Chicago C/O 2020 Applicants (2016-2017) Forum

[heythatsme]

Had my interview earlier this week. Was definitely more straight to the point than my Harvard, Columbia, Georgetown, or Northwestern interviews - not much fluff or smalltalk to speak of, comparatively. Quite conventional overall and no curveballs to speak of. I think it went okay.

I agree with this completely and feel the same way. I also didn't get asked any political questions, just really normal interview Qs.

I've read everywhere that Chicago interviews tend to be that way (impersonal), but mine was the opposite. I would rank my Chicago interview as the most personal, followed by UVA (which was also very personal), followed by Columbia (which was not) (then Cornell and Northwestern recorded interviews which obviously are the opposite of personal). I haven't had a Harvard interview ( ) or Georgetown interview.

My interviewer talked to me about mostly about insignificant interest stuff I had on my resume that she was apparently also interested in. I had a current event question too (an important issue facing society today or something like that) along with the usual why law/why Chicago but the whole thing was very conversational.

[ad34964n]

TO ALL THOSE U2 WITHOUT AN INTERVIEW -

2015:
2 people (WhiteHouse and CerealMilk) went UR2 in January without an interview. On Wednesday, January 13 (wave began at 12:40pm for those interested), WhiteHouse was waitlisted and below both 25%.

What I am choosing to gather is that UR2 without an interview is not a total death sentence.

As an additional data point, first RD acceptances went out 12/31 of 2014 at 2:20pm...

[brinicolec]

TO ALL THOSE U2 WITHOUT AN INTERVIEW -

2015:
2 people (WhiteHouse and CerealMilk) went UR2 in January without an interview. On Wednesday, January 13 (wave began at 12:40pm for those interested), WhiteHouse was waitlisted and below both 25%.

What I am choosing to gather is that UR2 without an interview is not a total death sentence.

As an additional data point, first RD acceptances went out 12/31 of 2014 at 2:20pm...

any idea what happened to cerealmilk?

[ad34964n]

TO ALL THOSE U2 WITHOUT AN INTERVIEW -

2015:
2 people (WhiteHouse and CerealMilk) went UR2 in January without an interview. On Wednesday, January 13 (wave began at 12:40pm for those interested), WhiteHouse was waitlisted and below both 25%.

What I am choosing to gather is that UR2 without an interview is not a total death sentence.

As an additional data point, first RD acceptances went out 12/31 of 2014 at 2:20pm...

any idea what happened to cerealmilk?

They went to Columbia. That, unfortunately, was all I could gather. However, I skipped to February and it looks like 2 more people who went UR2 and 3 without interviews were waitlisted as well. An additional 2 were rejected. Small data points, but working with what we've got here.

[emilulah]

TO ALL THOSE U2 WITHOUT AN INTERVIEW -

2015:
2 people (WhiteHouse and CerealMilk) went UR2 in January without an interview. On Wednesday, January 13 (wave began at 12:40pm for those interested), WhiteHouse was waitlisted and below both 25%.

What I am choosing to gather is that UR2 without an interview is not a total death sentence.

As an additional data point, first RD acceptances went out 12/31 of 2014 at 2:20pm...

To all of you on UR2 with no interview, If you're looking for a little hope (as I am): the "What to expect when you're expecting class of 2018" thread it lists an "Optional: UR1.5" prior to an interview request, which would suggest that it's not ENTIRELY uncommon to have a UR date change after UR1 before receiving an interview request. There is still hope!

[Keilz]

TO ALL THOSE U2 WITHOUT AN INTERVIEW -

2015:
2 people (WhiteHouse and CerealMilk) went UR2 in January without an interview. On Wednesday, January 13 (wave began at 12:40pm for those interested), WhiteHouse was waitlisted and below both 25%.

What I am choosing to gather is that UR2 without an interview is not a total death sentence.

As an additional data point, first RD acceptances went out 12/31 of 2014 at 2:20pm...

To all of you on UR2 with no interview, If you're looking for a little hope (as I am): the "What to expect when you're expecting class of 2018" thread it lists an "Optional: UR1.5" prior to an interview request, which would suggest that it's not ENTIRELY uncommon to have a UR date change after UR1 before receiving an interview request. There is still hope!

