uchicago supplemental essays 2022 23

UChicago Supplemental Essay Questions

The University of Chicago has long been renowned for our provocative essay questions. We think of them as an opportunity for students to tell us about themselves, their tastes, and their ambitions. They can be approached with utter seriousness, complete fancy, or something in between.

Each year we email newly admitted and current College students and ask them for essay topics. We receive several hundred responses, many of which are eloquent, intriguing, or downright wacky.

As you can see from the attributions, the questions below were inspired by submissions from UChicago students and alumni.

2024-25 UChicago Supplement

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.

Question 2: Extended Essay (Required; Choose one)

Essay 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

Essay 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

Essay 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

Essay 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 Name an outdated slang from any decade or language that you'd bring back and explain why you totally “dig it.”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

Essay 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

Essay 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!

Some classic questions from previous years…

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

“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

“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

Due to a series of clerical errors, there is exactly one typo (an extra letter, a removed letter, or an altered letter) in the name of every department at the University of Chicago. Oops! Describe your new intended major. Why are you interested in it and what courses or areas of focus within it might you want to explore? Potential options include Commuter Science, Bromance Languages and Literatures, Pundamentals: Issues and Texts, Ant History... a full list of unmodified majors ready for your editor’s eye is available here . —Inspired by Josh Kaufman, AB'18

You are on an expedition to found a colony on Mars, when from a nearby crater, a group of Martians suddenly emerges. They seem eager to communicate, but they're the impatient kind and demand you represent the human race in one song, image, memory, proof, or other idea. What do you share with them to show that humanity is worth their time? —Inspired by Alexander Hastings, Class of 2023, and Olivia Okun-Dubitsky, Class of 2026

Who does Sally sell her seashells to? How much wood can a woodchuck really chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Pick a favorite tongue twister (either originally in English or translated from another language) and consider a resolution to its conundrum using the method of your choice. Math, philosophy, linguistics... it's all up to you (or your woodchuck). —Inspired by Blessing Nnate, Class of 2024

What can actually be divided by zero? —Inspired by Mai Vu, Class of 2024

The seven liberal arts in antiquity consisted of the Quadrivium — astronomy, mathematics, geometry, and music — and the Trivium — rhetoric, grammar, and logic. Describe your own take on the Quadrivium or the Trivium. What do you think is essential for everyone to know? —Inspired by Peter Wang, Class of 2022

Subway maps, evolutionary trees, Lewis diagrams. Each of these schematics tells the relationships and stories of their component parts. Reimagine a map, diagram, or chart. If your work is largely or exclusively visual, please include a cartographer's key of at least 300 words to help us best understand your creation. —Inspired by Maximilian Site, Class of 2020

"Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?" - Eleanor Roosevelt. Misattribute a famous quote and explore the implications of doing so. —Inspired by Chris Davey, AB’13

Engineer George de Mestral got frustrated with burrs stuck to his dog’s fur and applied the same mechanic to create Velcro. Scientist Percy Lebaron Spencer found a melted chocolate bar in his magnetron lab and discovered microwave cooking. Dye-works owner Jean Baptiste Jolly found his tablecloth clean after a kerosene lamp was knocked over on it, consequently shaping the future of dry cleaning. Describe a creative or interesting solution, and then find the problem that it solves. —Inspired by Steve Berkowitz, AB’19, and Neeharika Venuturupalli, Class of 2024

Joan of Arkansas. Queen Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Babe Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Mash up a historical figure with a new time period, environment, location, or occupation, and tell us their story. —Inspired by Drew Donaldson, AB’16

Alice falls down the rabbit hole. Milo drives through the tollbooth. Dorothy is swept up in the tornado. Neo takes the red pill. Don’t tell us about another world you’ve imagined, heard about, or created. Rather, tell us about its portal. Sure, some people think of the University of Chicago as a portal to their future, but please choose another portal to write about. —Inspired by Raphael Hallerman, Class of 2020

What’s so odd about odd numbers? —Inspired by Mario Rosasco, AB’09

Vestigiality refers to genetically determined structures or attributes that have apparently lost most or all of their ancestral function, but have been retained during the process of evolution. In humans, for instance, the appendix is thought to be a vestigial structure. Describe something vestigial (real or imagined) and provide an explanation for its existence. —Inspired by Tiffany Kim, Class of 2020

In French, there is no difference between “conscience” and “consciousness.” In Japanese, there is a word that specifically refers to the splittable wooden chopsticks you get at restaurants. The German word “fremdschämen” encapsulates the feeling you get when you’re embarrassed on behalf of someone else. All of these require explanation in order to properly communicate their meaning, and are, to varying degrees, untranslatable. Choose a word, tell us what it means, and then explain why it cannot (or should not) be translated from its original language. —Inspired by Emily Driscoll, Class of 2018

Little pigs, French hens, a family of bears. Blind mice, musketeers, the Fates. Parts of an atom, laws of thought, a guideline for composition. Omne trium perfectum? Create your own group of threes, and describe why and how they fit together. —Inspired by Zilin Cui, Class of 2018

The mantis shrimp can perceive both polarized light and multispectral images; they have the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom. Human eyes have color receptors for three colors (red, green, and blue); the mantis shrimp has receptors for sixteen types of color, enabling them to see a spectrum far beyond the capacity of the human brain. Seriously, how cool is the mantis shrimp: mantisshrimp.uchicago.edu What might they be able to see that we cannot? What are we missing? —Inspired by Tess Moran, AB’16

How are apples and oranges supposed to be compared? Possible answers involve, but are not limited to, statistics, chemistry, physics, linguistics, and philosophy. —Inspired by Florence Chan, AB’15

The ball is in your court—a penny for your thoughts, but say it, don’t spray it. So long as you don’t bite off more than you can chew, beat around the bush, or cut corners, writing this essay should be a piece of cake. Create your own idiom, and tell us its origin—you know, the whole nine yards. PS: A picture is worth a thousand words. —Inspired by April Bell, AB'17, and Maya Shaked, Class of 2018 (It takes two to tango.)

“A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.” –Oscar Wilde. Othello and Iago. Dorothy and the Wicked Witch. Autobots and Decepticons. History and art are full of heroes and their enemies. Tell us about the relationship between you and your arch-nemesis (either real or imagined). —Inspired by Martin Krzywy, AB’16

Heisenberg claims that you cannot know both the position and momentum of an electron with total certainty. Choose two other concepts that cannot be known simultaneously and discuss the implications. (Do not consider yourself limited to the field of physics). —Inspired by Doran Bennett, AB’07

Susan Sontag, AB’51, wrote that “[s]ilence remains, inescapably, a form of speech.” Write about an issue or a situation when you remained silent, and explain how silence may speak in ways that you did or did not intend. The Aesthetics of Silence, 1967. —Anonymous Suggestion

“…I [was] eager to escape backward again, to be off to invent a past for the present.” —The Rose Rabbi by Daniel Stern Present: pres·ent 1. Something that is offered, presented, or given as a gift. Let’s stick with this definition. Unusual presents, accidental presents, metaphorical presents, re-gifted presents, etc.—pick any present you have ever received and invent a past for it. —Inspired by Jennifer Qin, AB’16

So where is Waldo, really? —Inspired by Robin Ye, AB’16

Find x. —Inspired by Benjamin Nuzzo, an admitted student from Eton College, UK

Dog and Cat. Coffee and Tea. Great Gatsby and Catcher in the Rye. Everyone knows there are two types of people in the world. What are they? —Inspired by an anonymous alumna, AB'06

How did you get caught? (Or not caught, as the case may be.) —Inspired by Kelly Kennedy, AB’10

Chicago author Nelson Algren said, “A writer does well if in his whole life he can tell the story of one street.” Chicagoans, but not just Chicagoans, have always found something instructive, and pleasing, and profound in the stories of their block, of Main Street, of Highway 61, of a farm lane, of the Celestial Highway. Tell us the story of a street, path, road—real or imagined or metaphorical. —Anonymous Suggestion

UChicago professor W. J. T. Mitchell entitled his 2005 book What Do Pictures Want? Describe a picture, and explore what it wants. —Inspired by Anna Andel

“Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.“—Miles Davis (1926–91) —Inspired by Jack Reeves

University of Chicago alumna and renowned author/critic Susan Sontag said, “The only interesting answers are those that destroy the questions.” We all have heard serious questions, absurd questions, and seriously absurd questions, some of which cannot be answered without obliterating the very question. Destroy a question with your answer. —Inspired by Aleksandra Ciric

“Mind that does not stick.” —Zen Master Shoitsu (1202–80)

Superstring theory has revolutionized speculation about the physical world by suggesting that strings play a pivotal role in the universe. Strings, however, always have explained or enriched our lives, from Theseus’s escape route from the Labyrinth, to kittens playing with balls of yarn, to the single hair that held the sword above Damocles, to the Old Norse tradition that one’s life is a thread woven into a tapestry of fate, to the beautiful sounds of the finely tuned string of a violin, to the children’s game of cat’s cradle, to the concept of stringing someone along. Use the power of string to explain the biggest or the smallest phenomenon. —Inspired by Adam Sobolweski

Have you ever walked through the aisles of a warehouse store like Costco or Sam’s Club and wondered who would buy a jar of mustard a foot and a half tall? We’ve bought it, but it didn’t stop us from wondering about other things, like absurd eating contests, impulse buys, excess, unimagined uses for mustard, storage, preservatives, notions of bigness…and dozens of other ideas both silly and serious. Write an essay somehow inspired by super-huge mustard. —Inspired by Katherine Gold

People often think of language as a connector, something that brings people together by helping them share experiences, feelings, ideas, etc. We, however, are interested in how language sets people apart. Start with the peculiarities of your own personal language—the voice you use when speaking most intimately to yourself, the vocabulary that spills out when you’re startled, or special phrases and gestures that no one else seems to use or even understand—and tell us how your language makes you unique. You may want to think about subtle riffs or idiosyncrasies based on cadence, rhythm, rhyme, or (mis)pronunciation. —Inspired by Kimberly Traube

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 

You’re on a voyage in the thirteenth century, sailing across the tempestuous seas. What if, suddenly, you fell off the edge of the Earth? -Inspired by Chandani Latey, AB'93 

The word floccinaucinihilipilification is the act or habit of describing or regarding something as unimportant or of having no value. It originated in the mid-18th century from the Latin words "floccus," "naucum," "nihilum," and "pilus"—all words meaning “of little use.” Coin your own word using parts from any language you choose, tell us its meaning, and describe the plausible (if only to you) scenarios in which it would be most appropriately used.  -Inspired by Ben Zhang, Class of 2022 

Lost your keys? Alohomora. Noisy roommate? Quietus. Feel the need to shatter windows for some reason? Finestra. Create your own spell, charm, jinx, or other means for magical mayhem. How is it enacted? Is there an incantation? Does it involve a potion or other magical object? If so, what's in it or what is it? What does it do?  -Inspired by Emma Sorkin, Class of 2021 

Imagine you’ve struck a deal with the Dean of Admissions himself, Dean Nondorf. It goes as follows: you’re guaranteed admission to the University of Chicago regardless of any circumstances that arise. This bond is grounded on the condition that you’ll obtain a blank, 8.5 x 11 piece of paper, and draw, write, sketch, shade, stencil, paint etc., anything and everything you want on it; your only limitations will be the boundaries of both sides on the single page. Now the catch… your submission, for the rest of your life, will always be the first thing anyone you meet for the first time will see. Whether it’s at a job interview, a blind date, arrival at your first Humanities class, before you even say, “hey,” they’ll already have seen your page, and formulated that first impression. Show us your page. What’s on it, and why? If your piece is largely or exclusively visual, please make sure to share a creator's accompanying statement of at least 300 words, which we will happily allow to be on its own, separate page. PS: This is a creative thought experiment, and selecting this essay prompt does not guarantee your admission to UChicago. -Inspired by Amandeep Singh Ahluwalia, Class of 2022

Cats have nine lives, Pac-Man has three lives, and radioactive isotopes have half-lives. How many lives does something else—conceptual or actual—have, and why? -Inspired by Kendrick Shin, Class of 2019

If there’s a limited amount of matter in the universe, how can Olive Garden (along with other restaurants and their concepts of food infinity) offer truly unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks? Explain this using any method of analysis you wish—physics, biology, economics, history, theology… the options, as you can tell, are endless.  -Inspired by Yoonseo Lee, Class of 2023 

A hot dog might be a sandwich, and cereal might be a soup, but is a ______ a ______? -Inspired by Arya Muralidharan, Class of 2021 (and dozens of others who, this year and in past years, have submitted the question “Is a hot dog a sandwich,” to which we reply, “maybe”)

“Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures.” – Jessamyn West -Inspired by Elizabeth Mansfield, Class of 2020

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How to Write the University of Chicago Essays 2022-2023

UChicago is a rigorous, top-tier research university located in beautiful Hyde Park, Chicago. It’s famed for its outstanding academic programs, neo-gothic architecture, and prestigious school of economics. If you’re interested in delving deep into theory, bookishness, and the most hardcore of academic materials, UChicago might be just right for you. 

You can complete your UChicago application through the Coalition Application or Common Application. The essay questions for this season are on the UChicago website , and listed below. The first question, which boils down to “Why UChicago?,” is required yearly. The second question, a one-to-two page essay, is also required, but applicants can choose from a menagerie of exciting prompts that offer boundless opportunities for creativity and reflection. 

