<p>Hi Grace,
I’m a deferred international applicant for class of 2017. After the notification of deferral, I’ve written an additional letter to express my passion for University of Chicago. I’m curious to know when the deadline is, for additional letters and recommendations from deferred applicants. I was informed I could submit them after Jan 1st, the deadline for RD applicants, but I’m not certain about it. Could you tell me the deadline for additional materials, either official or unofficial (preferable) deadline? Thanks.</p>
<p>Hi Grace, I wanted to know how to give you additional information about our accomplishments through our portfolio. Do we just label it as “additional information” and hope it gets read as that? Or will it be sent to the portfolio supplement reading people? (for creative writing, art, music…etc)
Thanks!</p>
<p>hatesmus, we do not have an official deadline for materials from deferred students, but it is most helpful for us to receive letters of continued interest and transcripts before March. If we come up with an official deadline, we’ll certainly make sure to make it known.</p>
<p>sunshinerocks, it is fine to put additional accomplishments in your Portfolio; your admissions counselor will view your portfolio to make sure it is sent to the right faculty, and will make note for themselves if the information in the portfolio is additional awards, etc.</p>
<p>Hi Grace,
I am a deferred applicant for 2017. With regards to the letter to our regional counselor, should we focus entirely on why Chicago remains our first choice or is ok to also highlight recent achievements and promotions regarding our extra curricular activities. My Why Chicago essay was over 2.5 pages long and while I can elaborate and go on and on about how anxious I am to take Econ 20800, Theory of Auctions, I’m not sure as to how that will help me show how badly I want to attend this school; I guess my question really is, what are you looking for us to show?</p>
<p>Thank You</p>
<p>Hi Grace,
How does one request an interview? I’m a bit unclear as to how the process works.
In addition, is it too late to request an interview? I just found out that my friend’s grandfather was an alumnus of UoChicago and that he is eligible to conduct interviews in my local area.
I’m not sure if it matters but I am an international student. </p>
<p>Furthermore, I was also under the impression that financial aid forms would be due sometime in Feburary…is it too late? </p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Grace, </p>
<p>I write this more out of sorrow than indignation.</p>
<p>I had wanted my child to apply to the University of Chicago, but s/he declined to do so even after writing all the essays and initially being very excited by the prospect of possibly attending the University of Chicago. For what its worth, the turning point in my child’s decision was the unsolicited college pennant s/he received from your admissions office. This may seem like a trivial matter, but it wasn’t to my child.</p>
<p>After receiving this pennant, s/he began to consider whether there was a disconnection between Chicago’s reputation as a Mecca for intellectual students and the way it aggressively markets itself to prospective students. S/he reluctantly concluded that the pennant was more about Chicago’s US News ranking than it was about attending a school where the life of the mind was paramount. Hence, s/he decided not to apply to Chicago. </p>
<p>I understand that Chicago’s new admission practices have yielded positive results in the perceived prestige of better US News rankings, increased yield, etc. So, I don’t expect this e-mail will change what has been a largely effective marketing strategy. But I do want you to understand that this strategy did alienate my child. That’s a shame because Chicago is a great school.</p>
<p>Hi Grace, I was wondering what is considered more important at Chicago, GPA or SAT scores? Could high scores make up for a less than ideal GPA?</p>
<p>JMilton I am very interested in your post, my d had the exact opposite reaction. When she unwrapped the package she thoughtfully said “they get me”. I couldn’t agree more. She is looking for a school that is a community of learners-people who want to be a part of campus and the vast number of programs and offerings. In her essay “why” essay she wrote about passion. She saw the pendant as a great symbol of all those things. </p>
<p>Interesting reminder that one’s perspective is their reality.</p>
<p>Does the admission office view having a paper published as a result of a science research internship a big accomplishment? Do you get many students who have published?</p>
<p>Thank you</p>
<p>jmilton, hopefully with age your daughter will relax a bit and learn to be less rigid in her opinions. Whatever UChicago marketing strategies are has little relevance to the quality of education and intellectual strength of the student body.
