<p>You guys are right. Too many students ( hmmmmmmmm myself included) feel like they “deserve” an acceptance. Thinking that way is conceited and that’s one of the biggest things I’ve learned from this entire college process. The fact is that each of our college experiences will be transformed by what and how we choose to thrive in college, not by the college itself. What makes Chicago, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia etc… so great? It’s the students who choose to excel and motivate themselves with the opportunities they have. Whether we all end up at the closest CC or Chicago, each of us will have a great college experience because we can choose to use all the resources we are given. Ultimately it isn’t where you went to college, but what you did in college that makes one successful.</p>
<p>I am not understanding why so many individuals are angry because of a rejection or wait list! To me it is illogical to have assumed it was a safety school, it is a very strong university (otherwise it would not be ranked 8th in the nation) that has maintained such a strong reputation. I for one am very glad that I was wait listed! It gives me optimism and hope for other schools, even HYPS! I thought that I was no where competitive enough to really be considered for admission, and the 8th school in the nation potentially wants me! I consider that a tremendous honor! I am proud with my acceptances so far (NYU is best) and am proud to be placed on the wait list at Chicago! If you want true embarrassment then I’ll put myself out there and admit I was wait listed to a University that isn’t even tier 1! I consider this an honor, and if you are generating such animosity about it then don’t ask to be considered on the wait list! I will gladly take a spot! And by the way, there are at least 2 spots. One of my friends is going to MIT and was admitted.</p>
<p>This "spot"s being open thing makes no sense, considering they overadmitted to account for yield. They may not take that many off of the waitlist.</p>
<p>MIT isn’t included in your title of “HYPS,” but I got rejected by UChicago (after applying EA and getting deferred), but I still got into MIT, so maybe that will give you some hope.</p>
<p>To azkuropanda: I was just joking about that, I know that one person not attending doesn’t mean that a spot is automatically filled.</p>
<p>Ultrasurf: I didn’t apply to MIT, but it does give me hope. I know that these admissions offices are all looking at most of the same applications, and that there is no telling how the different offices will evaluate them. I don’t consider wait list at one a mutual exclusion from all the others, especially if they are more prestigious.</p>
<p>@ ultrasurf and handala92, thanks it definitely lifts my spirits much higher!!! good luck to everyone!!</p>
<p>Well, I for one, am quite relieved to have been rejected. I would never want to go to Chicago anyway. Too cold, no name-recognition, where fun goes to die, in the ghetto, rigorous in a bad way and terrible food.</p>
<p>That said, I am quite confused about not getting in. I applied with the intention of having a prestigious safety school just in case one of the Ivies didn’t work out. Quite a few of my friends go there/have been accepted and they had terrible stats (I’m talking 22 ACTs and sub-5% rankings). It’s quite a shame that this year, the applicant pool was more competitive.</p>
<p>This made me take it really easy and do my essay roughly 15 minutes before the deadline in 5 minutes (I went to the movies that night). All is well, as I like to say.</p>
<p>To all rejectees/waitlistees: Don’t be too disappointed. Chances are, you didn’t get in because you didn’t care about essays as much and, transitively, didn’t care for the school as much because it was a prestigious safety (well, not that prestigious but still a top 10 school). If you didn’t really care to spend time on your application, then maybe it’s not the school for you; in other words, you wouldn’t be happy here.</p>
<p>I have friends who have applied to similar-caliber Ivy safeties (UChicago, Johns Hopkins, WUSTL, Emory) and the vast majority find these schools repulsive and dreadful and claim that they’re filled with Ivy League rejects. That said, the “Ivy safeties” still provide a fine education and have a respectable name (just not as much as your Harvard’s or Pomona’s).</p>
