<p>Didn't you read my post up there with the link? Duke has ED, UMich has rolling decision, UChic has either EA or ED, I forgot.. Check the link. </p>
<p>And specific time to maximize your chances? The earlier, the better for rolling decision.</p>
<p>Thanks lisieux, UChicago has EA btw.</p>
<p>oh the essay is super important too. your English has to be something</p>
<p>essay is super important? In a way is it more important than SAT?</p>
<p>I agree with screwitlah. It can compensate your SAT grades if it's not that good (I'm talking about 2000-2100ish from my experience, NOT too bad like 1730 or something). It's not the English, though, it's what you write in it.</p>
<p>Look at it this way, a lot of applicants get an SAT score in the 2200+ range (which only has a margin for 5-6 errors) which makes it very hard to put a huge emphasis on SATs. ...I would think that the essays are MUCH more important than SATs... especially for big name schools...</p>
<p>It is very hard to give a definitive answer as to what a good SAT score for Chicago is as they take a very holistic approach and look at the whole person when admitting students. So, looking at statistics for this years class, I have seen people rejected who had almost perfect SAT scores and great GPAs and then have the school take a chance on people with less than a perfect GPA( i.e. 3.7) and SAT scores under 2100. But in general, the writing score is not that important to Chicago. If you have something that they are looking for, i.e. great musical or artistic ability, civic leadership,etc., great essays and recommendations, a passionate reason for wanting to go to the school and a really high GPA, your SATs could be high enough. You are fighting against a demographic trend of many brilliant asian applicants with very high SATs etc., i.e. 2300+, so this could work against you. Two years ago, when my child applied, she had a 1340, not counting the writing score. The interviewer told her that the school really liked everything else, but was not happy with the SAT score, and this was before the huge surge in applications and drop in admission rate. Anyway, she was deferred EA, retook the SATs and raised her score to over 1400 and was admitted regular decision. So, I think that you should try to bring up your SAT scores somewhat if possible.</p>
<p>actually, I'm not just talking about the writer's range of vocabulary when I say English. (anyway it's usually better and less pompous to write with everyday words) I'm referring to the writer's mastery of language skills and the manipulation of the language to capture and bring out the emotion in a story, the ability to promote oneself without risking arrogance, the ability to express complex ideas and thoughts to the layman, and the task of conveying an accurate sense of one's character through whatever one chooses to write :) </p>
<p>I had an acne outbreak during my essay-writing months... and it's still not entirely gone.</p>
<p>VERY IMPORTANT POINT: 'the ability to promote oneself without risking arrogance'</p>
<p>it was my guideline to essay writing...appear humble and modest, and try and impress the admissions panel with that same modesty.</p>
<p>Thanks guys! I will try and write an essay that is succinct, modest, but yet convincing! hmm is it better to difficult words to impress? or use common everyday words?</p>
<p>newenglandparent: ic..will applying for EA 'definitely' increase your chances of getting into UChicago? >< Does the same apply to rolling admissions?</p>
<p>Btw, I hope to major in the sciences, maybe chemical engineering/chemistry/Eletrical and Computer Engineering! Am thinking of applying for CMU too..</p>
<p>Moderation is key. Too many difficult words will make your essay look funny instead.</p>
<p>go to the national library website and chope the college application essay collections. there're two: "100 successful college application essays" and "50 successful Harvard application essays". I highly recommend the latter since it includes a one-page analysis for each essay. Yep, I read 150 essays, it took me 2 months. but then again I already wasn't in JC at that time and was pretty much overly-obsessed :P </p>
<p>(okay, i think some essays are common to both books, so its not exactly 150.)</p>
<p>of course, you shouldn't try to appear like any one of the 150 featured writers. read the essays to know what makes a winning essay and perhaps HOW to write one, but ultimately the substance of your own personal essay should be all about yourself.</p>
<p>There are two schools of thought regarding applying EA to Chicago. Some people feel that if you want to present your strongest case to Chicago and you believe that your grades and SATs are going to rise in your senior year, apply regular decision. I believe that if you really want to go to Chicago you should apply EA. Chicago values students who really want to go there and who would be a good fit. By applying EA, and if possible interviewing, you can let them know that you are serious and I think that this really helps. You can risk getting rejected early, but in your case, I think that the worst that would happen would be getting deferred, but it is always a crap shoot. If you are not really serious about Chicago as one of your first choices, then I think that you may want to wait and apply regular decision.</p>
