UChicago Class of 2020 Early Action results

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

Alea iacta est!

We’re less than a fortnight from EA decisions, and many a senior will be losing sleep on the night decisions are released. When that happens, post your results here. Best of luck to you all, and hopefully we’ll cross paths at Harold’s Chicken Shack next fall.

Much of this format can be credited to @fdizzle and last year’s thread. I made a few tweaks, but largely left it untouched. Last year’s posts were so all-encompassing that most of these tweaks involved shortening the template, for user convenience and readability.

Here’s a link to last year’s EA thread if you feel like upping your Cortisol levels even further.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1709510-university-of-chicago-class-of-2019-early-action-results-only-p1.html

Remove spaces in brackets before posting!!
Delete any categories (AP/IB, SAT II, rank, work experience, additional rec, etc.) that don’t apply

Choose One:
[ size=4][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted **[/color][/size]
[ size=4][ color=orange][ b]Decision: Deferred **[/color][/size]
[ size=4][ color=red][ b]Decision: Rejected **[/color][/size]

[ b]Objective:**
SAT I and/or ACT (breakdown):
SAT II (place score in parentheses):
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Rank/Percentile:
AP (place score in parentheses):
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

[ b]Subjective:**
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community Service:
Summer Activities:
Essays:
Teacher Recommendations:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview:

[ b]Other**
Applied for Financial Aid?
Projected Concentration:
State/Country:
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

[ b]Reflection**
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
Where else you are applying or have already applied:
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:

2

I know I am not getting in lol. GPA… 2.5… SAT 2350 :smiley: tough one

3

Omg today is the day!!!

4

I’m literally dying right now…

5

Looking at last year’s results makes me feel depressed…

6

Good luck to everyone! Hopefully we’ll see lots of green on this forum today!

7

When will they update our accounts?

8

My daughter’s has been updated. No email yet but portal says she was accepted.

9

[ size=4][ color=orange][ b]Decision: Deferred **[/color][/size]

[ b]Objective:**
SAT I and/or ACT (breakdown): 36E, 36R, 33M, 30S; 2250 SAT, 710 M, 790 CR
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 780 bio, 680 m2, 780 Spanish
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank/Percentile: 1
AP (place score in parentheses): none yet, incredibly small school
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: Hardest offered, AP stats, AP calc bc
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

[ b]Subjective:**
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): a fuckton, DI, flute lessons, wind symphony, piano lessons, NHS, StuGov, Spanish Club, some other shit that doesn’t matter
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community Service: a bunch but nothing amazing
Summer Activities: science camp, worked an internship
Essays: Common=A, uncommon like C+, others A to B
Teacher Recommendations: ehh 6/10 except two 10’s
Counselor Rec: 9/10
Additional Rec: 10/10
Interview: It went well

[ b]Other**
Applied for Financial Aid?
Projected Concentration:
State/Country:
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

[ b]Reflection**
Strengths: Queer/gender questioning, deep essay
Weaknesses: maybe uncommon essay, SAT I/II
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I don’t know lol ask them
Where else you are applying or have already applied:
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:

10

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2150 (700 R / 780 M / 670 W)
ACT (breakdown): 34 C (32 E 34 R 35 M 36 S) + 36 W
SAT II (place score in parentheses): None taken
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.6
Rank/Percentile: 97/550
AP (place score in parentheses): None submitted
IB (place score in parentheses): None submitted
AP + IB Courseload: 12 by the end of this year
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus BC, AP German, AP Microeconomics, AP Physics II, IB Computer Science, Honors English, Honors US History
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar w/ Distinction

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Few student organizations for tech, service, hobbies
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community Service: 6 years w/ same organization
Summer Activities: Service
Essays: Common App (6/10), Why Chicago (7/10), Uncommon(9/10), Optional (10/10)
Teacher Recommendations: Excellent recommendations from Comp Sci/Economics teachers
Counselor Rec: I imagine my counselor recommendation was quite decent.
Additional Rec: None
Interview: Absolutely terrible interview. Fifteen minutes, it was so short the interviewer “felt bad.” I had questions prepared but the interviewer seemed to be in a massive hurry.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
Projected Concentration: Economics
State/Country: USA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 250,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection
Strengths: Recommendations, decent ACT, good commit to my Community service, decent essays
Weaknesses: GPA/rank, leadership, SAT score, ACT score could be improved, essays could be improved, interview could have been a lot better
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: GPA/rank are abysmal for a top 10 school
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Safety + UNC, ND, Duke, NW
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Congratulations to all who got in! I expected this outcome and I am not particularly disappointed. My only hope is that the people who got in truly deserved it.

