<p>oh, and. Essays, from what I can tell, matter matter. As in really really matter.</p>
<p>Sorry for the digression, but it sounds like you guys might be familiar with the debate and I’ve always been curious about this. </p>
<p>Hasn’t anybody proposed the idea that the full range of SAT scores from 400 to 1600 (or 600 to 2400) can be broken down into a few segments, with each additional point within a segment only giving a small additional boost? Here’s an example. At the highest segment, which would begin at that threshold KitKatKatie referred to (let’s assume it’s 2200), ten more points might have a diminishing, yet still existent, marginal benefit to applicants until they reach 2380 or so and become much stronger. Has this theory been discussed at all?</p>
<p>Solovi: Thanks.</p>
<p>Drought, correlation does not imply causation!!! kthxbi</p>
<p>A couple of points:
- Chicago is only concerned about CR+M. Completely disregard the Writing section, and focus on your score out of 1600.
- I’m inclined to agree with Katie. After a certain point, differences in SAT score are not enough to distinguish one great applicant from another. For example, on two SAT tests that I took, I scored a 750 in Math, only getting 2 questions wrong each time out of the 54 total. Had I gotten 1 question wrong, my score would have been a 770/780, and likewise an 800 with 0 wrong. Do you really think that the admissions counselors would have been so impressed with a 770/780/800 v.s. a 750 when the point difference might be as much as 50 points, yet only represent at most 2 more questions correct? Give me a break. People on CC obsess too much over something as petty as an SAT score.
- Yes, essays matter. They matter a lot.</p>
<p>fmhcbc: Thanks for the pointers.</p>
<p>Start early on the essays, the prompts should likely be posted in July. Your curriculum, GPA, and test scores are more than adequate, improvement there will have little impact. Poor essays, however, can have a negative impact and keep one out. Good essays, with your numbers makes admission more likely, and great essays would likely seal the deal.</p>
<p>idad: Thanks for your advice. I’m still a little worried about the ACT, though. As far as I know, the UChicago admissions office has been in receipt of my 31 since the time I received it. I don’t know if you’re including it when you call my scores adequate, but come October/November (I intend to apply EA if possible), will they willingly overlook the ACT?</p>
<p>With your SAT numbers I would not worry about the ACT. Scores are not as important at Chicago as some other places, but the essays are very important.</p>
<p>Another update:
I think that my summer plans have been pretty much finalized, so I’ll no longer hold back on posting them. In addition to taking online courses to fulfill my graduation requirements and continuing to self-study world languages, I’ve got between two and four activities planned for this summer. I will very likely be assisting at a local law firm and helping to perform research on Michigan nonprofits. I might also be helping at a large nonprofit’s events and working as a research assistant (possibly working on proteases/proteinases or neuroscience-related research) at a local non-flagship state university. </p>
<p>I’m genuinely interested in and will put my best effort forth in all of these activities, but will the adcom likely see them as me scrambling to take whatever I can get in order to pad my application? If this type of assumption occurs often, is there any way for me to prevent it from occurring in my case?</p>