How to Get into the University of Chicago: Essays and Strategies That Worked
/How hard is it to get into the University of Chicago? Learn the UChicago acceptance rate and admissions requirements, plus strategies for UChicago supplemental essays
the university of chicago is ranked #6 by u.s. news and world report for best colleges
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Part 1: Introduction
As the college admissions process gears up for high-achieving applicants, your family might be tempted to jet between the East Coast’s Ivy League and the Ivy+ universities on the West Coast, like Stanford and Caltech. But make sure not to fly over the equally prestigious and rigorous University of Chicago.
Before you start wondering how to get into UChicago, you should take some time to get to know this storied university. UChicago has produced some of the greatest minds of our time, including Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, author Susan Sontag, and astronomer Carl Sagan. The college boasts 93 Nobel laureates and 52 MacArthur “genius” grantees among its graduates and faculty. Its track record of producing groundbreaking thinkers is rooted in its commitment to free and open inquiry— teaching students how, not what to think.
Students develop top-notch analytic, critical, and writing skills through the university’s signature Core Curriculum, designed to guide thinking from multiple disciplinary perspectives. Every student completes a foundational sequence in the humanities, social sciences, physical sciences, biological sciences, and a sequence in the historical development of a civilization, then apply those methods of inquiry to some of the 53 academic majors and 47 minors the school offers.
Students are encouraged to engage with the world around them—80 percent of undergrads are involved in research through access to 160 research centers and committees, six state-of-the-art libraries, over 60 study abroad opportunities, and the University of Chicago Medical Center.
The city of Chicago is also a laboratory, classroom, and playground for students, with countless community service opportunities in Hyde Park and internships around the city. Plus, as a counterpoint to its intense academics, the unique design of the college’s House System nurtures community and lifelong friendships.
Given all that it has to offer, admission into UChicago is understandably competitive. Read the guide below to learn the UChicago acceptance rate, admissions requirements, and how your child can maximize their odds of earning a UChicago acceptance.
University of Chicago ranking
Forbes: 28
Niche: 23
U.S. News & World Report: 6
Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education: 9
Where is the University of Chicago?
UChicago is in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Hyde Park is home to museums, restaurants, the historic 57th Street Art Fair, the Hyde Park Jazz Festival, and beachfront parks lining Lake Michigan. The leafy residential neighborhood has the vibes of a college-town, but downtown Chicago is only 20 minutes away.
Chicago is the third-largest city in the U.S., home to eleven Fortune 500 companies. The birthplace of the skyscraper, it boasts countless architectural marvels and has world-class cultural offerings like Second City Theater, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Harold Washington Library Center.
Chicago is a culturally rich and diverse city, home to 77 distinct neighborhoods. UChicago even offers a Chicago Studies Program!
UChicago setting
Urban. But despite its residency on Chicago’s South Side, the 217-acre campus is designated as a botanic garden filled with grassy quadrangles, quaint ponds, and 100-year-old trees. Its signature Ivy-covered Collegiate Gothic architecture is supplemented by sleek modern buildings designed by world-renowned architects.
The campus facilities are world-class—the University of Chicago Library is the eighth-largest research library in the U.S., holding more than 12 million volumes. UChicago also manages two U.S. Department of Energy National Labs: the Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.
UChicago student population
Undergraduate students: 7,011
Grad and professional students: 10,459
UChicago acceptance rate
Below are admissions statistics for the class of 2026:
Applications: 37,522
Acceptances: 2,041
Matriculants: 1,729
Acceptance rate: 5.4%
(Suggested reading: Ivy League Acceptance Rates)
UChicago tuition and scholarships
The 2023–2024 cost of attendance (i.e. tuition, room, board, and fees) at UChicago is $89,040.
In recent years, UChicago has enacted various programs to make their education more accessible. The UChicago Empower initiative guarantees free tuition for students whose families earn under $125,00 a year and free attendance for those whose families earn under $60,000 per year. The No Barriers policy ensures all students who attend the school can graduate debt-free.
