Official University of Chicago Class of 2011 Early Action Results

Colleges & Universities University of Chicago
41

<p>Decision: Accepted through email</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT: 800 Math, 800 Reading, 740 Writing, single sitting, 2nd time
[</em>] SAT IIs: 800 Math II, 800 US History, 800 Chemistry
[<em>] GPA: 3.98 UW
[</em>] Rank: 5/514
[<em>] Other stats: Full IB Diploma, NM Semifinalist (217)
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Essays: Decent, good comments from the few people that saw it
[<em>] Teacher Recs: One okay (not very personal), one good
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Dunno
[<em>] Hook (if any): None
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country: OR
[<em>] School Type: Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: Asian
[li] Gender: Male[/li][/ul]Other Factors: President of Club, National Awards in 2 extracurriculars, Most rigorous courseload
General Comments: Now trying to find a way to pay for U of Chicago…</p>

42

<p>Decision: ACCEPTED!!!</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT: 2300 / 1500
[</em>] SAT IIs: Math IIC - 800; BioM - 800; Literature - 770
[<em>] GPA: 4.186
[</em>] Rank: Top 2%
[<em>] Other stats: National Merit Semifinalist, Sewanee Book Award, Random stuff…
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Essays: I was VERY proud of all of my essays-- definately some of my best work.
[<em>] Teacher Recs: I know for a fact these were EXCELLENT! I went and gave both my teachers a big hug today. : )
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Once again, EXCELLENT. I love my teachers and counselors.
[<em>] Hook (if any): My little sister is severely handicapped-- I help run an international math competition
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country: Sweet Home Alabama
[<em>] School Type: Large Public School
[</em>] Ethnicity: White
[li] Gender: Female[/li][/ul]Other Factors:
[li] Really good extra curriculars and leadership record…[/li]General Comments:
I am EXTATIC!!! I visited Chicago during the Columbus Day open house and LOVED it. Now I just have to sit back and see how the $$ works out… cause I’m paying my own way through school w/o contribution from my parents.</p>

<p>OK favorite sentence from essay?
“Anyone can strive for perfection. Anyone can work until they know all the Proverbs by heart, until they are the model son or daughter, husband or wife, until they can ace any test thrown their way and generate perfect SAT scores with their dominant hand tied behind their back. Yet where is the value in perfection if it is void of passion?”
(This was part of my response to Essay Prompt #1)</p>

<p>WOW I’m excited!!! :-)</p>

43

<p>[ size=+1][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted[ /b][ /color][ /size]</p>

<p>[ b]Stats:**
SAT: 1350/2150 (m-580, v-770, w- 800)
SAT IIs: none
GPA: 3.5ish? Large upward curve
Rank: Unknown</p>

<p>Essays: First was my own prompt (Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd. -Voltaire (1694 - 1778)) and I talked a little bit about a [failed] personal quest for meaning through religion and then an embrace of Nihilism, which I then contridicted with a few checks and balances, leaving myself absolutely no where. </p>

<p>I wrote a pretty ordinary, but genuine, 500 words about why Chicago.</p>

<p>I wrote about Dante’s Inferno as my favorite poem of all time. I think this was better than my main essay.</p>

<p>Teacher Recs: One good one from a Latin/Greek/Classical Studies teacher who attended Brown and Columbia grad . He wrote that my paper was the only one he had ever given an A+.
One from a physics teacher who was really great, I did well in her class, but nothing special.
Counselor Rec: Good, probably, I guess?
Hook: none
State or Country: Brooklyn, New York.
School Type: Public, 400 students about 60% white. We are given an AA degree upon completion of the senior year. We have a very good relationship with UCHI (70% admission rate)
Ethnicity: White/Latino.
Gender: Male.
Other Factors: can’t think of anything much</p>

<p>Walking around in a hazy stupor, having finally been thrashed out of this admissions limbo, its a bit anti-climatic. Perhaps I just haven’t fully absorbed it yet. Going to throw out all my other tenative application materials. Goodbye Brooklyn.</p>

44

<p>Deferred ;/</p>

<p>Anybody have any idea what percentage of applicants get deferred?</p>

<p>The majority of those who’d usually be rejected, or only a small percent?</p>

45

<p>Accepted! By-aah!
Stats:
SAT I: 2230 (800CR, 740W, 690M)
SAT II: took a couple of weeks ago for other schools, but I don’t know the scores
GPA: 3.86 uw
Class Rank: Around 100/700
5 AP Tests, all fives. Euro, US, English Comp, Geography (self-study), and World (self-study)</p>

