Clearing up confusion about the midyear report

The midyear report is almost here. But what makes Chicago's midyear report different from other schools'? And why am I getting so many questions about it when it's not even available until January 22?

We do our midyear report online, and you the student fill it out. What we want you to do is to get your report card and your counselor's name, phone number, and email address, and log into the online application. Then, we ask you to put in your midyear grades, tell us if you have been convicted of a felony in the last two months, and put in any comments you want to, as well as your counselor's information.

Why do we do things this way? To save ourselves processing time and give you one more chance to communicate with us before we make our final decisions.

We will send everyone an email on January 23 with your username and other information about the midyear report. If you don't have a username yet or don't know yours, wait for that email.

Here are a few more notes about the midyear report:

1. When we say it will be available January 22, we actually mean January 23.

Yes, our skewed sense of time is at it again. We extended your deadline, so we'd be happy if you'd let us extend ours. We need another day to make sure that the midyear report is working for everyone, so it will open at 12:01 a.m. (not sure what time zone) on January 23.

2. If your school is already sending a paper midyear report, you do not have to log in and fill it out.

You can, of course, to take advantage of the opportunity to communicate with your application reader directly. If you know that your school sends midyear reports automatically to all the colleges to which you apply, then you can rest assured that we will count those as your midyear report.

3. The midyear report will remain open until March 1, though you should fill it out as soon as possible.

Many students have marking periods that end February 6, later, sooner, or never. We're flexible. It is to your advantage to submit the midyear report as soon as you possibly can, and it is an application requirement, but if February 1 passes and you have not done it yet, do not worry. We will accept them any time.

4. The midyear report is required for everyone.

Whether you are 40 years old and have five children, are from Singapore and have already graduated as of December, or you are on the senior prom committee, you must log in and fill out the midyear report. The first thing we will ask you is 1) if you have graduated already, and 2) if you for some reason have no midyear grades. If you click affirmative for either of these things, we will just send you to the end of the form and make sure you are not a felon. There are parts of the midyear report that apply to every applicant.

5. The midyear report takes five minutes.

Trust me, I fill it out every year.