Read this UChicago essay example to inspire your writing and watch our video where we interviewed UChicago students about their essay topics.

Before You Begin Writing  

The University of Chicago’s prompts are famous (infamous? both?) for being different, quirky, and sometimes downright weird. Have you ever seen the word cheese or pie in a college essay prompt before? I’m guessing not. But don’t get discouraged or overwhelmed—the weirdness of the UChicago prompts makes them ripe with opportunity to explore your passions, interests, and personal oddities. 

You know that subject you avoid in casual conversation, because it turns you into a gushing ball of enthusiasm that could talk for hours ? UChicago wants to hear about it. Whether it’s feminist literature of Southeast Asia, modern perception of African art, or your job at Colonial Williamsburg, UChicago has happily passed you the mic. 

While your creative opportunity has few bounds, there are some key strategies to conquering the UChicago essays. Keep this checklist of things in mind as you write: 

Unconventional topics often require unconventional styles. 

UChicago essays should definitely be viewed as a piece of creative writing, rather than a dry analysis. When you are in college, you will be asked to write thesis-driven essays, but that’s not what the UChicago essays are asking for. You need to have a clear focus, but you should be comfortable disrupting the familiar rhythms of essay prose. This can mean vivid (and I mean vivid ) imagery, addressing the reader directly, sentence fragments, CAPS, lists, and anything else! Toss in some wild jargon from your field, phrases from another language, anything you’ve got—as long as you explain them. You should try to be imaginative, engaging, and colorful while maintaining an authentic voice and staying focused with your subject matter.

Communicate who you are as an academic.

The point of your essay is still to tell admissions officers about yourself. Give them an image of how you will perform in and contribute to an academic environment. You can’t just gush about your topic—you have to prove that you can engage with it at a highly intellectual level. Explain research protocol, cite specific books you’ve read, mention your AP and IB classes, or give examples of how you’ve collaborated with others to produce results. 

UChicago admissions don’t want a student who says “I love physics”; they want a student who says “I love physics so much that I stayed up until 4 am reading Cosmos by Carl Sagan, and I use meatballs to diagram the moons of Jupiter to my friends, and I took Calc III because I plan on studying mechanical engineering with a focus on aerospace materials.” Be detailed about your studies; be explicit in your interests. 

Marry yourself to your topic.

Be sure to include the first person; you are the main character here, not whatever subject you’re writing about. The subject is an avenue to tell admissions officers about you. You aren’t trying to get your latest film, your famous lasagna, or your community service project into the university— you are trying to get in . Don’t be afraid to center yourself. How do these objects from your past illuminate facets of your personality? What do your interests say about you ?

And, as always, answer the prompt!

Print out the prompt, circle key words, hang it on your mirror. Read it, then read it again, and again . Sit with the prompt, get some (probably crazy!) ideas, then repeat the process! Many UChicago prompts are dense in their weirdness. Some of them take time to even understand. Many prompts will reveal themselves to you in your everyday life (after you’ve read them over and over again). Some of them just take deep thought. The key is to keep thinking and focus on what the prompt is asking. You’ve got this!

All the UChicago Essay Prompts

Prompt 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., prompt 2: extended essay (required; choose one).

Option 1: Was it a cat I saw? Yo-no-na-ka, ho-ka-ho-ka na-no-yo (Japanese for “the world is a warm place”). Może jutro ta dama da tortu jeżom (Polish for “maybe tomorrow that lady will give a cake to the hedgehogs”). Share a palindrome in any language, and give it a backstory.

– Inspired by Leah Beach, Class of 2026, Lib Gray SB ’12, and Agnes Mazur AB ‘09

Option 2: What advice would a wisdom tooth have?

–Inspired by Melody Dias, Class of 2025

Option 3: You are on an expedition to found a colony on Mars, when from a nearby crater, a group of Martians suddenly emerges. They seem eager to communicate, but they’re the impatient kind and demand you represent the human race in one song, image, memory, proof, or other idea. What do you share with them to show that humanity is worth their time?

—Inspired by Alexander Hastings, Class of 2023, and Olivia Okun-Dubitsky, Class of 2026

Option 4: UChicago has been affiliated with over 90 Nobel laureates. But, why should economics, physics, and peace get all the glory? You are tasked with creating a new category for the Nobel Prize. Explain what it would be, why you chose your specific category, and the criteria necessary to achieve this accomplishment.

—Inspired by Isabel Alvarez, Class of 2026

Option 5: Genghis Khan with an F1 racecar. George Washington with a SuperSoaker. Emperor Nero with a toaster. Leonardo da Vinci with a Furby. If you could give any historical figure any piece of technology, who and what would it be, and why do you think they’d work so well together?

-Inspired by Braden Hajer, Class of 2025

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!

Prompt 1 (Required)

The pressure’s on to be unique here, since EVERY SINGLE APPLICANT to UChicago will be answering this required question. Here’s what you need to do:

Provide a tangible connection to UChicago. 

This is composed of specific elements of the university that appeal to you, and UChicago’s website is a great place to delve into these. Be sure to be “particular,” as they stipulate, and give them the “specificity” they’re asking for. Examples include research opportunities at Argonne Labs, the marketing classes in the Business School, or an internship offered through the Creative Writing program. 

Don’t write about UChicago’s general attributes, like fame, prestige, or “intellectual rigor.” And please don’t try to be clever and refute the old canard that UChicago is the place “Where Fun Goes to Die.” Application readers have seen this hundreds, if not thousands of times. And besides, why talk about a tired UChicago stereotype when you can talk about something cool? 

Describe your intangible connection as well. 

How is UChicago a place that aligns with your values, dreams, and goals? How do you vibe with it? For example, if I wanted to write about the Creative Writing internship, I would state explicitly how it draws me in: 

“ I want to attend a college that values the innovative nature of indie comics publishing as much as I do. So, I’m impressed by UChicago’s commitment to providing internships in comics writing through Bult Publishing and The Artifice magazine. One of my goals as a writer is to gain firsthand experience in comics publishing, specifically small houses, and the Creative Writing program at UChicago hits the mark, resoundingly. ”

Engage with faculty and students, if possible. 

This is a perfect place to talk about specific interactions, like sitting in on an inspiring seminar during a campus visit, hearing a professor speak, or seeing how UChicago has prepared a friend for his career. 

However, always be sure to tie these experiences into your own goals and interests! For example, don’t just name-drop a certain Professor Smith. Instead, take the opportunity to find a personal connection to Smith’s research and how great UChicago is for supporting people like her. Your format should be

        Program/Individual/Major – UChicago’s Values – My values

If you want to learn more about a specific professor or their subject, don’t be afraid to politely email them or contact their department. Many love to talk about their work and their interests, or would love to put you in touch with current students. This will better inform you about the school and give you a great edge for this prompt. And, more importantly, you’ll probably get great advice for your higher education journey. Note: the earlier you prepare for this, the better!

It’s worth noting that there is no recommended essay length, but sticking to around 500 words should do the trick. It’s long enough to share the reasons you’ll thrive at UChicago, but not too long that the admissions officers will start to get bored.

Prompt 2: Extended Essay (Required, Choose One)

Choose one of the six extended essay options and upload a one- or two-page response. Please include the prompt at the top of the page.

Prompt 2, Option 1

Was it a cat i saw yo-no-na-ka, ho-ka-ho-ka na-no-yo (japanese for “the world is a warm place”). może jutro ta dama da tortu jeżom (polish for “maybe tomorrow that lady will give a cake to the hedgehogs”). share a palindrome in any language, and give it a backstory..

If you love linguistics and creative writing, this is a good choice for you. You have the freedom to pick any palindrome—a word or phase that says the same thing when read forward and back—and get as creative as you like. If you speak another language or have a unique cultural background, picking a palindrome in that language would be a great way to tie in your background.

Let’s look at a few examples of how you can turn a phrase into a story:

Draw, O coward!

Bring a moment from one of your extracurricular activities to life: Little beads of sweat rolled down from my temple to my chin, carrying the stage makeup caked on my face with them. My sweaty palms fumbled by my side to grab my plastic prop sword. My scene partner’s words fell on deaf ears as my director’s voice coursed through my head. Don’t forget to hit the O, she would say. My brain lagged behind the rest of my body. Before I could process what had happened, my sword was tightly gripped in my outstretched hand and my booming voice declared “Draw, O coward!”

Si Nummi immunis (Latin for “Give me my fee, and I warrant you free”)

Discuss a social issue you deeply care about: In the DA’s office, interns don’t do much—I was your standard coffee-getter and errand-runner. The one exception: looking at bail records. Every day, I could peek at who posted bail and for how much. While I originally approached it with a child-like curiosity, it quickly became disheartening. Looking at record after record of affluent offenders who paid their fee and went about their days made my heart ache for those who couldn’t afford bail, through no fault of their own. Every morning, on my trip to the coffee shop, a little voice in my head kept telling me: Nothing will change unless you take action.

दामाद (Dāmād, Hindi for “son in law”)

Tell a story of your family: No one dares to get in between a mother and her daughter. Especially my nani and mom. So, the day my dad marched up to my nani’s door and declared he was going to marry her daughter didn’t go as anticipated to say the least. “You will never be my dāmād. She is too good for you.” Was it his goofy smile or his naan baking skills that finally won her over? Whatever it was, he carries the title of dāmād as a badge of honor now.

Prompt 2, Option 2

What advice would a wisdom tooth have.

This is the shortest option of the bunch, making it one of the most open-ended prompts. You can interpret this question from several different angles, and here are some potential ideas:

The play on words angle

Wisdom teeth are named as such because they erupt later in life, when you typically have more wisdom. Your wisdom teeth might advise you that this is true, and you could share the life lessons you’ve learned as you’ve grown older, opening each paragraph with an age and an anecdote.

The foodie angle 

If you’re a big foodie or chef, your wisdom teeth might advise you on their favorite dishes they’ve seen/chewed. You could share those dishes and the stories behind them. For example, maybe all your favorite recipes are gathered from cooking with others, and you could share the story of how your family hosted an exchange student from Portugal and how they taught you to make pastéis de nata, and how your grandmother taught you how to make her pierogies while sharing life advice with you.

The “stuck inside” angle

Many people’s wisdom teeth never see the light of day and remain impacted in their gums. This could be a segue into telling a story of how you stayed engaged when quarantined or stuck indoors during a rainy day. For example, maybe you picked up sewing during the pandemic because you couldn’t go outside and now you make historical period gowns. Your wisdom teeth might advise you that sometimes boredom or idleness can help you find new inspiration.

The relevancy angle

While wisdom teeth aren’t very useful in the modern world, It’s believed that they helped our prehistoric ancestors quite a bit. Back then, humans needed to grind raw meat, nuts, and leaves, so these extra molars made it easier to break down food. Beyond that, dental hygiene probably wasn’t the best, so humans may have lost adult teeth, which the wisdom teeth would then replace. 

If you like fiction writing, you could imagine wisdom teeth in a room with other things that were once relevant, but are now obsolete, such as floppy disks, dinosaurs, sundials, etc. What would they say to each other? What are they all doing together?

The medical angle

Wisdom teeth are actually not routinely removed in countries outside of the US. As a result, some people interpret the industry as a ploy to make money from unsuspecting patients. If you’re going into the medical or dental field, you could use this prompt as a chance to comment on the state of medicine and why you feel healthcare needs to be reformed. 

Some argue that removing wisdom teeth still reduces the chances of complications down the line, while others think the surgery is riskier than leaving the wisdom teeth in. You could use this debate as a chance to share a time you did a cost-benefit analysis on an area of your life, such as the time you were deciding whether to work at a brand-new local jewelry shop that paid less but had more opportunities for growth, or to work at a grocery chain.

Prompt 2, Option 3

You are on an expedition to found a colony on mars, when from a nearby crater, a group of martians suddenly emerges. they seem eager to communicate, but they’re the impatient kind and demand you represent the human race in one song, image, memory, proof, or other idea. what do you share with them to show that humanity is worth their time.

Like all the others, this prompt is another way to showcase your creativity, but it also gives you the opportunity to reveal what you value. If you love art and history, you could show the Martians Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. If you’re an avid music fan, maybe you want to teach the aliens the iconic Thriller dance. Inexplicably fascinated by science? Show your new friends the benefits of penicillin. 

What’s important about this essay is not what you pick, but how you demonstrate its importance . Forget about writing a college application essay for a minute; you are tasked with saving the entire human race. That’s a lot of pressure. Anyone could show the Martians a picture of the pyramids of Egypt, but it’s all in the story you tell that will make them appreciate this is the greatest accomplishment of humans and the true test of their capabilities.

Let’s take the example of the student who writes about penicillin. What they shouldn’t do is write “ I would show the Martians penicillin because it was one of the biggest medical advancements that allowed for humanity to conquer infections that used to be deadly, allowing people to live longer and healthier lives.” While what they wrote is true, it reveals nothing about them. The item you choose will undoubtedly be important to not just humanity, but you, so your response needs to establish a personal connection.

So what should this student do? They could start their essay by telling a story of how they plan to find a sick Martian suffering from an infection and will inject them with penicillin to show the aliens its magical healing properties. Then, this student should go into what penicillin means to them. Did they volunteer at a hospital where they witnessed people recover from infections that could be deadly because of this medicine? Maybe penicillin saved their life and allowed them to pursue their research that could be the next scientific breakthrough. 

