chance a worried Californian

Divine_Comedy
Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:09:01 +0000

JHS is absolutely right. To the OP, UChicago is not Harvard or Stanford.

Two of my classmates are heading to these two universities in the fall. They have killer stats and extracurricular activities that they think universities want. Their applications work, because they are the type of ambitious students the upper echelon of higher education is looking for (high SAT, high grades, really “shiny” extracurricular activities regardless of interests). UChicago is different, because it can really tell whether you’re doing it just for college. Not surprisingly, the two individuals heading to the “upper echelon of higher education” were denied by UChicago, while I, an individual with lower SAT, slightly lower grades, got accepted.

Do what you like. Do not do an extracurricular activity because it looks great on paper. That might work for the Ivy League, but your SAT might keep you out of those gates. (Trust me. Everyone keeps saying how little SAT matters. I disagree. I think SAT matters a lot when it comes to Ivy League admissions. Even 2250 isn’t enough.)

Your ethnicity will not keep you out of UChicago. I am a living proof (I am an Asian myself). However, I wouldn’t say the same about other universities (couahgh Stfjainnford couahgh though I have to qualify my statement by saying that I am probably biased since I know a Native Indian with 1700 and a poorly written essay who got accepted, while I got rejected. No offense to the school as a whole though; everything happens for a reason.)

I am willing to take a look at your more detailed description of your EC involvement and make some suggestions.