Hello, I am very interested and curious about the newest/recent North Residential Commons that opened in 2016 for undergraduate housing. I've already looked into the UChicago website information about this specific dorm, and it provided some pictures of what it will look like, including the dorms (double, single). However, I really really really would like to the pictures of the actual dorm from someone who actually live there (strongly I ask!); if not, any details about the dorms would be absolutely fantastic.
By the way, I saw a video about this residential commons, and I saw a glimpse of the double beds. But, when I compared with the actualy double beds and the design that Studio Gang was trying to go with, they did not exactly match (of course there are many similarities, just not the exact same).
Overall, I really would like to know, and I wanna say that the building has a beautiful architectual design!! Thank you so much!!!!
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North Campus Residential Commons UChicago
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Advice for a HS Sophomore
I’m new to this forum and a California HS sophomore just beginning to do preliminary college research. Obviously, this could change after high school, but my passion is for appellate law. I would likely major in political science, and maybe double in that with a math or physics. I’ve so far gotten A’s in all my classes and am tied with a bunch of other people for 3rd in my class of 800; of course this will change, but I can almost certainly stay in the top 5%. I have yet to take the ACT or the SAT (I intend to take both).
I’d like to ask you all what reach schools, match schools, and safety schools would be. Since I’m very new to this and haven’t really had any friends or family go through the application process, I don’t really know where I would fall on the spectrum of competitiveness. Additionally, if there’s any advice you care to share, it’s much appreciated. Thank you all!
For the moment, UChicago is at the top of my list due to what it sounds like the school social and academics culture is like. Please, please feel free to elaborate on that with your experiences.
PROSPECTIVE COLLEGE LIST (feel free to suggest!)
U. Chicago
Yale
Stanford
Northwestern
Princeton
U. Pennsylvania
Harvard
Brown
Georgetown
UC Berkeley
Duke
UC San Diego
American University
Anything from Gr11-12 is prospective, but I tried to project out as best I could to give you a full picture.
COURSELOAD
Gr9-
H. Algebra 2
H. Chemistry
English 9
POD (a mandatory course for freshmen)
Journalism 1
PE
Summer Community College: Psychology 1, Cultural Anthropology
Gr10-
H. Math Analysis
AP Biology
H. English 10
AP European History
Italian 1
PE
Gr11 (projected)
AP Calculus AB+BC
AP Physics C (M&EM)
AP English Language
AP U.S. History
Italian 2
AP Music Theory
Gr12 (projected)
AP Statistics
AP Environmental Science
AP English Literature
AP Government and Politics
Italian 3 (if offered and possible, AP Italian)
AP Computer Science Principles
SCORES
PSAT during Gr9: 1400
PSAT during Gr10: 1440
EXTRACURRICULARS:
Gr9-12 Long Term Strategic Planning (school governance) committee member
Gr9-12 Peer tutoring/paid peer tutoring
Gr9 Debate
-Clerk (officer, team somewhat defunct)
Gr9-12 California YMCA Youth and Government
-9: delegation Cabinet member (position abolished thereafter); statewide Forum (freshman program) Court Chief Justice
-10: member of Appellate Court program area UNLESS accepted into Supreme Court
-11: If accepted into Supreme Court, then that again + running for statewide Chief Justice, otherwise delegation office
-12: Supreme Court, hopefully either Chief Justice or delegation President
Gr9-12 Moot Court Team
9: Member, won 8th/24 in argument and 11th/24 in justicing at the local tournament we hosted
10: Secretary, competing at a local competition we’re hosting and probably one at Princeton
11: Argumentation/argument development officer, competing locally and nationally
12: Team Captain, competing locally and nationally
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Optional Essay Category Descriptions
Hi everyone,
For those who are writing explanations about your favorite books, authors, plays, music, artists, etc. are you describing what each item is? So say I'm writing about a book. Would it be ok, in one sentence, to describe what the book is about? I'm worried about being condescending if I am describing something that the adcom may already know.
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UChicago 2021 Applicant Thread
Hey everyone! Hope we can all discuss applications, essays, ec's, etc here. Also please mention if you're applying EA, ED I, ED II, or RD :))))) Good luck everyone!
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Year Long Program at the London School of Economics
Has anyone done this program? Does anyone have any experiences that they can share about it? Thanks!
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Any current students?
If any current University of Chicago students read this could you leave a small review on the school? I'm strongly considering Early Decision II but I just have a couple reservations. I have a chance of getting in normally, but I feel as if I ED2 I would have a much higher chance. I want to major in economics by the way. I just want to know from a student's perspective about the environment, clubs, sports teams, academic rigor, etc. I'd really appreciate any insight. Thanks everyone.