Nearly 60 percent of students receive financial aid, and the average need-based award is $58,951.
Who gets into UChicago?
We’ve assembled academic and demographic information on successful students to help you evaluate your child’s odds of getting into UChicago:
Average GPA: UChicago does not report the class rankings or high school GPAs of its admitted students. Maintaining a highly competitive GPA is certainly a factor for admission, as is choosing a curriculum that demonstrates intellectual-rigor and a love of learning.
UChicago average ACT score:
25th percentile: 34
75th percentile: 35
UChicago admitted student ACT range: 20–36
UChicago average SAT score:
25th percentile: 1510
75th percentile: 1560
UChicago admitted student SAT range: 1020–1600
International students: 16% (among class of 2026)
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Part 2: University of Chicago admissions requirements
UChicago academic requirements
UChicago goes through the same holistic review process for each application. They emphasize that there is no single component—academic performance, extracurriculars, essays, recommendations, or test scores—that determines admission to the college. Instead, they ask applicants to approach their application by “simply being yourself and writing in your own voice.”
While UChicago’s website notes that the best approach to choosing a high school curriculum is for your child to take courses that will “enrich and challenge” them rather than focus on how these courses will appear to admissions committees. That said, they also include the following general recommendations to ensure that your child’s education has breadth:
English: 4 years
Math: 3–4 years (through pre-calculus is recommended)
Lab science: 3–4 years
Social sciences: 3 or more years
Foreign language: 2–3 years
UChicago application requirements
In 2018, UChicago became the most elite school to make standardized testing permanently optional. It’s neither required nor recommended for applicants to take the SAT or ACT. Among the class of 2024, 41 percent submitted SAT scores and 36 percent submitted ACT scores.
Below you’ll find a list of UChicago requirements for undergrad admission:
UChicago supplemental essays
2 teacher letters of recommendations
School report, transcript, and midyear school report
Optional: SAT or ACT
Optional: AP exam results or predicted IB or A-Level scores
Optional video profile: In lieu of a traditional college interview, UChicago invites applicants to submit a two-minute video introduction.
Optional creative, research, art, or other supplements: Applicants are invited to submit supplemental material that showcases a significant talent, passion, or achievement such as creative writing portfolios, performance samples, research projects, and business plans.
UChicago also accepts the Coalition Application.
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Part 3: Applying to UChicago early decision vs. early action vs. regular decision
UChicago gives students a variety of options for admission. Applicants can apply early decision I, early action, early decision II, or regular decision. Here’s the lowdown on all the different scenarios:
Early Decision I
Application deadline: November 1st
Notification deadline: Mid-December
Reply deadline: Mid-January
Possible outcomes: Admit, deny, or defer to a later round of admissions
Binding or non-binding: Binding
Early Action
Application deadline: November 1st
Notification deadline: Mid-December
Reply deadline: May 1st
Possible outcomes: Admit, deny, or defer to a later round of admissions
Binding or non-binding: Non-binding
Early Decision II
Application deadline: January 2nd
Notification deadline: Mid-February
Reply deadline: Early March
Possible outcomes: Admit, deny, or waitlist
Binding or non-binding: Binding
Regular Decision
Application deadline: January 2nd
Notification deadline: Late March
Reply deadline: May 1st
Possible outcomes: Admit, deny, or waitlist
Binding or non-binding: Non-binding
The difference between early decision and early action is that both early decision I and II are binding, meaning that your child is committed to attending UChicago if they’re admitted (barring, of course, the family’s inability to pay tuition with the financial aid package offered). Early action is non-binding, so the applicant applies and receives an admissions decision earlier but is not expected to enroll if admitted.
How do you know if your child should apply to UChicago early decision or early action?
If your child is sure they want to attend UChicago and their application is ready by November, then they should apply early decision I.
If they are sure they want to attend UChicago but need more time to get their application materials in order or to take the December SAT, they should apply early decision II. Early decision II would also allow your child to apply early decision to a higher choice school for the November 1st deadline; if they are rejected or deferred by their higher choice school in mid-December, they can then apply early decision II to UChicago.
