Just replied directly to the OP by DM but thought I should put this information out there to help others that are interested in Chicago. My son (RHP, 6'1" topping at 87) was accepted ED this fall. The HC told us he gets a green or red light from admissions in the beginning of the process based on test scores and GPA. Red is a hard stop but green is no guarantee - just gives the HC the OK to continue the recruiting process. My son superscored at 32 and 1470 and had an inconsistent GPA (near 4.0 at public school for 2 years but dropped after he transferred to a top private school). We never got a definite yes from the HC but he said he would advocate for son with admissions and recommended that he get his application in early so he would have time to do that. I heard that another player that was admitted received a likely letter but the coach never mentioned that as an option to us (though we also never asked for it). I believe the player that received the likely letter had a 35 and close to a 4.0. The HC said that the essays would be really important so son spent a lot of time on those. It was risky and stressful applying ED without a definite yes, but UC was son's top choice and he had other schools/coaches that told him he would be admitted ED2 or RD to their schools if he didn't get in to UC, so we felt like he had a fallback position. Son is also a legacy (grandparent and older) so that may have helped some.