The University of Chicago supplemental essays 2024

The University of Chicago supplemental essays are notorious for making students think outside of the box with unique questions crafted by current students and alums alike. Read below for advice on answering Chicago’s supplemental essays:

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.

In addition to the creative essay prompts below, UChicago also asks you to write a more traditional essay – essentially answering the question: Why the University of Chicago?

You’ll see this essay prompt from many universities’ applications, and it is a fantastic opportunity for you to expound upon why and how the college is a good fit for you. Is it the academics? Be specific. What about the campus, or size, or intellectual vitality? The college doesn’t need to hear about itself (U of C admissions officers work there, and some went there – they know what UChicago is!). Instead, talk about how you will fit in. Are there opportunities in Chicago that excite you, or professors with whom you would like to do research?

This question demonstrates the importance of visiting colleges. You cannot really learn that much from a website, though that is a great place to start. If you can meet with an admissions representative near you – either at a prospect program or at your high school or local college fair – that is a great start. But it’s even better if you can visit campus and take a student-led tour and listen to an admissions officer in an information session. On your visit, you’ll hopefully learn why UChicago is a great match for you.

Question 2: Extended Essay (Required; Choose one)

Option 1. We’re all familiar with green-eyed envy or feeling blue, but what about being “caught purple-handed”? Or “tickled orange”? Give an old color-infused expression a new hue and tell us what it represents.– Inspired by Ramsey Bottorff, Class of 2026

The University of Chicago takes pride in its Uncommon Application – embrace it! There is no right or wrong answer, but the admissions committee will want to see your creative side, but also – of course – learn more about you in the process. 

This prompt gives you clear directions – use a color-coded axiom but change out the color and explain what the new color means (to you). Maybe you can change “little white lie” or “once in a blue moon” to something new, fun and interesting. Why did you choose the expression you used, and what does the new color represent? Admissions committees always want to learn more about the applicant, so remember to tie the expression and the color back to you in a significant and meaningful way.

Option 2. “Ah, but I was so much older then / I’m younger than that now” – Bob Dylan. In what ways do we become younger as we get older?– Inspired by Joshua Harris, Class of 2016

Think about the ways that you have become younger as you’ve become a young adult. Maybe you don’t know the latest technology and someone younger has to teach you. Or maybe you’ve gotten very stressed with junior year and your college applications, and you wish you were back in kindergarten where you can just play and learn your ABCs. 

Whatever you decide to write about, don’t just give example after example; instead, describe why you’ve chosen these instances and how they are meaningful to you.

Option 3. Pluto, the demoted planet. Ophiuchus, the thirteenth Zodiac. Andy Murray, the fourth to tennis’s Big Three. Every grouping has something that doesn’t quite fit in. Tell us about a group and its unofficial member, why (or why not) should it be excluded?– Inspired by Veronica Chang, Class of 2022

This can be a fun question to answer! The answer you provide should tell a lot about you. Don’t just write about things (like planets or Zodiac signs) that you can’t necessarily relate to, though. Instead, write about a grouping that is meaningful to you. Perhaps you’re the member that doesn’t fit in, and explain why that is the case. What did you learn from the experience, or how did you change or grow? 

If you don’t write about yourself, then be sure to write about a grouping that is meaningful to you in some fashion.

Option 4. “Daddy-o”, “Far Out”, “Gnarly”: the list of slang terms goes on and on. Sadly, most of these aren’t so “fly” anymore – “as if!” Name an outdated slang from any decade or language that you’d bring back and explain why you totally “dig it.”– Inspired by Napat Sakdibhornssup, Class of 2028

As with the other essay prompts, what you choose to write about doesn’t typically matter nearly as much as why you chose to write about that subject. You’ll want to detail why you chose the catch-phrase you used: Was it from a favorite movie? If so, why is that movie your favorite? What does it mean to you? Or maybe you’ll choose an antiquated expression that your grandparents like to use – and you are very close to them and want to share more about your relationship with them, and what they’ve taught you.

Option 5. How many piano tuners are there in Chicago? What is the total length of chalk used by UChicago professors in a year? How many pages of books are in the Regenstein Library? These questions are among a class of estimation problems named after University of Chicago physicist Enrico Fermi. Create your own Fermi estimation problem, give it your best answer, and show us how you got there.– Inspired by Malhar Manek, Class of 2028

You might want to answer this question if you’re considering being a scientist or mathematician – but it can be a fun question for budding humanists and social scientists as well. 

Write about something that tells the admissions committee who you are and what you’re into, or perhaps what you’ve accomplished. For example, if you’ve been in the Girl Scouts since you were six years old, feel free to estimate how many Thin Mints have been sold by you and your troop over the past eleven years. You’ll wisely show off that you’ve dedicated so much energy, effort and time to this organization. You also will want to share what lessons you’ve learned, or how you’ve grown and changed, through your involvement with the Girl Scouts.

Practically any example will do, as long as the University of Chicago learns more about you. Note that a (light) sense of humor in this response would be welcome by the admissions officers.

Option 6. 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!

If you don’t like the questions above and don’t feel you can genuinely share more about who you are, feel free to ask and then answer your own question. (Or use a past U of C question.) Don’t forget to put your question at the top of your essay.

The university doesn’t care exactly which answer you choose, clearly! Instead, you want to come across as interesting, likable, talented, inquisitive, thoughtful and intellectual – to name a few qualities that are typical of all University of Chicago students.