11

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:
ACT (breakdown): 31 (35 E, 32 M, 30 R, 29 S)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Didn’t submit
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.73
Rank/Percentile: top 20%
AP (place score in parentheses): None were submitted.
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics 1, AP Calculus AB, AP Computer Science, World Religions, Journalism, Art, Civics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): University of Arizona Alumni Association Scholarship (2014 and 2015), some other minor awards from the camps I went to

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Bow-shock nebulae research project at CSU Fresno, swim club member, Robotics Club co-founder, NHS member, school ambassador and peer mentor
Job/Work Experience: lifeguard and party host at a swim association.
Volunteer/Community Service: planetarium volunteer, Youth Tech Academy volunteer (camp for middle schoolers interested in the STEM field), animal center volunteer, altar server at local parish
Summer Activities: Aerospace engineering camp at Texas A&M University, Advanced Astronomy Camp at Kitt Peak National Observatory, full-time lifeguard at a swim association
Essays: I thought they were amazing. I chose the tightrope topic and wrote about how I walked over the terrain of exoplanet Gliese 667Cc (10/10). My Why UChicago essay focused on my work over the summer at astronomy camp (8.5/10).
Teacher Recommendations: One from my AP Physics teacher, one from my English teacher, and one from my Trig teacher. 9/10
Counselor Rec: I didn’t get to see it, but I’m sure it was great.
Additional Rec: One from my astronomy camp counselor. 9/10
Interview: Went well! The interviewer and I talked a lot about UChicago and its physics program, especially since he was a physics major when he attended.

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid? Yeh
Projected Concentration: Physics
State/Country: California
School Type: Parochial
Ethnicity: Asian (Japanese/Korean)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: <32,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Mom didn’t attend college, but that’s basically it.

Reflection:
Strengths: Essays and extracurriculars
Weaknesses: GPA and ACT scores.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My grades were horrid junior year.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Texas A&M, Stanford, Pomona College, Case Western Reserve University
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Good luck to other deferees!
And to anyone else reading this who might be applying next year, don’t let these results put you down! You’re all very bright people and I wish you the best of luck on your applications :slight_smile:

12

[ color=orange][ b]Decision: Deferred **[/color]

Objective:
SAT I and/or ACT (breakdown): 2290 (790 CR, 700 Math, 800 Writing, 10 Essay).
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800 US History, 800 Spanish.
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8.
AP (place score in parentheses): Took 9 classes, but was unable to take any tests due to financial constraints.

Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Nothing organized, though I like playing board games and am a big History buff.
Job/Work Experience: A job a few summers ago, and worked online for a data privacy company for a while.
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteering at a foundation to help students at poor schools.
Essays: I thought my two QuestBridge essays were very good, and my UChicago ones were unique, but I didn’t mention several cool things that I love that I discovered later.
Teacher Recommendations: Probably weak, as I study in an online school and barely know my teachers.
Counselor Rec: Probably weak, even though I am probably the school’s best student in its history.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes.
Projected Concentration: History, Political Science.
State/Country: US citizen living in Colombia, South America.
School Type: Online.
Ethnicity: Hispanic.
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 2014: $15,000. 2015: $45,000. 2016: Probably $0 (dad lost job).
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM.

Reflection
Strengths: Test scores, unique story.
Weaknesses: Lack of extracurriculars and organized studies.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Could have written better essays and studies were somewhat disorderly.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Already applied to Yale, Princeton, and Stanford, and will apply to Emory, Northwestern (Legacy), Harvard, Dartmouth, Notre Dame, UPenn, and Christendom College. May apply to another safety.
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:
Congrats to all those accepted! Take advantage and attend this spectacular college. To those who were deferred: good luck. Let’s stick together and hope for acceptances in the spring. To those denied: I’m sorry, but I’m sure that you’ll eventually find happiness wherever you choose to go. To those reading this post in the future: Good luck and do lots of research and let your passion and love for UChicago come through in your essays.

13

Guys you have to delete the white space in the square brackets to get the formatting to take effect. It’s the reason why you can even see the tags in the instructions! 15 minutes to edit.

