The University of Chicago is an outstanding Ivy-caliber institution in, unsurprisingly, Chicago, Illinois. The university truly is comparable to Harvard in caliber of education, but there are a few things about the culture of the school that make it stand out. UChicago is truly unique, and it doesn’t use the idea of being ‘quirky’ simply as a marketing gimmick. As you will see when we break down the supplement questions below, they challenge students to think outside of the box from day one. Being cookie cutter does not work for UChicago. The acceptance rate is only .
This shows up on campus in . Students work hard — really hard. But they want to be, and that is what makes UChicago truly special. The student body is extremely motivated and excited about learning. They themselves, and each other, inside the classroom, in library study groups, and in clubs and community organizations. There are about undergraduate students, and an impressive 101 Nobel laureates are affiliated with the university.
The university has what they call a “,” which means that applicants are not required to submit an ACT or SAT score. Even more than that, though, they say that withholding scores will not be seen as a mark against any applicant who chooses that route.
Whether or not you submit scores, you need to present an impressive package to the UChicago admissions team. In this post, we’ll be breaking down each of the totally strange supplement prompts to guide you towards your best pick.
Getting into a top-tier school requires exceptional strategy. Learn more.
The University of Chicago seeks out students who are deeply passionate about whatever they want to pursue in college, and who express that passion through genuinely novel avenues. The supplements offer an opportunity to show the unique facets of who you are in creative ways. The prompts can also be overwhelming when you first read them, so stay with us as we go through your options.
The university from newly admitted and current students at the College. They also tend to be pretty vague on length. We work with our students to craft single-page answers to each of the two supplements that position them as ideal UChicago candidates who will thrive in the challenging yet collaborative academic environment they treasure.
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.
First, there is only one way that you absolutely do not start this supplement. Do not start with something like, “I want to go to UChicago because…” We never recommend that type of cookie cutter approach, but it is especially important to avoid it for the University of Chicago. They want to see you from the moment that this first supplement starts. So, start strong. Drop the reader into a moment from your life – not related to UChicago directly — that connects to your academic passion and, even more specifically, links as well to the way that you want to learn.
This may sound pretty loose, so let’s dig into a few examples. One of our students who got into UChicago early started this supplement by telling the story of his failing Quiz Bowl team. Another led with a business simulation. That isn’t where the supplement ended, obviously, but the start wasn’t at the University of Chicago, or even about UChicago, but about the types of learning environments that they thrive in.
After that scene has been set — literally, it should be written as a scene or vignette — you want to draw clear lines between the type of environment you are looking for in college and how the University of Chicago delivers that. This means clearly stating your intended major, a professor or two that you’d like to study under (and why) and a class or two that you are especially excited about. If you hope to pair a major and a minor to create a unique learning opportunity, explain that here.
Remember, though, that showing is more powerful than telling. You definitely want to finish this supplement by going back into story, setting the scene for your future at the university.
If the first question made you think, “Wait, you said this is weird! Where is the weird?” This is where the weird is. There are seven prompts to pick from, and we’ll break down each option.
In an ideal world where inter-species telepathic communication exists, which species would you choose to have a conversation with, and what would you want to learn from them? Would you ask beavers for architectural advice? Octopuses about cognition? Pigeons about navigation? Ants about governance? Make your case — both for the species and the question. (Inspired by Yvan Sugira, Class of 2029)
This prompt is awesome, but only if you commit. You will see that this directive holds true throughout the prompt options, but let’s discuss what ‘commit’ means for this prompt in particular. Basically, don’t tell them what animal you’d talk to and why. Instead, have the conversation. Truly. Write dialog, set the scene, and maybe even reveal the animal slowly, dropping breadcrumbs through the supplement. First, perhaps, the size of the animal. Does it have to sit on your shoulder? Or are you craning your head up to look it in the eye? Then, maybe, something it eats. Maybe you are sharing a snack while talking about problem solving with a raven.
You need to make this your own, so you should absolutely not use any of the examples that they gave in the prompt itself. With that off the table, run with it. And don’t worry about whether your prospective major has anything to do with science or animals. That should not be part of your decision making on whether to tackle this prompt.
If you could uninvent one thing, what would it be — and what would unravel as a result? (Inspired by Eitan Fischer, Class of 2027)
If you pick this prompt, we recommend starting with the end. What does the world look like without that one thing? You don’t need to take a global view, though. Instead, it may work better to zoom in close. How would an ecosystem look if trawling nets were never invented? Or how would a kid’s brain look if touch screens were never invented? Don’t solely focus on potential positives. What unexpected things may actually not be all that great as a result? For example, if touch screens were never invented, how would people who benefit from accessibility functions potentially not have access to a meaningful resource…and would that matter if the technology had truly never existed?