If your child has their application ready by November but wants the option to consider other universities or other university aid packages, they should apply early action.
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Part 4: 2023–2024 University of Chicago supplemental essays (examples included)
UChicago is famous for its wacky and provocative essay questions, which are designed to attract those most interested in the intellectual rigor and vitality of the school. They consist of one “Why UChicago?” essay, and an extended essay from list of creative prompts (creative—sometimes bordering on absurd) submitted by current or former UChicago students. There’s the option to choose an old UChicago prompt as well.
While most supplemental essays are straightforward questions focused on an applicant’s collegiate goals or past experiences, UChicago’s essays necessitate an outside-the-box approach. Though they might look intimidating, we’re here to help your child navigate them. (And for more essay guidance, check out our college essay examples.)
Remember: UChicago wants applicants with strong writing skills, even if they are planning to major in a STEM or non-writing field. A UChicago supplement will reflect their advice to be authentic and write in a unique personal voice—they are looking for people with the potential to be the independent and revolutionary thinkers that they are known to produce. So above all, your child should let their personality and thirst for knowledge shine through!
We’ve provided sample essays for four of these prompts, and tutorials to help tackle the other choices.
UChicago supplemental essay #1
How does the University of Chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire for a particular kind of learning, community, and future? Please address with some specificity your own wishes and how they relate to UChicago.
This is a fairly standard essay prompt—of all the universities in all the world, why does your child want to attend UChicago? A successful version of this essay should hit two points: one, that the applicant is knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the specific academic and cultural offerings of UChicago. The second: the specific ways the applicant is going to take advantage of the opportunities at UChicago to achieve their goals.
This is how one student successfully answered this prompt:
The idea of the team has played a vital role in my life so far: whether on my football team, at my part-time job, in my home life, or in my collaborative research projects, I have always embraced learning from others and bringing my strengths to the table.
I see sports teams and oral history projects as two sides of a whole: by creating a positive, collaborative environment with expectations for excellence, you get the best work from those around you.
In Texas, I’ve always felt a bit at odds with my community— while almost everyone shared my love of football, few shared my love of history, documentary, and journalism. Or the intensity with which I approach my studies. UChicago is a place I will be able to converse freely with faculty and peers who share my passions.
My documenting of immigrant experiences in my rural town has led me to consider many academic disciplines I hadn’t before: like American Studies, Race and Gender Studies, and Post-Colonial Studies. I want to learn how to think about the complex and varied American experience, not what to think about it.
I’m interested in the ways a microcosm reveals a macrocosm— that’s why I’m interested in the Chicago Studies major as a way into studying America, as well as research opportunities with Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture.
And I believe that the academic philosophy and culture of UChicago will help me to achieve my potential in my chosen fields of law, public policy, or community organizing.
When I picture my life at UChicago, I keep coming back to UChicago’s mascot, the Phoenix. The opportunity to be an Odyssey Scholar would be the equivalent of being reborn into a community devoted to the life of the mind. A place that would supply me with guidance, ideas, inspiration, and friendship like no other.
But just as the phoenix, though born into a new world, remains the same animal, I would take my experiences in rural Texas, my commitment to teamwork, my work ethic, and my voracious appetite for knowledge to contribute to the UChicago community.
What makes this essay so effective?
The student keeps it school-specific. They not only references specific institutes, areas of study, and scholarship opportunities, they invoke the school’s mascot to analogize their envisioned experience of attending the school.
They touch on UChicago’s academic philosophy. The school is extremely proud of its legacy of free speech and its emphasis on how to think rather than what to think. This student connects with both of those ideas in their essay and communicates them as values they have already internalized. Also, the way they talk about UChicago’s philosophy—their beautiful writing on the phoenix, for instance—demonstrates that they’ve really dug into the spirit of the school.