<p>Subjective:
Essays: I slaved over them for a couple of months, but I was pleased with the result. My long essay was on the Davis quote. Sample:
“When I think of proverbs, I usually think of rules that explain how to live or do something. For example, “Look before you leap,” promotes using caution. The problem with “Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there,” is that it makes no sense if taken literally. How I am supposed to play what’s not there? The notes I see on the score, the sounds I hear around me and the music in my head are somewhere. The moment I think of something new, something that hadn’t been “there” before, it instantly exists “there,” whether “there” is my brain or lips. I need to play something that’s “there,” in one sense or another. Thus, I can’t apply “Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there” in a literal sense.”
Recs: I had a new counselor this year, but with only one meeting I got the sense that he was pretty intelligent and knew enough about me to right a decent rec. My rec from my calculus (not AP) teacher was probably pretty tepid, but I sure that my Euro teacher wrote an extremely good one.
Hook: Two great interviews (one with Libby, one with alum), class visits last October, and music.</p>

<p>Person/Location:
Location: Twin Cities (Minnesota)
School: Public, suburban, around 2000 kids
Ethnicity: Wales, Denmark, and atheism
Gender: Male</p>

<p>General Comments: I am so happy to be accepted. I will try to keep this in check because most of my friends have been defferred/rejected. This morning, I broke down my chances as: 40% accepted, 40% defferred, 20% rejected. It feels pretty good to beat the odds for once.</p>

46

<p>**Decision: ACCEPTED!! **</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT: 800 C, 740 M, 790 W
[</em>] SAT IIs: 780 Literature, 770 US History
[<em>] GPA: 100.3 (4.0 unweighted)
[</em>] Rank: 8 out of 400-ish
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: very well written, but highly idealistic and maybe a little arrogant
[</em>] Teacher Recs: very good
[<em>] Counselor Rec: very good
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country: GA
[<em>] School Type: public
[</em>] Ethnicity: white
[li] Gender: female[/li][/ul]Other Factors: very good interview with an admissions officer on campus</p>

47

<p>Decision: Deferred</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT:2250
[</em>] SAT IIs:didn’t send in
[<em>] GPA:3.8ish
[</em>] Rank:30ish/500
[<em>] Other stats:34 ACT
[/ul]Subjective:[ list]
[</em>] Essays:eh, apparently not stellar
[<em>] Teacher Recs: I thought they would be good
[</em>] Counselor Rec: generic
[<em>] Hook (if any): eh, I don’t know
[/list][ b]Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country: Ohio
[<em>] School Type:Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: White
[li] Gender: Male[/li][/ul][ b]Other Factors:
General Comments:
I’m pretty dissappointed.</p>

48

<p>Decision: ACCEPTED! I GOT IN!!!</p>

<p>Stats:</p>

<p>Location: SoCal
Gender: female, and cuter than the squirrels
Height: 5’0" I call it “infinitesimal” in my big essay.
Origin of CC name: The Lorax, Dr. Seuss</p>

<p>Favorite books: Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut, Memoria de mis putas tristes by GG Marquez, The Odyssey, Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami and anything else with magic realism.
Favorite poets: Sylvia Plath, William Blake
Best Shakespeare play in my opinion: Hamlet of course, but I adore Macbeth.
Hobby that did not factor into my college apps at all: taking long walks while listening to “Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me!” on my ipod.</p>

<h1>1 Procrastination activity: Poetry word magnets! The Sunday New York Times.</h1>

<p>Best classes: AP Spanish Lit, AP English Lit, AP Gov.
Most inspiring Chicago alumni: Kurt Vonnegut
Why Chicago is so beautiful: the gargoyles
Why Chicago Essay line: I would like to modify Ted O’Neil’s discerning characterization of the University’s course catalogue as "a Romance Novel, " by adding that its genre is part fantasy, too. Chimerical course titles like “Comparative Fairytales” or, “The Archaeology of Place,” are surely unicorns, extraordinarily head-turning and page-turning. And even the University is an alternate, fantastic location, distorting time so that I may leap across multiple disciplines in one day thanks to The Core Curriculum, and never stray too far from my distribution requirements.</p>