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Regional Admissions Officer Contact Info
I recently toured UChicago and managed to procure the contact info of my state's admissions officer. What exactly should I do with this? I feel it'd be almost too on the nose to shoot them an email and say, "hey, I'm interested!", particularly because I'm less than halfway through junior year. Am I mistaken in this view? Guidance would be much appreciated.
Thanks everyone!
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Football Recruiting at University of Chicago
Hope this helps parents and student going into the college football recruiting process.
First, we matched our son’s athletic skills to the Ivies and D3. University of Chicago, MIT, Johns Hopkins, Washington & Lee, Pomona, and the NESCAC—Williams, Middlebury, Amherst & Tufts—made the D3 list. Ivy & NESCAC restrict NCAA playoffs for football teams. This is a big turn off as every student athlete should be given right to compete for NCAA championship. Schools like Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, Vanderbilt & Rice were too high athletically and did not make our list.
Result: Our son committed to the University of Chicago 2021 class.
Candidate profile: He is an all-state player from a strong football program that sends about a dozen players off each year to play to college football. ACT 32, grades in the low 90’s range, medium number of AP/Honors. Faculty elected him to one of the most important school leadership roles.
High School profile: Rigorous day school with above average academics. Generates approximately 40 recruited athletes per year across all sports. College placement skewed as so many recruited athletes place into the top USNWR ranked colleges and universities for sports.
Chicago Football Recruiting Process:
Chicago was different than Ivies & D3’s in some ways.
It was standard in that Chicago staff made initial contact at a summer showcase in person and confirmed broad athletic and academic fit. Head Coach kept in contact during senior season via email initially, and then via phone calls.
However, our son asked Chicago Coach if he could give him a “pre-read” by submitting his test scores and transcript. A pre-read gives the recruit an idea if admissions will accept the recruit if the coach decides to support your son.
Chicago coach politely declined pre-read request. He explained Chicago requires the entire application (marked early action) to be submitted before giving recruits a pre-read. By contrast, the Ivies and other top D3 programs simply required transcript and test scores to give pre-read and make an offer. The Chicago application takes substantial time and there is an application fee (which they will waive if you ask). The essays for Chicago require serious work as they are "quirky".
Once Chicago gave a pre-read” our son and family were invited to a two-day official visit. The includes presentations about the university, football program, academics, financial aid as well as a tour. About 15 recruits & families attend each official weekend. The history of Chicago football as a founding member of the Big Ten, multiple National Championships, and Heisman Trophy winner make for a nice presentation. Similar to Harvard in terms of leather helmet glory football stories.
Chicago claims to lead the USA in combined Nobel Prize and Heisman winners---fun urban legend point, but the recruiting pitch quickly turns to the U Chicago academics legends like Einstein, Fermi, and Friedman vs. the history of big time football.
The best part of official visit came from current player panel. They described having 6 figure plus job offers from top firms. It was humbling as many of the parents in attendance commented our incomes levels not being as high as these Chicago varsity football players. Coach explained 100% of Chicago senior football players have substantial job offers, or medical, law, or graduate school acceptances. The players spoke about why they see MIT as a peer school intellectually. Williams and Amherst really not discussed as a comp. Ivies a little bit, mostly Columbia and Harvard.
The boys then spent the night with their hosts (members of the team) and went to parties. It was finals week so nothing crazy. The football fraternity house is being 100% renovated, and beautiful. The players described substantial use of Chicago’s major attractions from a culture, dining, and sports point of view. Safety was discussed. Surprisingly, U of C has the second largest private police force in the world (to the Vatican) and Hyde Park is totally gentrified now. The new Obama Library is transforming another campus border on Lake Michigan. This was a very pleasant surprise as safety turned into a non-issue.
The next morning there was a coaching staff and parent’s Q/A that took place without the boys. Simultaneously the boys had a large team breakfast with their hosts.
After the breakfast “offers” were made. Certain players were not made offers, even after coming out for the official visit and going through the entire process described above. Not getting an offer also happens at Ivies and is a regrettable part of the official visit. The Ivies pay 100% for the family’s air fare and hotels for these official visits regardless of financial need. Chicago will pay if need is demonstrated I believe.
Our son was one of the recruits to receive an offer. The next steps were 1.) he accept and convert application to ED from EA and 2.) wait for the admissions office to issue him a “likely letter”.
Within a week our son committed by placing a call to the head coach and accepting his offer. Even at this point the Coach at all times emphasized that “nothing is official” until the likely letter is posted. Coach emphasized admissions was the final decision maker. The likely letter was posted to the admissions site within 24 hours as promised. This happened before the ED notice date.