You can get creative and playful with the story you tell about the item you chose, but if you go with this option, you’ll want to spend more of your essay focused on how that choice made a difference, not just for humanity, but in your life. 

Prompt 2, Option 4

Uchicago has been affiliated with over 90 nobel laureates. but, why should economics, physics, and peace get all the glory you are tasked with creating a new category for the nobel prize. explain what it would be, why you chose your specific category, and the criteria necessary to achieve this accomplishment..

The Nobel Prize is awarded to those who have “conferred the greatest benefit to mankind” in the categories of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace. Through this prompt, UChicago wants to know what matters to you, and they want to see your analytical and creative side shine through your selection process.

You can take a more straightforward angle or a more unconventional one with this prompt. A straightforward angle would involve selecting a “serious” category that fits neatly into the existing ones, such as Sustainability, Education, Technology, or Music. 

The unconventional angle would mean coming up with, well, something more unusual. Maybe you think there should be a Nobel Prize in Cooking, Hiking, Crocheting, or Speed Reading.

The category itself doesn’t matter as much as your connection to it, as you’ll need to explain why you chose it. Make sure your essay touches on both the personal significance of the category as well as its implications for mankind. For example, maybe you chose cooking because it’s soothing for you as a home chef, but it also has the power to improve the mood of those eating the meal. Food has also brought people from different backgrounds and cultures together throughout millenia. 

Continuing this cooking example, your selection criteria could involve a competition where cooks from around the world are asked to create dishes in three categories: one from their own culture, one from another culture, and a meal for ten that costs no more than $1/plate. This competition would highlight the cultural aspects of cooking, but also raise awareness of food insecurity and the challenge of creating nutritious meals at a low cost.

In addition to the criteria you need to receive the accolade, you could include examples of previous winners or people you would like to nominate for the prize.

UChicago prides itself on the accomplishments of its alumni, but the school gives every student the opportunity to excel within their own right. They want you to be a future Nobel Prize winner, so if you don’t feel like you fit into the traditional categories, here’s your chance to show them how you will succeed and change the world for the better.

Prompt 2, Option 5

Genghis khan with an f1 racecar. george washington with a supersoaker. emperor nero with a toaster. leonardo da vinci with a furby. if you could give any historical figure any piece of technology, who and what would it be, and why do you think they’d work so well together.

There’s three important things your response to this prompt needs to incorporate: what wacky pairing you choose, what their interaction would look like, and why the world absolutely needs to witness this combo.

Let’s take a look at a sample pairing a student might choose:

Who and What?

While you could choose any random figure and item, this essay will be most successful if you choose either someone or something that has personal significance to you (although it will be strongest if both your person and technology relate to you!). So for example, if a student loves graphic design, they might choose to give Walt Disney an iPad and Apple Pencil. 

This might not be the wackiest combo they could choose, but notice how both relate to the student and their passion. Growing up on Disney animation was what prompted this student to start doodling when they were younger, which eventually led to an interest in graphic design. Their iPad is their sketchbook, home to thousands of designs that they can create at their fingertips. This student wants to see what their inspirational figure would do with the piece of technology they cherish the most.

How do they interact?

This is where you can infuse more creativity into your essay. What will separate an okay response from a good or great one is how well you can show the interaction between these two unlikely players. Using the example of Walt Disney, this student could describe some of the tools they have used and apply it to a drawing of Mickey Mouse. Maybe they think Disney would have made a new movie every week if he had that advanced technology at his fingertips and the student shares the concept behind his latest character design. 

Whatever you choose to do, the interaction of a historical figure with modern technology would be ridiculous and hilarious. If you’ve taken anything away from UChicago based on their prompts, it should be the value they place on creativity, so don’t throw away this opportunity to inject some creativity into your response.

Why should we care?

The last thing you’ll want to make sure of in your essay is to pull back from the absurdity of the moment and reflect on why this odd combination is important. Even if it only has a deeper significance to you, we still want to know why you chose this pairing over every other.

Our student would probably elaborate on what Disney animation meant to them growing up at this point in the essay. They might explain that if they were influenced by the stories and visuals Walt Disney created, they can only imagine how many more kids all over the world would have had the same experience if he was able to use modern technology to develop his projects. 

You don’t have to follow this exact model in your response, but keep these different aspects of the prompt in mind as you write. As long as you can tell an engaging story of the item and historical figure interacting, and find a personal connection, you can really pick any person and item.

Prompt 2, Option 6

In the spirit of adventurous inquiry (and with the encouragement of one of our current students) 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.

Again, this prompt is, on the surface, granting you a lot of leeway. UChicago even ends it with an exclamation point! But you should always remember: they expect a disciplined, thorough, rigorous essay. Don’t let your sense of fun and frolic drown out your serious intellectual ideas.

Pick a prompt that inspires you to write, and connects with your academic interests. If a prompt jumps out at you, and you’re immediately filled with ideas, it’s probably a good fit. Just take it slowly, jot your thoughts down, and get to work. 

Involve your personal connection to that prompt. If you’re not answering any of the 6 prompts UChicago has issued this year, the onus is on you to prove that you and the archival prompt you’ve picked are a match made in heaven. This means having a lot of knowledge and personal investment in your subject matter, and an angle/perspective totally unique to you. 

If making your own question, remember this: YOUR QUESTION IS YOUR HOOK. So make sure it’s not a question that could be found on a standard-issue application, like “When did I overcome a challenge?” or “What’s a place that feels like home?” These prompts are everywhere. They won’t get the job done, and they won’t make an unforgettable first impression. But “Why did I lock myself in the basement and watch The Bee Movie for eighteen hours?” That’s a different story. 

If you look at past UChicago prompts, they tend to be fond of certain things: numbered lists, fairy tales, common phrases, and items of pop culture that can be re-contextualized. They also like hearing your answers to famous questions, and you might have a unique answer to “Et tu, Brute?” or “Do you like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain?” Just remember that the novelty of the question, while the hook of your essay, is not its substance. If your biography and scholarly interests don’t involve pina coladas, or rain, you might just have to pick a different question to answer – as wonderful as that eternal question is.

UChicago essays take a lot of time and thought—but don’t overthink it. The university wants to hear what you have to say, in its full form. That’s why they give you a page limit, and not a word limit—no last minute cutting! Fully develop your ideas in a way that feels natural. If a paragraph needs to be a little thicker, or if you need to include a longer quote from your favorite author, don’t worry about it. These essays can be fun to write and extremely effective.

You can look up lots of examples of essays online, but try not to get intimidated. It’s the nature of the UChicago essays to encourage everyone to showcase their expertise—which is exactly what you should try to do! You may read sample essays and think, “Wow. I’ve never spent a month in Arizona digging up fossils. How can I ever compete?” Try to reframe the essays as a Giant Celebration of everyone’s achievements and interests not a Competition.

If you’ve written your UChicago essay and are looking for feedback, you might want to check out our free peer essay review and paid expert essay review . Since the UChicago essay prompts are weird, it’s important to get an extra set of eyes on them to make sure they are clear and engaging! You can also improve your own writing skills by editing other students’ essays.

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The 7 UChicago Essay Prompts: How to Write Stellar Responses

College Essays

The University of Chicago is famous for its unique essay topics. They're some of the most creative and off-the-wall essay prompts you'll see when applying to colleges, and it can sometimes be confusing to know how to tackle them.

What should you write about in your UChicago essays? How can you show that you're intelligent, creative, and worthy of a place at their school? As someone who spent a long time on my UChicago essays (and who got into the school), I've figured out exactly what UChicago is looking for in these essays.

 Read on to learn all about the UChicago essays, what the admissions team expects to see in your responses, what topics you should write about, and which topics you should avoid. In this guide, we also suggest sample essay ideas for each of the 2022/2023 UChicago supplement essay prompts and analyze past University of Chicago essay samples so you can see what a great UChicago essay looks like.

What Are the UChicago Essays?

Before you can begin figuring out how you'll write your UChicago essays, you should know which prompts you'll be seeing and the rules for each one. You'll need to write two essays, and the UChicago essay prompts you must answer are commonly referred to as Question 1 and Question 2.

Question 1: Why UChicago?

The Question 1 prompt is the only UChicago supplement essay that stays the same each year, and it's also the only prompt that all applicants must answer (for Question 2 you'll have multiple prompts to choose from).

For this question, you'll need to write an essay that explains why you want to attend the University of Chicago and why you think the school is a good fit for you and your goals. UChicago doesn't have strict word limits for essays, but they suggest a response of 1-2 pages.

Here's the prompt:

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.

The nice part about this prompt is that it's a pretty standard "why this school" essay . And luckily for you, we have a complete guide that walks you through how to knock this type of essay out of the park.

Question 2: Extended Essay

For Question 2, you have a choice of six essay prompts, and you'll choose the one you want to respond to. The essay prompts for this question change every year, and while there are always around six prompts, some years there may be one more or one less to choose from.

These are the more unique and offbeat essay prompts that UChicago is known for. Many of them were created by UChicago alumni and current students. Again, UChicago asks you submit a response 1-2 pages long.

Below are the essay prompts for the 2022/2023 school year.

Essay 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.

Essay 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).

Essay 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.

Essay 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?

Essay 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!

The world is your oyster when it comes to answering UChicago essay prompts.

How to Answer the University of Chicago Essay Prompts

In this section, we explain what UChicago wants to see in your essays, give ideas for topics to write about for each of the essays, and discuss topics you are better off avoiding.

For this University of Chicago supplement essay, UChicago wants to know why you want to attend their school, what you hope to get out of attending, and how University of Chicago will help you achieve their goals. Basically, they want to know why you think their school is a better fit for you than all the other schools out there. For more analysis of this essay, check out our in-depth guide to the Why UChicago essay .

What Do They Want to See in Your Response?

The "why our school?" is probably the most common essay prompt you'll see on college applications. Why do schools, including UChicago, ask this question?

UChicago wants to first see that you really want to go to their school. Students who love a school are more likely to accept an offer of admission and attend it, and they are more likely to be committed to their studies, participate in extracurriculars, and give back after they graduate. Your passion for UChicago should be shining through in this essay.

Next, UChicago wants to see that you've done your research on their school and have an idea of what opportunities you want to take advantage of while there. You can do this by mentioning specific things you like about UChicago or that you plan to take advantage of as a student there. Potential things to discuss include professors you admire or are interested in working with, specific classes you want to take, and extracurriculars you want to participate in.

Finally, UChicago wants to see that you are a good match for their school. Your essay should explain how you'll make the best use of what UChicago offers, how your strengths match the opportunities they provide, and how UChicago will help you reach your goals for the future.

Potential Topics to Write About

There are many ways you could approach this essay prompt; although since UChicago is best known for its academics (as opposed to killer sports teams, for example), most people will discuss the academic side for at least part of their response. Below is a list of possible topics; most people will discuss one to three topics in their essay.

• Majors or classes you're especially interested in
• UChicago's core curriculum
• Professors whose work you admire and whom you'd like to study with or conduct research with
• Unique events like Scav and Kuviasungnerk/Kangeiko
• Research opportunities you'd like to have
• University of Chicago students you've met who you admire
• Volunteer opportunities
• Financial aid opportunities UChicago offers that make it possible for you to attend

Topics to Avoid

The key here is to avoid generic topics that could apply to practically any school or any student. You want it to be clear in your response what opportunities the University of Chicago offers you that no other school does and how you're going to make use of them. Topics that won't show this include discussing:

• How pretty the campus is
• Chicago weather
• The food on campus
• Where UChicago places on college ranking lists
• Your future major and career path without connecting it back to what UChicago offers
• Bashing other schools

The extended essay is when you can get especially creative. These prompts require you to move outside your comfort zone of typical essay topics and answer in a way that gives readers insight into who you are and what you care about. Remember: Question 2 is required, but you have six different prompts to choose from for this essay response.

Your response to Question 1 is meant to show what you like about UChicago and how you’re going to make the most of the opportunities it offers. Question 2 is less about UChicago and more about you. The admissions team wants to see who you are and what's important to you. Three main things they'd like to see in your essay response are:

• Your personality
• Your thirst for knowledge

Who are you? What have been the important events in your life? What kind of person are you? What do you love learning about? These are the questions UChicago wants you to answer. They want to know what's important to you, what events from your past shaped you, what kind of person you are now, and what you want to accomplish in the future. 

UChicago is particularly interested in students who love learning and have a lot of interests in different fields and topics. A mathematician who also does ballet? A creative writing major who started her own business? Bring it on! Make sure to show your love for learning in your essay.

Your passions and goals don't always need to be lofty though; in the second example essay below you can see how the writer took a quirky interest and managed to connect it to larger ideas. If you can connect one of your pet passions to an essay topic, do so!

The great thing about these UChicago essay prompts is you can write about almost anything you want to since they're so different from each other and give you lots of chances to be creative. And you can tackle it from any angle you want. On their website , UChicago states that "[This essay] can be approached with utter seriousness, complete fancy, or something in between." Just remember, you want this essay to give UChicago a good idea of the type of person you are and what's important to you.

Essay 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.

You're allowed to let your imagination run wild with this prompt. You should try to find a pair of objects that the admissions panel didn’t think of, something wholly original that only you would think of. For this prompt, they want to see how imaginative you can be, but the most important part of this essay is justifying why your pairing makes sense and why it matters . The pair you choose will show off your personality, creativity, and cultural experiences. 

