Meet our Mentors | Diego’s journey to the University of Chicago

We interviewed one of our many incredible Mentors, Diego, who graduated from UChicago in 2022! Read on to see how Diego applied to 11 colleges and ultimately chose UChicago.

Diego, thanks for sitting down with us. Let’s start with the basics. Can you share where you went to college, when you graduated, and what you studied?

I went to UChicago and graduated in 2022. I studied Economics with a minor in Portuguese.

UChicago requires a language. I didn’t place out of that requirement, so needed to take some language classes. I was born in Brazil to American parents. We weren’t there long when I was a kid, so didn’t really learn Portuguese. But I thought focusing on Portuguese at UChicago would be a nice way to use some of my four years in college. I was forced to take the class, but then really liked it! So I just kept studying Portuguese.

I want to flash back to junior and senior year of high school and your application process. Did you apply anywhere early, whether that’s Early Action (EA), Restrictive Early Action (REA), Early Decision (ED), or something else?

I applied to Williams Early Decision and the University of Virginia Early Action. I grew up in Northern Virginia, where UVA is always on the table. Some of my best friends went to UVA. So that made a lot of sense. It’s a great school.

I found it hard to figure out a ton about campuses just by visiting. You only have a day, or a few hours even, so it’s hard to learn really what it’s like at a school. But Williams resonated immediately. In hindsight, I’m not sure if that makes sense. The mountain town vibe is great. But Williams has 2,000 students total. That’s great for some people. But looking back on college, something that mattered a lot to me was meeting lots of people. Williams would not have been quite so good for that just based on the size.

And then over the course of the whole application process, early and regular, where else did you wind up applying?

Williams, UVA, UChicago, Swarthmore, Wesleyan, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Miami University of Ohio, Amherst, Tufts, Northwestern.

I got into UChicago, UVA, Wesleyan, and Miami University of Ohio. I was waitlisted at every other school on the list

Did you apply to any specific university scholarship programs?

I don’t think I did. I remember thinking I was doing a lot of work for the college applications, so then for scholarships it felt like this whole additional weight. There was also an element of uncertainty about my chances at getting into schools, let alone getting scholarships, that was a point of inertia toward not applying to scholarships.

Why did you choose UChicago?

Simple answer is it’s a great school. I was ecstatic to get in. UChicago felt like the one I was most resonating with because the essays are super different from other colleges. They can be fun and energizing to write, vs. the others I felt I was trying to squeeze milk from the stone. It’s worth noting that the more you enjoy writing the application the better your application will likely be. I definitely felt that with UChicago.

It’s also interesting looking back how I applied to Williams ED, got waitlisted, and then got into such an amazing school anyway. I didn’t think I would get into UChicago. For high schoolers, I think it’s important to think about that. You really never know. I’m glad I was prepared to apply to UChicago.

What was the best thing about UChicago?

I felt the average person at UChicago was someone I wanted to know and become friends with. It’s hard to say if that would’ve been the same at other schools. I think I was more likely to get into UChicago because the essays resonated with me. And I think that’s true of the other people who got into UChicago. That is a pretty unique thing about UChicago since its essays are so unique.

And how about your least favorite things about UChicago?

Three things I’ll mention.

I thought some of the core requirements were not a huge value add. That was frustrating when I wanted to take more elective courses that resonated with me. The core requirements are substantial. You have to take 2-3 classes across multiple disciplines. It’s something like 18 classes total. It’s a lot relative to other schools.

I also didn’t like the economics major at UChicago as much as I would’ve hoped. It’s great for people who want to pursue a PhD in economics. I did not, so I did find some of the courses weren’t a great match for my goals.

Finally, the winters are a bummer. They made me sad.

What have you heard since graduating that you’ve realized are unique things about UChicago?

You can really opt in to a “House” culture, but can also opt out. So these are dorms you live in. I’ve heard at other schools, it’s sort of all in or all out. So the option to build community around the dorm you live in is there, which is nice, but if that community doesn’t resonate you can also find your own community elsewhere.

Moving on to more general college reflections, what do you think you’ve learned about college since you graduated?

A couple thoughts.

I don’t think college rank matters as much for career success as I would’ve assumed. It’s easier to get a first-round interview for some jobs if you are at a highly ranked school. But beyond that, it’s not going to make a huge difference. And if you are at a school that isn’t as highly ranked, you just need to do a bit of extra networking and you can ultimately land that first-round interview. So in hindsight, I wouldn’t have felt so much like the rank of a college was make or break for my post-college success.

Second thing is I would’ve paid way more attention to student body size and weather when looking at colleges. I didn’t think about them too strongly. But those things really shape college life. For example, you just can’t hang out outside if it’s 15 degrees. That shapes college life a lot.

Any regrets about your college application process, decision-making process, or how you approached college? What’s that one thing you always tell high schoolers about college?

Not really. I’ll just say college is such a great opportunity to do self-directed projects with friends. You have some extra time and a collection of great people around you. I got into making music in college, and I wish I’d have leaned in even further.

Finally, what made you decide to be a Cohort Mentor?

I’ve done tutoring for things like job interviews. I’ve found it’s really enjoyable to reflect on these steps of life in a way that helps someone in their own process. It feels like an important role to fill, especially as someone who recently went through it.

Thank you, Diego. It’s been great learning about your journey to UChicago. Thanks for your time