Another contrast to the Ivies/other D3’s related to ACT scores. Chicago & MIT seemed pretty strict and as though they get the academic cream of crop. On the other hand, Williams would go as low as 26 on ACT for a top recruit, Brown 27, and Columbia & Harvard 28.
Only Chicago required application to be filled out before issuing “offer”.
The Chicago coach was direct and honest. He is the former Associate Head Coach at Dartmouth. He moved back home to take Head Coach job at Chicago as he is a Midwesterner. He recruits from all over the country, with a large Texas and California and Illinois contingent. Next year Chicago is moving into a new league to cut down on overnight travel for academic reasons. Chicago will play in the Midwest Conference, and the winner gets an automatic bid into the NCAA playoffs. Chicago will continue to play out of league rivalry games vs. Washington University in St. Louis and Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. I would not be surprised to see Chicago in NCAA playoffs as several recruits turned down Ivy offers, and some even had preferred walk on status to schools like Northwestern. The power of that USNWR #3 ranking is really attracting great players and this top notch Coach is a great recruiter.
Key advice: impress the coaches at summer camps, develop solid “highlight tape” during junior and senior seasons, and of course maintain the highest possible test scores and grades. Chicago has second highest SAT/ACT scores in the USA. My guess is Chicago may be able to recruit a 28 ACT so long as he is a potential star and there are enough 35 & 36 ACT football recruits to balance the team average.
Football Player Graduate Outcomes: The University of Chicago outcomes presentation was off charts. The jobs. and medical, law and graduate school acceptances really impressed the recruits and parents. We found the outcomes presentation to be more impressive than the Ivies and Williams, and equivalent to MIT.
Summary: All of these schools generate excellent outcomes for the football players. University of Chicago impressed us the most. World leading economics department was the tie breaker. Finally, the lack of NCAA playoffs at Ivies and NESCAC was a turnoff to our son. I am sure, however, if your son is accepted into any of these top schools (and a dozen others not discussed here) he will be given a true gift in life that he should cherish.
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Post Your essay
Let's post our essays to help next years students get an idea of what they should write.
Here's my Chicago essay exactly as I submitted it (typos included).
Apperently it didn't work :(
Essay Option 2: Destroy A Question
Why?
There must be an answer. I thought to myself. I, a thinking being, must be able to deduce the answer to any question I can pose. I could not. Every argument I concocted I just as easily repudiated. I only got back to where I began- nowhere.
I frantically perused the musty pages of the classics in a vain attempt to resolve my question. I found that my question was more often a topic of prevarication than discourse. Plato never pushed beyond his postulate that the universe was eternal and immutable. Descartes brilliance collapsed when his haphazard proofs of Gods existence were repudiated. William James simply dismissed the question as unanswerable. It seemed that the great minds spent more time dismissing each others work than building their own.
I was lost. In every other field I had studied reason provided a clear path to knowledge. This time, however, reason led me nowhere. Every time I thought I had deduced the logical path to a new idea I discovered faults in my logic that left me in the same place I had started. I could not find any axioms of knowledge.
I consulted a revered theologian. He consigned my question to the mind of god. But who created god? I asked, sensing a hole in his answer.
God is the uncreated creator. The memorized rebuttal carried with it contempt towards my lack of knowledge of theological canon. I left the conversation refusing to accept any axioms of my existence.
I then sought out a venerated scientist. I asked him my fabled question, expecting a meek response. Instead, he began a dissertation on the mechanisms of the universe. But why is it that way? I asked again and again only to be met with another wave of explanations.
That is what empirical evidence indicates. He retorted constantly.
But how do you know your conclusion isnt like an explanation of the movement of shadows on a wall I asked alluding to Platos Allegory of the Cave.
I neednt concern myself with hypotheses that cannot be falsified. I am a man of science. His dismissive reply left me in the same place I started.
As I walked out of his office I overheard a toddler importuning his mother. But why? he asked time and time again. His mothers repeated explanations failed to satiate his need for knowledge. He continued probing. Her explanations eventually focused on the existence of the universe. The toddler was not pleased. Why does the universe exist?
It just does, the mother said as she walked out of earshot.
As I walked on I noted that all three never reached any firm basis for their knowledge. The theologian and the scientist both dismissed the question as unanswerable. In his youth, the toddler refused to capitulate. He continued probing for knowledge beyond what his mother could provide.
My question was fundamentally a question of the mechanism explaining a condition. However, in order to explain something we must be able to observe it. By definition I couldnt step out of the universe and observe it. I couldnt answer my question because it was impossible for me to observe the mechanism. I capitulated to the inevitable: my question had no answer.