Make your response as wacky and original as you like, but remember to tie it back to yourself and your interests a nd/or potential major. For instance, say you go with the idea of an art conservator and the passage of time. You could discuss how time degrades the materials of a work of art, and then an art conservationist revitalizes the work, only to have the passage of time wear it down again. This would be an excellent segue into writing about your interest in history, creative writing, or U Chicago’s Department of Art History Conservation Science Teaching Program . 

You could also write about how you developed an interest in these subjects, and what other interests you have could be applicable . Weaving your story into your essay will show UChicago that you’re creative and intellectually curious. This can include your niche interests, quirky hobbies, or pet projects.

Essay 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.

This is a classic UChicago question that allows you to answer the question literally...or not. (The year I applied, the version of this question was "Describe your table.") So, if this exemple were your actual song lyric, you address, where have all the flowers gone? You could answer this literally and describe how, for instance, flowers are changing colors in response to climate change . Perhaps you could then discuss your interest in horticulture and what led you to pursue that field.

Or (as always with UChicago essays), you can take it in a totally unexpected direction. This prompt is a chance to put your interpretive and reasoning skills into action. In fact, you could almost think of it like a riddle, except that the answer is anything that you can come up with and justify:

“Where Do Broken Hearts Go?” A valid question in a world where loneliness has been declared a public health emergency and social isolation can increase the likelihood of heart disease by as much as 29% ! 

“Do You Remember Rock and Roll Radio?” Likely not, considering radio listening has been trending downward for years, especially amongst young listeners and Rock Music is at the lowest point in its popularity since about 1960 . Where does this leave you, a young would-be guitar player with an interest in U Chicago’s ethnomusicology program ?

“Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?” Perhaps you do, considering recent studies show a decline in empathy and corresponding rise in narcissism .

You get the idea. Whatever question you choose, don’t worry too much about having a great answer for it; the idea is to find a context for the question that is meaningful to you and relates to your interests , which will give UChicago insight into your values and personality, two things they want to see in these essays!

Essay 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).

This prompt is a bit sillier, but you still have the chance to show U Chicago your personality and unique worldview. This prompt gives you a chance to play with language and create something that expresses a meaning that we don’t have a word for. The best way to go about this is to think of two areas that are important to you and find a pair of rhyming words related to each and combine them.

So, for instance, if you’re math-oriented but somewhat spiritual, you could take words from both mathematics and spirituality, and come up with something like “stamystics” (statistics+mystics). You could talk about how you became interested in math and how it relates to your spirituality, and so forth.

If you are more interested in sports than spirituality, you could come up with something like “mathleticism.” You could write about how you had to train your mind in order to grasp difficult or advanced mathematical concepts and, inversely, how your understanding of math deepens your appreciation of sports.

What U Chicago is looking for here is how you can connect two seemingly unrelated concepts and find a bridge between them. They’re looking for problem-solving in addition to insight into your personality.

Essay 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.

This prompt gives you an opportunity to think about familiar things in a new way. We probably don’t think much about peanuts not being nuts, but it’s obvious once you think about it that they are legumes. But, on the other hand, they are also closely related to peas–so the name has some validity. Even though they’re not actually nuts, they do taste like nuts…so is it wrong to call them nuts? Think about other examples that exist in your fields of interest.

And of course, be sure to let your experiences, interests, and values shape the way you rename or defend your misnomer . That way, UChicago will get a good idea of who you are and what’s meaningful to you!

Essay 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?

This prompt is your chance to be more overtly academic in your response . In writing about how this game will remain relevant in the future, you’ll be able to show your knowledge of history, culture, politics, economics, religion, scientific discovery…and so on! Choose a game that interests you in some way that you can tie into your personal history and academic interests. 

While brainstorming possible games will be really fun, the most important part of this essay is justifying why you think something that’s relevant today will continue to be relevant in the future. Think about what cultural, social, and political changes could be possible and what the implications of that could be for people today. As long as you’re creative, descriptive, and thorough, your response can range from serious to silly and meet the requirements for this prompt.

Essay 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 aren't feeling any of the other five optional prompts, you can respond to this one, which asks you to choose and respond to a past UChicago optional essay prompt, or write and respond to your own prompt. With either option, you'll want to consider your identity, interests, strengths, and goals, and let those factors inform which prompt you choose, how you write your own prompt, and how you craft your response.

You may not feel up to the task of writing your own prompt, but you might like the idea of tracking down an old prompt that catches your eye. Read through the past prompts and consider which one will allow you to play to your strengths . If there's a particular experience or skill that you want to showcase in your response, select a prompt that is conducive to that.

Alternatively, if there's a specific experience you want to write about, you can write your own prompt and respond to it. To write your prompt, use the tone and structure of the existing UChicago prompts as a guide. It'll probably come as no surprise that your original prompt should fit right in with the ones provided on the application. This means you might have to be a little goofy, cryptic, or risky...and that's a good thing!

Though this option allows you to write your own prompt if you so choose, it's important to remember that your response to the prompt should still focus on showcasing who you are , what strengths you will bring to UChicago as a student, and why UChicago is the perfect place for you. Don't get too carried away trying to impress admissions with punny phrases or cryptic logic; be authentic, be bold, and be you.

Some people shy away from this prompt because they feel like it's "cheating" or less impressive to not follow one of the specific prompts that UChicago gives. However, this isn't true! As long as you write a compelling essay that gives readers a better insight into who you are, your essay will strengthen your application. For what it's worth, when I applied to UChicago, this is the prompt I chose, and I was still accepted to the school.

UChicago wants you to be creative here, so there aren't many topics that are off limits. However, you're trying to convince them that you'd be a great and interesting student to add to their school, so make sure you use your essay to show who you are and why UChicago would want to admit you.

This means you should avoid responses that don't give readers a good idea of who you are. For example, if you choose essay option 1, don't just state that “taco cat” is funny because it reminds you of your favorite meme. Instead, tie it back to yourself and your life by explaining its relevance, like making tacos with your abuela and fending off the family cat’s attempts to steal tacos. 

Because these prompts are creative, it can be easy to run away with them, but always remember to answer the prompt completely and give UChicago better insight into who you are.

Additionally, don't feel that certain University of Chicago essay prompts are "better" or more impressive than others . UChicago wouldn't have chosen these essay topics if they didn't think applicants could write outstanding responses to them, so please choose the prompt that you feel you can write the best essay for.

University of Chicago Essay Examples

In this section are two University of Chicago essay examples, each written by an accepted applicant.

Below each UChicago supplement essay we discuss what makes the essay work so well.

Dear University of Chicago,

And now you inquire as to my wishes? They're simple, accept me for who I am! Why can't you just love and not ask why? Not ask about my assets or my past? I'm living in the now, I'm waiting for you to catch up, but you're too caught up in my past, I offer us a future together, not a past to dwell upon. Whenever I'm around you, I just get that tingle deep inside me that tells me you're the one; you have that air of brilliance and ingenuity that I crave in a person, you're so mature and sophisticated, originality is really your strongest and most admirable trait. I wish we could be together, I still think in my heart of hearts we were meant to be, but you have to meet me halfway, dear. I'm on one knee here with tears welling up in my eyes, the fireworks are timed and ready to light up the night sky for you, just say 'I accept...you.'

Why Does This Essay Work?

• Creative take on a standard prompt: The writer chose a very unique angle for this essay: comparing the University of Chicago to a lover. He's probably the first applicant to answer the essay prompt this way, which definitely makes this a memorable essay. In fact, UChicago loved this essay so much that they mailed it out to thousands of potential applicants (which actually got them a bit of backlash ). You absolutely don't have to take as unique an approach to this essay as the above writer did, but doing so can definitely help your essay stand out.
• It answers the entire prompt: Even though this is an unusual essay, the writer still manages to answer everything the prompt asks for. He mentions his goal for the future (to become a lawyer), mentions varied interests he has (the Gothic era, the philosopher Kierkegaard), and explains what he likes about UChicago (the brilliance, ingenuity, and originality the school offers). He even manages to mention that he visited campus three times, which shows a serious interest in the school. If you choose to write an especially offbeat essay, it's key to do what this essay did and still answer the prompt while being creative.

This essay is from several years ago, so it doesn't use a current prompt, but it's still helpful to read and analyze.

Share with us a few of your favorite books, poems, authors, films, plays, pieces of music, musicians, performers, paintings, artists, blogs, magazines, or newspapers. Feel free to touch on one, some, or all of the categories listed, or add a category of your own.

Now let's take a look at the successful essay:

The Illuminati changed my life. Three years ago, I found my first ambigram in one of my favorite novels, Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. I turned the page, and there it was: the word "Illuminati" printed into the exact center of the book. It was styled like a newspaper masthead, exquisite and complex, yet oddly symmetric. Curious, I rotated the book upside-down.

Impossibly, the inverted word was still "Illuminati." Gazing closer, I realized that the letters, I-L-L-U-M, actually shaped into a flipped I-N-A-T-I. Suddenly, I was reading it in both directions. My eyes waltzed along the broad curves and sharp twists of the calligraphy, striking poses in a glamorous font against a sheet of creamy whiteness, sliding between the dense vertical strokes, peering at the edge of the defined serif as it angled away, then bent boldly toward me. Every line was deliberate, every flourish smiling with purpose, and the whole word balanced on the delicate cord that joined two letters into one. It was unforgettable.

Ambigrams are words that can be read from different directions. Actually, "ambigram" is an umbrella term that encompasses dozens of distinct types of visual wordplay. The most popular ones are rotational, mirror image, and-my personal favorites-symbiotic ambigrams, which can spell two different things when viewed normally and upside-down.

Compelled by the striking art, I could not help but try my own hand at designing ambigrams, and slowly I felt the pitiful stick-figure artist inside me shrink away as my inner energetic graphic designer sprang up. Before early volleyball tournaments, I work myself up by filling up pages and pages of experimental letter combinations, gleefully satisfied at the way that a rounded lowercase "a" was a perfect upside-down lowercase "e." In my AP Literature class, I drew "She's a witch!" which revealed, when flipped, "Communist" to reflect Arthur Miller's contemporary motives for writing The Crucible. On a challenge from a friend, I even drew an ambigram of "Jay-Z" and "Beyonce" on a bumpy bus ride back from a leadership retreat.

In the last few months, I have also practiced drawing ambigrams as fast as I can. I dream about the day when I can effortlessly write out a message saying "Hi, how are you today?" normally and "The password is cherry268" upside-down, without pausing or rotating the paper. I imagine a world in which everyone had this ability, and could literally write two things at once. How would that change communication? Encryption? Trust? My legs swing comfortably from this innovative edge, excited to take a stab at the answers.

The best part about the ambigram is that it refuses to define itself as just one thing. It is a linguistic passion, a cryptographic endeavor, an artistic design, and an ironic illusion. I relish the fact that ambigrams force both the artist and the audience to reject first glances and embrace secret identities.

This may just be a nerdy obsession, but ambigrams have taught me far more than how to sketch fancy words. Their multidimensional truth implies that my hobbies of both writing Italian sonnets and solving logical riddles are not opposing functions of my left and right brains, but rather, a perfect conglomeration of my passion for creating and solving puzzles. The beauty of the most surprising combinations reminds me to take bold risks in both my life and my designs.

Above all else, ambigrams have taught me that I can create the impossible. I can make true and false the same word depending on something as simple as a 180-degree head turn. Victory can be defeat. Open can be closed. Am amateur piano player with an obsession for cryptology can learn how to program iPhone apps and get the game-winning kill at the varsity volleyball championship. A girl with divorced parents can make time for both families, and an inspired teenager from California can write her name into world history--both normally and upside-down.

- Samantha M.

Why This Essay Works

• Shows passion: This essay focuses on a pretty unusual and specific topic: ambigrams. While many people may not even know what an ambigram is, the writer is clearly passionate about them. She discusses how much time she spends trying to create different ambigrams, what her goals for ambigram creating are, and some of her favorite ambigrams she's created. UChicago loves people who are passionate about something, even if it's an unusual or offbeat interest. It makes UChicago believe those students will bring that passion with them onto campus.
• Gives insight into the writer's personality: The majority of this essay is about the author's interest in ambigrams, but she also manages to cleverly slip in multiple other references to her personality and interests. From her essay, we learn that she's a volleyball player, writes Italian sonnets, and loves solving puzzles. Adding these details gives UChicago a fuller look at what makes her tick.
• Connects it to a bigger picture: The writer chose to write about a very specific topic—ambigrams—but was still able to connect that to bigger concepts, such as communication, truth, and how she's able to balance her different interests. She's able to take a quirky topic and show how it influences her worldview.

Final Advice: UChicago Essays

When answering the University of Chicago essay prompts, keep in mind that the main reason UChicago is reading these essays is to find out who you are as a person and if you'd be a good fit at their school.

The University of Chicago wants students who are passionate about learning, creative, are excited to make the most of their time on campus, and have big dreams for themselves, and the UChicago supplement questions are designed to help you show these sides of yourself to the school.

For the "Why UChicago?" prompt, you'll want to show the school why you want to go there, why you think you're a good fit for the school, and how UChicago will help you achieve your goals during college and beyond.

For the extended essay, you can (and should) be more creative. These UChicago essays are more "out there," and in your response, you should show your personality and passion for learning.

For both University of Chicago essays, remember to show who you are and what you're passionate about, include details about yourself and the school to help you stand out from other essays, and mention your plans and goals for the future.

What's Next?

