Uchicago Official Early Action Class of 2012 Results

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
102

<p>size=+1]
[ color=green]
[ b]
Accepted
[ /b]
[ /color]
[ /size]</p>

<p>[ b]Stats:[ /b][ list]
[ *]SAT: 2110
[ *]SAT II: just took them
[ *]ACT: 33
[ *]GPA: 4.0 unweighted.. 4.7/5.0 weighted
[ *]Rank: 3/450
[ *]Other Tests: (AMC, AP, IB) AP Biology, AP US History, AP English Language, AP Latin Vergil .. a 5, 2 4s, and a 3
[ /list]
[ b]Subjective[ /b][ list]
[ *]Essays: i picked the improvisational comedy one.. they were pretty strong
[ *]Teacher Recs: didnt read either, but from biology and english
[ *]Counselor Rec:didnt read it
[ *]Supplementary Material: none
[ *]Hook: nothing too unbelievably huge
[ /list]
[ b]Personal[ /b][ list]
[ *]Location:tennessee
[ *]High School Type: public
[ *]Ethnicity:persian
[ *]Gender F
[ *]Applied for Financial Aid: (just yes or no)[ /list] yes
[ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[ *]Extracurriculars: JCL (President, VP, Secretary, Treasurer and then Secretary of the state JCL), Mu Alpha Theta (President), National Honor Society, City Youth Commission (Secretary), National Latin Honor Society (President for two years), 30 and Above Club, Beta Club, Knowledge Bowl (captain), Cable Quiz, Water Education Team, International Club, French Club,
SGA</p>

<p>[ *]Awards: AP Scholar with Honor, AP Biology Outstanding Junior of the Year, Outstanding Student of the Year in Honors Latin I, Honors Latin II, and Honors French I, 2nd and 3rd place in Film Festival, 5th place in the nation on the National French Exam, 3rd place in the state on the National French Exam, Cable Quiz grand champions, 1st place on a dramatic Latin oratory piece, classical art, classical costume, and twice on skit at the state JCL convention, 5th place on the state JCL Latin reading comprehension exam, 3rd place on a classical skit in the JCL state convention, 4th place twice on a classical costume in the JCL state competition, 6th place in state JCL advanced classical literature exam, Published by Creative Communications, Inc. five times, Gold medal on the National Latin Exam three times, best table topics speaker at a Toastmasters International Organization meeting</p>

<p>[ *]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[ /list]</p>

103

<p>By the way, I think an interview bullet should be added, since that may well be important to UChicago (though I understand it isn't very significant in many other schools). I personally felt that my interview went really, really well - I ended up talking to the fellow (a former Econ major) for an hour and a half (we were supposed to only be there for an hour at most, and it was getting cold and all), and I thought we connected and all that. So, just mentioning, because his report may have been a factor.</p>

104

<p>

**
Accepted
**

</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2060 (750 math, 630 critical reading, 680 writing)
[</em>]SAT II: 720 Physics, 710 Math II, 710 Biology M, 700 Chemistry
[<em>]ACT: n/a
[</em>]GPA: we do out of 100 - 96.8 uw, 102.93 w
[<em>]Rank: 3/262
[</em>]Other Tests: AP - Bio-5, US History - 4, World History + English Language - 3
[/ul]
Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: I chose the Borges Y Yo essay, and compared my 'school me' to the 'true me.' For 'why chicago,' i admitted my infatuation with the UofC
[</em>]Teacher Recs: One was a beautiful letter from my ap bio teacher, the other was from an english teacher I had for 2 years, though I did not read his.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: I didn't even realize that she wrote one for me
[</em>]Supplementary Material: none
[li]Hook: none [/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Personal[ul]
[<em>]Location: Long Island, NY
[</em>]High School Type: public, nothing extraordinary
[<em>]Ethnicity: caucasian
[</em>]Gender: female
[<em>]Applied for Financial Aid: yes [/ul]
Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Horseback riding, Club Interact(treasurer), National Honor Society, French Honor Society, Peer Tutoring, National Jr Honor Society
[<em>]Awards: AP Scholar with Honor, Bausch & Lomb Honorary Science Award
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Chicago was my first choice and I am so excited to be accepted. I really hope that financial aid will work out, as finances would be the only reason I would not attend the UofC. I am so grateful to be accepted! [/ul]</p>