I went UR2 11/21 I'm at 25 GPA and between 25-50 LSAT so I'm not expecting much. This is my biggest reach school.

[ad34964n]

TO ALL THOSE U2 WITHOUT AN INTERVIEW -

2015:
2 people (WhiteHouse and CerealMilk) went UR2 in January without an interview. On Wednesday, January 13 (wave began at 12:40pm for those interested), WhiteHouse was waitlisted and below both 25%.

What I am choosing to gather is that UR2 without an interview is not a total death sentence.

As an additional data point, first RD acceptances went out 12/31 of 2014 at 2:20pm...

To all of you on UR2 with no interview, If you're looking for a little hope (as I am): the "What to expect when you're expecting class of 2018" thread it lists an "Optional: UR1.5" prior to an interview request, which would suggest that it's not ENTIRELY uncommon to have a UR date change after UR1 before receiving an interview request. There is still hope!

I went UR2 11/21 I'm at 25 GPA and between 25-50 LSAT so I'm not expecting much. This is my biggest reach school.

+1

[Mackgal]

Anyone else send a thank you email after having an interview?

I sent one a week or so after having my interview and got a general "thank you" reply back a few days ago.

[VapidP]

UR1 12/28. Complete 12/6. They took a while.

Splitter stats

[lawlzschool]

Anyone else send a thank you email after having an interview?

I sent one a week or so after having my interview and got a general "thank you" reply back a few days ago.

yep i sent one the next morning, but directly to the interviewer. they wrote back in a pretty general way, but i mean i didnt expect more than that

[bearedman8]

I'm filling out applications now and have a quick question that y'all will probably know the answer to. Section 13 of the application says:

1. If you are admitted, do you want the Scholarship Committee to consider financial need when evaluating your file for a scholarship award? (If you select "yes" below, please review the instructions on the Law School website (http://www.law.uchicago.edu/prospective ... holarships) and complete a need application.)

I'm answering yes to this, but am unsure what need application I need to complete and when. Do I need to complete the need application in tandem with the admissions application or can I do it later?

[bgt1995]

-

[Daaltaraan]

Just finished my interview - whew! It lasted exactly 20 minutes, and the interviewer was very nice, but professional. No small talk, but she did smile and laugh at my jokes.

Two questions I didn't see people mention:
What would you bring to UChicago? (After asking why I want to go)
What is one social issue you wish people knew more about?

Same questions from my interview today. It was a little more formal but not much. She would ask questions and take notes while I answered. Gave me time to ask questions at the end. All in all, it went well.

[pipipipi]

Can you apply for the Doctoroff program and send in the required essay after you have submitted you application?

I know other schools allow scholarship application to come later than the admissions application, such as NYU, but anyone has asked this question to Chicago? I am simply trying to submit my application earlier, while it may take me at least one week to write the essay......

[SybillAnnDorsett]

bouncing this back up

[Keilz]

bouncing this back up

[Assasindowntheavenue]

I've been struggling with this in my head, so I thought I might ask y'all. If/when you are admitted to University of Chicago, are any of you concerned with the violence in the city? Putting aside the event of yesterday, since we still don't know all of the details, does the fact that there were more than 700 homicides last year alone alarm any of you? And are you factoring that in your decision to attend?

[azaleafire]

I've been struggling with this in my head, so I thought I might ask y'all. If/when you are admitted to University of Chicago, are any of you concerned with the violence in the city? Putting aside the event of yesterday, since we still don't know all of the details, does the fact that there were more than 700 homicides last year alone alarm any of you? And are you factoring that in your decision to attend?

Edit: in my defensiveness I didn't answer your question! It's no. You shouldn't worry.


Hi, chicagoan here. 95% of the violence happens in 8% of the cities area. Now, some of that does happen in Hyde Park, once every ten years. But generally that violence, if its a murder, is more suburban - people with grudges, domestic violence, etc. Many of these shootings were gang related. If you aren't in a gang, or associated with one, you should be fine.