<p>those are the only stats my future classmates need to know about me!</p>

49

<p>I just realized that I was wearing a maroon shirt today. Go Maroon/Phoenixes!</p>

50

<p>

</p>

<p>I don’t have any actual statistics, but I think that, in the past, about 1/3 have been accepted, 1/3 deferred, 1/3 rejected.</p>

51

<p>Decision: Accepted! </p>

<p>Stats:</p>

<ul>
<li>SAT: 800M 710CR 710W=1510/2220</li>
<li>SAT IIs: 800 Math II, 760 US History, 650 Chem</li>
<li>GPA: 4.0 uw/4.38w</li>
<li>Rank: Top 10%</li>
<li>Other stats: 5’s on AP US History, AP Biology, AP Calc AB, and AP Euro History</li>
</ul>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<ul>
<li>Essays: Solid-about overcoming stuff in my life. My short answers about U of Chicago and fav. books were really good.</li>
<li>Teacher Recs: didn’t see</li>
<li>Counselor Rec: excellent</li>
<li>Hook (if any): Overcome stuff in my life? </li>
</ul>

<p>Location/Person:</p>

<ul>
<li>State or Country: AZ</li>
<li>School Type: Private</li>
<li>Ethnicity: Caucasian</li>
<li>Gender: male</li>
</ul>

<p>*Extracurriculars:Basketball, Golf, speech and debate, teen court</p>

<p>*ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: It feels awesome to be in college! Congrats to all those who got in, and to those who were deferred, you’ll go somewhere awesome.</p>

52

<p>[ size=+1][ color=green]Decision: ACCEPTED! [ /color][ /size]</p>

<p>Stats:
[ *] SAT: 2260
[ *] SAT IIs: 800, 790
[ *] GPA:3.80
[ *] Rank: unranked
[ *] Other stats:
[ /list][ b]Subjective:[ /b][ list]
[ *] Essays: the main essay was nice, the other two were pretty bad
[ *] Teacher Recs: okay
[ *] Counselor Rec: okay
[ *] Hook (if any): Research!! plus i’m editor of an evening national</p>

<p>[ /list][ b]Location/Person:[ /b][ list]
[ *] State or Country: Pakistan
[ *] School Type: Private
[ *] Ethnicity: Asian
[ *] Gender: Male
[ /list][ b]Other Factors:[ /b]
[ b]General Comments:[ /b] Brilliant! now to wait for financial aid package to see if i can actually afford to go</p>

<p>Favorite Line: cant think of one</p>

53

<p>[ size=+1][ color=green][ b]Decision: Deferred[ /b][ /color][ /size][ b]Stats:[ /b][ list]
[ *] SAT: Math: 800 CR: 770[ *] SAT IIs: [ *] GPA: 3.78 UW, 4.32 weighted[ *] Rank: don’t know[ *] Other stats:[ /list][ b]Subjective:[ /b][ list][ *] Essays: funny[ *] Teacher Recs: didn’t read[ *] Counselor Rec: didn’t read[ *] Hook (if any):[ /list][ b]Location/Person:[ /b][ list][ *] State or Country: New Jersey[ *] School Type: Public[ *] Ethnicity: didn’t tell them[ *] Gender: Female[ /list][ b]Other Factors:[ /b]
[ b]General Comments:[ /b] Of course I’m disappointed at having to wait so much longer for a decision, but it’ll be okay. Thanks for all of you for helping me through this process. Congrats to all who got accepted, and best of luck to everyone else!</p>

54

<p>I don’t think UChicago defers unless they believe you have a real chance, unlike a lot of other schools who defer just about everyone.</p>

55

<p>**Decision: ACCEPTED **</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT: Did not send
[</em>] SAT IIs: Did not send
[<em>] GPA:4.74
[</em>] Rank:4/650
[<em>] Other stats: Huge public school. Only one that applied early.
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Essays: Life is a battle that must be fought day by day,
Life is a passion that must be played all the way,
Life is a journey that one must take,
and life is the soul, that’s what’s at stake</p>

