<p>I’m a current Junior trying to finalize my college choices. I live in Illinois, and I’ve only visited U of C and UIUC. I am basically in love with U of C, and I really want to go. My other options don’t look great, mainly b/c I suck at SAT IIs (U of C doesn’t require them). If not U of C, I wanted to go Ivy or Gtown or Rice, but all of those require SAT IIs. Now, by suck, I mean that on practice tests, I could get a 770 on U.S. History, and no better than 630 or so on any other test. And the dean of admissions at U of C said that good SAT IIs might help a little and that bad ones might hurt, even though they don’t officially ask for them or consider them. So anyways, here are my stats:</p>
<p>White Male
Poli Sci/Econ major
GPA: 4.0 uw, 4.077 w (hardest courseload possible)
Class Rank: 1/250 (rotting, crappy, rural public school)
SAT: 730 V, 800 M, 710 W (U of C doesn’t look at writing)
ECs: Schol Bowl (all tournament teams, all conference, nominated for Team Illinois)
Tennis (JV)
Musicals (chorus/small parts)
Band and Chorus (during school day)
Madrigal Singers
4-H
Work at pizza place ~10 hrs. a week
NHS
Chem Olympiad (2nd at regional)
WYSE (1st in English, 2nd in Chem at regional)
Republican club</p>
<p>Essays: should be at least decent
Recs: Good
Interview: can’t imagine it being a disaster</p>
<p>“Hook”: from a crappy school? living on a farm in the middle of nowhere? having to drive an hour away to take SATs, and half an hour to get to town every day? lol</p>
<p>I will be applying EA, and hope to really show that U of C is my first (and really only at this point) choice. I guess my questions are A) Will I get in? B) What to do or not do about SAT IIs, and C) What other schools should I consider (I guess UIUC, UVA, and William and Mary are the only other ones on my list at the moment)?</p>
<p>If you are in love with Chicago, and can articulate why to them (real love of learning?) you will get in. I was convinced I had the stats/hook for the big ivies, and UoC sold me (Early Action, so no other apps).</p>
<p>SAT II’s
You really should be able to pull above a 700 on the Math IIC with a bit of work. With that and US History you would be in pretty good shape. If you send your SAT’s to Chicago now, you would not have to send after the SAT II’s if they didn’t work out. That would also give you more flexibility for applying to other colleges.</p>
<p>You should have a good shot EA, but nobody here can tell you for sure if you will be accepted or not. </p>
<p>Other match/strong match schools to consider: Brandeis, U of Rochester, Case Western, Emory, Reed.</p>
<p>My son got admitted to Chicago and he comes from a non-competitive rural high school in Illinois. His graduating class is a little more than 200 and we only have 1 AP course. He got similar SAT scores and did better on the ACTs (took it twice and got 35 overall both time and perfect 36’s on science, math and ???-I know he never got better than a 34 out of English). He did well in the writing portion (10 out of 12 I think). He did get 800 in chemistry and Math II on the SAT IIs and we sent the scores even tho Chicago doesn’t need them. He had a lot of the same awards you have with scholar bowl (all tournament teams), math team(regional), WYSE (3rd in state in Chemistry his sophomore year),Academic challenge (regional, sectional and state placing). He had musical and drama activities. </p>
<p>Actually his essay did address the fact he grew up in the middle of nowhere and how he developed his passions (history and physics) at an early age. He told the whole story of why he initially became interested and the hold both passions still have on him today. </p>
<p>Hey the practice tests are not necessarily accurate. As a freshman I took the practice tests for the Bio SAT II out of the Kaplan and Princeton Review books. My highest score was ~640. However, on the actual test I got a 700. By that point I was so convinced that I sucked and there was no way I could do well despite my hours of studying that I went in completely relaxed…and it worked.</p>
<p>Huh? You guys are crazy! Thanks to everyone who posted though. Anyone else? I guess I was just worried b/c my backup plan isn’t too great at the moment lol.</p>
<p>You’ll do fine. I was completely sold on the UofC, but even though i got deferred and then waitlisted, I realized that there’s always grad school for the amazing U of C and I can now prepare myself for any shortcomings i have by working even harder in Ugrad. I think going to a LAC will give me the opportunity to get even more into my interests.
Good luck to ya!</p>
<p>am i the only one that thinks this is kind of rediculous? he has amazing stats…whats with the “710 W (uchi doesnt look at writing)”. Are you implying that a 710 in W is bad? I honestly predict that you’ll get into a few ivys and a lot more other places…</p>
<p>LOL I doooon’t think that I am a URM, I mean I totally realize that you Asians have it worse than me, but I just listed it b/c unfortunately race is a factor in admissions these days. Sorry if you think it’s ridiculous. I know my scores are good, but I think I need those scores to compensate for my lack of extra curricular achievement (ok it may look good on paper, but really I haven’t won any state or national anything, I’m basically awardless except for worthless regional crap).</p>