If you pick this prompt, we highly recommend spending meaningful time researching the invention that you’ll be advocating for un-inventing. If you are incorrect about something integral to, or easily fact-checked, about the invention, that will be a major red flag for UChicago as they work to assess whether you are a strong fit for the College.
“Left” can mean remaining or departed. “Dust” can mean to add fine particles or to remove them. “Fast” can mean moving quickly or fixed firmly in place. These contronyms — words that are their own antonyms — somehow hold opposing meanings in perfect tension. Explore a contronym: a role, identity, or experience in your life that has contained its own opposite. (Inspired by Kristin Yi, Class of 2029)
Ok, this prompt is awesome — but don’t let yourself be pulled in without seriously considering the potential drawbacks of tackling this one.
Many students will pick this prompt because it offers an opportunity to talk about challenges they have faced. We expect thousands of applicants to write about how a role, identity, or experience posed a challenge up front but a benefit over the long-haul. Their essays may be fabulous, but that is also a super simplistic approach to the prompt. Students who do this risk having their essays blend into a mass of students picking the same prompt and taking the same approach, even if the individual stories are personal.
For this reason, we really only recommend this prompt if there is something that only you can write about (or close enough, at least). For example, there is a phenomenon called vanishing twin syndrome. Sometimes, one baby absorbs the other. Someone could, then, be both a twin and an only child. That’s definitely not a common experience, and could make for a fascinating supplement.
The penny is on its way out — too small to matter, too costly to keep. But not everything small should disappear. What’s one object the world is phasing out that you think we can’t afford to lose, and why? (Ella Somaiya, Class of 2028)
This prompt is conceptually interesting, and it works best for students who read it and immediately know what they want to write about. If this describes you, run with it. If it doesn’t, look elsewhere for your perfect fit prompt.
If you decide to go with this one, remember that story comes first and foremost. Even more, in fact, than what object you focus on. They aren’t judging you on the object that you pick. Instead, they are judging you on the way you tell the story of the object. So, tell a compelling and immersive story to make an essay responding to this prompt hit.
From Michelin Tires creating the Michelin Guide, to the audio equipment company Audio-Technica becoming one of the world’s largest manufacturers of sushi robots, brand identity can turn out to be a lot more flexible than we think. Choose an existing brand, company, or institution and propose an unexpected but strangely logical new product or service for them to launch. Why is this unlikely extension exactly what the world (or the brand) needs right now? (Inspired by Julia Nieberg, Class of 2029)
If you are a business-minded student hoping to flex that muscle in your application, or an aspiring entrepreneur, this prompt may be your perfect fit. Be careful, though, to not sound like a know-it-all. In offering a new direction to what is probably a massive company, there is a risk of hubris. Don’t approach this prompt as an opportunity to show how bright you are. Instead, show how good you are at asking questions, at investigating opportunities, and at seeing potential where other people may not.
Statistically speaking, ice cream doesn’t cause shark attacks, pet spending doesn’t drive the number of lawyers in California, and margarine consumption isn’t responsible for Maine’s divorce rate — at least, not according to conventional wisdom. But what if the statisticians got it wrong? Choose your favorite spurious correlation and make the case for why it might actually reveal a deeper, causative truth. (Inspired by Adam DiMascio, Class of 2025)
This prompt is fun, but we don’t really love it all that much. A student can write a super strong response to this prompt, and yet get totally lost in the answer. By that, we mean that they fade into the background, revealing little of themselves beyond a knowledge of “spurious correlations.”
Remember, the University of Chicago likes students with a unique point of view, but they need to know who the student is, not solely that they are a little off beat. For this reason, we will be coaching our students to go with one of the earlier supplement prompts instead of picking this one.
And now, on to the ‘last’ one — and we put last in quotes on purpose.
And, as always…the classic choose your own adventure …
This is where the university lets you write anything…and we don’t like it. If you know us, you know that we only ever pick one prompt for the Common App essay with our students — the choose your own adventure. Given that we take that route for the core college essay, we do not advise doubling down here. They give you a bunch of awesome prompts, and there are so many ways to explore and to take the application readers on an adventure alongside you. Take advantage of this, and have fun!
Applying to the University of Chicago is an adventure. We have to admit that it is not always a fun one. But it is an adventure. If you are feeling stumped before you have even started, we can help.
We help driven students get into dream schools. Learn more.