My son is a humble person, but he appreciated receiving the t-shirt and scarf, and the personalized card from the admission office. I think all teenagers like to be flattered a little (especially when they deserve it). So I applaud admissions for putting in an extra effort to get good students.</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I requested an off-campus alumni interview over a week ago through the UChicago status website. However, I have not been contacted yet by anybody, and it’s more than half-way through January.</p>
<p>Should I be concerned? Is there need to contact the Office about this issue?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Hi Grace,
I had an interview on campus back in July, but I wasn’t able to ask all the questions I wanted because I wasn’t necessarily sure what kinds of classes I wanted to take. I want to know a little bit more about computer science courses. Should I email my admissions counselor and inquire whether or not they took computer science courses, and if so, what they were like? I also wouldn’t mind learning a bit more about economics and mathematics courses as well. My true question is would i be bothering my admissions officers by asking questions about certain classes during the turbulent application season? Thanks.</p>
<p>biguk997, your letter or email to your regional counselor can take whatever form and content that you like; if you feel that your Why Chicago essay already sufficiently indicated your interest, it is simply helpful for us to have a short note from you indicating that we are still a school you are interested in attending.</p>
<p>japadog, the deadline to request an interview with an alumnus has passed; we ask that students go through our official interview process for interviews, so it would not be possible for you to arrange an interview with your friend’s grandfather outside of our process. If you are a domestic student, you are still welcome to submit financial aid materials even if you have not done so already; more information about deadlines and the materials we require may be found here: <a href=“https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/costs/apply/instructions.shtml[/url]”>https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/costs/apply/instructions.shtml</a></p>
<p>jmilton, I am sorry to hear that your daughter did not enjoy receiving materials; we send these materials hoping that students will enjoy them, and they usually do-- but we understand that we may sometimes miss the mark. Students who do not wish to receive materials from our office are always welcome to contact our office to remove themselves from our mailing list.</p>
<p>guragura, we employ a holistic reading process that considers many factors, including testing, transcript, writing, recommendations, etc; in this process no one factor is more important than another, but we do hope to see that students have taken the most challenging courses available to them at their high school, and have done well in these courses, as doing so is the best preparation for our rigorous curriculum!</p>
<p>3boyssm, we would be happy to review an abstract of a paper that has been published as a result of a student’s research; its impact would, as above, be considered in the context of the rest of the student’s application. Students do not need to send material completed for class, but sending an abstract of a project that has been completed outside of school independently, with a mentor, etc would be appropriate. We do see students who have completed research, but a number is difficult to estimate and having your research published is certainly not a requirement by any means. </p>
<p>rarugged, although we try to do so, we are not able to accommodate every student who requests one with an interview; our alums have not yet finished contacting students who they will be interviewing, so hold tight there, but please do not worry if you are not contacted as interviews are not a required portion of our admissions process.</p>
<p>collectivegood, no problem whatsoever! We are here to answer your questions and answering questions like these can often be a refreshing break from application reading on some more stressful days 
You are also welcome to email our student account, <a href=“mailto:psac@uchicago.edu”>psac@uchicago.edu</a>, which is replied to by our student office workers-- they will be happy to connect you with a student in your field of choice to speak with about courses.</p>
<p>I am a deferred applicant. Is it frowned upon for a teacher of mine to give a senior admissions assistant a phone call?</p>
<p>Hi, my child was deferred early action, he was an international applicant. As far as we can tell no one from our city was accepted early. Are the acceptances for international students more stringent?</p>
<p>Hi Grace,</p>
<p>Is there a clearly defined set of special circumstances under which you can upload additional essays (for example, if you get deferred)? Or can you upload another essay at any time if you come up with something you didn’t put in your application earlier but think the admissions officers might like to read?</p>
<p>Hi Grace,</p>
<p>My DD is not planning to apply for fin aid, as our EFC is too high to qualify. We were not planning to file FAFSA or CSS Profile as a result. However she does want to stay in the running for merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Could you confirm that to receive pure merit scholarships from UChicago, there is no need to submit FAFSA or CSS Profile? I ask because that deadline is coming up!</p>
<p>In regards to teacher recommendations, is it okay if one is from an english teacher and the other is from a history teacher? Or do colleges, especially liberal arts colleges like Chicago, require one teacher recommendation from a history/english/foreign language teacher and one from a math/science (including ap comp. sci.)?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>basinr, it is not necessary to ask a teacher to contact our office by phone on your behalf, but your admissions counselor will be happy to speak with your teacher or counselor via phone or email if they feel particularly strongly about contacting our office.</p>
<p>ajd297, our proportion of accepted international students does not tend to differ significantly from the proportion of domestic students accepted relative to the size of their pool; while acceptance of international students who request aid tends to be a more competitive process given our small aid budget for international students, international students not seeking aid are at no particular advantage or disadvantage relative to our domestic student pool. </p>
<p>TheDonutClub, we do not have strict guidelines for the submission of additional essays or material, but do encourage you to only submit additional material if it provides a new perspective on you that we could not otherwise gain from reading the materials we require as part of our admissions process. We are happy to consider whatever you choose to submit, but keep in mind the idea that “more” is not always “better” :)</p>
<p>austinpop, it is not necessary to apply for financial aid to be considered for merit scholarships if you know that your EFC will be too high to qualify. For other parents: if you do anticipate having any kind of need, we do always encourage you to apply for aid in addition to noting interest in merit scholarships, simply because the majority of our students receiving assistance receive such in the form of financial aid.</p>
<p>siggyfreud, you are welcome to submit recommendations from two teachers in any core academic subject area. It can be helpful, but is not required, that these recommendations come from teachers in different academic areas.</p>