Any chance with bad junior grades due to special circumstances?

Colleges & Universities University of Chicago
1

<p>Hello,
I really want to go to UChicago, but I have a low gpa. This was because during my junior year, one of my best friends died and I was emotionally unstable for a while. Although I brought up my grades second semester, it still did not change the fact that my final grades for AP bio, chem, and calc were B+, B, and B- respectively. I know that UChicago is really competitive and accepts only the best of the best. Do you think I still have a chance? Or will my GPA be the deciding factor in my rejection? I currently have a 4.14W and a 4.7XUW and that puts me at about 15-20% of my class. I believe my extracurriculars are up to par (representing US this year at an astrophysics olympiad in Asia 1 of only 5 accepted, internship at NASA, have done research on fusion, He-3 fusion, laser communications, high test scores etc). Here is an old chance me thread: </p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1377009-chance-asian-low-gpa-really-specific-resume.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1377009-chance-asian-low-gpa-really-specific-resume.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Do I have any chance with a sub-10% rank and 3Bs in core AP classes?
I am applying EA. Thank You!</p>

2

<p>I think you should be fine. If you want to, you can ask your guidance counselor to make note of what happened to your friend in his or her recommendation</p>

3

<p>I think that should be fine. I mean, you got B+, B, and a B-. It’s really not that bad even if you didn’t have extenuating circumstances. </p>

<p>The GPA isn’t the biggest concern imo especially if those are your only Bs. The sub 10% might be held against you, though I’m not entirely sure about that.</p>

<p>Edit: yikes, I read your post, and I think that calc was probably the worst class to get the B- in. :confused: Most majors here require you to at least take some form of calculus and the B- isn’t going to look great.</p>

4

<p>Eh, I don’t think the admissions committee will concern themselves so much with the few bad grades you got. It’s your overall potential that they’re looking at. You could damage your chances by writing too much about your special circumstances, so if I were you, I would write a brief note and be done with it.</p>