Who cares if they say it is ‘where fun goes to die?’ If you hope to attend the University of Chicago, you are probably someone who craves a challenging, dynamic, and intellectually stimulating community for your college years. UChicago is an elite private research university on Chicago’s South Side, but if you are reading this, you probably already knew that, smarty-pants. 

UChicago is one of the hardest schools in America to get into. Their acceptance rate usually hovers right around 4%. Yes, it is that competitive. Serious applicants need to be the full package. This means incredible grades, amazing scores (they are test-optional, but if you have good scores, it really helps), an impressive resume, engaging essays, and a solid strategy. We can help you with all of that! We work with students to craft UChicago-worthy applications. Whether you are just starting high school or a rising senior, reach out; we can guide you through every step of the college admissions process. Trust us, for schools like UChicago, working with an expert can make all the difference. We know what we’re talking about–for the past few years, we’ve had a 100% acceptance rate ED to UChicago. 

For their supplement specifically, UChicago wants to see how you think. They have one of the most challenging supplements of any US college and categorize essays as “very important” in their selection criteria. It is essential to get their supplemental essays right if you hope to get in. These are just the basics, so if you need more help, we can work with you!

The UChicago supplement has 2 questions (the first everyone has to answer and the second has several prompt options). Unlike most colleges, they don’t have word counts. Instead, your answer should be ‘one- or two-pages,’ uploaded as a PDF. This isn’t the time to get fancy on spacing or font. They don’t give specific guidelines, but it should be single-spaced in a font like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman, in 11- or 12-point, with standard margins. Don’t try to make your work seem longer or shorter if it doesn’t fit in their 1-2 page guidelines. Trust us, it isn’t fooling anyone. Be cool.  

Question 1 (Required)

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 question is the far more standard of the two. Many colleges ask similar questions. UChicago has one of the longest versions of this essay, but that just gives you more room to be specific and make your case. 

You need to cover a couple of topics in this essay. The first is what you hope to study at UChicago. Don’t be undecided here. The students that get into UChicago know what they want to study and have already started pursuing those academic interests. You need to show that you are that kind of student. Your answer should include not only what you want to study but why UChicago is the place to study it. 

Give yourself time to research the school. This essay needs to include specific references to your major, classes you hope to take, professors you hope to work with, academic opportunities offered by the college, etc. The more specific you can be, the better. You also need to connect these opportunities to you, your experiences and your interests. 

For example, a few years ago we worked with a student who hoped to study Neuroscience and Psychology at UChicago. We helped them connect their past experiences to their academic pursuits. They wrote about the Department of Psychology’s Undergraduate Research Initiative and how they would pursue a project in their special interest between music and mental health. They connected their interests to their volunteer work in music and mental health outreach programs. They spoke to specific classes, such as 25620: How Children Think, connecting it to the behavioral psychology course they took one summer and to their work as a teen mental health ambassador. The more you can establish an overlap between your interests and university offerings, the better. 

UChicago has a very specific culture and way of instruction. You can also weave this into your essay. We encouraged this student to explain their interest in the Core and being able to explore liberal arts classes even as a pre-med. Think about what drew you to U Chicago academics and write about that! 

The question doesn’t just talk about “learning;” it also talks about community. UChicago wants to know how you will get involved in the community outside of class. However, this should also feel specific. You need to write about clubs and extracurriculars at UChicago that relate to your past experiences. For example, that same UChicago applicant wrote about joining musical groups like The Ransom Notes since they had been a vocalist in their high school choir. This is an excuse to write about how you are already involved in your community and how that will transfer to your life in college. 

This essay is long. We helped this student take a lot of specifics and make it flow together as a cohesive story about mental health, music, and neuroscience. You need to tell a story about how you would be an amazing UChicago student and how UChicago is the best college for you.  

Question 2: Extended Essay (Required; Choose one)

The second essay allows applicants to choose between several prompts. They are designed to test your creativity and thinking skills. They are all kind of wacky, but we think some are better than others. Let’s break them down. 

Food for thought: How do thoughts eat?

If you have a great idea for this, go for it. Generally, we don’t love these kinds of pun-based prompts because it can be hard to write over a page on a question that can feel a little thin. You also need to make sure it's creative. If your answer is “thoughts eat knowledge,” maybe you should try pushing yourself a little further. 

