to that. I bet they would never release EA admit stats because it would completely reveal how they are gaming the stats and would drop the # of their EA apps by a lot.
Sad to see a school engaging in such overt and brazen manipulation of stats:
Maximize yield by accepting mostly from ED
Minimize acceptance rate by collecting a lot of apps they’re going to reject from EA
Go test optional so that you can exclude athletes and minority apps from dragging down the school score avg.
All of this combined, shoot up the US News rankings! But who are we to complain. It’s a harsh capitalistic world and a private university should be able to do whatever it wants to get ahead in the university rankings and the dean of admissions should be able to do whatever to get his bonus. Let’s not kid ourselves that admissions should be mostly merit based.
Hi! Admitted student here. I got into UChicago EA this year. My ACT is a 34 (so middle range for UChicago) and GPA is kind of on the lower end at a 3.89 uw. I don’t really have any special hooks and I didn’t show any demonstrated interest so the fact I got in was very surprising. Anyway, I know there is a lot of speculation around UChicago’s admit rates and I just wanted to say it’s very possible to get in EA! The college admission process is so random and it’s so important to keep in mind geographical factors and demographic factors rather than just yield rates.
Do u guys think that getting waitlisted from UChicago is a decent sign that ur overall app and stats were good. Im just wondering if me getting waitlisted should make me feel better and more confident about UCLA and Berkeley.
After two rounds of ED and a sprinkling of EA admits RD is largely about fleshing out a class. Stats are secondary at best at that point. Likely better to be URM, first gen, rural, or a red-headed, left-handed French horn-player who can recite every line Maynard G Krebs ever uttered than to be have perfect stats and a closet full of chess trophies.
It’s probably not worth trying to read too much into a waitlist, but there was something about your application that caused the AO to leave the door open a little.
Got rejected and its been a really emotional few hours for me . Honestly thought I had a chance due to being a URM, but I guess my application wasn’t as strong or decent as I thought it was. Gonna keep my head held up high since I have other acceptances.
My daughter got in Reg Decision today after being deferred EA. She is not URM and had 36 ACT and 3.97 uw GPA, IB program creds. Did not think at all that she would get in, but she added a video and also did additional research about the program she wanted to study and added that to an additional letter of interest. That may have helped. I didn’t want to (couldn’t) commit to ED because being new to the process I didn’t feel confident in the net price calculator. She does come from a public school that has sent others, though not many, to UChicago. She will be the second person in her class to be accepted that we know of…the other one was ED1.
It is wholly dismissive of any individual student, and certainly of any group or class of individuals with any particular shared trait, to suggest their admission was the filler used for checking off the social-obligation box at the university.
That being said, apparently, @jgladney, in your info session with Nondorff you got “… a red-headed, left-handed French horn-player who can recite every line Maynard G Krebs ever uttered…” while the day our family visited he spun it with an Oboe player.
Entirely memorable and rather entertaining either way.
Although Chicago has upper 70% yield rate thanks to most ED admissions, its head to head competition is almost always losing to other top 10 schools based on parchment data.
I was rejected in spite of 800 in Math section of Sat, 800 in Math II, 780 in Chemistry, 770 in Physics(All first attempt).
Perfect GPA
7 years of student government.
Best C++ programmer in the country in Google Kickstarter and Hackerrank. (Won various national level awards)
Partnered with the biggest multi billion dollar bank in the region to develop an app that helps thousands of people in poverty.
Interned as Data analyst for a multi billion dollar MNC.
Two times winner of International Mathematics Olympiad, Regional round.
Representing the country at an international level for quizzing.
3 sports varsity.
4 amazing recommendations.
Just one drawback - International student requesting for high financial aid.
@Maltamilkbone at #191 - my kids didn’t opt out and they learned of a couple of interesting opportunities that were available to high scoring PSAT. Both were automatically eligible to do NSLC, for instance, and enjoyed participating in that. For my son especially it was an eye-opening experience. They probably wouldn’t have thought to do this had they not been invited. However, most of the material they received was strictly advertising. Fun to read but irrelevant to their goals and interests.
Rejected, received email.
Rural, URM, applied test optional even though I had a 32 ACT. Started a newspaper at my school.
Not really disappointed, my essays weren’t really good. Congrats to everyone!
Accepted RD! It’s a tough process, but I think my essays and extracurriculars definitely helped.
Side notes:
Just because Stanford accepted someone, does not mean they will also be accepted to another prestigious university, like UChicago. Every school looks for the right fit and student body. And sometimes, a bit of luck helps. I was not accepted to UT Austin, for example. But then, Cornell just sent me an early acceptance.
Also, being perfect isn’t always being the most qualified. I think it’s about showcasing your interests in a unique and honest way. Having a 1600/36 and national awards does not (emphasizing this) guarantee admission, although it may help.
My daughter was accepted RD yesterday with 4.0 unweighted and 4.3 weighted with strong Sat’s, EC’s, Essay and recommendations. Good luck to the rest of you as you find out.