UChicago supplemental essay #2 (pick one)
For the extended essay portion, UChicago gives applicants a choice of seven different prompts to answer for their second essay. Each year, the admissions team asks current students for essay topics. As previously mentioned, these prompts tend to be some of the most unusual writing assignments you’ll find in college admissions. We’ve provided some general direction on how to write these essays, along with some full examples. Try to come away from this post with a method for writing the UChicago essays. (Suggested length for each prompt: 650 words)
Here’s our advice on choosing the right prompt. There is no wrong way to choose an extended essay prompt—it’s a chance for your child to show off their creativity, not stick to a formula. These prompts are intended to highlight an applicant’s life experience, personality, passions, and unique mode of thinking. UChicago searches for students who have a genuine love for learning and are interested in a variety of fields, so choose a prompt that will allow your child to tell UChicago about the type of person they are and what they value within its framing.
Option 1: Exponents and square roots, pencils and erasers, beta decay and electron capture. Name two things that undo each other and explain why both are necessary.
—Inspired by Emmett Cho, Class of 2027
Option 2: “Where have all the flowers gone?” – Pete Seeger. Pick a question from a song title or lyric and give it your best answer.
—Inspired by Ryan Murphy, AB'21
Option 3: “Vlog,” “Labradoodle,” and “Fauxmage.” Language is filled with portmanteaus. Create a new portmanteau and explain why those two things are a “patch” (perfect match).
—Inspired by Garrett Chalfin, Class of 2027
Option 4: A jellyfish is not a fish. Cat burglars don’t burgle cats. Rhode Island is not an island. Write an essay about some other misnomer, and either come up with and defend a new name for it or explain why its inaccurate name should be kept.
—Inspired by Sonia Chang, Class of 2025, and Mirabella Blair, Class of 2027
Option 5: Despite their origins in the Gupta Empire of India or Ancient Egypt, games like chess or bowling remain widely enjoyed today. What modern game do you believe will withstand the test of time, and why?
—Inspired by Adam Heiba, Class of 2027
Option 6: There are unwritten rules that everyone follows or has heard at least once in their life. But of course, some rules should be broken or updated. What is an unwritten rule that you wish didn’t exist? (Our custom is to have five new prompts each year, but this year we decided to break with tradition. Enjoy!)
—Inspired by Maryam Abdella, Class of 2026
Option 7: And, as always… the classic choose your own adventure option! In the spirit of adventurous inquiry, choose one of our past prompts (or create a question of your own). 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!
In 2015, the city of Melbourne, Australia created a "tree-mail" service, in which all of the trees in the city received an email address so that residents could report any tree-related issues. As an unexpected result, people began to email their favorite trees sweet and occasionally humorous letters. Imagine this has been expanded to any object (tree or otherwise) in the world, and share with us the letter you’d send to your favorite.
—Inspired by Hannah Lu, Class of 2020
Gain instant access to essay examples for every supplemental essay prompt from the top universities and BS/MD programs in the United States.
UChicago is giving your child free reign to use the prompt that best showcases their personality and intellectual curiosity. Even if they feel they could do a relatively solid job answering one of the prompts above, they should take time to explore the past few years of prompts (all available on their website) in case one jumps out at them. This is especially recommended if the applicant has an idea or experience they really want to write about, but doesn’t fit into any of the prompts provided.
Final thoughts
If your child is a top student with a rigorous intellect and desire to cultivate the skills of a scholar, UChicago might be the place for them. Your child should show enthusiasm for UChicago’s distinctive educational style and strenuous atmosphere, and excitement to develop their own unique perspective and voice in their field of study. To have a shot at admission, any applicant should devote time to creating expertly crafted and memorable responses to UChicago’s supplemental essays that showcase how they might join the ranks of alumni that have made lasting contributions to society.
About the Author
Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on college admissions. For nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into top programs like Harvard, Stanford, and MIT using his exclusive approach.
THERE'S NO REASON TO STRUGGLE THROUGH THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS PROCESS ALONE, ESPECIALLY WITH SO MUCH ON THE LINE. SCHEDULE YOUR COMPLIMENTARY CONSULTATION TO ENSURE YOU LEAVE NOTHING TO CHANCE.