<p>Basically, I really want go to Chicago; like really really want.</p>
<p>I’m thinking of sending:</p>
<li>Extra teacher rec</li>
<li>My CommonApp essay about my online business (everyone said it was brilliant)</li>
<li>Note about updates (got a job, self-studying AP Macro, AP Micro, and AP Euro and taking the tests this May)</li>
</ol>
<p>Other than the note, is the rec or essay too trite? They’re not earthshattering, and I don’t want Chicago to think that I’m bothering them with material that I had intended for other schools. After all, I’d just be printing them off and mailing them.</p>
<p>I’ve been a slacker all through high school and never took college apps too seriously… I’ve changed so much in the past 4 months after this college frenzy forced me into self-examination (who would have thought I would be working harder the second half of senior year than I ever have before?). I do have other wonderful, and cheaper, choices (Penn state honors, swarthmore, michigan, bunch of waitlists) but would it be too forward to tell them that I would confirm an acceptance pretty much on the spot?</p>
<p>While I’m sensitive to students who have the hard-work-pays-off renaissance, I think this insight on your part could be a piece of the puzzle in deciding if Chicago is a good fit for you. One thing this school assumes of its students is that they have a good work ethic and know how to confront and balance a heavy, largely unavoidable workload. The smart slackers don’t come here, or if they do, they’re in for a rude awakening.</p>
<p>That said, if Chicago is <em>the</em> school, I don’t want to completely discourage you from pursuing it. I would skip the rec and send the essay and the self-study.</p>
<p>Thank you for your concern. However, kindly note that even though I have never done an extracurricular for the sake of college admissions, UChicago is still considering my app and Swarthmore accepted me via early letter - both schools that know what type of student they want. My “renaissance” has substance behind it, and I’m backing it up with 3 self-study AP’s in 3 months. Other than that, I am quite sure that Chicago’s intellectual curiosity is right for me; I wrote one of my major essays on surfing the Internet (yes, you read right).</p>
<p>Anyways, any reason why the rec should be left out? I’m her “blah blah top 5 student in 30 years of teaching”. And the self-study seems a little iffy because what proof do they have that I’m actually dedicated to it? Hmm</p>
<p>From a parent POV, I think that you should send anything that might be valuable and let admissions decide. You want no regrets when the process is finished.</p>
<p>You COULD, but please remember that they stated quite explicitly that applications are not going to be re-reviewed, meaning that they will not decide based on any extra credentials or updates you may send in.</p>
<p>And please don’t tell them you were a slacker. UChi doesn’t take kindly to any ‘lazy but brilliant’ applicants.</p>
<p>On the other hand, sending stuff in never hurts! And as glasses said, you don’t want to be kicking yourself all year long going 'Oh if only I would have…!" Best of luck!</p>
<p>EDIT: Oh, and while self-study is nice (I did five myself last year), I don’t believe it wows the committee. AP scores and tests matter once you actually get into the college. What schools care about more than anything else is the gardes you recieve in AP classes. So mention the self-studying but don’t count on it too much to tip the scales.</p>
<p>Hmm I was hoping sending them extra “stuff” would count as demonstrated interest… other than that, how would I convey it? I just don’t want to send TOO much.</p>
<p>The AP’s are for myself only, as a test run, and definitely not to wow any admissions officers… I didn’t even know I was going to be waitlisted when I signed up for my AP tests. It just seemed that they would be necessary to include on an update of my current status.</p>
<p>2forcollege:</p>
<p>I actually emailed them right when I got my waitlist, with an essay elucidating my interest in my major, and they emailed me back a few days later saying that my interest had been noted.</p>
<p>^^ I know what you mean about not doing things for the sake of college admissions. I too did nothing to gloss up my profile. Yes, some pretty special things happened to me along the way. But I never intended for that to happen.</p>
<p>There is, I believe, a difference between the self-directed learning you are talking about and performance in the classroom. One of the transitions that I had to make from high school to college was that the challenge was no longer self-imposed… it was institutionally imposed. For me, high school was reading Bertrand Russell because I had already seen the Project Runway episode that was showing on Bravo 3 times and I didn’t have anything better to do… Chicago is reading the Bertrand Russell because somebody else who is more powerful than you told you to do it. Are you going to like other people telling you what to do and when it should be done by? I sometimes like it and sometimes don’t, and while I appreciate it now and I feel like there are great things about being “forced” to do things, I also look forward to a time when it won’t be forced on me like it is now.</p>
<p>Again, I don’t want to discourage you, and I don’t want to turn you away, but if anything, I want to make sure you’re going into Chicago fully cognizant of who you are and what the University will offer you.</p>
<p>And, by the way, you have some great options that don’t require new recommendations or anything. You know perfectly well that there’s a much better chance that you will be at Swarthmore, Michigan, or Penn State next fall than that you will be at Chicago. What you don’t know perfectly well, but I do, is that whichever of those three you choose, by mid-October there’s about a 90% chance that you will be wondering why you ever cared so much about anywhere else. Granted, Penn State is pretty different, but they don’t call it “Happy Valley” for nothing. Swarthmore isn’t really so different at all. There’s a huge overlap in the kinds of people who go to Swat and Chicago, and the ability to take classes at Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and Penn makes it far bigger in educational opportunity than it seems. And then there’s Michigan, which most people would choose straight up over any of the others, including Chicago.</p>
<p>I’m not telling you that Chicago isn’t great, and that you shouldn’t feel disappointed about being waitlisted, or do your best to get in if that’s what you want. But I’m not going to feel sorry for you at all, because you are a big winner in the college admissions game.</p>
<p>^^^ I didn’t realize you were in at Swat! Swat and Chicago have a good deal of overlap, at least from the friends I have who go there and their impressions of the school. (All three of them had Chicago as a distant second to Swat).</p>