105

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:</p>

<pre><code>* SAT: not sent
* SAT II: not sent
* ACT: 34
* GPA: 4.1 W
* Rank: Top 10%
* Other Tests: AP US 4, Gov 4, Phys B 4, Stat 4
</code></pre>

<p>Subjective</p>

<pre><code>* Essays: Prompt 4, Wrote a short story, "Maria Garcia and the International Mathematics Educators Convention." I was happy with it.
* Teacher Recs: Probably excellent
* Counselor Rec: Excellent
* Supplementary Material: Poetry
* Hook: Music Activities/Interest
</code></pre>

<p>Personal</p>

<pre><code>* Location: Cleveland, Ohio
* High School Type: Small competitive public
* Ethnicity: White, Jewish
* Gender: Male
* Applied for Financial Aid: Yes
</code></pre>

<p>Other</p>

<pre><code>* Extracurriculars: School newspaper, Member of two prestigious youth symphonies, 2 volunteer boards
* Awards: National Honor Society
* Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I am thankful.
</code></pre>

<p>Sorry to those who were deferred and rejected. I wish you all the best.</p>

106

<p>

**
Deferred
**

</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2230 (730R/710M/790W)
[</em>]SAT II: US:680,Lit730, M2 660 (if U(c) looked at these, I would think this is what hurt me most)
[<em>]ACT: n/a
[</em>]GPA: 3.98
[<em>]Rank: top 5%
[</em>]Other Tests: (AMC, AP, IB) n/a
[/ul]
Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: I really thought my chief essay was good. I'm second guessing it now...
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Excellent
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Probably good
[/ul]
Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: PA
[<em>]High School Type: Public
[</em>]Ethnicity: caucasian
[<em>]Gender: female
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid: yep[/ul]
Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: Class V.P. , NAHS President, NHS V.P., AFS secretary, Forensics team captain, 4x softball letterman (team placed 2nd in state), lead role in class play, 13 years classical piano, Organized school's art show, Currently organizing a film series to promote global awareness
[</em>]Awards: Attended governor's school
[*]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: UChicago still tops my list. The deferral was a good motivator - I'm determined to work extra hard this semester so I can get in RD! Congrats to everybody who got in![/ul]</p>

107

<p>Deferred. </p>

<ul>
<li>SAT: not sent</li>
<li>SAT II: not sent</li>
<li>ACT: 29</li>
<li>GPA: 4.4 W</li>
<li>Rank: Top 20%</li>
<li>Other Tests: AP US 5, Lang/Comp 4</li>
</ul>

<p>Subjective</p>

<ul>
<li>Essays: I liked my essays a lot.</li>
<li>Teacher Recs: Probably excellent</li>
<li>Counselor Rec: Excellent</li>
<li>Supplementary Material: Poetry</li>
<li>Hook: Not sure if I have one...</li>
</ul>

<p>Personal</p>

<ul>
<li>Location: Tucson, AZ</li>
<li>High School Type: Small competitive private</li>
<li>Ethnicity: White</li>
<li>Gender: Female</li>
<li>Applied for Financial Aid: Yes</li>
</ul>

<p>Other</p>

<ul>
<li>Extracurriculars: Yearbook Editor in Chief, NHS</li>
<li>Awards: Science fair, Language Fair, school awards.</li>
<li>Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I'm just glad I wasn't rejected off the bat.</li>
</ul>

108

<p>congrats to all that got in! i totally don't regret my decision last year not to attend UChicago, but I still love the place and want to go to grad school there.</p>

