Chances! :+)

maria fernanda · 03-11-2008, 01:57 PM

am a junior in high school. I will be graduating in the class of '09. knowing UC's high selectiveness, I would like to know how good my chances of admission are.

Ethnicity: Hispanic, I moved from Guatemala when I was 10 years old and have been living in the U.S. for 7 yrs. now (Fluent Spanish-speaker)
School Type: The only high school in my town, with approximately 2,000 students.

Currently: GPA- 4.0 unweighted for semester 1. Have gotten straight A's for the entire school yr. except an 88% in Honors Pre-Calc. during quarter 2 (would that hurt me?)
Class Rank- # 2 in my class (out of about 500 students) and battling for the #1 spot.
Will take SAT's in March (what's the minimum score that will still make me competitive?)

Freshman Yr.
Italian I Honors- A all yr
Algebra II Honors-A all quarters and second semester, but 87% for first semester (again, detrimental for chances?)
English 9 Honors- A all yr
PE -A all yr
Workplace Basic Skills- A all yr
Leadership (Student Council class)- A all yr
Biology (Regulars, got out of Honors because of terrible teacher)- A all yr

Sophomore Yr.
Geometry Honors- A all yr
French I Honors- A all yr
Renaissance (another leadership-type class)- A all yr
Astronomy/Geology- A all yr
English 10 Honors- A all yr
World History Honors- A all yr
Italian II Honors- A all yr

Junior Yr.
American Literature Honors- A all yr
AP U.S. History- A all yr
Chemistry Honors- A all yr
French II- A all yr
Leadership- A all yr
Pre Calculus A all yr (except for the 88% for 2nd quarter)
Yearbook- A all yr

Senior Yr. will take:
A.P. Biology
A.P. U.S. Gov
A.P. Calculus
A.P. English
College English 101
French III (if the offer it)
Health/PE

EC's
Freshman Class President (05-06)
Renaissance Leadership Class member (06-07)
Honor Society President (07-08; 08-09 president elect)
Student Body Vice President (07-08)
Interact Club (06-07 as member; 07-08 as Vice President, 08-09 as President elect)
Student Body President? (08-09 elections Feb. 20th)
Soccer Manager (06-07 played but got hurt so just managed for the rest of the season)
Monte Carlo Club (07-08 one of only 6 members allowed for the French and Italian Students)
Community Service and also translate for church

Please assess my chances! i would appreciate it tremendously and also please give me any advice. Thank you!

sarahhs · 03-11-2008, 02:08 PM

looks good so far! it might help to have some more impressive EC's though (but I have no idea, I'll probably be rejected in a few weeks!)

However, keep up your wonderful grades and I'm sure you'll be fine, wherever you end up.

made4uchicago · 03-11-2008, 02:42 PM

You've definitely got good grades, but you haven't taken any AP classes yet. I think that will hurt your chances some because most kids start taking AP classes their sophomore/junior years and have gotten back their scores showing they did well. If your school doesn't offer AP classes to anyone but seniors, I would be sure to point that out to the admissions people somewhere in your application.

SCOMathmo · 03-11-2008, 03:00 PM

None of us work in the admissions office. We can't judge your eligibility accurately. Those very minor fluctuations in your grades will not impact your chances significantly. The rigour of your curriculum matters, so explain why you haven't taken any APs.

I can, however, give you advice: determine if Chicago is really a good fit for you, as it's a pretty idiomatic place. Then, if it is, write some very well-considered essays. The essays are important; composing them expertly and deliberately will pay off.

LouieCope08 · 03-11-2008, 04:59 PM

I think your AP situation is fine. My school only offers AP classes starting your Junior year, and the majority of students only take two that year...and I was admitted EA. I think UChicago knows that high schools vary greatly in their curriculum/schedule. My advice to you is to run away from CC and never look back...or it will devour your soul!

thricedotted · 03-11-2008, 07:23 PM

"it might help to have some more impressive EC's though"

I did not, and I somehow made it through EA.

As for advice...ditto on what LouieCope08 said -- if you hang out here too long, CC will only make you feel inadequate. It's best to talk and listen to the people who know you best in life rather than faceless Internet personalities, to believe in yourself, and to enjoy your life rather than live it according to what colleges want to see (I think you already knew that though, seeing that bio switch).