If you want a more in-depth look how to write about Question 1, check out our guide to the Why UChicago Essay , which includes an additional sample essay along with analysis of how to answer this prompt.

Are you working on the Common App essay ? Read our breakdown of the Common App prompts and our guide to picking the best prompt for you.

If you're planning to take the SAT or ACT one last time , try out some of our famous test prep guides, like "How to Get a Perfect Score on the SAT" and "15 Key ACT Test Day Tips."

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Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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UChicago Essay Examples (And Why They Worked)

The following essay examples were written by several different authors who were admitted to University of Chicago and are intended to provide examples of successful UChicago application essays. All names have been redacted for anonymity. Please note that CollegeAdvisor.com has shared these essays with admissions officers at University of Chicago in order to deter potential plagiarism.

For more help with your UChicago supplemental essays, check out our UChicago Essay Guide ! For more guidance on personal essays and the college application process in general, sign up for a monthly plan to work with an admissions coach 1-on-1.

Question 1 (Required; Choose one) 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.

When I visited UChicago, a friend invited me to step into her Comparative Literature class: Monstrosity and the Monstrous. Desperate for refuge from the cold (as a Bay Area resident, I hadn’t packed for the Chicago winter), I quickly obliged. I expected to silently observe, but when I mentioned that I’d read Antigone , her professor was thrilled–he immediately invited me into the discussion. For an hour and a half, we weighed the pros and cons of civil disobedience: did Antigone’s actions permanently destabilize Thebes, and in the modern day, when does protesting against a government cross the line? Was Antigone justified in interpreting the will of the gods? And, if so, would Sophocles support pardoning well-intentioned criminals? Beyond the enthralling analysis of the play, I was captivated by the spirit of UChicago: a campus that invites everyone (including a loitering high school student) to contribute and develop their ideas.

Now, it’s surreal to imagine taking “The Economics of Crime” from someone as renowned as Professor Levitt (I’ve been a fan since reading Freakonomics ) and staying after class to clarify the finer points of the latest Freakonomics podcast (I particularly enjoyed “Speak Softly and Carry Big Data,” on using data analysis to perfect foreign policy decisions). I hope to add to UChicago’s legacy of pushing the boundaries of our economic understanding by participating in undergraduate research, and perhaps put my findings to use through crafting social policy for the Harris School’s Public Policy Practicum. Prior to graduating, I’ll sample tastes of future careers through the Fried Public Policy and Service Program or the Trott Business Program. Simultaneously, as someone who enjoys conversing and respectfully challenging ideas, I look forward to immersing myself in the Core Curriculum and obtaining a strong foundation of knowledge. Above all, I appreciate that UChicago teaches students how to think, encourages dialogue, and prompts students to question norms.

Beyond an unparalleled education, UChicago boasts an incredible student body. Whether it’s over $1 milkshakes, at a desk beneath the stunning glass dome of the Mansueto library, or over a game of pick-up basketball, students at UChicago have a reputation for cultivating the most interesting conversations, both miscellaneous and profound. I hope that culture will only intensify within groups like the student government, Muslim Student Association, or the (undefeated) Model United Nations team. Though I look forward to Scav, the prospect of another scavenger hunt is even more enticing; over the next four years, my peers and I will discover the impact we intend to have on the world. Whether I end up delving into politics, finance, or the nonprofit sector, I know UChicago will guide me through that process–more importantly, as a member of a campus of visionaries, I hope to learn how I’ll change any field I enter. I look forward to four life-changing years–this time, with a warm winter coat.

Why this UChicago essay worked, from an ex-admissions officer

The author of this essay did a great job highlighting their familiarity with the faculty’s research and the university’s traditions. In doing so, admissions officers know that this student conducted the necessary research and is not solely interested in the university based on its rankings and reputation but rather the intangibles- the things that set UChicago apart, from other colleges/universities.

A few days ago, I had the pleasure of visiting UChicago’s campus. What I found was exactly what I’d hoped for: an absurdly specific and drawn-out debate over which poem was better, The Iliad, or The Odyssey.

It happened in a dorm. After my official tour, a good friend of mine, Lizzie, who I’d met two summers ago on a writer’s retreat offered to show me around campus. The insider tour: coveted by many, enjoyed by few. As we were leaving the common space on her floor in Max P., we were discussing our respective class schedules. We came to find that we were doing similar coursework with regard to Classical studies, and with a simple groan at my mention of the adventures of Achilles in Ilion, the battle began.

Quickly, I found myself drawing my spear—the initial jab: “The portrayal of Odysseus in The Odyssey is lackluster and inconsistent with prior descriptions at best.”

She dodged, “Maybe, but The Iliad is just a bunch of gore. I want a real story.” The phalanxes were starting to form; war cries echoing, bouncing off doors which held the empty beds of students wintering at Mansueto, I stopped.

“Listen,” I said, with a ring reminiscent of a sword being gloriously drawn from its sheath. “Homer may not have even been the mind behind much of The Odyssey . On top of that, how do you reconcile Odysseus’ supposed military genius spanning ten years with his seemingly cavalier attitude towards his men’s safety on the voyage home?” In turn, she threw her arms up with a sigh of exasperation—a shield, a deflection.

“Maybe, but Achilles’ melodramatic fits aren’t worth reading. If I wanted to witness overwrought pouting, I’d go find a four-year-old. Besides, an inconsistency doesn’t damn a story to the pits of inadequacy.”

Round and round we went, like Achilles and Hector around the city of Ilion, neither of us gaining an inch, and neither of us drawing nearer escape. But then, for us, escape wasn’t the point, was it? It was the chase. The Iliad would have been far less exciting had Achilles settled for glory, fought for Agamemnon, and killed Hector immediately. Likewise, The Odyssey is nothing but a story of a journey, and therefore wouldn’t have a leg to stand on without the chase. From my point of view, this is what UChicago is all about—the chase; the journey—the questions asked and examined, not only those answered. Lizzie and I never came to a conclusion about which poem is better (thankfully we could agree that The Aeneid was objectively well written, and well told), but we had a riveting, impassioned conversation on a dime. My favorite part of this? It happened on the way to her Physics discussion.

That’s why I love UChicago; this is what I crave. The perpetual hall pass to unapologetically geek out with fellow cats whom curiosity didn’t kill, but strengthened. To walk by the chapel, and hear the bells playing Kiss the Girl, to sit in the Reading Room and write, to marvel at the marketing genius behind the naming of Grounds of Being ; to have conversations with poetry nerds, language lovers, people who can rant about the beauty of the C7 chord or the curvature of a parabolic function. I can only see myself in a place that emphasizes interdisciplinary studies, that offers a slew of majors, minors, and career courses—that not just allows, but encourages exploration—that finds its students discussing Homer on the way to a physics class. I would not be able to function without the camaraderie that comes with the $1 shake, or the friendships born of mutual vitriol at the notion of their disappearance. This community is not tied, but melded together—one that challenges, one that nips stagnancy in the bud. So, paint me maroon and point me towards Axelrod; I’m ready to join this Odyssey-loving, manhole-cover-thieving, Royal Tenenbaum-esque family.

In this essay, the writer connected her seemingly random conversation with a friend to the interdisciplinary focus of the university and the ways in which, others challenge her views. Oftentimes, when we think of a college education- there is so much focus on the rankings, reputation, and major, career opportunities, return on investments, and salary– all of which, are very important; however, one could argue that that true purpose of college is to challenge yourself, to step outside of your comfort zone, meet new people and challenge others as well. This writer understands those values are paramount to an education at UChicago. The admissions officer reading this essay, knows this student will thrive at UChicago, but most importantly, this student will leave UChicago in a better place than where they found it by challenging those around them.

Question 2: Extended Essay (Required; Choose one)

Editor’s Note: The UChicago supplemental essays change each year, as the University is known to reach out to newly admitted and current students for essay prompts. These are examples of previous successful approaches to essay prompts.

2017-2018 UChicago Essay Prompt

What’s your armor.

I won’t knock on wood for luck if the wood isn’t demonstrably pure as the waters of the Piscine Molitor. When I say I won’t, I don’t mean that I will knock on a table, or a bench occasionally through gritted teeth if I’m in dire need of cosmic intervention, no, I mean I will not, under any circumstance, on a train, a plane, or even in Spain, knock on anything other than natural, uncoated in any way, wood. I recognize the scientific irrationality, not just of superstitions, but of being picking nits within a particular superstition. I have my reasons.

Two years ago, while scrolling through my Instagram feed, I stumbled across a disconcerting “fact” that probably wasn’t a fact . The post asserted that more than ninety-percent of all wooden tables, benches, chairs, etc are not, in fact, strictly wooden. Rather, they are a mix of synthetic materials and wood. Granted, in most cases, the synthetic is likely just a coat of protective varnish, but you see, that tarnishes the product for the superstitious. It was a moment of earth-shattering ramifications. In a matter of three seconds, I questioned every bit of trust I’d ever placed in the universe. It all seemed futile, meaningless. Now, I’m not knocking on wood, I’m knocking on wood that has been coated once, twice, ninety-six times with preservative varnish. At that point, it’s just a synthetic graveyard with a foundation of wood. There is no luck to be found in an ungodly cemetery of bones like that. I might as well knock on glass, or grass, or a plastic container. It surpasses trivial in the scheme of things, but imagine I were to have something especially important looming, something that has the potential to frame the context of the rest of my life, something like college applications. Why would I take a chance on something that merely resembles pure wood for luck? I wouldn’t. I’d run straight outside, find the nearest tree (the only real guarantee), and knock until my knuckles resembled shredded calf-liver. It’s really not worth the risk.

Why does it even matter, though? Who, and/or what enforces frivolous matters like outdated pseudo-religious compulsions? I like to imagine that there is a being in charge of each superstition, both the common and obscure. The Being of Repetition would oversee all attempts to cheat one’s destiny by uttering a word thirty-seven times, the Being of Self-Induced Discomfort would superintend those who hold their breath while they cross bridges or drive past cemeteries, and the Being of Sylvan Knocks would assure that not a single soul who bops their knuckles on a tarnished, synthetic-wood abomination receives their prize of favor. This being watches and keeps tabs on those foolish enough to put their faith in the preternatural equivalent of fool’s gold, and shames them by leaving their worlds deservedly unaltered. However, those who are devoted enough to search out the nearest tree and give it a few raps for good measure, will find magnificent rewards from their generous karmic sugar daddy. Call me a purist, call me ridiculous, but I’m convinced that this is the indisputable truth.

So convinced, in fact, that those closest to me have picked up on my idiosyncratic neurosis. I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy the friendship of observant souls, one of whom, named Jack, happens to be a skilled woodworker. Upon confessing to him my cognitive dissonance of being vehemently non-superstitious, while also controlled like a marionette by this irrational belief, he took it upon himself to, at the very least, ease the inconvenience of finding a tree in my panic. He gave me a teardrop-shaped, knuckle-sized piece of pure wood. Not just that, but he put a small hole in it so that it would fit on my keychain. I carry it everywhere. I give it a little knock every now and then just for the extra luck. Knowing that no matter the place, no matter the scenario, I’m always in the good graces of the Being of Sylvan Knocks means that I never again have to add “find a tree” to my mental to-do list. It means release—means freedom.

Maybe one day I’ll get over my manneristic malady, but until that day comes, I’ll keep carrying my teardrop everywhere I go, and hope that Jack never tells me that my charm is anything less than Piscine pure, unadulterated luck. Knock on wood, right?

2013-2014 UChicago Essay Prompt:

The mantis shrimp can perceive both polarized light and multispectral images; they have the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom. human eyes have color receptors for three colors (red, green, and blue); the mantis shrimp has receptors for sixteen types of color, enabling them to see a spectrum far beyond the capacity of the human brain. seriously, how cool is the mantis shrimp:  mantisshrimp.uchicago.edu . what might they be able to see that we cannot what are we missing.

The red and purple hues of the sunset warm the chilly summer evening; the soft pastels blend perfectly under my fingers to emanate the photograph; each Van Gogh and Renoir mesmerize me as I creep through the brightly lit museum. Photographs and paintings capture the beauty that we see with our eyes. Our almighty sense of sight allows us to be immersed by the extraordinary, but at the same time, it hinders us.

Although breath-taking to witness, the mantis shrimp, majestic as a unicorn or narwhal from the outside, relates more closely to a soul-sucking dementor. Its mighty claws enable it to chomp nearby prey instantaneously. Is it possible that the violent behavior of a mantis shrimp is related in someway to its heightened abilities of sight?

Segregation, discrimination, isolation; so many “tion”s can be attributed to our sense of vision. In elementary school, the concept of being popular is already engrained in our minds. As a first grader, I got my first glimpse of this when a girl was forced to tell her best friend that they couldn’t hang out anymore because she “wasn’t cool enough.” And what deems someone to be popular? Of course, attitude and self-confidence are key, but popularity is equally derived from having the newest backpack and sparkly shoes that light up with each step. In the 1940s, having “the look” meant blonde hair and blue eyes with the emanating threat of concentration camps and execution. America, the land of the free, cannot forget its very own history of segregation that nearly split the nation in two. People were belittled and harassed due to the color of their skin. Throughout history, mankind has associated superiority with skin color and race. Our sense of sight has limited us oftentimes to fixate on seeing instead of understanding.