109

<p>

**
Accepted
**

</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2250 (750CR 760M 740W)
[</em>]SAT II: 780 Math, 760 World, 700 Phys
[<em>]GPA: 4.6W 3.81 UW
[</em>]Rank: 2/240
[<em>]Other Tests: (AMC, AP, IB) 5 AP Gov, 4 Calc BC (4 AB), 5 Music Theory, 5 World, 5 English Language, 4 Physics
[/ul]
Subjective[ul]
[</em>]Essays: Strong. “Why Chicago” was mostly about the Core (and Saul Bellow/Allan Bloom/Milton Friedman): “Favorite Things” on Mr. Tambourine Man (Dylan version): “Tables” on family vs. football vs. Presidential Classroom tables
[<em>]Teacher Recs: Good. Multivariable Calc teacher and World Teacher
[</em>]Counselor Rec: Very Very good
[<em>]Supplementary Material: (research abstracts, music recordings, art slides) N/A
[</em>]Hook: (recruited athlete, cured cancer- only major ones that actually would have made a difference, please) Shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. [/ul]
Personal[ul]
[<em>]Location: Maryland
[</em>]High School Type: Good school (smallish) in obscenely good county.
[<em>]Ethnicity: White/Asian
[</em>]Gender Male
[<em>]Applied for Financial Aid: (just yes or no) Yes[/ul]
Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Football, Captain of Quizbowl team, Piano, guitar, NHS “leader,” Founder of Vast Right Wing Conspiracy Rockville chapter (listed under euphemism Political Action Club), Organized Football Tutoring, Counselor at Football camp, Office and Research Assistant at statistical consulting company, Presidential Classroom, Piano Accompanist,
[<em>]Awards: Math Award (best student in school), Maryland Distinguished Scholar Semifinalist, National Merit Commended Scholar, AP Scholar with Distinction,
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Essays are essential! When in doubt, WRITE ABOUT THE CORE; I’m sure that was a big part of my admission. [/ul]</p>

110

<p>I was accepted. No one would get much more information from my stats if I posted them -- I'm pretty much like most other acceptances in this thread, numerically.</p>

<p>Good luck with RD, everyone!</p>

111

<p>Oh, I love Chicago.</p>

112

<p>Zarathustra,
congrats on your acceptance. I like your hook: shows cultural literacy and humour. If you decide to matriculate, you will have a blast (and learn a lot).</p>

113

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT II: Math Level 2 790, Chemistry 720, U.S. History 770 (did not report SAT II scores for Chicago)
[</em>]ACT: 35
[<em>]GPA: 4.0 UW
[</em>]Rank: 1/~430
[<em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AP Chem 5, AP U.S. History 5, AP Calc BC 5, AP Physics B 4, AP English Lang 4 (did not report AP scores for Chicago)
[/ul]
Subjective[ul]
[</em>]Essays: I liked them!<br>
[<em>]Teacher Recs: should be awesome (didn't see)
[</em>]Counselor Rec: should be great (didn't see)
[<em>]Supplementary Material: scientific research abstract
[</em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): none?[/ul]
Personal[ul]
[<em>]High School Type: public
[</em>]Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>]Gender: female
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid: yes[/ul]
Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: Editor-in-Chief of school newspaper, Varsity Tennis Captain, Science Olympiad Captain, Flute (area symphony orchestra, all-state band), Volunteer @ science center, Freshmen Mentor
[</em>]Awards: Sigma Xi Scientific Society Interdisciplinary Research Award, Sigma Xi Associate Member, National Merit Semifinalist, Science Olympiad 1st places, some others
[li]Misc: I do post-secondary at our state university and I attended M.I.T. WTP this past summer. [/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Yay!!! I love UChicago! Milton Friedman is my hero.</p>