14

size=4][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted **[/color][/size]
[ size=4][ color=orange][ b]Decision: Deferred **[/color][/size]
[ size=4][ color=red][ b]Decision: Rejected **[/color][/size]

[ b]Objective:**
SAT I and/or ACT (breakdown):
SAT II (place score in parentheses):
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Rank/Percentile:
AP (place score in parentheses):
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

[ b]Subjective:**
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community Service:
Summer Activities:
Essays:

15

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:
SAT I and/or ACT (breakdown): 2330 (800 R, 730 M, 800 W)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): U.S. History (800), World History (800), Physics (790), German (730)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank/Percentile: 5/140
AP (place score in parentheses): U.S. History (5), Latin (5), Lang (5), Physics I (5), World History (5)
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C, AP Chinese, AP Calculus BC, AP U.S. Gov, AP Lit, Senior Project, Computer Science
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Scholar Semifinalist, U.S. Presidential Scholar Nominee, AP Scholar With Distinction, International German Fluency Diploma, three Model U.N. first place awards

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Model U.N. (President and Head Delegate), Class Vice President, Student Government Association (Officer, Local School Advisory Team Representative), German Saturday School (newspaper editor), Business and Entrepreneurship Club (Co-Founder), Euro Challenge, Academic WorldQuest, Youth Teaching Assistant summer camp counseling
Job/Work Experience: Paid summer internship at National Association of Regional Councils
Volunteer/Community Service: Summer camp counseling (40 hours a week)
Summer Activities: Travel, internships
Essays: Why UChicago essay 7/10, about the life of the mind. UChicago weird question on “Foucaultian” as a hangman word and as a social buzzword 9/10. Common app 8/10.
Teacher Recommendations: Didn’t read, but I assume they are good.
Counselor Rec: See above.
Additional Rec: None
Interview: EXCELLENT, with a foreign service officer. We talked about South Sudanese international relations for half an hour!

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
Projected Concentration: PoliSci, Econ
State/Country: DC
School Type: Magnet
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: >200,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection
Strengths: Grades, test scores, leadership, extracurriculars
Weaknesses: Perhaps recommendations, which I have not read (FERPA rights waived). Maybe the essay didn’t strike the right note at the right time?
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I don’t know.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Other Ivies, Public Ivies.
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Don’t be depressed! Think of being deferred as another chance at being accepted…

16

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:
SAT I and/or ACT (breakdown): 2290 (790 CR, 700 Math, 800 Writing, 10 Essay).
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800 US History, 800 Spanish.
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8.
AP (place score in parentheses): Took 9 classes, but was unable to take any tests due to financial constraints.

Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Nothing organized, though I like playing board games and am a big History buff.
Job/Work Experience: A job a few summers ago, and worked online for a data privacy company for a while.
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteering at a foundation to help students at poor schools.
Essays: I thought my two QuestBridge essays were very good, and my UChicago ones were unique, but I didn’t mention several cool things that I love that I discovered later.
Teacher Recommendations: Probably weak, as I study in an online school and barely know my teachers.
Counselor Rec: Probably weak, even though I am probably the school’s best student in its history.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes.
Projected Concentration: History, Political Science.
State/Country: US citizen living in Colombia, South America.
School Type: Online.
Ethnicity: Hispanic.
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 2014: $15,000. 2015: $45,000. 2016: Probably $0 (dad lost job).
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM.
Interview: Great, absolutely loved it. Really liked interviewer and she really liked me and thought I’d be a perfect fit for UChicago.

Reflection
Strengths: Test scores, unique story.
Weaknesses: Lack of extracurriculars and organized studies.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Could have written better essays and studies were somewhat disorderly.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Already applied to Yale, Princeton, and Stanford, and will apply to Emory, Northwestern (Legacy), Harvard, Dartmouth, Notre Dame, UPenn, and Christendom College. May apply to another safety.
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:
Congrats to all those accepted! Take advantage and attend this spectacular college. To those who were deferred: good luck. Let’s stick together and hope for acceptances in the spring. To those denied: I’m sorry, but I’m sure that you’ll eventually find happiness wherever you choose to go. To those reading this post in the future: Good luck and do lots of research and let your passion and love for UChicago come through in your essays.

17

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I and/or ACT (breakdown): 2300 (800 CR, 790 W, 710 M)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 780 US History, 800 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 94.8/100
Rank/Percentile: Does not rank
AP (place score in parentheses): APUSH (4), AP World (5), AP Chem (5), AP Eng Lang (5)
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Macro/AP Micro, AP US Gov/AP Comp Gov
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Don’t feel like describing I’d rate 7.5/10.
Job/Work Experience: 9/10
Volunteer/Community Service: 6/10
Summer Activities: 7/10
Essays: Common App (6/10), Why UChi (9/10), Extended Essay (9/10)
Teacher Recommendations: AP Gov/World Teacher/MUN Advisor (9/10), Precalc Teacher (8.5/10)
Counselor Rec: 10/10
Additional Rec: 8/10
Interview: 5/10 - Proof that this doesn’t hold much weight. It was awkward (at his hedge fund office…) and I didn’t have good answers and when I answered the “Why UChi” question he said “But you can get those things at any school.” I think he weirdly like me though.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes. It was somewhat generous!
Projected Concentration: Economics
State/Country: NY
School Type: Public Magnet
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $75k-$125k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First-gen