<p>Note: I am not bashing the school. I’m just recapping the extremely long conversations and deep thought sessions with all of my friends at these so-referred-to “elite” schools. Good luck and understand that everything happens for a reason. You’ll be happy wherever you go.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I take issue with this. First of all, anyone applying to the University of Chicago as a “safety” of any kind is an idiot who planned their college applications horribly. Secondly, it is insulting to the many people who DID care about about their essays, and the University, and were wait-listed or rejected. It’s also ridiculous to imply that all one needs to do to get into the University of Chicago is try.</p>
<p>Also, if your friends are disgusted by spending time around “Ivy rejects” at their respective “Ivy safeties” it is entirely due to their own elitism and snobbishness, and they need a major reality check before they start spending time with people in the real world.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It’s absurd that a conversation about how awful it is to go to JHU/U Chi/Emory because of all the “rejects” that go there qualifies as “deep” to you.</p>
<p>nizzle: lmao you sound really bitter. im glad you got rejected considering you just wanted it as a “prestigious” safety school and you wanted to take away the opportunity from other people whose dream school WAS chicago. fyi, the reason i got waitlisted was because of my severly mediocre grades. my essays and humanity were what MADE me get on the waitlist and im glad that i at least have some sliver of a chance. i know it’s really rare and im not hoping for anything, but hey, why not stay on the wait list in the off chance that they accept me? </p>
<p>and that’s hilarious…thanks for the lame anecdotal evidence about chicago being a place for ivy rejects. there’s a segment on diane sawyer’s show that the university of chicago is the #1 ranked school for student satisfcation…or something like that. it’s on youtube. go check it out.</p>
<p>chances are, you’re going to get rejected from harvard, princeton, wherever other ivy you applied to because you’re soulless and just want a school with a great name. luckily, chicago saw through that and figured you were such a ****ty, elitist snob/applicant with probably no friends (seriously, i cant imagine anyone wanting to hang out with you in real life with your condescending attitude). have fun wherever you go. i wish you the best. :)</p>
<p>edit: i just saw your stats in the stats thread. 3.6 gpa and 31 ACT…and uchicago a safety? LOL. good one. good luck getting in anywhere else, seriously. bad stats + bad personality+ bad essays. you literally have nothing working for you.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>lmao, seriously wombat. who does that? nizzle, wipe off the grease from your keyboard, comb your hair, take a shower, and do something other than have shallow conversations with your other anti-social friends.</p>
<p>The logic that “If I don’t get into a school with X acceptance rate then I have no chance at a school with <<X acceptance rate” is just not true. UChicago seeks a very specific type of applicant - someone who really embraces the UChicago mindset and really makes a strong case for why UChicago is right for them. You might be wait-listed because you were not among their best matches. Also, interest really plays a role. This is why people could easily not get into WUSTL and Chicago but get into more selective schools. </p>
<p>Anyone who thinks of Chicago as their “safer” selective school (I did too) probably doesn’t fully appreciate the Chicago mindset. I had to withdraw my Chicago app, but I certainly didn’t.</p>
<p>I work as a tour guide at the University of Chicago and have seen so many fantastic, talented prospective students in the admissions office this past year. You are all great in so many different ways. Just because UChicago did not accept you flat out does not mean that you aren’t completely awesome. Take that awesomeness to another school and prove us wrong. Good luck!</p>
<p>Yeah now that I think about it, my essays were HORRIBLE!! I used my why penn essay for why chicago, and I’m not even sure if I changed the name Penn to Chicago. I’m sure chicago can tell if someone really wants to go or not</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m not shocked I didn’t get in because I had labeled the school as a “prestigious safety” (which I didn’t), but because I really thought I was a good fit. The school, as represented by the numerous packets, viewbooks, and various information they sent me since early junior year and my interview/interviewer, seemed like it was everything I was looking for.