<p>Lol newenglandparent has absolutely no-clue about Singaporean education, it seems. Btw, Kwaldner, why do you want to apply to Chicago when there are better science/engineering schools? Historically, Chicago's not that strong in Engineering. UIUC or Umich?</p>
<p>But we should still thank newenglandparent for sparing some time trying to help Kwaldner out. :)</p>
<p>Fiona, before getting so hostile, you should note that I did indicate that kwaldner should make sure Chicago was a correct fit for himself. It is assumed that he researched the University before making the decision whether or not to apply. His question was whether or not he had a chance to be admitted. For most sciences it happens to be an excellent university, but it does not have an engineering department. He did not specifically indicate that he wished to pursue engineering in college. For physics and mathematics it is one of the best in the world. The hostility from some of the participants is really counterproductive.</p>
<p>newenglandparent: ic..yea i may want to pursue math (since i take moe h3 math!), still keeping my options open. Appreciate your sincere advice! ;)</p>
<p>fiona_: I heard UMich is really gd in chemical engineering. Haven't heard much about UIUC? Which areas are they gd at?</p>
<p>Btw, my country (Singapore) has very few (around 5 or so) people going to places like mit or UChicago a year for instance. My question is whether IF we apply, will we be competing against the rest of world (including US?) or purely against our fellow mates from the same country?</p>
<p>well MIT doesn't allow internationals to apply ED because it wants to analyse all international applicants together. Hence you will be competing with all 3000 or so international applicants for the 120 odd spots they have. Having said this, i believe it makes sense, that to ensure a diverse international intake, they try to limit the admits from each country/region. So in the end, you will be competing with other singaporeans for those 4-6 spots - because more than often, people from countries like Singapore, Korea, India, and China have very similar applications that mainly revolve around academics and research.
You should DEFINITELY apply.</p>
<p>UIUC's #1 for Civil Eng (haha I applied there and got it so I know). For the rest.. Wait let me find the link.</p>
<p>
[quote]
NATIONAL RANKINGS</p>
<p>Undergraduate
The undergraduate engineering program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked 5th in the 2008 America's Best Colleges edition of U.S. News and World Report (published in August 2007). Ranked undergraduate engineering science specialties in the College of Engineering include the following:
6 Aerospace<br>
1 Agricultural<br>
8 Chemical<br>
1 Civil<br>
5 Computer Engineering<br>
4 Electrical/Electronic/Communications<br>
3 Engineering Physics
3 Environmental/Environmental Health<br>
12 Industrial/Manufacturing<br>
5 Materials<br>
5 Mechanical<br>
4 Nuclear* </p>
<p>*Note: U.S. News and World Report does not currently include Nuclear or Computer Science among its engineering program rankings. (In 2006, the Nuclear Engineering program at Illinois was ranked #4.)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>
[quote]
Fiona, before getting so hostile, you should note that I did indicate that kwaldner should make sure Chicago was a correct fit for himself. It is assumed that he researched the University before making the decision whether or not to apply. His question was whether or not he had a chance to be admitted. For most sciences it happens to be an excellent university, but it does not have an engineering department. He did not specifically indicate that he wished to pursue engineering in college. For physics and mathematics it is one of the best in the world. The hostility from some of the participants is really counterproductive.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Newenglandparent - Please don't be offended: Let me clarify what I mean, alright? The reason why I said that you didn't know about the Singapore system is because the Singapore school year ends in November, and the last exams are in August. Thus there are no senior grades to speak of - so, a Singaporean student applying RD wouldn't have any 'senior grades' to boost his chances.</p>
<p>I didn't mean to imply your knowledge about UChicago was flawed - I agree with you that Chicago admissions are especially focused on fit (the Uncommon App) and I certainly didn't mean to insult Chicago. It's just that, Chicago doesn't really emit the techie feel - Just as Cornell Physics is good but Cornell overall isn't as techie as say, MIT.</p>