<p>Ending phrases to my Uchicago essay. </p>

<p>[<em>] Teacher Recs: Looked good I guess, but teacher was not sure which rec. to use
[</em>] Counselor Rec:I think pretty bad, we have 1 counselor for every 400 students.
[<em>] Hook (if any): Started Interact Club?
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country:CA
[<em>] School Type: Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: Chinese
[li] Gender: M[/li][/ul]Other Factors:
General Comments:</p>

56

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT: 1510/2230 (800 CR, 710 M, 720 W)
[</em>] SAT IIs: 730 Math IIc, 770 U.S. History, 770 Chemistry, 800 World History
[<em>] GPA: 3.95 UW
[</em>] Rank: 2/366
[<em>] Other stats: 5’s on European History, U.S. History, Biology, Chemistry, Calculus AB, and Calculus BC exams
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Essays: I chose that silly math-based prompt, combined an analysis of the tangent function, and used that as an analogy for my love of learning. The “Why Chicago?” short essay was nothing particularly special - just stressing my interest in international studies - and I wrote about my general adoration for The Economist in the second one.
[<em>] Teacher Recs: Didn’t read them, but I’m quite sure that they were excellent.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Didn’t read this one either. There was the risk that it would be too generic, but I think I’ve bothered my counselor enough over the past two years so the rec should have been fine.
[<em>] Hook (if any): I sent in a recording of my playing the piano.
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country: Suburban Philadelphia, PA
[<em>] School Type: According to Google, apparently the 46th best high school in the state?
[</em>] Ethnicity: Chinese-American
[li] Gender: F[/li][/ul]Other Factors: I really liked the essay I wrote for UChicago, and I know that the quality of that essay counts for a lot during the admissions process. On the other hand, I wasn’t able to get an interview.
General Comments: I am most ecstatic to be accepted to this school, which is definitely one of my top two. Still need to visit the campus, consider my other early action school and regular decision schools when those letters arrive, and then we’ll see. Congratulations to all those who were accepted!</p>

57

<p>ACCEPTED!!! SO excited…post stats later</p>

58

<p>i seriously don’t know how i got in…</p>

59

<p>Decision: Deferred D’: </p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT: 1320 (660M 660V)
[</em>] ACT: 31
[<em>] SAT IIs: None
[</em>] GPA: 3.14 UW 3.48 W
[<em>] Rank: 153/381
[</em>] Other stats: All my courses from junior year up were taken at a college.
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: Awesome. My main essay is getting published! :smiley:
[</em>] Teacher Recs: I sent 4. My two from my English teachers were great, along with one from my employer. My Math/Science one probably was generic since the teacher only knew me for about seven weeks.
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Good. I know him really well.
[</em>] Hook (if any): Excellent writer? I sent a few of my short stories in…
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: Minnesota
[</em>] School Type: Public
[<em>] Ethnicity: White
[</em>] Gender: Female
[/ul]Other Factors: I’ve been sick all throughout high school so I have a few C’s, but I’m getting better. First semester this year (which just ended) I got straight A’s.
General Comments: I’m pretty sure I was deferred because of my past grades. </p>

<p>Any tips on how to write that letter that says you’re still interested in the school and that it’s your first choice?</p>

60

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT: 620 CR, 700 M, 750 W
[</em>] SAT IIs: 760 Math IIC, 650 Physics, 600 German w/ Listening
[<em>] GPA: 4.00 UW
[</em>] Rank: 1 of 28
[li] Other stats: Full IB Diploma, All As and Bs at IGCSE, 2 career-related internships, research at prestigious foreign institute</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: Lots of time, I liked them a lot and so did my editors, but they definitely weren’t extremely “quirky”
[</em>] Teacher Recs: science teacher, history teacher, internship supervisor, MUN supervisor. didn’t read any, but they all liked me.
[<em>] Counselor Rec: she liked me and knew me well
[</em>] Hook (if any): International experience, maybe?</p>

<p>[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: Germany
[</em>] School Type: Small international
[<em>] Ethnicity: White
[</em>] Gender: Male</p>

<p>[/ul]Other Factors: None.</p>

<p>General Comments: I’m ecstatic. I’ve been so nervous these last few weeks, and today I lost a lot of confidence in my application, but now I’m smiling ear to ear. Thank you Chicago. And good luck to EVERYONE. If Chicago doesn’t work out, it’s for a reason.</p>

<p>Favourite Line: My life went to an even more ordered state than it had been before my move. Modern science should be ashamed.</p>