UChicago Economics Chances?

Indian female junior. High income bracket. International

Worried about SL math. Is that OK?

1 AP exam: WHAP (5)

Full IB Diploma student. Predicted 43-44 in HL Lang Lit, Economics, History, and SL Maths, Bio, Spanish

GPA: 6.9 (all 7s in academic subjects but bad grades in PE lol)

Tentative SAT score: 1560, 800 in math

ECs and Awards

  • Bronze in regional slam poetry competition
  • Public speaking: won 1st (10th grade) and 2nd (9th grade) place at (regional? state level? not sure but over 200+ contestants from many different schools in Southeast Asia) impromptu competition
  • Varsity debate/forensics
  • Scholastic Writing Competition: Honorable Mention
  • Leader of DECA chapter at school
  • leader of school’s Ted Ed club. We were invited to go to NYC (but the 'rona happened…) and our school’s club was nominated for the top 50 CAS projects by the IB. We have a wide outreach to many local schools in the community and our annual event gets an over 100+ people audience
  • In school’s competitive varsity MUN team
  • some small awards at local MUN meets
  • Mentor for middle school MUN, arranged and chaired MS MUN conference at our school
  • ranked top 14 in Scribe Writing competition (over 900+ submissions)
  • TA for IB Spanish (took the exam a year early)
  • DECA state winner
  • Many academic awards (Excellence in Science, English, Social Studies, EC scholar)

Those IB scores are wonderful, so they will be noticed. Your ECs look fine as well.

If you are indeed interested in Economics at UChicago, they will pay attention to your Maths score. The more high level maths you can take, the better. Main reason is that the Economics program at Chicago is very focused on mathematics. They will certainly wonder why you opted for SL if HL was indeed available. If maths is a weak area for you, then the Chicago economics curriculum might be difficult.

I assume financial aid is not an issue?

No, I don’t need aid.

I went into the IB not wanting to major in econ but I am talented in math: I don’t study for SL and get straight 7s. Maths isn’t weak for me but I’m not sure how to make up for that. IB HL math is far more difficult than AP Calculus. I was in higher level maths in 9th and 10th grade, though

Yes I understand the rigor of HL maths. So will the admissions people at Chicago. I would suggest to have your counselor mention the situation in his/her letter. Or you could choose to address it in your essay. But don’t make it sound like you are making excuses. Just frame it as a change in heart.

Are you attending high school in the India subcontinent? Or from another nearby southeast asian country? Reason is that they are generally flooded with apps from India. So it will be harder to stand out.

If financial aid not a barrier, then your best chance is to apply in the ED1 round.

Nope! I’m applying from an international school in Malaysia. I’ll definitely try to apply ED! I wasn’t sure how admissions worked in the USA

Overall there aren’t a lot of applicants from Malaysia, so thats good. ED1 is your best shot. The percentages who are admitted in ED1 +ED2 rounds are much higher than in RD/EA. The yields have been increasing, and the % admitted have been steadily decreasing.

Spend some time thinking about the optional video supplement. This is a really easy way to showcase yourself. Most students don’t submit it. There are some good examples on Youtube. Definitely submit the video.

Thank you!

I was wondering, if I took Calc AB, the AP course, in my senior year, and applied for ED in Nov/Dec, would that help bolster my application?

Not really. There are two flavors of AP here in the US: AB and BC. BC is generally thought of as more rigorous. Your AP scores wouldn’t be available until June, which is well after the admissions decisions are out.

You’re overthinking it. Just apply with your current package, it will be fine.