Now robbery DOES exist, especially around the campus because they know college students are dumb and will walk around with their 300 dollar headphones, 700 dollar cellphones, and 2000 dollar laptops and not pay attention to anything. Just don't be stupid and you will be fine. Honestly even though the rate has gone up, its been falling for the past ever. Also per capita it really isn't that bad.

Note: I also grew up in the area and I am being defensive, I realize.

[btruj777]

I've been struggling with this in my head, so I thought I might ask y'all. If/when you are admitted to University of Chicago, are any of you concerned with the violence in the city? Putting aside the event of yesterday, since we still don't know all of the details, does the fact that there were more than 700 homicides last year alone alarm any of you? And are you factoring that in your decision to attend?

I have wondered the same thing but have reasoned myself to these conclusions.

Coming from living in a large city like Miami, I actually felt safer in the city of Chicago (downtown) than I did in the city of Miami - I have been to Chicago many many times. However, the numbers do not lie. Chicago is plagued by crime, but I also strongly believe that the crime figures are very concentrated and contained in the areas surrounding the actual city, where we would live and work (UCHi and Northwestern alike). If you look at the crime maps, this holds true. The funny thing is that the crime does not gradually go from very high to mild to very low crime rates. In fact, there is a sharp contrast between high crime ares to low crime areas, over the distance of just a street. This is significant because it supports the thought that the crimes that greatly pull the numbers are gang related crimes in gang areas. The high crime areas are where the various gangs have marked their territories. Is the actual city more dangerous than a small town/sub-urb? I would say so, but this is not unique to Chicago. Every major city has these issues due to their size, diversity, and heterogeneous populations. What is unique to Chicago is the large number of gangs, and those are the very bad areas, but are very easily avoidable. I could be totally wrong but if you control for the gangs, Chicago seems to have very similar crime figures when compared to other major cities.


Should this stop you from going to UChi? I do not think so, unfortunately out of Uchi and NU, UChi is the closest to one of those areas. The back of the law school is about a small block away from the nearest gang area. The area south of UChi and the area north of UChi (but south of the downtown area) and west of Uchi all seem like areas to avoid.

[Assasindowntheavenue]

I've been struggling with this in my head, so I thought I might ask y'all. If/when you are admitted to University of Chicago, are any of you concerned with the violence in the city? Putting aside the event of yesterday, since we still don't know all of the details, does the fact that there were more than 700 homicides last year alone alarm any of you? And are you factoring that in your decision to attend?

Edit: in my defensiveness I didn't answer your question! It's no. You shouldn't worry.


Hi, chicagoan here. 95% of the violence happens in 8% of the cities area. Now, some of that does happen in Hyde Park, once every ten years. But generally that violence, if its a murder, is more suburban - people with grudges, domestic violence, etc. Many of these shootings were gang related. If you aren't in a gang, or associated with one, you should be fine.

Now robbery DOES exist, especially around the campus because they know college students are dumb and will walk around with their 300 dollar headphones, 700 dollar cellphones, and 2000 dollar laptops and not pay attention to anything. Just don't be stupid and you will be fine. Honestly even though the rate has gone up, its been falling for the past ever. Also per capita it really isn't that bad.

Note: I also grew up in the area and I am being defensive, I realize.

So most of the violence happens in suburban areas and is people with grudges? That doesn't make sense to me, though the gang part does. From what I understand, isn't the university in south side Chicago, where the violence is happening? I don't worry for myself too much, as I grew up in similar circumstances except in the West. But I worry for my spouse, who is petite and could very easily be a target. And while getting robbed is better than getting murdered (that sounds so fcked up I'm sorry), that doesn't really instill more confidence. Would you say it's nothing to worry about in the sense that you grew up there and have a sense of the do's/don't (that's how I view where I grew up), or do you believe an out of state person coming in has the same chance to stay safe, so long as they behave in a smart manner? Sorry to ramble, and thank you for your first-hand insight.

[Assasindowntheavenue]

I've been struggling with this in my head, so I thought I might ask y'all. If/when you are admitted to University of Chicago, are any of you concerned with the violence in the city? Putting aside the event of yesterday, since we still don't know all of the details, does the fact that there were more than 700 homicides last year alone alarm any of you? And are you factoring that in your decision to attend?

