really into my business and loved to talk about debate.
Art Supplement:

Other
Date Submitted App: 11/3/2013
State (if domestic applicant): FL
School Type: Public
Race/Ethnicity: black
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Lower middle class
Hooks: business, URM

Reflection
Strengths: essays, recommendations
Weaknesses: GPA is the worst thing about my application.
What would you have done differently?: not screw up early on in high school.
[/list]

Other Factors:
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations, etc: I’m optimistic. I know my deferral was due to my grades but my mid-year report looks really good so I’m hoping for an acceptance letter in spring. Congrats to those who were accepted and good luck to those who were also deferred!

duohead · December 18, 2013, 6:23pm

Decision: Accepted

[ b]Objective:**[ list]
[ *] SAT I (breakdown): Reading 800, Math 800, Writing 720 (one time)
[ *] SAT II: Math 800, Biology 800
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1st

[ *] Strengths: I took a lot of tough courses and got some prestigious awards. My teachers and counselors love me. I said some really interesting/original things in my interview. 
[ *] Weaknesses: Overconfident, not the best at humanities, no really really major awards, didn’t have room to put all my awards and extracurriculars and forgot about some too
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think my passion came out in my essays. Yeah, I think it really was my essays.
[ b]General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations, etc: Thank God. I’m so much more at ease.**

arrhenius · December 18, 2013, 6:33pm

formatting is hard EDIT: formatting is not that hard, I’m just an idiot

Decision: Accepted

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 800/760/790
[] SAT I superscore (breakdown): 800/800/790
[] ACT (breakdown): 36 everything
[] ACT superscore (breakdown): 36
[] SAT II: 800 Math 2, 800 Physics
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): ?
[] Weighted GPA: 4.5x
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): ?
[] AP (place score in parentheses): 5’s on about 15 exams.
[] IB (place score in parentheses): -
[] Senior Year Course Load: 5 pretty hard classes
[] Number of other EA applicants in your school: not sure
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): USAMO, AIME, USABO semifinal
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Math/science stuff, lots of research experience. Also some other stuff (I apologize for being vague).
[] Job/Work Experience: I teach math
[] Volunteer/Community service: math tutoring, some useless school volunteering club[/ul]Writing (Write a brief description and Rate Quality on 1-10 Scale; 10 as Best):[ul]
[] Essays (Include Subjects):[list]
[li] Common App Main: 10[/li][] EC Short Answer: I don’t remember this?
[] Extended essay(which topic): apples vs. oranges, 10
[] Optional Essay: 9
[] Why Chicago: 8 (originally wrote 500 words, had to cut it in half)
[] Other:[/ul][] Teacher Recommendation #1: ?
[] Teacher Recommendation #2: ?
[] Counselor Rec: ?
[] Additional Rec: research mentor
[] Interview: -
[] Art Supplement:[/list]Other[ul]
[] Date Submitted App: ~10/18
[] State (if domestic applicant):
[] Country (if international applicant): US
[] School Type: large public
[] Ethnicity: Asian
[] Gender: M
[] Income Bracket: 200k+
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: essays, ECs
[] Weaknesses: pretty mediocre awards
[] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My essays were quite amazing, to be honest.
[] What would you have done differently?: Not much, since I got in, but regarding college admissions, I would have applied to Harvard SCEA given their super-high EA rate. For general advice, I really wish I would have been more focused and hard-working in the past few years. [/ul]Other Factors:
**General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations, etc: See above. **

DontTrollOnMe · December 18, 2013, 6:35pm

Someone give it to me straight, if UChicago was a high reach, and I got deferred instead of Waitlisted/Rejected is that a good sign?

Dad2013 · December 18, 2013, 6:46pm

This is my D’s case. I filled it out as much as I can.

