Regular Decision Release Date

If you applied to UChicago regular decision or are a deferred Early Action applicant, you’ll be able to view your admissions decision in your UChicago account next Friday, March 15 in the afternoon. Woohoo!

Great question! If you are a homeschooled student, in addition to the required Homeschool Supplement to the Common Application, we encourage you to send in additional materials beyond the scope of our general application. While these tests are not required for non-homeschool applicants, it can be helpful for us to review supplemental testing— such as SAT-2 subject tests or AP scores— from homeschooled applicants. Some homeschoolers will be taught in a cooperative style or online program that grants a transcript; while this is not required, please do submit this material if your schooling option provides it. We also encourage homeschooled students to request an interview (either on campus or with an alum in your area— either is fine). Additionally, it can be very helpful for us to receive additional recommendations from persons outside of your immediate instruction circle, or who know you in person if your main method of instruction is online or by correspondence. If you feel you have connected with a summer program instructor, service organization leader, internship mentor, clergy person, etc, we would welcome a recommendation from that person. 

Homeschooled students should feel free to check out the information available for homeschooled students on our website or email us at collegeadmissions@uchicago.edu with any further questions. 

Due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy we are extending our Early Action deadline past November 1st. We will extend our Early Application deadline for those of you affected by Hurricane Sandy (aka “Frankenstorm”). As we are still unsure how long and how severely this storm may impact different areas of the country, we will allow affected students to submit their Early Action applications, including your Common Application and Supplement, when it is feasible to do so after November 1. Please rest assured that if you are adversely affected by the storm we will happily receive your materials after November 1 with no penalty to you.

Note: this is updated from our earlier statement as the storm appears to be more severe than expected in many areas. For those affected: stay safe, and submit your application when it is possible to do so, even if after November 1. 

Need some essay tips, tricks, and treats?

Worried about choosing an essay topic? Concerned you’re either too creative or not creative enough? Tired of falling in to an essay-writing slump? Check out the UChicago Admissions “Uncommon Blog” for some not-quite-last-minute tips for thinking about our Uncommon Essay so you, too, can be The [Essay] Champ. 

Or just get yourself this ribbon on Amazon and wear it around. Either is fine. 

Oh mah Phoenix, guys, we’re so excited with the volume and quality of the questions we’ve been receiving in our inbox. We receive about 20 (!) questions every day (and the volume is only increasing as our application deadline draws nearer!), and it’s getting to the point where it is impossible for us to respond to every anonymous question we receive in our feed (fun fact: we must post the answer to your question in our feed to respond if you ask anonymously, which is useful in some cases, but would lead to us filling our feed only with questions if we responded to every question we receive). So, in an effort to make sure everyone’s question receives a personal response during this, the most stressful of application seasons, we have disabled anonymous questions in our inbox and humbly request that you ask non-anonymously so that we may respond to you directly, and promptly. We will still post answers to commonly asked questions in our feed. If you’d prefer, you are also welcome to email in your questions to collegeadmissions@uchicago,edu, internationaladmissions@uchicago.edu (for international applicants), or to contact your regional admissions counselor directly. 

Please note: We do not have the time or the desire to match your Tumblr information with your application information, so please don’t worry that we’ll creep in that way— we’re in this for the business of getting your questions answered, and not being weird, we promise. 

We figured we’d get this one out of the way by itself since it is important: apply for aid when you apply for admission. We encourage any student who is interested in applying for financial aid to do so at the time you submit your application. Although it is a bit of work, applying for aid as a domestic student does not impact your likelihood of acceptance, and doing so when you apply makes it more likely that you will receive your aid decision when you receive your admissions decision. For more information about applying for need-based financial aid (such as required forms, our Net Price calculator, and financial aid application timelines), please see here. 

Feel free to let us know if you have any last questions before the dreaded May 1 reply date. We’re waiting wistfully for you to come hang out with us!

The wait is over! You may now view your admissions decision in your UChicago Account. 

Whatever your decision may be, we thank you for seeing UChicago as the kind of place that you’d like to spend four years. We wish you the best wherever you wind up in school, even if it’s not with us. Many of the counselors in our office received decisions that were disappointing at the time, but led them to schools where they felt at home, and found a wonderful college experience. We know that, in some cases, our decision may not be what you had hoped to hear from us—but know that in the end, you’ll look back and wind up appreciating the time you’ve spent in the college you chose, and not worrying about the times that could have been at schools where you were not offered a place.

We hope many of you are having fun living and/or dreaming your way to a complete UChicago application. We’ve had a lot of questions about what happens if your materials arriving after the deadline. Don’t freak out! While you should submit as much as possible by midnight tonight (most importantly: the Common Application and UChicago Supplement), we will still review your application if some materials trickle in over the next few days. 

Worm cat sez: “Finish your RD application (squirm squirm squirm)”!

amnemonic:

ネコジマン｜けむし猫｜猫画像,猫写真の投稿サイト

Some loving tips for EA applicants regarding frequently asked questions that have been coming in to our office. Lots of great info here; the gist: don’t freak out. Go eat a cookie. Finish your application before Nov. 1. Continue not freaking out.