I have wondered the same thing but have reasoned myself to these conclusions.

Coming from living in a large city like Miami, I actually felt safer in the city of Chicago (downtown) than I did in the city of Miami - I have been to Chicago many many times. However, the numbers do not lie. Chicago is plagued by crime, but I also strongly believe that the crime figures are very concentrated and contained in the areas surrounding the actual city, where we would live and work (UCHi and Northwestern alike). If you look at the crime maps, this holds true. The funny thing is that the crime does not gradually go from very high to mild to very low crime rates. In fact, there is a sharp contrast between high crime ares to low crime areas, over the distance of just a street. This is significant because it supports the thought that the crimes that greatly pull the numbers are gang related crimes in gang areas. The high crime areas are where the various gangs have marked their territories. Is the actual city more dangerous than a small town/sub-urb? I would say so, but this is not unique to Chicago. Every major city has these issues due to their size, diversity, and heterogeneous populations. What is unique to Chicago is the large number of gangs, and those are the very bad areas, but are very easily avoidable. I could be totally wrong but if you control for the gangs, Chicago seems to have very similar crime figures when compared to other major cities.


Should this stop you from going to UChi? I do not think so, unfortunately out of Uchi and NU, UChi is the closest to one of those areas. The back of the law school is about a small block away from the nearest gang area. The area south of UChi and the area north of UChi (but south of the downtown area) and west of Uchi all seem like areas to avoid.

I see. That makes sense. Seems to be - it's not the worst and it may look worse than it actually is, but there are areas to avoid, and in doing so, you should be fine. Is that an accurate assessment?

[azaleafire]

I've been struggling with this in my head, so I thought I might ask y'all. If/when you are admitted to University of Chicago, are any of you concerned with the violence in the city? Putting aside the event of yesterday, since we still don't know all of the details, does the fact that there were more than 700 homicides last year alone alarm any of you? And are you factoring that in your decision to attend?

Edit: in my defensiveness I didn't answer your question! It's no. You shouldn't worry.

So most of the violence happens in suburban areas and is people with grudges? That doesn't make sense to me, though the gang part does. From what I understand, isn't the university in south side Chicago, where the violence is happening? I don't worry for myself too much, as I grew up in similar circumstances except in the West. But I worry for my spouse, who is petite and could very easily be a target. And while getting robbed is better than getting murdered (that sounds so fcked up I'm sorry), that doesn't really instill more confidence. Would you say it's nothing to worry about in the sense that you grew up there and have a sense of the do's/don't (that's how I view where I grew up), or do you believe an out of state person coming in has the same chance to stay safe, so long as they behave in a smart manner? Sorry to ramble, and thank you for your first-hand insight.

In my haste I think you misunderstood me, mostly because my incoherent defense went up haha.

I meant that other than gang related violence, the violence that happens in areas like Hyde Park is normal for the US, especially around college campuses. MIT, Harvard, U Chicago, NYU, etc are all in urban areas. Robberies happen. I am not saying they happen more or less often here than anywhere - you would have to check the crime reports available to peruse on U Chicago's website and compare - but that that is the thing I would worry about if anything. When I meant "suburban" I mean stuff I hear about that doesn't make the news are your basic once every five or ten years someone beats their wife, or does something ridiculous. Stuff that, while it shouldn't be, is normal in the US.

Now the University is also doing its best to make an economic fence around the campus. I think if you are from out of state and trust your instincts, and look at a map, you would be fine. Treat it like any other major US city. Does it suck that you can't treat Chicago like Tokyo and walk around with headphones and your phone out? Yeah. But also that's common sense.

[chargers21]

.

[Assasindowntheavenue]

I've been struggling with this in my head, so I thought I might ask y'all. If/when you are admitted to University of Chicago, are any of you concerned with the violence in the city? Putting aside the event of yesterday, since we still don't know all of the details, does the fact that there were more than 700 homicides last year alone alarm any of you? And are you factoring that in your decision to attend?

Edit: in my defensiveness I didn't answer your question! It's no. You shouldn't worry.

