I know not much can be done at this point, but I applied to University of Chicago for Early Decision and I just want to know if I have a chance of getting accepted, or if I shouldn’t get my hopes up.
GPA: 4.47
ACT: 30
SAT: 1360
Grades: I went straight A’s until junior year. First semester I had 4 high B’s, but I got them back up to A’s by the end of the year.
AP Classes: Human Geo, Euro, APUSH, Language and Composition, Calculus AB, Microeconomics, American Government, Psychology, Literature and Composition, and possibly Macroeconomics
Classes: All honors and AP
EC: Mu Alpha Theta, Mu Alpha Omega, Student Ambassador, National Honors Society, Speech Team, Fall Play, Contest Play, Figure Skating
Volunteer: I volunteer at a fundraiser for Autism every year and it’s well-known in my area.
I have three letters of recommendations: one from an alumni of UoC, one who received an award from UoC, and my speech team coach who knows me very well. I’m currently scheduling an interview with another alumni.
My essays are very strong, especially my “Why UChicago?” essay. My extended essay was in my opinion very out of the box.
UoC is my top school and I dream to go there, like many. I know they do a holistic approach with applications, but I’m afraid that my scores will hurt me so much that I won’t get it. I haven’t been able to redo those scores due to scheduling. Thanks in advance for any input!
Of course everybody has a chance, but my advice is: start to work on your RD application ASAP, because your chance is not good. Here is the thing, your SAT/ACT is not even on the lower end, 1460, and it’s 100 points below. That speaks to the admission officers you can every hardly survive in UChicago. And, on the other hand, SAT offers another perspective of your GPA. If you have 3.8 GPA with 1500 SAT, people think your school is rigorous, and it’s fine with 3.8. But you have 4.47, which is perfect, and with a 1360, then your GPA is worthless, because it means your school has GPA inflation.
Of course, if you have very strong EC and Hook, you might have a mere chance to win this game. Like some international-level award, acting in films, managing influential organizations, doing start-ups, etc. They could make up for you.
But… It’s really hard to differentiate you from all other well-rounded students. Nothing very special and unique. They are so many more like you out there. It might be good in your area, but UChicago takes elites from the whole country and the world. They will want a student with a normal academic ability and a shining story or a well-rounded students who achieve above average in both academics and ECs.
Nothing personal here, and it doesn’t matter what I say or what you do right now, for you have already submitted it. Just a tip for others who might be reading this, check the class profile, and decide which school you might want to apply for ED or ED2, for it’s a great advantage to take. A 100 points below the lower end is a HUGE GAP, not about test itself, it speaks many things, including your schedule and time-management skill.
^^1460 is the 25th percentile for the OLD test. OP seems to have taken the revised. Still, the scores are on the low side; however, if the essays are strong that will definitely help. OP, good luck and keep us posted! You were probably very smart to apply ED as that choice played a significant role in last year’s decisions.
According to a r/A2C post, ‘UChicago class of 2021’s 25th-75th percentile SAT scores are 1420-1530’. Just search the quoted portion on Google for the post.
@DariusTheGreat Thank you so much for your input. The 4.47 GPA is my weighted GPA, my unweighted is a 3.8. My SAT score is the one thing I am worried about though, because I do understand that it is on the low end. I did take the revised version that is out of 1600, and I’ve been wanting to retake the SAT, but my schedule always conflicted with the different test days, and I really wished it didn’t.
If I were to try to apply again for RD if I don’t get accepted and see if I can find a test date that I can go to, do you think I have a better chance of getting in?
@JBStillFlying Thank you so much, I promise to keep everyone posted! If you had to say, how badly do you think the SAT score will hurt me? I understand that they have a holistic approach when it comes to applications, but I also know they look a lot at your test scores.
Test scores are important but aren’t the only factor in a decision, and some with other strong hooks or attributes get in despite lower test scores. It’s hard to know more than that.
“If I were to try to apply again for RD if I don’t get accepted and see if I can find a test date that I can go to, do you think I have a better chance of getting in?”
Pretty sure they say not to send additional material in if you are deferred. But you can ask your admissions counselor that question.
@Riedellskater I was wait-listed in the RD round of UChicago last year, and didn’t got in, though I got some equivalent offers anyway, and I’m having a good freshman year. What I can tell you, as one applied and waitlist last year, and one whose sister is applying this year, the RD round last year is about 2%. I believe that’s part of reason I got wait-listed… I got in some more statistically selective schools in RD. That’s a huge change in policy.
I don’t know if this year they will maintain this policy, but it seems to earn them a good prestige, stats or ratings anyway.
I disagree with @DariusTheGreat on your less-than-ideal test scores being an indicator that you can’t survive at UChicago. Three of my good friends got into UChicago with a 28 ACT and weighted GPAs similar to yours (not sure what your UW is, or what theirs were for that matter). I think you have a decent chance of getting in ED if you played up figure skating in your application. I’m not sure how important it is to you since you listed it last, but at least to my understanding, figure skating isn’t a very common recreational activity.
Though optimism is often a good thing, my advice to you (though I’m sure you’ve heard it countless times) would be to prepare yourself for rejection. This will soften the blow if you don’t get in and make an acceptance that much more meaningful to you. Last year, the combined ED1/EA acceptance rate was 9%. Dean Nondorf didn’t provide exact statistics for either admissions round, but he did say that ED1 was in the low teens (read: 11-13%). If admissions this year is at least as selective as it was last year, that means 87-89% of applicants are rejected. Humbling, right? If you get in, pride yourself on being in that 11-13%, because you deserve it.
Can someone please reference the post that first reported Nondorf saying that EDI accept rate was in the low teens? That stat has been tossed around these threads for a few months now but do we have a decent source such as an admit event or similar, the way we do for both the ED/EA rate of 9% and the RD rate of 2%?
Neither parent attending claimed that Nondorf cited the ED acceptance rate in the teens. Nondorf certainly cited the other stats. Still wondering if that ED rate info. is “second-hand” w/o a definite source. Someone who actually heard Nondorf say that is welcome to chime in here . .
@littlebluefish - Hmmm. That EA stat at the very least doesn’t make sense because it implies 3,333 applications were EA (400 / .12). With 13,000 total early applications, there’s no way the majority were EDI. Not saying that the exUChicago admissions person was misleading you - it just doesn’t reconcile with what Nondorf apparently said.
Wondering if that 22% ED stat includes EDII. That one I can actually believe.
Sorry to be a pain!
IIRC for Class of 2020 - before the ED/EDII switch - EA acceptance WAS around 12%, wasn’t it? Or have I been on these boards for a bit too long? LOL.
It’s really hard to believe the bit about a low-teens admission rate for ED-1 applications. We don’t know the exact figures, of course, because Chicago hasn’t released them, but it certainly looks like it admitted at least 600 applicants ED-1 (and maybe as many as 650 or 700). Under the most favorable assumptions possible – only 600 ED-1 acceptances, 13% admission rate – that would mean Chicago got over 4,600 ED-1 applications. Hardly any college gets that many ED-1 applications. Columbia only got about 4,000 last year, and it got about 20% more total applications than Chicago. Duke and Brown each only got 3,200, and they both got at least 10% more total applications than Chicago. Penn and Cornell each got more than 4,600 ED applications, but not by much, and they are both (a) much bigger and more varied than Chicago, and (b) usually the very top of all colleges in ED applications received.
(Because ED is binding and EA is not, schools that allow EA applications get many more early applications than ED schools. In recent history, Chicago got boatloads of EA applications.)