Take what people (including myself) say here with a grain of salt if you take it at all, and don't worry about abstractions such as chances at this point -- you either have a shot or you don't, and in this case, it's pretty obvious that you do have a shot. It's up to you to take that shot and aim well; chances only exist when we make that risk. Best of luck to you.

maria fernanda · 03-14-2008, 02:09 PM

thank you so much for all of your comments. regarding my ap classes, the ap program in my school is very new, about 2 or 3 yrs and the only ap class available to juniors is ap us history, the rest are for seniors and i plan to take all 4 of the ones available. our school only offers 5 ap classes, but if they implement more, i will be taking them also. will u of c know about the only ap classes available though or how do i let them know? so regarding my sat's, what are the minimum scores that will still make me competitive? i really love this school, it's not only beautiful but it has many of the traits that i am looking for in a school. for any current students, how is it? :=)

thank you so much again!

LouieCope08 · 03-14-2008, 03:08 PM

As long as you've taken a demanding courseload, and the highest level you can take at your school, you're fine. Somehow colleges find that junk out. I think it might be in the guidance report or something....

unalove · 03-14-2008, 04:27 PM

Louie--

High schools submit what's called a school profile. School profiles aren't standardized, but they help explain things like what percentage of students go on to four-year colleges, how rankings are calculated, how students do on standardized tests, what sorts of classes are offered.

Without this data, it would be almost impossible to determine how much a student has been challenged in his or her high school, and even if a student was doing well, whether he or she would be prepared for Chicago-level material.

maria fernanda · 04-03-2008, 02:06 PM

ok so i finally chose my classes for next year. seniors are only going to be required to take 4 classes, but i will take a full courseload. this is my schedule:

A.P. U.S. Gov
A.P. Biology
A.P Calc
A.P. English
A.P. Statistics
Literature In Film (english elective)
Health/PE (graduation requirements)

so what do you guys think? would U of C like this?

toshima · 04-03-2008, 03:21 PM

Maria, Uchicago is very different in their admissions process than most colleges. IMO, they do a better job evaluating the whole person. However, that said, it makes chancing people almost impossible. While you certainly need to be in a certain range regarding taking the most difficult classes in HS and doing well, not perfect, but reasonably well on ACT or SAT you need to show the school via your application, your essays, that you belong there. You are certainly in the range as far as classes and grades, but after that its all in your story. Again in my opinion they do about the best job matching people, not numbers to the school.

MBP · 04-03-2008, 07:51 PM

don't take classes because you think UChi will like them, because when you've got 35 pages of lit to read and two essays to write, along with a work set for calc, you won't be motivated by what college you want to get into (at least not at 11:30 pm, or 2:30 a.m).
Take classes that you want to take.
your senior year schedule looks very rigorous, though.

UCLA, Ph.D. · 04-05-2008, 08:40 PM

My advice is to apply to as many schools as possible, because you never know who is going to offer aid. You are in line for a full ride somewhere. Apply to all the Ivies, Stanford, Chicago, Duke and any other school that has financial aid initiatives. Given your record you should not have to pay much at all. Of course have solid back up schools Occidental College, Fordham, places like that.

maria fernanda · 04-09-2008, 01:19 PM

all the ap classes I am taking are because I do enjoy them. I know the teachers and they're all nice, intelligent, and very helpful. I've known all of them and I am definetely looking forward to taking their classes. As far as I know, my schedule is probably going to be the most rigorous out of anybody at my school because of the new ap's offered and that I am taking all of them, so hopefully if colleges see that they will like that :=) as for the aid, i am a lower mid class hispanic that has been living here for 7 yrs and moved here knowing no english, so I've definetely worked very hard to improve myself. besides UChicago, what other schools would you recommend?

UCLA, Ph.D. · 04-09-2008, 01:44 PM

You should apply everywhere, because it is extremely competitive these days and the are some great financial aid initiatives out there. I would advise you apply to all of the Ivies (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth and Cornell), Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, Chicago, Duke and Northwestern. Also, I think about some safety schools where you would be a high high level recruit and would get a full ride. But with those grades; sky is the limit. I agree with the assessment that for Chicago it seems like they care about what a student has to say with the "uncommon application." If you want send me and email or a pm and we can chat more specifically.