So most of the violence happens in suburban areas and is people with grudges? That doesn't make sense to me, though the gang part does. From what I understand, isn't the university in south side Chicago, where the violence is happening? I don't worry for myself too much, as I grew up in similar circumstances except in the West. But I worry for my spouse, who is petite and could very easily be a target. And while getting robbed is better than getting murdered (that sounds so fcked up I'm sorry), that doesn't really instill more confidence. Would you say it's nothing to worry about in the sense that you grew up there and have a sense of the do's/don't (that's how I view where I grew up), or do you believe an out of state person coming in has the same chance to stay safe, so long as they behave in a smart manner? Sorry to ramble, and thank you for your first-hand insight.

In my haste I think you misunderstood me, mostly because my incoherent defense went up haha.

I meant that other than gang related violence, the violence that happens in areas like Hyde Park is normal for the US, especially around college campuses. MIT, Harvard, U Chicago, NYU, etc are all in urban areas. Robberies happen. I am not saying they happen more or less often here than anywhere - you would have to check the crime reports available to peruse on U Chicago's website and compare - but that that is the thing I would worry about if anything. When I meant "suburban" I mean stuff I hear about that doesn't make the news are your basic once every five or ten years someone beats their wife, or does something ridiculous. Stuff that, while it shouldn't be, is normal in the US.

Now the University is also doing its best to make an economic fence around the campus. I think if you are from out of state and trust your instincts, and look at a map, you would be fine. Treat it like any other major US city. Does it suck that you can't treat Chicago like Tokyo and walk around with headphones and your phone out? Yeah. But also that's common sense.

Okay this makes a lot of sense. Some stuff I didn't know, some I assumed, and some is to be expected. I appreciate your input and approachability, especially with this sort of topic. Thank you very much!

[Assasindowntheavenue]

I've been struggling with this in my head, so I thought I might ask y'all. If/when you are admitted to University of Chicago, are any of you concerned with the violence in the city? Putting aside the event of yesterday, since we still don't know all of the details, does the fact that there were more than 700 homicides last year alone alarm any of you? And are you factoring that in your decision to attend?

Edit: in my defensiveness I didn't answer your question! It's no. You shouldn't worry.

So most of the violence happens in suburban areas and is people with grudges? That doesn't make sense to me, though the gang part does. From what I understand, isn't the university in south side Chicago, where the violence is happening? I don't worry for myself too much, as I grew up in similar circumstances except in the West. But I worry for my spouse, who is petite and could very easily be a target. And while getting robbed is better than getting murdered (that sounds so fcked up I'm sorry), that doesn't really instill more confidence. Would you say it's nothing to worry about in the sense that you grew up there and have a sense of the do's/don't (that's how I view where I grew up), or do you believe an out of state person coming in has the same chance to stay safe, so long as they behave in a smart manner? Sorry to ramble, and thank you for your first-hand insight.

In my haste I think you misunderstood me, mostly because my incoherent defense went up haha.

I meant that other than gang related violence, the violence that happens in areas like Hyde Park is normal for the US, especially around college campuses. MIT, Harvard, U Chicago, NYU, etc are all in urban areas. Robberies happen. I am not saying they happen more or less often here than anywhere - you would have to check the crime reports available to peruse on U Chicago's website and compare - but that that is the thing I would worry about if anything. When I meant "suburban" I mean stuff I hear about that doesn't make the news are your basic once every five or ten years someone beats their wife, or does something ridiculous. Stuff that, while it shouldn't be, is normal in the US.

Now the University is also doing its best to make an economic fence around the campus. I think if you are from out of state and trust your instincts, and look at a map, you would be fine. Treat it like any other major US city. Does it suck that you can't treat Chicago like Tokyo and walk around with headphones and your phone out? Yeah. But also that's common sense.

Chicago's crime rate is scary to someone like me who comes from an almost zero violent crime area, so I've looked up the numbers. And it doesn't even compare to what I saw for St. Louis. Now that is a scary place to live!

Yeah my spouse was raised in one of the safest cities in the U.S., so they more or less freak out whenever we travel somewhere even remotely sketch lol. But damn I did not know that about st.Louis. I'm going to have to do some extra hw in regards to law school now - looking at crime numbers.