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 800 CR, 800 M, 800 W (one sitting)
SAT II: Biology M (800), Math2 (800), Spanish (760)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 1% out of 600
AP (place score in parenthesis): 8 APs (National AP Scholar)
IB (place score in parenthesis): Yes and pursuing IB diploma
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): State-level Debate awards, 
Academic Awards: National AP Scholar, National Merit Semifinalist

Subjective

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Policy debate (4 years and served as Captain and Treasure), HOSA(President), Un-paid summer intern in phamacy lab of a public university, Orchestra (Violin, just 1 year), Church Choir, Korean traditional dance …
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: reasonable hours but just good enough for requirement
Summer Activities: international humanitarian trip to poor country (two summers)
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App Essay (10), Supplements (9)
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): prabably 9-10
Interview: No interview

Other

State (if domestic applicant): Texas
School Type: public school, ranked as one of the top 150 high schools in the nation
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: female
Income Bracket: $150,000-$200,000

Reflection

Strengths: excellent academic index and strong essays
Weaknesses: Relatively weak ECs while dedicating to policy debate all year long in school

tmias17 · December 18, 2013, 6:48pm

Decision: Accepted
(:
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 800 W 770 M 760 CR
SAT Cumulative: 2330
ACT: 33
SAT II: 730 Math II, 740 Biology E
Weighted GPA: 4.48
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 12
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (5), AP Gov (5), AP Chem (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP French, AP English Lit, AP Bio, AP BC Calc, Honors Physics
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Science Olympiad (Co-Captain), Academic Challenge, Environmental Club, Student Council, French National Honor Society, German National Honor Society, NHS
Job/Work Experience: Library Page (2012-2013)
Volunteer/Community service: NHS volunteering, Nature center volunteer, Middle School tutor
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App: Place you are most content, 9-10
UChicago supplements: “Yo soy yo” 8-10
Interview: Went very well, alum was said he was very impressed. (:

Other
State (if domestic applicant): OH
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Multiracial
Gender: F

Reflection
Strengths: Writing, Science
Weaknesses: Math
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I had good essays, nice recommendations (one from a well-known person in my field), I took a summer class there last summer (got an A), great test scores, yadda yadda yadda
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
OSU- Accepted
UofArizona: Accepted

Very happy camper tonight! (: Good luck to everyone!

canYouConceiveIt · December 18, 2013, 7:28pm

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 800,800,800 (superscore)
ACT:
SAT II: Math lvl 2: 800, Biology(E): 800, Physics: 790(Self-studied, never took one physics class in high school), Chemistry: 770
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0, HUGE Upward trend
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesnt rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc BC 5, Bio 5, Macro 4, Micro 5, Chinese 5 (all taken in Grade 11)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stats, AP Biology, AP Chem, AP CS, AP Lit, AP Environmental Science, Calculus III at a world top 50 university.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Canadian National Biology Scholar, some other Canadian math, chemistry awards, Second round of Canadian Math Olympiad, Mayor Award for Youth, Canadian National AP Scholar
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): math club, Head coach of Math Challenger, Founder of Peer Tutor program in the boarding house, Cross country, marathon runner, Performance club, Chinese Cultural Club, Teenager Advisory Group at local library
Job/Work Experience: model
Volunteer/Community service: 300+ miscellaneous volunteer hours, community center assistant soccer coach
Summer Activities:
Internship at Pfizer and International Medical Service, Lab assistant at a Biomed lab
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 10
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
o Didnt read any of my recommendation, but
o Teacher Rec #1:10 My English teacher seriously loves me so much for my creativity and original thought
o Teacher Rec #2:10 My math teacher has taught me two AP classes and one honor class, so I assume he has a lot to say about me.
o Counselor Rec: 8-10, Not too sure about this one
o Additional Rec:
Interview: I think I screwed up my interview so badly since I wasnt prepared for the questions at all. One question my interviewer asked was like how do you define creativity and it took me several seconds to just comprehend what the interviewer was asking lol. Also it was a Skype interview, and somehow my interviewer didnt have a camera. So when I was answering the question, I couldnt focus at all, and I guess my eyes just kept drifting away from the screen lol.

Other
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): China, applying from Canada
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 100,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection
Strengths: I have no doubt that my supplement essay eventually got me into Chicago. The mantis shrimp essay was just so uniquely written that my counselor was almost crying when she read it. Also, my SAT scores are decent and I self-studied many APs.
Weaknesses:
Lack of distinguishing academic awards I guess. I mean I havent earned any award in any Olympiad. Also the applicant pool from China is huge this year.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My personality and passion really stood out? And I fit the Core Curriculum?
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Dont know yet

General Comments:
CAN YOU BELIEVE HOW HAPPY I AM RIGHT NOW! I THOUGHT I WAS GONNA BE DEFERRED! I LITERALLY PRAYED FOR ONE MINUTE IN THE MORNING AND ASKED FOR GOOD LUCK FROM MY ANCESTOR BEFORE THE RESULT CAME OUT!!!

