UChicago Class of 2020 Applicant Thread

Received my likely letter today! Anyone else?

@KdotTrack Are you a recruited athlete?

Looking through past dates, it seems like December 16th would be the day for us.

@actssmart While UChicago does have holistic review, you have to remember that the school is very rigorous and demanding. Thus, they will consider all parts of your application, but your GPA (in the context of your school) and test scores do play a large part, at least to a certain extent. A student in the top 5% of their class with a 32 on the ACT will not be at a disadvantage against a student in the top 5% of their class with a 35. Both students showed that they can handle the UChicago demanding course work. Now, the admissions committee will gladly disregard numbers and focus on everything else. What can the student add to the school? Will the student be a good fit?

@decidophobia the fact that they have “track” in their name, my bet’s on them being a recruited athlete hahaha

If I turned in my CSS profile on November 27th, but turned in all the other financial things when they were due (on the 21st), do you think it will be a problem?

Did we have to turn in CSS profile? I didn’t even know what that was until 3 minutes ago

@Demosthenes12 You could’ve either turned in the CSS profile or the UChicago Financial Aid Worksheet. Both would’ve worked. There is no advantage to one over the other.

For EA applicants, I don’t think turning in the CSS Profile right away is super-important. It seems like they just like to have estimates so they can give you a decent estimate of what your financial aid package will look like in several months. Especially since UChicago seems like a “super chill school,” I wouldn’t stress it.

Okay, thanks. I just realized we could have turned in either the CSS profile, or the financial WS. I turned in the WS on Nov. 21st. That was a confusion on my part. Thanks anyways.

Is there a way to see if our CSS profiles were sent properly?

That is, received.

@gearsstudio It is a new major so I’m sure it will be small the first few years. Brand new building though looks like it will be super nice.

I wonder if choosing molecular engineering is a slight advantage, since they need students and not many people are selecting it.

@gearsstudio: I don’t think that it is since UChicago admits their applicants regardless of what their planned major will be (if I’m correct, at UChicago, you don’t need to declare your major until the end of your sophomore year). But you never know. :-??

Yes I think it probably is a slight advantage as long as you make a good case for that being a good match for you. My D17 is considering molecular engineering as well and it seems like a great balance of her skills yet indecision between math, pure science, comp sci, and engineering. She doesn’t want biomedical but molecular really has caught her eye. We’ll see if S16 ends up at UChicago first–not sure if being together is a big incentive or disincentive for her.

they’re gunna make it a little easier to get into molecular, and after a few years, it’ll go the other way. its a smart plan

Random but do you think they take geography into account with scores of students from the deep south (very few SAT resources, not pushed)? Anything above a 1200 is consider impressive here

Hmmm, not really sure where you guys are getting your information… It seems like they’re a bit short on space actually O_o…

http://ime.uchicago.edu/students/undergraduates/major/

@Newdle they’ve been pushing this new program wayyyy too much because they want to make sure the stats for that one major isn’t low. I know someone will probably respond saying “UChicago doesn’t care about your major when you apply”, but i think this is one of the exceptions, as they just paid a LOT of money for the new facilities, and don’t want to just NOT have them used if they paid the money. I think they want to be a lot of demand for this program so the acceptance rate isn’t like 30%. And to be fair, i could be wrong, but UChicago actually has higher acceptance rate for prospective classics and theology majors (which are both obviously very unpopular majors these days).

@Indigoraccoon4 They will evaluate you in the context of your environment. So, yes, in a sense lower scores in places with lower averages is more acceptable, but to a certain extent. A 1200, no matter where you are, would be a very hard case to justify an acceptance. No matter where you live, you should aim for that 1400+ or a 31/32 +.

I do think geography is a factor, but it won’t be able to compensate for a 1200.