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I can't believe UChicago sent me a package all the way from overseas!
I got admitted in the early round this year, and I just received a package from UChicago with a shirt, scarf, hat, and a bunch of other stuff. I was genuinely surprised since although i knew they did send incoming students a package in the states, i didnt think they would bother sending it to international students as well. Makes me so excited to be there next year :D I also can't believe that my admissions counselor actually wrote me a greetings card talking about my extended essay - do they do that for every student? Can't imagine the workload there xD
Has the other admitted applicants received their packages and greeting cards as well? Are you all excited? Because i just want to be there already
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UChicago Regular Decision January 3rd Midnight or January 2nd Midnight?
Is the Regular Decision deadline for UChicago at 11:59 on January 3rd or 11:59 on January 2nd?
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Does UChicago Care More About Scores Than Other Top Schools?
Hi everyone.
I'm sure a lot of you are stressed currently waiting to hear back from ED/EA results! Best of luck to you!!!
I'm currently compiling my RD apps (I sorta waited last minute but they're almost there!) and I'm getting worried that my already low chances are even lower. I have a 33 on the ACT (34 E, 34 M, 33 R, 30 S; 36 W) which at other schools comparable to UChicago I feel isn't weighing me down in any way as I've heard a 33 is a "cut-off" of sorts where scores stop to matter at that point, but is that score really 34 at UChicago and I'm put at an automatic disadvantage?
I've also heard that UChi is a very "score-obsessed" school where while they highly value good essays, good scores really help your chances. I have a 4.0 UW and am in the top 1% of my class, and also am first-gen (which I know isn't a huge hook, but is a hook nonetheless), so do I still have as good of a chance as someone with a 34..35..etc. or am I already put at a disadvantage at the get-go?
Thanks in advance to all who reply! Like I said gl to the early applicants! :)
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Chances of Getting into UChicago?
I've never done one of these, so let me know if I need to include more info. I'm not a legacy, and I was not recruited for sports.
GPA-
UW: 3.98
W: 7.42 (8.20 after this semester is finished)
Rank: 1/530
***When I graduate high school, I will also be graduating from the local college with my AA degree. I feel this is very important to note.
Test Scores-
ACT: 34 (E:36, M:34, R:32, S:33)
AP: Human Geo (4), World History (4), Biology (4), US History (5), Calc AB (5), Physics 1 (3)
Also, I've taken 14 dual enrollment courses thus far. I am taking 3 more in the spring semester to complete my AA.
Senior Class Schedule-
AP: Calc BC, Physics C: Mechanics, Physics C: E&M, Psych
Dual Enrollment: Astronomy, Nutrition, Developmental Psych, Abnormal Psych, Computer Science, Capstone
Demographics-
State: FL
Race: White
Gender: Female
Religious affiliation: none
EC's-
American Sign Language Club - 12th (founder, president)
National Honor Society - 11th-12th (special projects coordinator, founded our chapter's tutoring program)
Math Honor Society - 10th-12th (secretary, pre-calc and calc competitor at regionals and states)
National Science Honor Society - 11th
Competitive Cheerleading - 7th-11th, 10hrs/wk 50wks/yr (co-captain 10th, 11th)
Tutoring - 9th-12th (paid and unpaid)
Local Hospital Volunteer - 10th-12th, 6hrs/wk 10wks/yr
Football Concession Stands - 9th-12th, 5hrs/wk 5wks/yr
Doggie Rescue Volunteer - 10th-12th, 3hrs/wk 4wks/yr
Meditation Club - 9th
Essays-
Common App: Trump protest in June, highlights importance of diversity and having my voice heard
Extended UChi: Find x... don't want to post details
Why UChi: Big Problems program, University Community Service Center, House system
Optional Favorites: music I love, highlights my favorite song and why it's important to me
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Crystal Balling UChicago's Admit and Yield for class of 2021
I have posted this in another thread, but wanted to consolidate here, in case anyone wanted to comment. All of this is pure speculation, so please treat it that way :-)
Assumptions
Here were the # of ED applications for the Ivy league for the class of 2020
Brown: 3,030(9.3% of total pool)
Columbia: 3,520 (13% of total pool)
Cornell: 4,882 (10.85% of total pool)
Dartmouth: 1,927 (9.32% of total pool)
Harvard: 6,173 (15.8% of total pool)
Penn: 5,762 (14.8% of total pool)
Princeton: 4,229 (14.4% of total pool)
Yale: 4,662 (14.8% of total pool)
Overall Ivy: 34,185 ED/SCEA apps (12.5% of total pool)
If you remove the SCEA schools, the total ED apps for Ivies was 19,121 (11% of their total pool).
