ivies and similar???

phuriku
Sun, 04 Jul 2010 07:32:47 +0000

^^^phuriku, i saw that you graduated from u of chicago?
what were your stats like, if you don’t mind me askin



31 ACT, 2250 SAT II (Math, Physics, Japanese), straight 5 APs by Junior year (Phys C Mech+EM, Calc BC, Stat), and a variety of upper-undergraduate math courses. What made my application more than anything was my teacher recommendations and my essays, though, which are top priority for Chicago. And mind you, this was back when the acceptance rate was 35% (although IMO, the arbitrariness of the process has risen significantly, while actual standards of admission have risen only slightly).

The reason I say that Chicago is not a match is because if we assume an application increase in line with past increases of the incoming dean of admissions, the acceptance rate will probably be 13-14% next year. I don’t think that any school that admits only 1 out of every 7 applicants can be considered a match for anyone but the most spectacular, especially a school that is known for admitting students based more on essays and recommendations (that portray the type of student Chicago is looking for) than on standard admissions criteria such as SATs (even though Chicago’s average SATs are only 5 points below MIT’s and above all Ivies except for HYP).

Even when Chicago had an acceptance rate in the high 30%s, many students with SATs of 2350+ and great GPAs were rejected, and now that the university is even more selective, I think it is impossible to call it a match for anyone but the most outstanding high school students.