If you really feel drawn to it, that is fine, but otherwise, we think there are better prompts further down. 

The James Webb Space Telescope, launched in 2021, utilized origami-inspired techniques to compactly store and deploy its sunshield in space. Choose an artistic practice and use its principles to propose an elegant solution to a problem.

This prompt is great for artistically talented or inclined people. While this prompt is new, we have had many artistic UChicago applicants. One of those applicants was an accomplished harpist. She could have easily written about how the 47 strings and 7 foot pedals of the harp could serve as a model for earthquake retrofitting in her native San Francisco. The harp uses a complex mechanical system in which the pedals allow the harpist to adjust the strings' tension. Harpists do this to be able to change notes instantly and play in any key, but maybe a similar system could be used to build the next generation of earthquake-resistant skyscrapers.  

We like this answer for two reasons. 1) You want to be able to tell a story about the practice, and this is far easier with at least some hands-on experience. You don’t have to be a master, but you should know the art well before jumping in. This story would allow her to write about her passion for the harp as well as an issue affecting her hometown. 2) The problem isn’t related to the arts. They want to see you use art for a seemingly unrelated problem. Remember this is all about creative thinking; it should feel unexpected.  

Sometimes metaphors get mixed up. For one reason or another, one could say, “we'll burn that bridge when we get there” or “the world is your china shop”. Make up your own mixed metaphor. Explain how it could make sense, be understood, or even applied.

We like this prompt because it immediately allows for creativity. You need to make up a new metaphor! Well, that isn’t exactly right. Really, what they are talking about here are metaphor portmanteaus. They want you to mash up two (or more) established metaphors. This might call for a little bit of research into popular metaphorical sayings. While you are doing this research, you should also be thinking of good stories from your life that might relate to your new metaphor. If you don’t have a story, it is going to be hard to write over a page about this. 

For example, if you want to tell a story about how you perceive time with your busy schedule, you could mash up “time is money” and “life is a rollercoaster” to “time is a rollercoaster.” Then you should have a story about making breakfast and how it is like the ascent of a theme park ride, as the “proof” for how you see it making sense. 

The Olympics have long celebrated the pinnacle of human athletic achievement. But what if they expanded to honor the mundane? Imagine a new Olympic event built around an everyday activity like speed dishwashing or competitive grocery bagging. How is it scored, officiated, and judged? Why is it a worthy addition?

This is a really fun prompt. Ideally, you want to use a mundane skill that you have. Choosing the right skill allows you to talk about yourself. This prompt can be used as a way to show off a hidden talent of yours. Mundane talents are a great way to show humor, define personality traits, and connect to more important skills. We advise not choosing anything too resume-speak-esque. Don’t say time management or organization. 

That being said, you can connect a more physical/mundane skill to something lofty like “organization.” For example, if you said ‘sorting socks without losing any,’ you can use that mundane skill to imply the importance of organization without sounding like a resume bullet point. 

AI: Allen Iverson. NASA, or the North American Saxophone Alliance. Share a potentially confounding, comedic, or captivating example of MIA (Mistaken Identity of Acronym) and tell us its backstory. 

The important part of this prompt is the backstory. You should start this essay with a story you want to tell. Making up the acronym to fit that story is the easier part. BRB could turn into ‘Best Roadbiking Bridge’ if you have a story about your passion for biking. It could also turn into ‘Bird Review Bash’ if your story is about trying to get your friends into bird watching with you. Technically, this prompt is trying to force you to create a backronym from an existing acronym. If you are great at acrostic poetry, this one might be for you. Try to have fun with it and tell a good story. 

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!

We usually tell students to stay away from this question. UChicago has so many fun prompts that we think at least one will speak to you. If you do choose to respond to this prompt, you need to be really creative. Push yourself further than you think you need to. 

UChicago’s supplement is both long and creative. It is made to be challenging. We would recommend giving yourself plenty of time and highly considering working with a professional if you are serious about applying to UChicago. We help our students brainstorm, write, edit, and craft high-quality and eye-catching UChicago supplements. Have questions about the college process?

Reach out today to speak with a dedicated counselor!