114

<p>

**
Accepted
**

Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2380
[</em>]SAT II: some ~750s
[<em>]ACT: 36
[</em>]GPA: 3.8 uw
[<em>]Rank: top 5%
[</em>]Other Tests: five 5s, didn't include AIME/AMC
[/ul]
Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: One English teacher loved the big one, but another teacher hated it. My "why I absolutely love Chicago to death" essay really showed it.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: decent? (didn't see them)
[<em>]Counselor Rec: (didn't see it, again) well meaning, I'm sure, but we're her first batch of seniors (my counselor is awesome, but she's seriously more like a high school student than a teacher)
[</em>]Supplementary Material: nope.
[<em>]Hook: I am Asian and boring, so no. [/ul]
Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Midwestern suburb
[<em>]High School Type: public, 2500 kids
[</em>]Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>]Gender: female
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid: yes [/ul]
Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: Council, NHS, Science Olympiad, Mock Trial
[</em>]Awards: nothing spectacular. National Merit, some local/school/ec stuff
[li]To the deferred/RD people: from the posts here, it seems like it's mostly been by the numbers, with a few exceptions. The people who got in with "low" stats, however, seemed to have really passionate essays/recs. At this stage (when your test scores and grades and ecs are pretty much set in stone), the most important things are to...[/li]*relax and eat ice cream
*write some killer essays
*get them looked at by some cool people (more than one person...the more the merrier. If I took the first teacher's advice, I would have submitted a rather bland essay. Get a few trusted friends to look at it, too; they know you the best.)
*take their advice on your essays, but don't let them edit out you/your personality
*make sure you don't have any obvious issues in your app (I caught some issues at the last minute...like not putting down any detail in the activities section)
*submit your app! (submitting it at 5:00 am is perfectly acceptable, but just be warned that you will have no brain function at all the next day)
*and hope for the best!
[/ul]</p>

<p>Good luck, everyone! We're all rootin' for ya!</p>

115

<p>[ size=+1]
[ color=blue]
[ b]
Deferred
[ /b]
[ /color]
[ /size]</p>

<p>[ b]Stats:[ /b][ list]
[ *]SAT: 2140, 780M 700W 660C
[ *]SAT II: Math II-760, Chem-730, Lit-710
[ *]ACT: 34
[ *]GPA: 3.9
[ *]Rank: no rank (although in highest 5%)
[ *]Other Tests: (AMC, AP, IB): AP BC Calc-5, AP Chem-4, AP Lang-4, AP Euro-3
[ /list]
[ b]Subjective[ /b][ list]
[ *]Essays: wrote borges y yo essay and thought it was pretty good
[ *]Teacher Recs: should be excellent
[ *]Counselor Rec: should also be excellent
[ *]Supplementary Material: (research abstracts, music recordings, art slides): sent in research paper and additional rec
[ *]Hook: (recruited athlete, cured cancer- only major ones that actually would have made a difference, please): nothing [ /list]
[ b]Personal[ /b][ list]
[ *]Location: South
[ *]High School Type: Public (gifted)
[ *]Ethnicity: Asian (indian)
[ *]Gender: F
[ *]Applied for Financial Aid: (just yes or no): no[ /list]
[ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[ *]Extracurriculars: lots. president of a lot of clubs and am very involved in everything i do.
[ *]Awards: nat'l merit semifinalist, highest award in school, some other minor things
[ *]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I can't believe I got deferred. It's been making me miserable because I feel like I won't get in anywhere else either. [ /list]</p>

116

<p>Having just spent a few minutes browsing over this thread, the results (assuming that they are true-enough) seem to indicate that the difference between being deffered and accepted is (sometimes) the interest you show in the University. There was one poster who had perfect stats and was still deffered. Unimaginable at most schools, and yet, at Chicago, not a surprise at all. This person had posted in the past about his/her (I can't remember) prospects at getting into Chicago, Brown, Penn, Harvard, Princeton, etc. What struck me as odd was that these schools, aside from being elite schools, have nothing in common. Penn is as pre-professional a school as there is. Brown truly embodies the free spirit ethic quite unlike any other Ivy. And Chicago is... Chicago. </p>