<p>You’re right. Structured learning turns me off and I purposely avoided studying for the SAT’s simply because I was expected to. I have serious motivation, procrastination, and distraction issues that I’m trying to sort out, and that’s WHY I feel like I need Chicago. I know I need a serious attitude adjustment, but I want a place that excites me, a place that has the right mixture of renowned academics, urban worldliness, and a student body that can understand why I often forget to finish my calc homework during lunch because I end up discussing the existence of responsibility in a deterministic world. I can sense a repeat of high school if I chose penn state or Michigan, which is why I’ll probably go to Swarthmore if not Chicago.</p>
<p>Swat is great, but I’m really not feeling it. Too close to home, too small, too rural. I might get too “happy valley”-ish. Chicago is like a giant liberal arts school in the city. Perfect for me, though I know I shouldn’t get too obsessed with it :(</p>
<p>Oh and JHS, I’m not trying to get sympathy from anyone, I don’t even know how this turned up as a college selection thread.</p>
<p>Anyway, PSU and Michigan have a lot of people-- including a lot of smart people, and a lot of kids who chose those schools over places like Chicago for financial reasons. PSU and Michigan will not be like high school, because college is not like high school. You’d be surprised how much freedom in choosing your classes, relative anonymity, a fresh start, and no parents can change everything.</p>
<p>If I were between the two, I’d choose Michigan, just because I associate Michigan with its grad school and hardcore liberal artsness available (like its scrumptious Classics dept.) and I associate PSU with JoePa.</p>
<p>I didn’t think you were looking for sympathy, e. I was just noticing that you ought to feel pretty good about your situation, and wishing that you did.</p>
<p>Also, if you can’t get excited about Swat or Michigan, you’re not very excitable.</p>
<p>As for the city – it takes about five minutes longer to get from Swarthmore to Center City Philadelphia on public transportation than it does to get from the Chicago Quad to the Loop. Philadelphia may not be as cool as Chicago (and may be more old hat to you), but it’s probably more student-friendly, and a much cheaper place to have fun.</p>
<p>Parent here weighing in on the “The smart slackers don’t come here” and "UChi doesn’t take kindly to any ‘lazy but brilliant’ applicants’ view. The issue is understanding WHY someone is a slacker. If their prior work has not consistently challenged and excited them, they may seem to have a poor work ethic, but boredom may be the real problem.</p>
<p>My S is a first year who could probably have been characterized as just such a smart slacker. He did have a marked upward trajectory in his HS grades and that’s undoubtedly why he was accepted, despite his earlier mediocre grades. </p>
<p>OP says “I want a place that excites me” – UChicago has indeed excited my son and has definitely turned him on academically. He works harder now than he has ever worked in his life. He knew that UChicago was the kind of place that he needed to get him to focus. Moreover, he appreciates the considerable financial investment that his parents have made to send him to a special place and will not waste this opportunity. His intellectual growth within less than an academic year has been phenomenal. OP may be the same kind of person.</p>
<p>…but, I agree that no admissions folks are going to look favorably on anyone who self-classifies as a slacker.</p>
<p>Keeping my fingers crossed for you, ee33ee.</p>
<p>^^ Rap_mom, I think you’re right. I probably would have been in the smart slacker category had I not had a few knockout teachers in high school that made me want to work. I was, and to some extent, continue to be a non-student, so I sympathize with any efforts to stick it to the academic man.</p>
<p>My question is actually a similar to ee33ee. I too am waitlisted and would probably give an arm and a leg to go to Uchicago. I am accepted at Claremont McKenna and Reed, but UChicago is still my top choice. It isn’t just the fit or the amazing students and teachers; it’s this ineffable quality that makes it feel like home to me whenever I visit (which is often since I live in Chicago and Uchicago hosts such awesome events). </p>
<p>I already sent in an update, but I am wondering if there was anything else I could send in without it seeming like too much. I was thinking about an additional rec, because I already had sent in a supplement essay.</p>
<p>I was never a slacker, because I never had the chance to be. My school is a boarding school with college level classes. This year eighty people applied to Uchicago, and I’m pretty sure at least a fourth got in. UChicago has no problem accepting the students at my school because they believe that our work is on the same level as theirs (or so my interviewer told me). The problem is my GPA because I attended a school that focuses on math and science and requires students to take most of their classes in those disciplines and math/science have never been a strong point for me. The only reason I even applied to the school was because it had opportunities that my old high school never had–not just in math or science, but in other subjects as as well. I weighed the GPA that I would get against the chance to take as many kinds of classes as I could dream of. Unfortunately, that leaves me with a 3.3 GPA for 10-12th grade and a 4.0 for 9th.</p>
<p>How can I show UChicago that I belong at their school?</p>
<p>There’s no reason not to write a letter explaining your past decisions, understanding/love of UofC and hopes. Let them understand you.
BTW, your other options are awesome, you’ve done very well in the admissions game.</p>
<p>ee33ee,
My D is also waiting hopefully for Chicago, but is leaning toward moving forward with U Mich if it doesn’t work out. She got into the residential college there, which is something you may want to look into for a more structured and intellectually stimulating environment. It’s not Chicago, but Ann Arbor has it’s charms even for those not into sports. It makes me happy to see the positive feelings toward it among the U Chicago crowd.</p>
<p>As far as Swathmore goes, wow…great choice. My daughter’s best friend will be going there this fall and is so excited. She’s turning down some other great schools to go there.</p>
<p>On another note, not only does D’s admissions counselor not answer her email…he’s not returning calls either! I’m starting to get worried that none of her attempts to show interest are being recorded.</p>
UChi doesn’t take kindly to any ‘lazy but brilliant’ applicants.</p>