The kaleidoscopic exoskeleton of the mantis shrimp indicates its very own evolutionary emphasis on beauty. Why else would one attempt to look so radiant if not to mate and produce heirs? I would probably be pretty picky too if I had such a powerful pair of eyes—fixating on each segment, each tentacle, each antenna. Over the centuries, the selectivity of the mantis shrimp possibly eliminated less attractive members from the gene pool. It never thought “Oh well, maybe she has a nice personality and a good sense of humor.” In a world of plastic Barbie dolls and glossy magazine covers, I would hate to see an even greater emphasis on aesthetics.

As a child, I read A Wrinkle in Time and journeyed to the planet Ixchel where Madeline L’Engle’s fictional character Meg tries to explain the concept of seeing to a creature with no eyes. In response the beast states, “We do not know what things look like, as you say… We know what things are like. It must be a very limiting thing, this seeing.” As a child, I pondered the difficultly of explaining sight to someone incapable of it and all the words that a person wouldn’t understand—light, dark, colors, shades. When I initially read this prompt about the mantis shrimp, I was reminded of this passage. The difficulty of imagining all that the mantis shrimp can see is possibly just as difficult as it is for someone who is blind to imagine the red of a robin’s belly, the illustrious light blue sky, or the shades of skin tones. I was originally perplexed by the idea that seeing can be “a very limiting thing.” Over half a decade later, as I reread Madeline L’Engle’s words, I find the truth in this phrase. We do not need sight. It is convenient being able to color coordinate files and match shoes with shirts, but the ability to see can often overpower our other senses. We judge and make first impressions by the way a person dresses, often neglecting what that person says or thinks or knows.

Perhaps the mantis shrimp’s eyes allow it to see further than our color spectrum, into infrared, ultraviolet, or radio waves. Maybe this allows it to see its predators inching closer before they devise an attack. The shrimp’s vision could possibly replace its sense of feeling and hearing—observing sound waves in the wavy, salty sea or having thermal imaging abilities. However, the extent to its abilities is far greater than we can perceive. It would be impossible to imagine the full capabilities of the mantis shrimp without having a “Freaky Friday” moment and switching brains. As humans, we have become too accustomed to our perception of superiority that it is difficult to imagine abilities greater than our own. What we lack, we attempt to compensate for with technology and scientific advancements. We have escaped the mentality of our cavemen and cavewomen ancestors—scavenging for food and hiding from predators. Machine guns and others weapons of mass destruction have given humans the mindset that we are on the top of the food chain.

The short novel Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott was enforced upon my Geometry class over spring break. Although initially a lesson about the multiple dimensions, Flatland also explores the challenge of explaining higher realms to those who cannot experience it. The king of Pointland is so narrow-minded and insular that he refuses to believe that there are objects larger than he is. When confronted with a square, all he sees is another point. As humans, our abilities are limited as well. We do not have the innate skills of the mantis shrimp with its sixteen receptors; however, centuries of innovation have made us inept to fully perceive the skills we are incapable of.

The mantis shrimp can see a greater spectrum of rays and waves and possibly some great unknown, but perhaps, it is better that its abilities remain a mystery. At this time, we are probably not ready for such visual capabilities; our current ones have already proven to be overbearing. Maybe the best things in life are not meant to be seen because they must be felt or understood.

These UChicago essay examples were compiled by the advising team at CollegeAdvisor.com . If you want to get help writing your UChicago application essays from CollegeAdvisor.com Admissions Experts , register with CollegeAdvisor.com today.

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How To Answer U Chicago's Supplemental Essay Prompts 2022/23

The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It has an acceptance rate of around 7%, making it one of the most prestigious and selective schools in the United States. One way in which applicants get to showcase their personality and separate themselves from the other applicants which whom they are competing against is through the U Chicago Supplementary Essays. The essay prompts serve to offer a more holistic view of each applicant to admission officers so as to allow them to make a more informed decision on whether to admit an applicant to the school. This blog serves as a guide as to how one may approach the U Chicago Supplementary Essays.

What are the University of Chicago supplemental essay prompts for 2022/23?

The University of Chicago is known for its unique and unusual supplemental essay prompts . This year wasn’t any different.

Prompt 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.

Prompt 2: Extended Essay  (Required; Choose one)

Was it a cat I saw? Yo-no-na-ka, ho-ka-ho-ka na-no-yo (Japanese for “the world is a warm place”). Może jutro ta dama da tortu jeżom (Polish for “maybe tomorrow that lady will give a cake to the hedgehogs”). Share a palindrome in any language, and give it a backstory. - Inspired by Leah Beach, Class of 2026, Lib Gray SB ’12, and Agnes Mazur AB ‘09

What advice would a wisdom tooth have? –Inspired by Melody Dias, Class of 2025

You are on an expedition to found a colony on Mars, when from a nearby crater, a group of Martians suddenly emerges. They seem eager to communicate, but they're the impatient kind and demand you represent the human race in one song, image, memory, proof, or other idea. What do you share with them to show that humanity is worth their time? —Inspired by Alexander Hastings, Class of 2023, and Olivia Okun-Dubitsky, Class of 2026

UChicago has been affiliated with over 90 Nobel laureates. But, why should economics, physics, and peace get all the glory? You are tasked with creating a new category for the Nobel Prize. Explain what it would be, why you chose your specific category, and the criteria necessary to achieve this accomplishment. —Inspired by Isabel Alvarez, Class of 2026

Genghis Khan with an F1 racecar. George Washington with a SuperSoaker. Emperor Nero with a toaster. Leonardo da Vinci with a Furby. If you could give any historical figure any piece of technology, who and what would it be, and why do you think they’d work so well together? -Inspired by Braden Hajer, Class of 2025

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!

Check out more UChicago questions from previous years

How this Economics Student got into UChicago

How to answer Prompt 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 wishes and how they relate to uchicago..

This essay prompt essentially teases students' motivations and reasons for applying to UChicago. However, instead of asking, “Why UChicago?” the admission officers have decided to ask in a more specific manner. Hence, the last you want to do is to offer generic reasons that can be “copied-paste” to any “Why (this school)” question. Instead, it would help if you had researched what academic programs and extra-curriculextracurricularpportunitiesUChicago offers.

You should be able to explain why you have chosen UChicago, backed with adequate research. In doing so, you should also be able to ascertain what kind of learning environment/ community you wish to pursue and contribute to and how UChicago can satisfy your wishes. Through your answer, it is also essential to demonstrate your enthusiasm and show how you would contribute to UChicago.

Helpful Tips for Prompt 1

1. be specific.

For example, let’s say you’re interested in UChicago’s premier economics program. You’ve taken the AP courses , completed econ-related extracurriculars , and you want that interest to guide your college experience. Research how the economics program works at UChicago, any professors whose research you might be interested in, and any student organizations that work in econ. Then, imagine how your experience will grow when you have access to those resources.

2. It’s not just about school

UChicago will receive your grades separately, so set aside your GPA . You’re not just a student in college. You’re a roommate, study partner, and gym buddy. UChicago has a reputation for attracting hard workers and prides itself on diverse student cultures. Adding that layer of depth when you’ve only got 250 words is challenging. If you’re unsure whether to describe another detail about your studies or about an extraordinary experience you had, go with the latter.

3. Stay humble

It’s not just how you’ll take advantage of UChicago’s opportunities but how your contributions will benefit others. Listing your accomplishments might sound like an excellent way to show your worth, but remember you’re joining thousands of other hopefuls from many different walks of life. If you were lucky enough to have beautiful experiences, focus on how they changed your sense of self rather than just listing positive outcomes.

4. Stay positive

Never criticize other schools. If you want to talk about UChicago’s first-year “Core Experience,” with its focus on interdisciplinary texts, don’t write negatively about how other universities lack those courses! You can build up UChicago’s unique offerings without speaking negatively about other institutions.

• Read more on how to answer the “Why This College” prompt

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How to answer Prompt 2

The University of Chicago is renowned for its provocative essay questions . These questions allow students to tell the school more about themselves, their tastes, and their ambitions. Students approach these questions with absolute seriousness, complete fancy, or something in between.

Each year UChicago asks newly admitted and current college students for essay topics. They receive several hundred responses, many of which are eloquent, intriguing, or downright wacky. The questions below were inspired by submissions from UChicago students and alumni.

Choose one of the following prompts and respond in a maximum of two pages.

Essay Option 1

A palindrome is **“**a word, phrase, or sequence that reads the same backward as forwards.” Here is a list of palindromes you can refer to spark some ideas.

The purpose of this prompt is for the admission officers to see how imaginative you can be . The palindrome you eventually choose and give a backstory to will illustrate your personality, cultural experiences, and creativity in a way that your academic grades or your CV cannot do.

Ideally, you should make your story as original and thought-provoking as possible and link the story to yourself or your thoughts or opinions. For example, if you choose the palindrome “Eva, can I stab bats in a cave?” , you may want to think of a story of how humans and animals interact.

It is possible to link this to the current COVID-19 pandemic, where there are theories that wildlife trade and animals such as bats are the sources of the coronavirus. You can then introduce your thoughts/ opinions on the matter. Of course, this is just one way to do this – there is no wrong way per se as long as your answer is engaging, compelling, and can demonstrate certain traits about you (e.g., being intellectually curious). If you wish to make this more personal, you can introduce other aspects of yourself through the story, such as your interests, hobbies, or projects.

Essay Option 2

Again, the admission officers are trying to test if you can think outside the box and justify your answer to the best of your ability. As long as you can explain your answer, you’re on the right track, given that the admission officers are not looking for a particular answer but a logical explanation that can demonstrate your values and personality to them.

One way to approach this question is to interpret it literally , in that your wisdom tooth was probably plucked out before college, and the experience was perhaps painful. Hence, what advice would your then wisdom tooth have given to your past self when undergoing painful experiences?

Another way to approach this question is to interpret it figuratively , in that a wisdom tooth represents obsolete events, given that the wisdom tooth eventually becomes obsolete after being plucked out. Hence, what advice can a wisdom tooth give to other things/people who seemingly have become obsolete?

In your essay, it is essential to set out how you interpret this question and then go ahead and give your answer and explain it in a way that shows admission officers that you are capable of reasoning and analytical thinking.

Essay Option 3

You are on an expedition to find a Mars colony when a group of Martians suddenly emerges from a nearby crater. They seem eager to communicate, but they're impatient and demand you represent the human race in one song, image, memory, proof, or another idea. What do you share with them to show that humanity is worth their time? —Inspired by Alexander Hastings, Class of 2023, and Olivia Okun-Dubitsky, Class of 2026

Essentially, this prompt wants to know your view on humanity . You may want to start by thinking about some art, history, or literature that you find fascinating and that can represent humanity. In choosing what you think is the most exciting thing to represent humanity, consider the values, message, and revelations that that thing conveys. In your answer, you should be able to articulate

• The thing that you have chosen
• Why have you chosen it?
• What it represents on the value of humanity
• What does it matter

Of course, there are two ways to approach this – one is by representing humanity in a positive manner and the other in a negative manner.

In the first way, you would want to persuade the Martians that humanity is worth their time by “marketing” humanity to them and showing how great it is.

Latterly, you can persuade the Martians that humanity is worth their time by showing some “crisis” of sorts and that urgent action is needed. Through your answer, the admission officers hope to gain insight into your perspective on humanity while also understanding who you are.

Essay Option 4

UChicago has been affiliated with over 90 Nobel laureates. But why should economics, physics, and peace get all the glory? You are tasked with creating a new category for the Nobel Prize. Explain what it would be, why you chose your specific type, and the criteria necessary to achieve this accomplishment. —Inspired by Isabel Alvarez, Class of 2026

This prompt is very broad and allows students to challenge the standard markers of glory in society . Currently, society seems to value economics, physics, and peace for the Nobel Prize. However, in answering this question, you may want to challenge this societal assumption and how society values one field/industry/issue over others.

You can talk about why other things should be recognized and included as a category for the Nobel Prize. In doing so, you can seize this opportunity to write about your passions, interests, and values.

For example, if you are very interested in baking, you can discuss creating a Nobel Prize category for baking. Let your experiences and values shape how you describe the category and its criteria. Of course, depending on how you frame this question, you can choose to be very serious or light-hearted in your response.

Essay Option 5

This prompt is more academic than the rest because it requires you to show your knowledge of history, politics, culture, and economics .

In brainstorming the historical figure, you should consider which historical figure you admire, how they have impacted the people and community they were in, and what about them resonates with you.

As for the piece of technology you wish to pair with them, think about what technology would be helpful to them, or what technology would have prompted their imagination and possibly changed their decisions, or what they would have done with this technology. This could have specific implications for the people and community they lived in. Be as creative and descriptive in your response!

Essay Option 6

And, as always… the classic choose your adventure option! In the spirit of adventurous inquiry, select one of our past prompts (or create a question of your own). Be original, creative, and thought-provoking. Draw on your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary, social critic, sage, a citizen of the world, or future citizen of the University of Chicago; take a little risk, and have fun!

If you do not like any of the other prompts, you may engage with this prompt, which essentially gives you free reign to design any prompt or choose any of the past UChicago prompts .

Regardless of your choice, think about what you want to showcase to the admission officer. Essentially, you want to show your thoughts, values, experiences, passions, interests, etc. Hence, when choosing a prompt, you want to select something that allows you to showcase these things about yourself to a certain degree.

If you choose to craft your own prompt, be sure to use the way UChicago craft their other application prompts as a guide – this would mean that you may have to think a little out of the box, which is something that UChicago admission officers are looking out for!

Helpful Tips for Prompt 2

1. remember your purpose..

