I think you’re selling yourself short. Top schools for CS like MIT and CMU are reaches for everyone. Shoot your shot. Why NOT you instead of Why me. The next step down like a GT or Michigan are no guarantee but more likely.
What area of CS interests you? That should be on your radar. The CS ranking link in my earlier post shows research by disciplines for schools. Chicago is a great school but what if there are stronger schools for your area of interest?
Btw. Some of your “lower” schools like GT will challenge you. You’ll also be surrounded by top students. I think my son said he had 5 or 6 National Merit winners on his freshman dorm floor at GT. CS attracts the top students at all schools. Good luck.
In terms of what I’d like for CS, I would mainly like to do backend system development, so databases and whatnot, but I also like functional programming languages and would be interested in researching them.
I would like to shoot my shot, but realistically I don’t think I have that high of a chance considering my concrete CS accomplishments. It’s mainly a question of whether I want to play it safe or try and get into the small number of schools I’d take over UChicago.
Everyone feels like you feel about their chances and yet someone is getting in. Why not you?
If you’re not going to regret giving up those others that “could have been” - then do Chicago.
Again, my concern is if you don’t get into Chicago, then what. It’s evident the Michigan and Wisconsins aren’t right for you - and I urge you to think about who can sub in. I put several above.
I think this a reasonable calculus. With perfect stats and a willingness to commit (ED), you may be hard for Chicago to pass up. So the more realistic question isn’t just whether you prefer Stanford to Chicago, it is whether you prefer Wisconsin to Chicago.
Yeah, that’s fair. But since the UChicago ED0 applications open so soon (September 1st, if I recall correctly) and they give you a reply in only a couple weeks, I’m not focused too much on what happens if I don’t get into Chicago (since I can then pivot and make my school list). I would likely just apply to UNL Raikes.