UChicago Dreams

Chance Me / Match Me
1

My dream school is UChicago. Other reaches are Stanford (lol), MIT (lol), Northwestern, maybe Columbia. Matches include UIUC (engineering), USC, UMich, UW Madision. Safety is a local state college.

SAT: 1540, 800 in math (might retake because I know I can do better in reading)
GPA: 3.96 UW, 4.94 W
Ethnicity: White/Asian
Sex: Female

School: A very competitive public magnet school in a very large city.

Courses:
Middle School: H Algebra, H Geometry, H Bio, H English 1, H. Japanese 1 and 2
Freshman: AP Human Geo, H. Chem, H. Algebra 2/ Trig, H English 2, H Japanese 3, Gym, Art
Sophomore: AP Physics 1, H. Precalc, H. US History, H English 3, H Japanese 4, Gym, Beginning Band
Junior: AP Bio, AP Calc AB, AP Lang, H Law, Gym, Intermediate Band
Senior (next year) : AP Env Sci, AP Physics C, H Creative Writing, H Adv Math Topics, Gym, Symphonic Band, AcaDec (I had to drop an AP class for Acadec, but the team is extremely good, usually ranks top 5 nationally)

Extra Curriculars:
-Club Cycling Team: 10,11,12. Ranked top 5 in state in some disciplines.
-School Bike Club: 11,12. Founder and President.
-Job as a ‘trail ambassador’ at local tourist attraction: 10,11,12. Work 12hrs a week year round, 20+ during summer.
-Girls Bike Club: 10,11,12. Mentor younger girls about bikes. Perform community projects.
-Urban Planning Program: 11. Created a network of bike routes from schools to a community center in a local underserved Latino community. Will likely present the project to the city in the coming months, route might actually be implemented.

  • Apprenticed at a local bike shop: 11
    -Band: 10,11,12.
  • JV Softball: 9,10
    -Acadec: 12
  • Ecology Club: 9,10,11,12

Summer:
-Japanese Exchange Program: 9,10. Spent 3 weeks with a host family in Japan after freshman year, then hosted a Japanese student for 2 weeks sophomore year.
-Taught classes at public library: 10 Taught a bike safety class at over 20 different library branches for kids ranging from 4-12yrs. Taught groups of kids in literally every neighborhood, of every socioeconomic background.

  • Continued working as a trail ambassador: 10,11
  • Will be an assistant instructor/ youth leader at a teen bike mechanics internship program: 11
  • Volunteered at animal shelter/ fostering dogs
  • Helped dad with developing his start-up company (learned a lot of computer programming)

Thanks! I will chance bak

2

UChigago values those who truly want to go there by applying ED. So if that is your dream school apply ED 1 and you’ll have a great shot.

3

I think you have really good chances at a lot of the colleges you have listed above, simply because your academic qualifications are quite outstanding. If anything, I recommend you take a few SAT II subject tests in Math 2, Chemistry, and Physics since they will showcase your extent of knowledge in the STEM area (especially engineering, which I think requires a lot of math and physics). Once you take these, you are pretty set academically.

What I REALLY like about your profile is that you have a very heavy focus on one particular thing: biking. I like this because 1) You have clustered all your ECs around one particular area of interest (showing your spike/interest in one area, which is what colleges like) and 2) your one area of interest is VERY unique (not many people have such extensive ECs in a particular area such as biking). I recommend (and I’m assuming you were planning to do this anyway) that you write about your love of biking in your college essays + supplements (it will be analogous to putting icing on the cake, since it will perfectly complete your application).

Overall I would say you have pretty good chances! I would appreciate it if you could chance me back here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1995754-chance-me-low-gpa-rank-cornell-rice-wash-u-ucla-etc-p1.html

4

What about your AP test scores? They are a very good indicator of your readiness for a competitive college like UChicago.
My daughter was accepted this year in EA:

ACT 34
SAT 1520
Subject Tests: Math 2: 790
Chemistry: 800
Spanish: 800
GPA: W: 4.95 (Top 3% of her class)
15 AP with A’s and A+ and all 5’s
6 Honor Societies
Violin Concertino in two orchestras, and violin 2 in the State Youth Orchestra
Two leadership positions inside and outside the school (Fem Stem Club president and founder, and
State Youth Orchestra Teen Board president)
Newspaper writer
Beta Club
Model UN
Amazing essays and recs
Interview with Jim Nondorf (which is obviously not necessary…but exciting!!!)
White/Hispanic

And really really wanted to go there…

6 kids were admitted in my daughter’s school. She was the only one accepted in EA. One did regular, and the rest did ED.
One thing they have in common? All of them love UChicago and are extremely smart, nice, and charming.
Recommendation letters are very important. I truly believe that UChicago wants not only great numbers, but great personalities.

Good luck! It is an amazing university!!!

5

^ All the kids admitted will attend in the fall :slight_smile:

6

Don’t retake the SAT. Increasing from 1540 -> 1560 for example has marginal benefits compared to someone who went from 1490 -> 1510. Spend time instead on college essays.

Take Subject Tests in Math and a Science.

Other than that, you are good to go. Make sure to demonstrate your interest in bikes in your college applications! That makes you really unique. Good luck!