Average early admit rate for Entire Ivy pool was 20%. If you remove the SCEA schools, the average admit rate for ED was around 23%
UChicago got 31,411 apps for the class of 2020. So if it mirrors Brown or Dartmouth it will get around 2,900 ED1 apps. If it mirrors Cornell, it could get around 3,100 apps. If it mirrors Columbia or Penn it could get 3,800 ED apps.
Based on that my ED1 predictions are as follows
ED1 Apps: 3,500
ED 1 Admit rate: 23%
ED 1 Yield: 95%
ED 2 Apps: 2,500. This is the hard one to estimate. of around 34,100 students applying ED/SCEA to the Ivies, 80% were either denied or deferred. That is around 27,000 applicants in limbo who were ready to take a leap on ED for the Ivies. I am assuming that less than 10% will now apply ED2 to UChicago because they get nervous.
ED 2 Admit rate: 15% ( I am assuming a smaller admit rate, because I think this pool will be very strong)
ED 2 Yield: 95%
For EA if you assume like the most current year, approximately 12,000 apps were in the EA pool and remove the ED1 number from them, you get
EA Apps: 8,500
EA Rate: 6% (based on the fact that the two ED pools, will mean higher yield)
EA Yield: 70% (Assuming, that the RD yield is rather poor at around 45%, Chicago's EA yield to fill the 1600+ seat for the class of 2020 must have been pretty high, to give an overall yield as officially stated of 66%. I am taking a conservative number of 70%)
That means UChicago will already have firm enrollment of close to 1,200 from these ED1 and ED 2 pools alone.
Given a total class strength of around 1,600 or so, there is not much more room left for either the EA pool or RD pool. If they get around 350 from the admitted EA pool, that would bring the total enrollment to 1,550. That leaves next to no room for the RD pool. I expect the admit rate to be dismal for this pool. I mean it could be in the 1%-3% range
That gives an incredibly high yield for Chicago. Over 80% easily. If things go crazy in the ED2 pool, it could be as high as 90% overall!!
I think with the ED1/ED2 strategy, UChicago is trying to mimic the yield and admit rates of Stanford and Harvard. Remains to be seen if they will succeed.
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University of Chicago EA/ED Results ONLY
Yeah the results come out in a few days and I'm itching with anxiety and excitement. So post your stats once they come out!!! .....
Choose One
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size][/b]
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FFA500]Decision: Waitlisted [/color][/size][/b]
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FF0000]Decision: Rejected [/color][/size][/b]
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Weighted GPA:
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1:
Teacher Rec #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview:
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?:
Intended Major:
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):
Reflection
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
General Comments :
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UChicago Portal/ Common App Help
I submitted my UChicago Common App yesterday (With all the essays uploaded). Today, when I opened the portal, none of the essays/teacher rec/common app was uploaded and there was room to upload my essays separately on their portal. Should I just wait for the Common App to show up? Or resubmit my essays on their portal just in case?
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online art portfolio submission?
hiya! i’m a prospective uchicago student trying to decide if i should submit art through the online portal. i’m not looking to be an art major but in one of my essays i talk about how much discovering art means to me and the journey i went on to get to the place that i am today (it’s a lot more compelling than it sounds, i swear haha :D). i thought it might be a good idea to supplement my essay with some examples of what i’ve worked on and create a more multidimensional aspect to my application. would i submit that art on the uchicago website through the portfolio option or is that just for prospective art majors? thank you so much in advance :)
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UChicago deferred class of 2021
Well we've all been deferred and we're all pretty down about it. I really never expected to get in due to the single digit acceptance % but one can always hope. Anyways we can use this discussion to talk about being deferred and how to pick ourselves up from this.
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URGENT!! prompt?
I'm a little confused. This is what Uchicago has on their website about the 6th option for prompts:
In the spirit of adventurous inquiry, pose your own question or choose one of our past prompts. Be original, creative, thought provoking. Draw on your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary, social critic, sage, citizen of the world, or future citizen of the University of Chicago; take a little risk, and have fun.
I wrote a scholarship essay for another essay, using a prompt that is kinda quirky like Uchicago essays. Would it be okay to use that essay for Uchicago?
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Change ED 2 to RD
Sorry if this has already been discussed, but is it too late to change my ED2, which I have already submitted, to RD?
Also someone posted that the supplement is due Jan 31, NOT TODAY, and I was wondering if this is true or not
Thanks in advance!
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