Ultimately, you want your essays to show the admissions officers a facet of your personality that they want to see at UChicago in the fall. While you should write freely, the creativity of prompts means it’s easy to deviate from the prompt. If the prompt asks you to write a letter, tell a story, or argue a point of view, make sure you’re doing that, even as your imagination runs wild.

2. Get someone (or three) to proofread.

There is no quicker essay-killer than a bad typo during the good part. While this advice applies to anything you write, it is especially crucial for this type of essay since you’re likely not sticking to a standard paragraph format. Writing dialogue, keeping tenses in a story, and even staying consistent in your tone and vocabulary isn’t easy. Pick people who know you and your voice. Increase the font size to check for spacing and spelling errors. Break down each paragraph into one-sentence summaries, and check that the flow of the essay moves smoothly.

3. If you choose to write on your own prompt, keep the scope narrow.

The “choose your own prompt” option is always a temptation. Sometimes it’s an excellent choice! But it can be hard to keep the bigger goal in mind when deciding what to write. Your purpose is to display your writing abilities on a specific topic while showing admissions a bit of your personality.

4. Admissions officers are human beings too.

UChicago’s fun prompts highlight a critical aspect of all college admission essays: no formula will guarantee entry or even predict your college experience. The answer to the prompts is not as important as how you express your thoughts. Don’t write what you think UChicago wants to hear. If you’re not confident in your humor, rely on persuasion instead. If you are excited about a contentious topic, write with the same balance and respect you’d use when talking to a human being.

Final Thoughts

The UChicago essays are offbeat and eccentric. Try to have fun with them. The committee wants you to convey a sense of playfulness, hoping these essays will help them better understand your personality.

What Makes Crimson Different

Key Resources & Further Reading

• University of Chicago University Profile
• MIT Supplemental Essay 2021/22
• Harvard Supplemental Essay 2021/22
• Columbia Supplemental Essay 2021/22
• Princeton Supplemental Essay 2021/22
• Acing your College Application Essay: 5 Expert Tips to Make it Stand Out from the Rest
• How to Tackle Every Type of Supplemental Essay
• 2021-22 Essay Prompts Common App Essay Prompts
• What are the Most Unusual US College Supplemental Essay Prompts?

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How to format & structure your college application essay.

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How to Respond to the 2023/2024 University of Chicago Supplemental Essay Prompts

Cece Gilmore is a Content Writer at Scholarships360. Cece earned her undergraduate degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from Arizona State University. While at ASU, she was the education editor as well as a published staff reporter at Downtown Devil. Cece was also the co-host of her own radio show on Blaze Radio ASU.

Learn about our editorial policies

Bill Jack has over a decade of experience in college admissions and financial aid. Since 2008, he has worked at Colby College, Wesleyan University, University of Maine at Farmington, and Bates College.

Maria Geiger is Director of Content at Scholarships360. She is a former online educational technology instructor and adjunct writing instructor. In addition to education reform, Maria’s interests include viewpoint diversity, blended/flipped learning, digital communication, and integrating media/web tools into the curriculum to better facilitate student engagement. Maria earned both a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature from Monmouth University, an M. Ed. in Education from Monmouth University, and a Virtual Online Teaching Certificate (VOLT) from the University of Pennsylvania.

Chicago isn’t only known for its deep dish pizza. It is also famous for being home to the prestigious University of Chicago, which has an acceptance rate in the 6% range. So, let’s learn how to make your UChicago supplemental essay question responses stand out! Applicants must complete two UChicago supplemental essays. To make your responses perfect, complete some research before! Figure out what it is about UChicago (besides deep dish goodness) that makes you want to attend their school! 

The University of Chicago is also famous for having some…unique supplemental essay questions. So, put on your creative cap and get ready to have some fun while responding to UChicago’s supplemental essay questions. Here’s our guide for how to ace these creative UChicago supplemental essays!

Also see: How to write an essay about yourself

Essay question #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 your typical “Why us” essay. However, do not make your response boring or universal! Make it specific to UChicago. Use this space to really detail why this school is the perfect fit for you. 

Explore both the academic and extracurricular aspects of the university that stand out from others. Maybe you are extremely passionate about majoring in biology to soon become a doctor one day. Therefore, discuss what courses, research, and study abroad opportunities UChicago has to offer that will make this goal attainable. It is important to touch upon what you want your future to look like and how UChicago will get you to reach all of your goals. It is also important to touch upon the aspects of their school that makes them unique. What makes UChicago stand out from all of the other schools you are considering? 

Overall, an admissions officer reading your essay should have a good sense of what you are looking to get out of UChicago. In addition, they should easily be able to see how much research you have done and how serious you are about attending their university. 

Questions to consider

• What makes UChicago unique from other colleges? 
• Why are you excited to attend UChicago? 
• Why did you choose to apply to UChicago? 

Also see: How to write a 500 word essay

Essay question #2: The extended essay

For the extended essay portion of your application, UChicago provides applicants with seven unorthodox essay options. Each of these choices were created by UChicago alumni and students, which means these questions were made with you in mind. They also emphasize creativity and unique ideas when responding to these prompts, so try to have fun with them! 

“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” 

This is a question that requires your thinking hat to be on to answer it! To begin, just brainstorm! Try to come up with some ideas of 2 things that undo each other, bonus points if you can come up with something that has significance in your life such as something you use on a daily basis or something you are passionate about. For example, if you want to major in chemistry at the University of Chicago, discussing beta decay and electron capture could reveal your passion for the subject. However, no pressure if you can only think of something logistical rather than meaningful to you! Once you are satisfied with your idea, you should describe how these 2 things undo each other and why both are necessary. Ultimately, this question is trying to hint at how balance is important! You should try to use this prompt as a way to dig deeper into your life and reveal some aspects of your personality and thought-process. Below are some examples of things that undo each other in case you are completely stuck! 

Some examples of things that undo each other: 

• Typos and autocorrect
• Wetness and a towel
• Addition and subtraction
• Lock and key
• Sewing and unthreading
• Stains and laundry 
• Photosynthesis and cellular respiration

Questions to consider:

• What 2 things do you use in your daily life that undo one another? 
• Do you believe that balance is necessary in life? 
• Why do you think so many things in our lives undo each other? 

“”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”

If you love music this is the perfect option for you! Think of your favorite singer, song or band and find a title or lyric that asks a question. The creativity with this prompt is endless, you can select a deep philosophical question or just an easy-to-answer funny question. Ultimately, what matters is that you answer the question in a creative and meaningful way. You want your unique personality to shine through throughout this response so be sure to be yourself in your writing. Below are a few examples of questions found in song titles or lyrics! But, feel free to select a question from a song that means a lot to you. The choice of lyric and singer can reveal a lot about your personality. 

Example of questions from song titles or lyrics:

• “Should I stay or should I go?” -The Clash
• “What would you do if you weren’t doin’ this?” -Luke Combs
• “Wouldn’t it be nice?” -The Beach Boys
• “Do you believe in magic?” -The Lovin’ Spoonful
• “If the story’s over, why am I still writing pages?” -Taylor Swift
• “What if I’m someone I don’t want around?” -Harry Styles
• “What’s love got to do with It?” -Tina Turner
• “Should I give up or should I just keep chasin’ pavements even if it leads nowhere?” -Adele

Question to consider:

• What is your favorite song title or lyric that asks a question?

“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 Chaflin, Class of 2027”

Language is fun due to the unique creative word mashups that can be made. So, put on your creativity hat and think about two words that just need to be combined! This question is specifically asking for a “new portmanteau” so do not use a common portmanteau! Rather, try to be extremely creative in coming up with your patch (perfect match)! However, try not to forget that this is an essay to help you become admitted to the University of Chicago! Therefore, try to take it one step further and create a portmanteau that uses 2 words that describe you or one of your passions. Using words that are aspects of your identity can reveal so much about yourself which is all the University of Chicago wants from your response! 

For example, maybe you choose the words “runner” and “scientist” to make “runnitist” to describe yourself because you love to run but love to focus on the science behind running and training to avoid injury and be the best runner you can be! This can also lead you to discuss how you want to become a physical therapist and that is why you want to attend the University of Chicago! See full circle! Or should we say furcle?

Examples of common portmanteaus:

• Smog (smoke and fog)
• Brunch (breakfast and lunch) 
• Spork (spoon and fork)
• Motel (motor and hotel)
• What are 2 words used to describe yourself? 
• Why do you think these 2 words fit so well together? 

“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”

Misnomers are a fun (or confusing) part of language. Therefore, spend some time researching and brainstorming some misnomers. Once you find one that you love (or hate) you should begin crafting your response. Ultimately, it does not matter if you decide to change the name or keep it, rather your argument should be prioritized. Your argument will show admissions how your brain works and disclose what you are passionate about. Therefore, focus on crafting a strong and persuasive argument that supports your reasoning, no matter how ridiculous this argument may seem! 

Examples of misnomers:

• Koala bears = they are marsupials not bears
• Light-year = a measure of distance not time
• Silkworm = they are caterpillars not worms
• Black boxes = they are bright orange not black
• Centipedes = they do not have 100 legs rather it varies from 30 to 354
• Should your selected misnomer name be kept? Why or why not?
• Are misnomers confusing? 

“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”

If you love game nights this is the prompt for you! Try to brainstorm some modern games which are games that are not considered classics such as checkers. Rather think of some recent games that have swept the newer generations such as mobile phone games or beach games such as Spikeball. Once you have decided on the perfect game that you believe will withstand the test of time, write about it! However, it is important to remember that the University of Chicago wants to know about you- not about a game! Therefore, try to limit your time explaining the game’s rules and intricacies! Rather, focus on how the game makes you feel or why you think games are important to society. Ultimately, be sure you are revealing unique qualities you demonstrate throughout your response!

Examples of modern games:

• Candy Crush
• Dungeons and Dragons
•  What is a modern game you feel will withstand the test of time?
• Why do you enjoy playing this game? Do you like that it’s a single player game? Teamwork game? Strategy game? 
• Why is playing games important for society? What benefits does gameplay have? 
• Has this game taught you anything? Any important life lessons? Any new skills? 

“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”

If you have ever been curious about some quirks of human life then this is the prompt for you! Try to think about an unwritten rule that has bugged you for a while. Why does this rule bother you? Why do you think people follow this rule even though it is unwritten? After you explain the rule and your side you should focus on shifting your response to reveal more information about your interests, goals and character.

Examples of unwritten rules:

• Saying hello to fellow hikers on a trail
• Asking people at tourist locations where they are from
• Knock on the door before entering
• Offering guests to your home a beverage or food
• Don’t swipe on someone’s phone when they show you a picture
• If someone is treating you to lunch, do not order the most expensive menu item
• What is an unspoken rule that has always confused you? 
• How does this rule make you feel? 
• Why do you think this rule has been unspokenly accepted? 

“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!”

This prompt is your chance to create something completely new and unlike any other application UChicago has ever received. Use your creativity to the fullest extent and figure out your own way to showcase your personality. However, make sure you don’t go too overboard and stay focused on your goal of getting into UChicago. 

Try not to make your essay revolve around your academic achievements. Instead, tell a story of how you’ve grown and what led you to UChicago’s doorstep, or describe an old proverb and how it relates to your life. Either way, your options are unlimited and making your own prompt demonstrates your interest in attending this university. 

• What story do you want to tell the admissions office?
• How can I best showcase your knowledge or skills?
• What are some of the older UChicago prompts that caught your eye?

Next steps after applying to UChicago

Now that the fun is over, and you have completed your UChicago supplemental essays – it is time to celebrate! Treat yourself to some deep dish pizza because you are one step closer to the Windy City!

Now, continue to show that you are interested in the university! You can do this by following their social media accounts, scheduling a tour, and reaching out to their admissions officers. Doing any of these will prove you are willing to take the next step with UChicago. 

After you have proven your interest in the school, time to sit back and relax! All the hard work is over. Soon enough, you will be relaxing in a dorm that overlooks the city skyline of Chicago. 

Additional resources

We know that being a student applying for colleges is not easy. There are a lot of tough choices that need to be made when it comes down to selecting a college. Once you start hearing back from colleges you should use our college comparison spreadsheet to help you. You can also check out our guide to how many schools to apply to in order to ensure you’ve got yourself covered.

In addition, be sure to check out our free scholarship search tool to help you choose a financially smart educational institution! It is always important to consider finances when selecting a college. Good luck on your college journey! Remember you will always end up where you need to be! 

• Fill out your FAFSA application
• Learn about the CSS Profile
• Get started  on your financial aid appeal letters

Start your scholarship search

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Additional colleges to consider

• Northwestern University (Evanston, IL)
• University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA)
• Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA)
• New York University (New York, NY)
• Columbia University (New York, NY)

Frequently asked questions about the University of Chicago supplemental essay prompts

How should i approach brainstorming for the university of chicago essays, can i reuse my common app personal statement for one of the supplemental essays, when are the application deadlines for the university of chicago, can i get creative with my university of chicago supplemental essay answers.

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UChicago Released 2022-2023 Essay Prompts and We're Loving Them

Each year, applicants to The University of Chicago are asked to answer two supplemental essay questions. Sounds normal enough, right? Not quite – UChicago is famous for its unique essay prompts which are often creative and uniquely fun. 

Applicants are asked to submit two essays with their application. The first is the standard "why UChicago" question. The second question takes a more creative approach. The essay prompts change wildly each year–because they are submitted by current students!

