Guys after being accepted with mediocre stats, being unhooked, and not even requesting an interview, I can safely tell you that essays are far and away the most important part of your UChicago application. For any of you who were deferred, make sure your writing shines through in your update to UChicago. Good luck all of you! And I hope to see all of you at UChicago next year. 
The college has become selective enough in recent years that they’re being forced to turn away more than a few students who are all but perfect for UChicago, so don’t read too much into this one decision. You seem a highly qualified applicant, and I’d expect you to fare well wherever you may be accepted. Good luck in RD, at UChicago and anywhere else you apply.
College lie on what they want. They say something to the external world but do very differently inside closed doors. So are many of the applicants.
This is the truth.
@jarrett211 - if you get accepted to UPenn, will you still be coming to UChicago?
@NotVerySmart I suppose you’re right. Thanks for the kind words. Best of luck to you as well!
@apricotgirl what is this University Scholar that people talk about? Everyone I know who got admitted has a ton of merit scholarships or what not, makes my admittance feel almost second class
Congrats to all those who got in. Wherever you decide to go, this in itself is an achievement.
@McKilla99 Delete the EA application, and work on RD.
@CollegeGuru2020 I didn’t even receive any info about financial aid, so I sent an email to them asking why I didn’t receive any info yet. I suggest you do the same. Maybe we did receive some scholarships, and it just isn’t visible yet.
@awesomesauce55 thanks a lot. That’s what I will do. I was under the impression that the big scholarships like CPS and Stamps would be decided post acceptance in the coming few months because there is an interview process etc
Guys, the University Scholar is merit based separate from need based financial aid. It comes with the acceptance notification at the bottom of the page. All applicants are considered for merit scholarships.
If you go to the EA applicants thread, you will see that some have been accepted with $20,000, $25,000 and $30,000 per year.
Stamps is both need based and merit based. Can someone explain the process for Stamps?
What is CPS? Is it applicants from Chicago public schools?
Has anyone gotten their financial aid need based information yet?
Thx!
Does anyone know if the financial aid package we received in our acceptance letters it it, or would there be more after the FAFSA etc is filled out?
@twnty16 How are you even viewing the financial aid package? The only thing I see is an acceptance letter. There is no link or anything below it! Please help me out, thanks in advance!
@awesomesauce55 For me, I log onto my portal, click “View Update”, scroll down, and I see this at the bottom:
The following letters are available for this account:
Decision Letter - December 18, 2015
Financial Aid - December 18, 2015
Then I click on Financial Aid and it shows up for me.
Hello,
I was deffered from Uchicago. My ACT was only a 30, UW GPA is a 3.9, weighted GPA is 4.15 (or higher depending on how UChicago weights honors and AP courses), 12 extracurriculars, leadership positons in 3 (and have had huge impact on all 3 of those clubs) plus a part-time job and an internship… I also had an interview that went incredibly well.
Anyway, I’m wondering what percentage of students who apply are deffered? Do they defer more EA students than they Deny?
Please let me know
-Welcometomylife
@ComputerAge Thank you so much! I figured out the problem; I don’t have a link that says financial aid yet. I only have the letter and an invitation to a reception. I emailed UChicago Admissions a few days ago, so hopefully they can resolve the issue!
@welcometomylife they defer much more than they deny, probably around 60-65% got deferred. If it’s anything like MIT, then you are mixed into the RD pool and your application is evaluated with no prejudice. Therefore, your chances of being accepted are theoretically 6-7% (or whatever the admissions rate is)
@welcometomylife I’m in the same boat as you except for a few differences, let’s hope we both get in!!!
UChicago does not deny anyone. All applications of those who have not been accepted in the early action round will be re-evaluated in the regular admissions round. The deferral rate for early action is therefore 1 - acceptance rate.
Such a high deferral rate from EA pool would make it difficult - from a % point of view - for the RD applicants… won’t it?