I really tried to carry that across in my application, especially with the extended essay (which was taken from my Stanford Intellectual Vitality and expanded upon), but I know I didn’t put the time and effort into it that I should have. I very easily could have come up with a new essay, but I chose to recycle one. I very obviously screwed up on my Why Chicago, and they probably picked up on that, labelling me as a poor fit. I was very lazy with my application and should have put more time into it (and by doing so, I would have demonstrated more interest), and I can assume that had a major role in my wait-listing.</p>
<p>@Wheatbread Glad that I’m not at Chicago? Well, that makes two of us! Yes, I applied because my parents wanted me to apply to a prestigious safety. My heart’s really at Northwestern.</p>
<p>I can’t lie. Chicago is a great school but it doesn’t compare, especially professionally, to Ivies. Perhaps for graduate admissions, but that’s not what I’m into.</p>
<p>I’m afraid that your comment comes off a bit vitriolic and sardonic so I can’t really take it seriously. It’s clearly tainted with emotion so it has no real objective basis. Hey, I’m sorry Chicago didn’t like you either. </p>
<p>Also, did I say I wanted to go to a school with a great name? No, check out the other criteria. Clearly, quality of life matters to me as well as “hard” science programs so chill the truck out. </p>
<p>I also don’t see how a post on a forum can lead to an ultimate judgement about someone’s personality.</p>
<p>I wish you all the best and wish to reserve all judgement until I get to know you from more than a CC forum post.</p>
<p>@Wombat Point conceded. Most of the people I know who applied to Chicago went because it was a top 10 school. They had no real love for it. Unfortunately, my school is a very prestige/material-oriented place (I’m not completely immune to it either) and so people didn’t consider the atmosphere of the place. They also weren’t ready for the intense workload - they aren’t interested in academia; rather they want to go into I-Banking. </p>
<p>Yes, Chicago would be my dream school if I was into rugged intellectualism, but that’s just not my personality. It’s not a match for me so I’m relieved in a sense. It’s one of the finer educations you can get in America so I certainly understand your perspective.</p>
<p>@wheatbread, Congratulations on the waitlist, by the way. However, I don’t see the connection between being a good person (what is being a good person, anyway?) and getting wait-listed at a college? It sounds a bit elitist, IMO, to say that you’re a <em>better</em> person because you get wait-listed. Grow up and stop taking out your angst over an internet forum. People have different opinions. Sorry.</p>
<p>To reiterate, good job if you were accepted to UChicago! Great school if you’re into intellectualism and all that geeky stuff Chicago’s known for; if you didn’t get in, you’ll find your match somewhere. Good luck all!</p>
<p>Some of the people here are insane. Labeling Chicago and WUSTL as “prestigious safeties”. . .what the **** does that even mean? That’s such an arrogant statement.</p>
<p>I was waitlisted, but I don’t know if I will accept a place on the list. I love UChicago, but I am more interested in the liberal arts experience for undergrad. I take my waitlist status as a good sign for my chances at Reed, Oberlin, Grinnell, Haverford, etc. That fact that a top university had an issue with flat out rejecting me is pretty sweet, to be honest. I would never define myself as an optimist, but perhaps I’m just in a good mood because I didn’t apply to HYPS and use Chicago as a “prestigious safety”. To those of you who really treated Chicago as a first choice and were waitlisted, I’m sorry. I’m sure you will all get into fantastic schools, maybe even UChicago if you’re lucky.</p>
<p>Anyway, Chicago is always there for grad school. I know I will be sending them another application in 2014. Good luck to everyone with the rest of your college admissions.</p>
<p>I love people like Nizzle.
I love them every single day of my life.
I love Nizzle so much that I hope he or she is admitted to Northwestern.
Maybe one day Nizzle will make it out of the burbs, into the city…maaaaaybe venture down to the good ol’ HP, take a look around, decide UChicago isn’t all that great, then hop on the red line all the way back to Evanston to eat cake and be merry.
You see, plenty of kids like me go to the UofC, and we love people like Nizzle.
Absolutely LOVE.</p>
<p>Those who still didn’t grasp the idea of “Waitlisted=Rejected” will be dangling in false hopes for the next 2 months.</p>
<p>I apologize for coming off as arrogant or ignorant. Bashing UofC wasn’t really the intention but now that I read it, I guess I can see where it’s coming from. Perhaps that message was a coping mechanism for my rejection. </p>
<p>However, the basic premise still stands: there’s a match out there for me in everyway, as there is for everyone, and despite my disdain at not getting into UofC, I’ll be happy wherever I go.</p>
<p>Excuse me if I offended you. If it is of any consolation, at second (more emotionally stable) glance, I rescind basically everything I said as it came out of frustration.</p>