Colleges similar to UChicago?

JHS
Tue, 10 Nov 2015 22:51:22 +0000

Playing an instrument is a nice little plus factor, but nowhere near as important as essays and recommendations. There are lots and lots of kids who play instruments at Chicago, and I imagine lots and lots of kids who play instruments left behind in the waitlist or reject piles. Unless, that is, you play your instrument so well that you have an agent and concert bookings, or at least an admission to Curtis . . . in which case, it’s potentially more important than essays and recommendations, but you are probably going to focus on other colleges, because UChicago doesn’t have the kind of music community that someone like that wants.

Being on a varsity athletics team is also a nice little plus factor, but nowhere near as important as essays and recommendations. There are lots and lots of kids at Chicago who played varsity sports in high school (and lots who didn’t). However, if you are good enough to be recruited to play your sport on a varsity team at Chicago, that’s probably more important than essays or recommendations, too, provided the Chicago coach is willing to go to bat for you.