<p>I have the lowest score (out of 2400) that I’ve seen self-reported on the Chicago boards at CC. So I win, unless somebody else wants to take my place. Nobody has, yet. It’s been over two years 
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<p>FWIW, my scores are DEFINITELY not the lowest that any student has ever been admitted with. They fall-- even if just barely-- in Chicago’s midrange.</p>
<p>What “got me in” is a cocktail of ingredients that “got” everybody else in. That combination includes:</p>
<ol>
<li>Proof of long-term and consistent ability to aim high and reach those aims. (Read: a transcript with good grades in tough classes).</li>
<li>Long-term para-academic interests in extracurriculars that I found ways to express. (As in, I joined clubs and did things that demonstrated my interests rather than just said that I had these interests with no evidence to back it up).</li>
<li>Essays that were honest and demonstrated my personality and my academic passion.</li>
<li>Teacher recs that (probably) confirmed such passion. Both of my teachers knew me as a student and as a person, and I had done out-of-class projects with both of them, so even though I have never read my recommendations, I know that there was a lot of room for my teachers to be precise about me.</li>
</ol>