emileyy · December 18, 2013, 7:33pm

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
ACT (breakdown): 34 (low 30s on everything but a 36S, 9W). First try as sophomore, didn’t retake.
SAT II: didn’t send since they were just mid 700s in Lit and MathII
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.86
Weighted GPA: 4.39
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a
AP (place score in parentheses): 4’s on Lit, Bio, World and a 5 on calc AB
Senior Year Course Load: AP calc BC, AP art, AP psych, AP lang, anatomy, econ
Number of other EA applicants in your school: none
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): nothing significant
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): service group (founding member and current leader), girl scouts, varsity lacrosse
Job/Work Experience: Interned in a foreign country for a month (travelled alone)

Writing (Write a brief description and Rate Quality on 1-10 Scale; 10 as Best):
Essays (Include Subjects):
Common App Main: 8/10, was told it was very literary
EC Short Answer: huh
Extended essay(which topic): mantis shrimp 10/10 wrote about color theory
Optional Essay: what
Why Chicago: 7/10 pretty generic but well written I guess
Other:
Teacher Recommendation #1: generic
Teacher Recommendation #2: didn’t read but probably very good. The guy who wrote it has been my teacher, service head, boss, and mentor.
Counselor Rec: probably alright

Interview: none
Art Supplement: pretty strong, submitted a bunch of paintings and drawings
Other
Date Submitted App: week and a half before the deadline
State (if domestic applicant): CA
School Type: small private
Ethnicity: White
Gender: F
Income Bracket: 100K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none
Reflection
Strengths: essays, maybe they wanted more artist scholars this year???
Weaknesses: no awards, weak courses, mediocre GPA, lame ECs
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: essays I guess?

Other Factors:
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations, etc: How the hell did I get in. (but seriously this is proof that you don’t have to be perfect to get in, I think they just love passionate people with genuine interests)

cooldra01 · December 18, 2013, 7:37pm

Decision: Accepted

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 800 CR, 760 M
[] SAT II: 800 M2, 760 US, 790 Chinese w/ Listening
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.79 (in one of the top international schools in Asia)
[] Weighted GPA: 4.2
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
[] AP (place score in parentheses): 7 APs, 2 4’s rest 5’s
[] IB (place score in parentheses): None
[] Senior Year Course Load: 6 APs
[] Number of other EA applicants in your school: As far as I know of, 2 other applied EA
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Mention, AP Scholar with Distinction, Honor Roll
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Varsity Basketball, Business Entrepreneurship Club (founder, president), Big Brother/Big Sister, Cancer Society
[] Job/Work Experience: Siemens Taiwan
[li] Volunteer/Community service: St. Anne’s Orphanage for the Disabled[/li]
I actually forgot to list a few on my Common App (I was being careless), but I guess it didn’t matter! (these are the ones listed)

[/ul]Writing (Write a brief description and Rate Quality on 1-10 Scale; 10 as Best):[ul]
[] Essays (Include Subjects):[list]
[li] Common App Main: Personal (9.5)[/li][] Extended essay(which topic): How apples and oranges should NOT be compared (10)
[] Optional Essay: Listed out my favorite books, movies, magazines and wrote a brief paragraph describing on each category
[] Why Chicago: In hindsight, pretty generic, but I have relatively good prose which I think pulled me through (and I feel the tone of my essay hit UChicago’s nail on the head) (9)
[] Other:[/ul][li] Teacher Recommendation #1: Haven’t read[/li][] Teacher Recommendation #2: Haven’t read

My counselor said they were very, very strong recommendations however

[] Counselor Rec: Haven’t read
[] Interview: Nope
[] Country (if international applicant): East Asia
[] School Type: Private
[] Ethnicity: Asian
[] Gender: M
[] Income Bracket: Why is this on here?!?
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None
[/list]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: SAT, essays,
[] Weaknesses: Perhaps more leadership in ECs?
[li] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Essays. Definitely.[/ul][/li]General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations, etc:
I still can’t believe it. Feels like a dream (although I did sleep at 4 last night so maybe I’m still dreaming). Honest and sincere Good Job to all of you guys, and for those who got deferred or rejected, keep your heads up. It isn’t the end of the road, and if anything, college is but one stepping stone in your life. What one college says is certainly not reflective of your self. Good luck to all in the future, and, hope to see some of you next year!

ewigewig · December 18, 2013, 7:58pm

[ size=+2][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted**[/color][/size]