Reflection
Strengths: Standardized tests, UChi LOVES our school (we send a crazy amount of kids there), essays, recs.
Weaknesses: CA essay and interview.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My UChi supps were really good imo. Also, again, they love my school.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Rejected, Wharton ED. Accepted, SUNY Binghamton. Update: Accepted, UMich!
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: I feel shocked right now. So happy. So relieved. Getting rejected from Penn was a hard blow, but this makes me feel really really good.

18

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:
SAT I and/or ACT (breakdown): 33 (didn’t send SAT)
SAT II (place score in parentheses):
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.71
Rank/Percentile: Top 20%
AP (place score in parentheses): AP Music Theory, APUSH, APES, Calc AB, US Gov, Statistics, Literature
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: Honors Choir, Honors French 4, AP Literature, AP Statistics, AP US Gov, Introduction to Ethics (at University of North Carolina)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): A cappella (president and music director) Pit orchestra, Assisant Music Director for school musical, Assistant Director of One-Act play, pit orchestra for church choir that has toured in LA and Scotland
Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community Service: none (got service hours for pit orchestra)
Summer Activities: Barnard College Summer Precollege Program, Berklee College of Music Precollege Program, Duke TiP (two times)
Essays: Common App essay was about my a cappella group and how we used to not be very good but I stuck with it and tried hard to make us better and now people consider us the best at my school. I’m not describing it well here but everyone who read it said it was interesting and showed my character well.
Why UChicago: I think it was pretty good, I described in detail my experience touring the campus and how nice students in the classes I sat in on were
Supplement: I chose an old prompt about describing a street. I talked about the street I live on and how it had changed in my eyes as I have grown up. My mom said it made her cry but she’s my mom so idk if that means anything
Teacher Recommendations: Probably not extraordinary. I did good work in both of the teachers’ classes but never got super close to them.
Counselor Rec: My counselor basically loves me and I’m sure he wrote something really good.
Additional Rec:
Interview: Had it by phone with an alumni, I think it went well!

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? No
Projected Concentration: Music and/or Philosophy
State/Country: NC
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none really

Reflection
Strengths: I think my essays were really good and I showed that I actually knew stuff about the school.
Weaknesses: My GPA and my grades. Have several Bs.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Honestly, I thought I would get straight up rejected. UChicago was my big reach.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: American, Barnard, Emory, Haverford, Sarah Lawrence, Tufts, NYU, Wesleyan, UNC. (Deferred ED from Barnard last week)
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:
Genuinely happy to be deferred and not rejection from UChicago since it’s soooo competitive. Good luck to everyone else in the RD pool!

19

[ color=green]**Decision: Accepted **[/color]

Objective:
SAT I and/or ACT (breakdown):36
SAT II (place score in parentheses):
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):3.9 but 4.4 weighted
Rank/Percentile:n/a
AP (place score in parentheses):6 tests with a 5 and 1 tests with a 3 (APUSH)
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load:2 dual enrollment courses-Matrix Algebra/Multivar and a Comp Sci class, AP Lit, AP Physics C, Engineering, AP Gov
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):AP Scholar with Distinction, State Level Tech award

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):Student Gov Pres, Sports Team-Capt
Job/Work Experience:lifeguard 3 years
Volunteer/Community Service: lots of volunteer tutoring
Summer Activities:work and intern with a known tech firm
Essays:common app was great uncommon app was creative but got mixed reviews
Teacher Recommendations:amazing 1 wrote about academics and the other wrote more about me as a person
Counselor Rec:can’t read but he said it was one of his best ever
Additional Rec:none
Interview:none

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?yes
Projected Concentration:comp sci
State/Country:VA
School Type:public
Ethnicity:white
Gender:m
Income Bracket:over 100K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):legacy but not immediate family

[ b]Reflection**
Strengths:scores, grades, took classes at a local college, recs
Weaknesses:a few B’s early on
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:grades, scores, recs, common app essay very personal
Where else you are applying or have already applied:Stanford, UVA, MIT, accepted to a rolling admissions safety too
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:

20

Accepted. 3.8. 35. White male. Full pay. No hooks. Deans scholarship too! Great essays. Accepted to Michigan and Alabama.