<p>Now, what I think this makes clear is that Chicago is looking for people who are interested in Chicago regardless of the US News ranking. I have no way of knowing, but I suspect that this person (and a number of others who were deffered/rejected) wrote general essays that could have been written for any number of elite universities. The Why Chicago essay should talk about things unique to the university. The Core, Milton Friedman, Saul Bellow, The Scavanger Hunt, Regenstein...Yes. "Atmosphere," city, people, prestige, clubs... not as much. I'm not saying that you couldn't write about these things and get in nor am I saying that if you were deffered you didn't love Chicago as it is. I'm just thinking aloud.</p>

<p>I also think that, no matter how undesirable a discussion about race can be, one can never discount the effect (for some positive and for many negitive) that Affirmative Action has on these descisions.</p>

117

<p>I disagree... </p>

<p>I thought that my D's "Why Chicago" essay was pretty good. It evoked specific events from the University's history, compared and contrasted them with the stated goals of Chicago as an educational institution and my D's own interests, both academically and in terms of "type of school" she is looking for. It passed the "Cheesecake Factory" test with flying colors, we even tried substituting "Northwestern", "Harvard", etc and it made no sense. However, D was rejected EA. Her stats are great but not spectacular: 2250 SAT/34 ACT/3.8 UW.</p>

<p>After carefully reading through this thread, I believe that the reason for rejection was that she was a tad below 10% rank-wise (UW), and it seems that most everyone with this type of GPA was deferred/rejected. It appears that they expect successful applicants to take the hardest courses available to them AND ace them. Once they find those, they use the essays to screen people OUT, not to admit people with marginal academic performance who happen to be great writers.</p>

<p>In the end, I think that Chicago is more like all other top 10-15 schools than different from them. Sure, they ask you to write a wacky essay, but then they use it as supplemental information, much the same way other schools use ECs and other subjective measures.</p>

<p>We can only guess what happened to kate25, her case is truly an outlier. There must have been some significant red flag in the essays or recommendations.</p>

118

<p>ACCEPTED!!!!</p>

<p>Stats:
SAT: CR790 M800 W740 (2330)
SAT II: MathII 770 USH 740 BioM 750
ACT: n/a
GPA: UW 3.9x/4.00 (i think!)
Rank: 3/about 100
Other Tests: AP - USH 5
Essays: I chose the picture essay. Wrote a story from an artist's view. For why Chicago, I emphasized its uncommonness. I meant for it to be funny and serious. Hmmm. For my favorite one, I chose one poem. I think it was really delicious.
Teacher Recs: from a bio teacher and an English teacher. I love them! Hopefully they love me too...
Counselor Rec: ? I have no idea! Hopefully she loved me too. She left...
Supplementary Material: none
Hook: none... being an international is not a hook... right?</p>

<p>Personal
Location: Switzerland
High School Type: private international school
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: female
Applied for Financial Aid: nope.</p>

<p>Other
Extracurriculars: MUN, school magazine, drama, charity comedy show, NHS,Yearbook, Interyouth, and several small projects... etc
Work: Tutoring, archiving in an NGO
Awards: not a lot. small awards..:(
Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: All those deferred don’t lose hope. All of you guys who love Chicago are amazing people. I hope you get in!!! Work on the essays and be relaxed. Love and yearn for Chicago and you will get in!!!</p>

119

<p>my friend had near-perfect stats and was deferred too and hes really upset. </p>

<p>DID anyone use their common app essay (and use prompt 5) and get in?? </p>

<p>he thinks thats what ruined him</p>

120

<p>People have gotten in using their own prompts, but most of the people I know who did that still wrote "Chicago style" essays.</p>

121

<p>jerseyboy, I think you should tell your friend to write a Chicago-style essay now. The Uncommon App blog now includes guidelines for submitting new or revised essays. I know I'm going to be rewriting my Why Chicago essay. If he thinks the biggest weakness of his app was the essay, he can still recover from that by writing a new one.</p>

<p>Best of luck to your friend and all of us deferred!</p>