[ b]Objective:[ list]
[ *] SAT I (breakdown): 2230
[ *] SAT I superscore (breakdown): 2230
[ *] ACT (breakdown): 35
[ *] ACT superscore (breakdown): 35
[ *] SAT II: 770 USH, 730 Math II, 730 Lit
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.94
[ *] Weighted GPA: 5.16
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 7/386
[ *] AP (place score in parentheses): None
[ *] IB (place score in parentheses): Music SL (5)
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: IB HOA HL, IB Math SL, IB Chemistry SL, Theory of Knowledge, IB Spanish HL, IB English HL, AP Statistics, Honors Symphonic Orchestra
[ *] Number of other EA applicants in your school: I was the only one
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/list][ b]Subjective:[ list] National Merit Semi-Finalist
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Regional Youth Orchestra, Pit Orchestra, Choir, Leadership Program through the Chamber of Commerce, Governor’s Scholars Program, Academic Team
[ *] Job/Work Experience: None
[ *] Volunteer/Community service: Hospital, Food Bank[/list]
Writing (Write a brief description and Rate Quality on 1-10 Scale; 10 as Best):[ list]
[ *] Essays (Include Subjects): [ list]
[ *] Common App Main: About how I felt content in my attic. 9/10
[ *] Extended essay(which topic): Apples and Oranges- More of an analysis, well developed and occasionally humorous. 8/10
[ *] Optional Essay: Favorite books and Words. 7/10
[ *] Why Chicago: About their South Asian Studies Program 8.5/10
[ *] Other:[/list][ *] Teacher Recommendation #1: English Teacher, didn’t read
[ *] Teacher Recommendation #2: Spanish Teacher for three years, didn’t read
[ *] Counselor Rec: Excellent, full of superlatives
[ *] Additional Rec: None
[ ] Interview: None
[ ] Art Supplement: None[/list][ b]Other[ list]
[ *] Date Submitted App: 10/21/13
[ *] State (if domestic applicant): KY
[ *] Country (if international applicant):
[ *] School Type: Public IB World School
[ *] Ethnicity: White
[ *] Gender: M
[ ] Income Bracket: 100K +
[ ] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None[/list][ b]Reflection[ list]
[ ] Strengths: ACT, Writing, Counselor Rec
[ ] Weaknesses: GPA kind of, no interview, lack of quirkiness
[ ] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I put a spin on my application- I wanted to study languages, and my app centered on that
[ ] What would you have done differently?: I would have interviewed[/list][/list]
[ b]Other Factors:
[ b]General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations, etc: So happy! Was always my dream school! I hope the finances work out

yangmaster · December 18, 2013, 8:07pm

Decision: Deferred

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): didn’t take
[] SAT I superscore (breakdown): N/A
[] ACT (breakdown): 35 (35 E, 36 M, 33 R, 36 S, 8 W)
[] ACT superscore (breakdown): same
[] SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Chem
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.91
[] Weighted GPA: N/a
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank
[] AP (place score in parentheses): Music Theory (5), US History (5), Microeconomics (5), Calculus BC (5), Statistics (4), English Lang & Comp (4), Computer Science (5), Comparative Gov (5), Chemistry (5)
[] IB (place score in parentheses):
[] Senior Year Course Load: Multivariable Calculus, AP Lit, AP Bio, Spanish 5, AP Physics, AP Gov, AP Macro, Psychology
[] Number of other EA applicants in your school: one or two?
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Boys’ Swim and Dive Team - 4 years, National Honor Society - just this year
[] Job/Work Experience: Soccer referee, Kumon
[] Volunteer/Community service: Shelving books at library[/ul]Writing (Write a brief description and Rate Quality on 1-10 Scale; 10 as Best):[ul]
[] Essays (Include Subjects):[list]
[li] Common App Main: How some random old guy influenced me to enjoy math and how I influenced my peers to enjoy computer science (9/10)[/li][] EC Short Answer: Eat cakes in one bite for swim team pasta dinners (10/10)
[] Extended essay(which topic): My passion for exploring beyond what’s in the curriculum (9/10, Topic #2: “Yo soy yo y mi microbioma.”)
[] Optional Essay: Brief Explanation – Played piano from 2003-2011, and hosted my own website (append [dot] com after my username to visit it)
[] Why Chicago: Relate Course Offerings at Computer Science Department to my CS interests (6/10)
[] Other:[/ul][] Teacher Recommendation #1: Calc teacher, haven’t seen it
[] Teacher Recommendation #2: AP Lit teacher, haven’t seen it
[] Counselor Rec: Haven’t seen it
[] Additional Rec: N/A
[] Interview: Went OK. Interviewer was nice, but expressed some concerns that UChicago wasn’t the best fit academically for me (5/10)
[] Art Supplement: N/A[/list]Other[ul]
[] Date Submitted App: October 25
[] State (if domestic applicant): MN
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Public (around 700-750 per graduating class)
[] Ethnicity: Asian
[] Gender: M
[] Income Bracket: ~200K
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Legacy (mother attended graduate school at UChicago)[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: Test scores, Course load, Legacy
[] Weaknesses: Lack of leadership positions, lack of impressiveness
[] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I wasn’t impressive enough to stand out in the huge sea of EA applicants.
[] What would you have done differently?: Got more involved and pick up some leadership positions.[/ul]
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations, etc:
I kinda expected an acceptance letter, but I got deferred… again (I was deferred from MIT four days ago). I’ll cope. It’s surprising how little applicants UChicago seems to accept early given that its applicant pool has exploded in the recent years. If I were a senior just a few years ago and applied for UChicago, I’m pretty sure I would’ve got in.

