Do I have any chance of getting in at all (EA)?

Colleges & Universities University of Chicago
1

<p>UChicago is literally my perfect match in everything except my GPA. Despite how much I love it, I don’t think I have a chance of getting in, but I’d like to know what other people think.</p>

<p>I’m a 17 year old Hispanic female at a high-ranking private school.</p>

<p>GPA: 2.91 (UW), 3.22 (W)
SAT: 1980 (680 CR, 720 W, 560 M) - I’ve only taken it once, I’m taking it again on Saturday and hoping to raise my math score.</p>

<p>Coursework:
Freshman: US Literature, Biology, Geometry, US History, Drama I, Christian Scriptures, Hebrew Scriptures, Personal Fitness, Mandarin III
Sophomore: Honors British Literature, Chemistry, Algebra II, World History, Music, Personal Fitness, Mandarin IV, [a religion course that I don’t remember specifically right now]
Junior: IB English I HL, IB Biology I SL, IB Mathematical Studies I SL, IB History of the Americas HL, IB Theatre Arts HL, IB Mandarin Ab Initio, Theory of Knowledge, Morality
Senior: IB English II HL, IB Biology II SL, IB Mathematical Studies II SL, IB 20th Century History HL, IB Theatre Arts II HL, IB Mandarin Ab Initio, Theory of Knowledge, Christian Spirituality</p>

<p>Extracurriculars/service/etc:
Choir - performed at Disney World and Carnegie Hall, traveling to Italy to perform at Easter Sunday mass at the Vatican, competed in several honor choir competitions
Robotics - built a fifteen pound robot, competed in annual Battlebots competition
Performed in several musicals, both outside of school in theatre conservatories and in school
Member of a local service group since 2007 - we donate food baskets to families in need during holidays (Thanksgiving/Christmas/Easter)
Member of another service group since 2010 - we help find homes for abandoned dogs in a no-kill shelter
Volunteer at a camp at the end of every summer, taking care of children, teaching them sports, arts and crafts, etc
Book Club
Quidditch Club
Member of school’s literature/art magazine staff
Competed in a state-wide Chinese competition - won a Superior medal in speaking, an Excellent medal in reading
Heavily involved in music - organized and conducted an a cappella group for a school performance, self-taught piano for fourteen years, ukulele/guitar for four, took voice lessons for three years, etc
Worked over the summer as an administrative assistant in the management offices at a vocational school/2 year college</p>

<p>I’m not too worried about my essays, I’m a fairly strong writer and I think the essays are good (I’ll be revising them with my college counselor). Recommendations should be fine as well.</p>

<p>I’m hoping to major in Linguistics and be involved in a cappella/music groups on the side.</p>

2

<p>Your GPA is terrifically low, is it possible for you to raise it to at least a 3.5 UW ? And what have you gotten on you IB exam scores? Your ECs are good, and you’re also a hispanic female so that’ll give you an edge. Woot, I’m taking the Saturday SAT too, and both of us really need to score 2100+ for a chance at UChicago. Good luck, and I really do hope you get in.</p>

3

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<p>This would be a great question for screening applicants.</p>

4

<p>My thoughts exactly, DoingSchool. The OP and second poster should also probably figure out that the school doesn’t even consider the SAT’s writing portion, making the score out of 1600. As of now, wintersgo, you’re 259 points short of the median accepted applicant. I don’t know about the IB system, but I do know most schools really don’t care about your grade in theatre and are looking for calculus and physics (this is especially true of Chicago, no matter what your intended major).</p>

<p>I know a kid who got wait listed with your GPA (then again, the waitlist last year was twice the size of the entering class), but that was because he was taking theoretical calculus, post-AP level physics AND space-time physics, and linear algebra. I guess I’d be curious as to what’s behind those numbers – are you a poor test taker? Did you have a rough middle school to high school transition? In general, I think a student with those grades in upper-medium level course would struggle at U of C, and I feel confused as to why you would want it.</p>

5

<p>I am going to give you some really blunt advice.</p>

<p>Your stats are extremely low both in terms of GPA and the test scores. Given that GPA is also very low (regardless of how high ranked your high school is), it’s not just a fluke in terms of low test scores due to a bad test taking strategy.</p>

<p>In my mind, getting in is only 30% of the equation. The real question is, how will you do AFTER you get in?</p>

