<p>Average? No.</p>
<p>What most college admissions processes overlook is the fact that many students’ ambitions and academic potentials are misrepresented by their transcripts and their test scores. Since most top schools get a huge number of applicants and have their acceptance rates hovering around 10%, they pretty much have to assume that transcripts and test scores are fairly good representations of a person’s potential. Since the University of Chicago has an acceptance rate of about 25%, this means that Chicago has considerably more flexibility in this area, so they’re able to accept students that are, to many universities, too much of a risk, but to them, a healthy addition to the academic environment.</p>
<p>Let us take myself for example. My SATs were poor for the ranks of Chicago: 560 CR, 670 M, 660 W = 1890 total. I have not yet met a single person here with a lower SAT than that. However, my essays elucidated my academic passions and I had glowing teacher recommendations from people who attained their PhDs from top-notch institutions. When I entered Chicago, I tested into the hardest class available in math (into which only 10 first-years a year are granted entrance), and at the moment, my grades are considerably above the average GPA even though I’ve taken many graduate classes as a second year.</p>
<p>The other schools that rejected me probably took only a moment to discredit my application by glancing at my SAT scores. Never would they even consider that such a student could succeed at one of the most academically rigorous universities in the nation. But Ted O’Neill is quite a risk-taker, and he’s won more than a few of his gambles.</p>