<p>Hey, my top choice school is UChicago, and I have a pretty good ACT score (33) and a lot of specific EC's in focused areas. However, my main obstacle is my GPA. My GPA is a 3.9 for my Junior year, but it is very very low for my first two years of high school (3.4 both years) and my cumulative GPA right now is a low 3.57. Will my early low GPA tank my chances, or is there still hope if I submit very good essays?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>ACT probably needs to be higher if you want to be competitive with that GPA.</p>
<p>Your GPA could definitely kill you, but you should apply and write phenomenal essays to have a chance.</p>
<p>I’m in the same boat as you (wassup!) </p>
<p>Hopefully they have room for us :-)</p>
<p>Hi! I’m a senior who was accepted to UChicago this past spring and from talking to the kids in the admit group as well as looking at the results thread, I discovered a couple of things about UChicago admits:</p>
<p>1) People who were rejected/waitlisted did not have the best of stats. Now, that doesn’t mean that if don’t have top notch scores and GPA, you won’t get accepted. Simply, those who didn’t get accepted, didn’t have great scores and a good (above 3.9) GPA. </p>
<p>2) They all wrote fantastic essays. Some people shared their essays on the admit group and I took some time to read them. They were all quirky, unique, and simply lovely to read!</p>
<p>3) If you’re applying as an economics major, you will have a difficult time getting in. Applicants for other majors seemed to have it easier. Remember that you don’t have to declare your major until your sophomore year so it doesn’t matter what you put down when you’re applying.</p>
<p>If you want to talk some more, PM me! Also, remember: correlation doesn’t imply causation.</p>
<p>In terms of your chance, I’d say: You had better have some amazing extracurriculars to counteract that low GPA for the first two years. Otherwise, I’d call UChicago a high reach.</p>