<p>So, the cruel question to you is: do you think you have what it takes to academically thrive at an incredibly competitive school (admission wise: next year will be a killer year) known for academic rigor, where many of your peers are getting with near perfect GPA and 1500+ (out of 1600) SAT scores?</p>

<p>I have a neighbor’s son who is a student there. He came out of the nation’s top 10 magnet school where they send 25% of their students to top 20 schools in USNWR. Even in that ultra high ranked high school, he sailed through without ever breaking a sweat with near perfect GPA and SAT f 1580 without much preparation at the first seating. He is working his butt off at UChicago. He say he is working MUCH harder in college than he ever did at high school. Granted, he may be only taking very hard, advanced courses. Nevertheless, these are your peers.</p>

<p>I think too many high school kids only focus on “can I get in”, and not think about "will I thrive once I get in? When I say “thrive”, I am not just talking about academic matters. Personal fit matters also. So, you may think you are personally a good fit, but not being academically viable once you are there compared with your peers will make your experience in college very painful. This will be especially so at a school like U Chicago where academic matters feature very prominently, and so many students take the academic matter much more seriously over greek experience, big time college sports and such. </p>

<p>I am NOT saying that you don’t have the innate capability to academically thrive at U Chicago. You may have the capability but chose to spend all the time you have for ECs in high school. (you do seem to have a LOT of ECs but still few seem to have a DEPTH: for college admission, depth in a few ECs matter a lot more than just a large collection of ECs). Then, the question is, are you willing to curtail your involvement in 1000 things so that you can devote more time to academics? If not, then U Chicago may not be the right school. </p>

<p>Sorry if I am too blunt. I wanted to inject some sense of reality check here.</p>

<p>Good luck in getting into a college where you will thrive.</p>

6

<p>Yeah I have to agree with science fiction-getting in was the easy part. </p>

<p>I honestly do not think you would fare well in this admissions cycle, and if you got in, you might find some of the coursework a bit too challenging. I’m not saying that you’re not intelligent or hardworking (quite the opposite, I would wholeheartedly believe you possess both qualities) but Chicago may not be the right place for you.</p>

7

<p>My neighbor, who’s a URM first-year at chicago, got in w/ a 3.5 gpa uw (she took no ap or honors classes. in fact, she was a year behind in the math and sciences…took reg pre-cal senior year) and a 29 ACT for which she had lots of expensive tutoring and extra time (she has ADD). she didn’t do any school ECs, just trips to Nicaragua and some other community service. i read her com app essay…she talked about working at mcdonalds, which she does during the summer. didn’t mention that her father owns the mcdonalds, and 3 others. she didn’t get into any of the other selective schools she applied to (dartmouth ED, tufts ED2, JHU, Malcaster, Michigan, tulane, Middlebury) but got into schools like GW, AU and northeastern. She does have legacy at Chicago though, so that probably helped her.</p>

<p>My mom spoke w hers and she said that her daughter is getting an in-class note taker and she’s only taking 3 classes her first quarter, including repeating pre-cal. as far as what ppl are saying above…she’s going to chicago knowing that she’s in the bottom percentile in terms of her scores and grades and classes, and she’s fine with that. her attitude is that it’s an adventure, and she isn’t stressed about potentially graduating at the bottom of her class. she told me that someone who graduates at the bottom of the class at chicago is still a uchicago graduate. personally, i’d have a hard time walking in never having taken an honors or AP class. i’d find it daunting and i’d be full of self-doubt, but she doesn’t feel that way. it will be interesting to see how she manages.</p>

8

<p>Even with a degree from U Chicago, if the GPA is at the bottom of the scale, you can kiss good bye for any meaningful graduate school admission. As someone who hired new college graduates, I won’t give a job offer to someone with terrible a GPA even if s/he is from Harvard, because I will equate this low GPA to a lack of discipline and unwillingness to allocate enough resources to keep his/her performance at a certain level. Why would I want a slacker in my organization: it does not matter that the person has a degree from the very best univ in the world.</p>

<p>So, if a student who got into a top elite college with very low stats can perform within the mid range among his/her peers, then fine. If the low stats turned out to be a good predictor for how well s/he is going to perform vis-a-vis where his/her peers are at, then one needs to think about what that means for his/her future prospect. </p>

<p>Of course, if you have the luxury of not having to compete with your peers for a seat at a graduate school or employment, then no problem. However, this applies to a very small group of people.</p>