Nyythirteen · December 18, 2013, 8:13pm

Decision: Accepted

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2220 740 V 680 M 800 W
[] SAT I superscore (breakdown): 2250^^ 710 M
[] ACT (breakdown): N/A
[] ACT superscore (breakdown): N/A
[] SAT II: 780 Spanish, 750 US History, 750 Math I, 720 Lit
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.65 (Took all the hardest classes [except Physics and Bio]; graduating with 14 AP’s)
[] Weighted GPA: About 4.4
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 15/630
[] AP (place score in parentheses): 5’s in World, Spanish, Calc AB, English Language - 4’s
US History, Chemistry - 3 in European History(didn’t report)
[] IB (place score in parentheses):
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP English Lit, AP Stats, AP Calc BC, AP Psych, AP Gov/Macro, Newspaper
[] Number of other EA applicants in your school: 2 (1 accepted, don’t know about the other)
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/ul]Subjective:[ul] Questbridge College Prep, National Hispanic Recognition Program, AP Scholar with Distinction, some relatively impressive debate awards, two individual newspaper awards and some very prestigious paper awards
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):
Debate - President
Newspaper - Opinion Editor
Poli-Sci Club - VP
[] Job/Work Experience: None
[] Volunteer/Community service:
Service project for tutoring ESOL students in English - mentioned in essay
JCC and Jewish federation work
[/ul]Writing (Write a brief description and Rate Quality on 1-10 Scale; 10 as Best):[ list]
[] Essays (Include Subjects):[ul]
[li] Common App Main:10 - place of content - had a unique approach that I’m sure Chicago loved[/li][] EC Short Answer: N/A
[] Extended essay(which topic): 9 “You are you and your” - focus on my personality and service. Probably not what they expected but it looks like it worked
[] Optional Essay:
[li] Why Chicago: 9 showed how much I value Chicago and what it has to offer - probably a bit short 297 words[/li]
Other:[list]
[] Teacher Recommendation #1: 9
[] Teacher Recommendation #2: 9
[] Counselor Rec: 10
[] Additional Rec:
[] Interview: 10 - had a previous student as an interviewer, talked a lot about my favorite books. She asked a few tough questions “Why Calc was my favorite subject” which was interesting because I wanted to go into a completely different field
[] Writing Supplement: I sent in a Latin American history paper I wrote at a summer program
[] Date Submitted App:11/1
[] State (if domestic applicant): FL
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Public school - 600 students
[] Ethnicity: Hispanic
[] Gender: M
[] Income Bracket: <10,000
[] Strengths: Main essay was very detailed in what I would bring to Chicago
[] Weaknesses: Oh god, GPA
[] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Essays
[li] What would you have done differently?:[/ul][/list][ b]Other Factors:**[/li]General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations, etc:
I told all my friends today that I’d be happy if I got deferred instead of straight rejected. I’ve been logging into the portal all day to make sure it wasn’t a mistake. I looked at CC to make sure the computers hadn’t screwed up and accepted everyone. I hope this that this serves to show that even if you don’t have the best grades, you can still impress in other fields.

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