1
College
7
Q&As
6
AP/IBs
3
Essays
0
Awards
8
Activities
Laura Nielsen
Intended philosophy (possibly with another?) major at UChicago
I only applied to one US university because I wanted to be sure of a culture fit - I had thought I would most likely stay in the UK for school. Chicago caught my interest for its reputation as a bastion of free speech and a real nerd school. The excellent philosophy programme and the interesting essays were a bonus. Having done very little research (read: none), I decided to RD, not knowing that Chicago accepts below 2% in that round, and did not take the SAT or ACT. Luckily it worked out anyways and I gained some very interesting insights into the admissions process at Chicago, including compared with other top schools which many of my friends had applied to.
Acceptances
Laura Nielsen
Intended philosophy (possibly with another?) major at UChicago
1
College
7
Q&As
6
AP/IBs
3
Essays
0
Awards
8
Activities
Acceptances
Background
Race
White, Asian
Gender
Female
School Type
Private
Legacy
Yes
Low income
No
First generation
No
International
Yes
Recruited Athlete
No
Academics
# AP/IB Exams
6
3 Essays
essay
Personal Statement
essays
University of Chicago
6 AP / IB Scores
8 Activities
Additional Info
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Do you have any additional info to share?
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7 Q&As
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How did you manage the stress of the application season?
This is a slightly ironic tip, but in hindsight, I avoided a lot of stress by not having looked on the internet at all to read essay advice or examples or statistics. I only started looking online aro
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Do you recommend using private counseling and/or essay editing services?
Not generally. I don't typically think that private counseling adds any real value, as the stuff they often encourage you to add to your CV often looks more impressive than it is. I highly doubt that
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Who should read over your essays?
There are two sorts of people who should read over your essay, and they perform different functions. Type one is someone who knows how to write. They should read it during the drafting stage and help
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How long did you spend on each essay?
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How did you choose your recommenders?
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How did you choose extracurriculars?
I only did extracurriculars that I really enjoyed. As I had not expected to apply to US schools, I did not give much thought to how my clubs would look on an application. I turned down head of Debate
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How did you build your college list?
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