Thank you for the time and effort you put forth in your application to UChicago, especially in the midst of a very crazy year! Once again, we’ve found that UChicago continues to attract incredible students, and we genuinely enjoyed reading the many applications we received.
Admissions decisions for Early Action and Early Decision applicants will be available Monday, December 21 through the UChicago Account.
What Decisions Mean
Admit: Congratulations! If you were admitted through the Early Decision I round, you have until January 16, 2021 to confirm your enrollment. If you were admitted through the Early Action round, you have until May 3, 2021 to reply to the University of Chicago.
Defer: We are not able to offer you a place in the Class of 2025 at this time, but we will reconsider your application and give you a final decision during the Early Decision II or Regular Decision round. Please complete our defer response form available in your UChicago Account by January 25, 2021.
Deferred applicants may elect to move into our binding Early Decision II application pool by contacting your regional admissions counselor and completing the Early Decision II Agreement form. Students who previously applied in the Early Decision I round do not need to resubmit this form if electing to be considered in the Early Decision II round.
If you’ve been deferred and UChicago remains your top choice, here is some advice on what to do next:
Do:
- Complete the defer response form on your UChicago Account by January 25, 2021.
- Have your school send us a midyear transcript. It’s helpful for us to be able to see your senior year grades when we reconsider your application; your midyear transcript will be the best way for us to do so.
- Send an email to your regional admissions counselor. If UChicago remains your first choice, don’t hesitate to let us know! We don’t need a novel, but a thoughtful note of one to two paragraphs sent by email can help us understand and consider your continued interest.
- Continue your college search. UChicago is just one school among many incredible higher education options. We know you carefully arrived at your decision to consider UChicago, and we hope you will apply the same level of thought to your ongoing college search. At the end of this process, you’re going to end up with a great place to call home. We encourage you to keep your college search open and to work with your counselor to identify other schools that you’d be happy to attend should UChicago not become an option.
- Optional: You can continue to upload supplemental materials directly to your UChicago Account through the Portfolio and Upload Materials sections. This is not necessary, but if you do have additional materials you’d like to share, please feel free to upload them.
- Optional: Deferred students who previously did not share testing as part of the test-optional admissions policy may do so as part of their updates to our office. Although this is certainly neither required nor specifically encouraged, we understand that some students may have updated SAT/ACT, subject, or other supplemental tests you may wish to share, and we would be happy to consider them. However, students who had previously applied sharing SAT or ACT testing may not opt into a test-optional method of continued review.
- Optional: After consulting with your family and school counselor to determine if this is a good fit for you, deferred applicants may also elect to move into our binding Early Decision II application pool by contacting your regional admissions counselor and completing the Early Decision II Agreement form by January 25, 2021. We understand that the Early Decision II commitment may not be the right choice for every applicant, and we will continue to give our full consideration to deferred students who remain in our Regular Decision applicant pool.
Don’t:
- Worry about meeting us. We do not make decisions based on whether or not a student has visited (our office is actually not open to visitors at this time) or engaged with our virtual programming. While we would certainly welcome you to check out a virtual info session or other online event to learn more about us if you still have questions, you are in no way obligated to do so. Following the steps listed above is all that’s needed to indicate your continued interest.
- Start writing all-new essays. We have determined that the application you sent us originally is a strong one—we just need a little more time and context to make a final decision. We re-evaluate applicants’ original application materials after they are deferred, considering the small new additions we suggest above. We do not require or recommend that students spend time updating essays.
- Panic. An admissions decision is not an evaluation of you as a person. Decisions are made over a long period of time by a number of people and take into account the entire applicant pool. Please keep in mind that we cannot give reasons for decisions over the phone or via email, as it really is impossible to condense the conversations behind our decisions in a way that would be adequate or helpful to the applicant.
Deny: After much consideration, we are unable to offer you a place in the Class of 2025. There is no process for appealing admissions decisions. We wish you the best as you pursue your educational goals.
Looking Forward
This year’s applicants have come from around the globe and are united by a compelling interest in learning and the power of ideas. No matter your admissions decision, you have a bright future ahead of you.