The University of Chicago’s history of unique essay questions began in 1984 when the admissions staff added a fun prompt asking students to image themselves as astronauts on Mars. In 2000, UChicago students took over the task of writing essay questions. Each year, UChicago receives several hundred essay prompt submissions from students enrolled at the university and narrows it down to a handful for applicants to choose from.

When asked why they offer such unique essay prompts Peter Wilson, assistant vice president of enrollment and student advancement and director of undergraduate admissions, says: “We are interested in diversity in all its forms, and a wide variety of questions allows for a wide variety of ideas to be represented.”

2022-2023 University of Chicago Supplemental Essay Prompts

Question 1 (required): .

How does the university of Chicago, as you know it, 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.

Question 2: Extended Essay (Required; Choose 1)

Essay Option 1 : Was it a cat I saw? Yo-no-na-ka, ho-ka-ho-ka na-no-yo (Japanese for “the world is a warm place”). Może jutro ta dama da tortu jeżom (Polish for “maybe tomorrow that lady will give a cake to the hedgehogs”). Share a palindrome in any language, and give it a backstory.

— Inspired by Leah Beach, Class of 2026, Lib Gray SB ’12, and Agnes Mazur AB ‘09

Essay Option 2 : What advice would a wisdom tooth have?

— Inspired by Melody Dias, Class of 2025

Essay Option 3 : You are on an expedition to found a colony on Mars, when from a nearby crater, a group of Martians suddenly emerges. They seem eager to communicate, but they're the impatient kind and demand you represent the human race in one song, image, memory, proof, or other idea. What do you share with them to show that humanity is worth their time?

— Inspired by Alexander Hastings, Class of 2023, and Olivia Okun-Dubitsky, Class of 2026

Essay Option 4 : UChicago has been affiliated with over 90 Nobel laureates. But, why should economics, physics, and peace get all the glory? You are tasked with creating a new category for the Nobel Prize. Explain what it would be, why you chose your specific category, and the criteria necessary to achieve this accomplishment.

— Inspired by Isabel Alvarez, Class of 2026

Essay Option 5 : Genghis Khan with an F1 racecar. George Washington with a SuperSoaker. Emperor Nero with a toaster. Leonardo da Vinci with a Furby. If you could give any historical figure any piece of technology, who and what would it be, and why do you think they’d work so well together?

— Inspired by Braden Hajer, Class of 2025

Essay 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!

Past Supplemental Extended Essay Prompts

Lost your keys? Alohomora. Noisy roommate? Quietus. Feel the need to shatter windows for some reason? Finestra. Create your own spell, charm, jinx, or other means for magical mayhem. How is it enacted? Is there an incantation? Does it involve a potion or other magical object? If so, what's in it or what is it? What does it do? — Inspired by Emma Sorkin, Class of 2021 

UChicago professor W. J. T. Mitchell entitled his 2005 book What Do Pictures Want? Describe a picture, and explore what it wants. —Inspired by Anna Andel

Heisenberg claims that you cannot know both the position and momentum of an electron with total certainty. Choose two other concepts that cannot be known simultaneously and discuss the implications. (Do not consider yourself limited to the field of physics). — Inspired by Doran Bennett, AB’07

Alice falls down the rabbit hole. Milo drives through the tollbooth. Dorothy is swept up in the tornado. Neo takes the red pill. Don’t tell us about another world you’ve imagined, heard about, or created. Rather, tell us about its portal. Sure, some people think of the University of Chicago as a portal to their future, but please choose another portal to write about. — Inspired by Raphael Hallerman, Class of 2020

Due to a series of clerical errors, there is exactly one typo (an extra letter, a removed letter, or an altered letter) in the name of every department at the University of Chicago. Oops! Describe your new intended major. Why are you interested in it and what courses or areas of focus within it might you want to explore? Potential options include Commuter Science, Bromance Languages and Literatures, Pundamentals: Issues and Texts, Ant History... a full list of unmodified majors ready for your editor’s eye is available  here . — Inspired by Josh Kaufman, AB'18

How did you get caught? (Or not caught, as the case may be.) — Inspired by Kelly Kennedy, AB’10

Discover more of The University of Chicago’s past essay prompts on their admissions essay website .

Read more on application essays:

The Importance of Supplemental Essays in College Admissions

Supplemental Essay “Fun”

Application Essay Topics to Avoid

And don't forget to join the CC Community for more discussion on application essays, admission tips, and applying to college.

Sam is a freelance writer. She studied at the University of Massachusetts Boston where she earned a degree in English.

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Unique UChicago essay questions spark students’ creativity

August 20, 2021

By Lily Levine

AB'22, Writer, College Editorial Team

Whether it is finding where Waldo really is, considering who Sally sells her seashells to or exploring what can actually be divided by zero, every University of Chicago undergraduate since the 1980s has written an essay as part of the College admissions process. 

While the first supplemental essay on the UChicago application essentially asks “Why UChicago?”, the Extended Essay encourages creative liberty and provides a window into a prospective student’s personality and passions.

The legendary UChicago Extended Essay dates back to at least 1984, when a prompt invited applicants to imagine themselves as astronauts on Mars and asked them whether they would prefer to be teleported molecule-to-molecule back to earth, or to be the person running the teleporting machine. Prompts were initially developed by College Admissions staff, but in 2000, the practice of inviting admitted students to contribute questions first began. 

According to Peter Wilson, AB’10, MBA’17, assistant vice president of enrollment and student advancement and director of undergraduate admissions, the essay gives prospective students an opportunity to demonstrate how they utilize critical thinking and rigorous inquiry to confront unfamiliar situations. 

“When students come to the College, they will invariably be met with a situation or problem they have never encountered before, be it academics-related or otherwise” Wilson said. “This prompt gives Admissions counselors a way to evaluate how students will navigate those situations once they are at UChicago.”

John W. Boyer, the dean of the College, said the fundamental idea behind the Extended Essay is to invite prospective students to be creative in a serious but intellectually playful way in response to an open-ended challenge. 

“These essays not only reveal much about the qualities of mind of our students, but they also show our students something of the intellectually dynamic culture they will be joining if they matriculate here as members of our community,” Boyer said.

Each year, applicants choose from six essay options—five are prompts selected for that application cycle, and the sixth allows applicants to choose a prompt from past years or create one of their own. 

“We offer a number of options because we understand students are different—they have different interests and backgrounds, a wide variety of experiences and views, and they engage different parts of their brains," Wilson said. "We are interested in diversity in all its forms, and a wide variety of questions allows for a wide variety of ideas to be represented."

Selecting new prompts every year begins with soliciting members of the UChicago community, both past and present, and asking them to submit ideas. Those interested in sending in their ideas for the 2022-23 application cycle can expect to see a call-for-submissions email next May.

By engaging current students and alumni in the process, the Extended Essay connects prospective students with the UChicago community. After receiving an average of nearly 1,000 essay prompt submissions each year, a small group of Admissions counselors then meet to review and finalize the year’s list. 

Grace Chapin James, AB’11, is very familiar with the process, having served as the chair of the essay committee for eight of the 10 years that she worked in the Office of College Admissions. 

“When we give people these creative questions, the goal is to open up their minds and see if they have a level of creativity or flexibility and exploration that will lend itself well to being in a UChicago classroom,” said James, who is now director of student recruitment and admissions at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. 

Overall, Wilson says the essay shows prospective students that the University is interested in getting a sense for how they think before they step foot on campus. 

“It also signals to prospective students that we are an institution that values and celebrates novel ways of thinking and solving problems,” he added.

Below, view two of the 2021-2022 essay prompts for prospective students and the thought process behind their creation. The rest of the prompts can be found here .

Applications for the Class of 2026 are open through the Coalition and Common Applications. For more information, visit getstarted.uchicago.edu .

In Homer’s Iliad, Helen had a “face that launched a thousand ships.” A millihelen, then, measures the beauty needed to launch one ship. The Sagan unit is used to denote any large quantity (in place of “billions and billions”). A New York Minute measures the period of time between a traffic light turning green and the cab behind you honking. Invent a new unit of measurement. How is it derived? How is it used? What are its equivalents?

—Inspired by Carina Kane, Class of 2024, and Ishaan Goel, Class of 2025

The first thing that rising second-year Carina Kane, a pre-medical student and anthropology major, learned about UChicago as a prospective student was that it had unusual essay prompts. Because of this, she decided to apply.

“I really liked the freedom [of the essay], because I could pretty much choose anything and then weave whatever story or anecdote into it and make it my own question. And I definitely knew when I was answering the question that I wanted to include something that I was interested in, but I wanted to mostly talk about something that would give some indication about who I am.” 

At the end of her first year on campus, inspired by past prompts, Kane submitted her own with the goal of giving students freedom to present their stories. From chemistry to economics to architecture, nearly every field includes a unit of measurement, and Kane hopes applicants will apply their knowledge in their subject of expertise. 

“I hope students will choose something that they're really interested in, and take that freedom that comes with the question and extend their knowledge in that subject to a fantastical realm. Everything's rigid when you're working with certain subjects, and I'd hope that they could take that and turn it into something invented and imagined.”

"There is no such thing as a new idea" - Mark Twain. Are any pieces of art, literature, philosophy, or technology truly original, or just a different combination of old ideas? Pick something, anything (besides yourself), and explain why it is, or is not, original.

—Inspired by Haina Lu, Class of 2022

Haina Lu, a rising fourth-year majoring in economics and public policy, chose to submit a prompt because the Extended Essay was one of her favorite parts of the College application process. 

Her idea was partly inspired by the “ship of Theseus” paradox, which asks whether an object that has had its components entirely replaced fundamentally remains the same object. It was also inspired by late-night conversations with her housemates in Cathey Dining Hall. 

“The Extended Essay makes the overall undergraduate body more creative and colorful,” she said. “Having an Extended Essay prompt allows students to present their ideas in a more freeform way, which contributes to making a more curious and eccentric—in the best way— student body.” 

—This article also appears on the UChicago News website.

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UChicago Supplemental Essays 2023-2024

By Eric Eng

Known for their distinct and imaginative prompts, UChicago’s supplemental essays 2023-2024 offer a platform unlike any other. These essays are a canvas for your intellectual creativity and personal insights.

In this article, we delve deep into what makes UChicago’s supplemental essays a critical component of your application, guiding you through their purpose history and how to approach them confidently and with originality.

How Many Supplemental Essays Does UChicago Have?

As you navigate the intricate process of applying to the University of Chicago , a key question arises: How many supplemental essays are required? For the 2023-2024 application cycle, UChicago requires applicants to submit two supplemental essays .

This requirement is a significant aspect of the application, as it allows you to demonstrate your writing skills, creativity, and intellectual versatility. UChicago’s supplemental essays 2023-2024 are not just about answering questions but about showcasing your ability to engage with unique prompts meaningfully. The number of essays, though seemingly modest, is designed to challenge you to think deeply and express yourself clearly.

As you prepare to write these essays, remember that each one serves a distinct purpose in painting a comprehensive picture of you as a student and individual. The opportunity to write two essays is an invitation to explore different facets of your personality and intellectual interests, giving the admissions committee a well-rounded view of your candidacy.

Breakdown of the Essay Requirements

Understanding the specific requirements of each essay is crucial in crafting compelling responses. The first of the two supplemental essays for UChicago has a word limit of 500 words. This essay typically asks you to reflect on your academic interests or a specific aspect of your intellectual curiosity. It’s an opportunity to explore what excites you academically and how it aligns with UChicago’s educational philosophy.

The second essay, with a word limit of 650 words, offers a choice of seven unique prompts. These prompts are known for their creativity and often require thinking outside the box. They might ask you to imagine new scenarios, reflect on unconventional ideas, or even create something original. This essay is your chance to showcase your creativity, wit, and ability to engage with unconventional ideas.

What are the UChicago Supplemental Essays 2023-2024?

The University of Chicago has become well-known for its thought-provoking essay prompts . These prompts allow students to express themselves and showcase their interests and aspirations, allowing them to approach the prompts in any tone they prefer.

• 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. (Required, 250-500 words)
• 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.
• “Where have all the flowers gone?” – Pete Seeger. Pick a question from a song title or lyric and give it your best answer.
• “Vlog,” “Labradoodle,” and “Fauxmage.” Language is filled with portmanteaus. Create a new portmanteau and explain why those two things are a “patch” (perfect match).
• 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.
• 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?
• 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!)
• 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!

How to Write the UChicago Supplemental Essays 2023-2024?

Writing UChicago’s supplemental essays 2023-2024 is a unique opportunity to showcase your intellectual curiosity and fit the university’s ethos. These essays are your chance to demonstrate your writing ability and your creative and critical thinking capacity.

When approaching these essays, it’s essential to understand that UChicago values originality and authenticity. Your responses should reflect your genuine interests and perspectives rather than what you think the admissions committee wants to hear.

UChicago Question 1

Question 1 of UChicago’s supplemental essays 2023-2024 asks: “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 prompt seeks to understand your reasons for choosing UChicago and how you see yourself fitting into its unique academic and social environment. It’s an invitation to articulate your educational aspirations and how UChicago’s specific offerings align with them. This question is about praising the university, reflecting on your academic journey and future ambitions, and how UChicago plays a role in that narrative.

Understanding Question 1

To effectively address Question 1, you must deeply understand what UChicago offers and how it aligns with your academic and personal goals. This question is twofold: it asks about your desires for learning and community and how they connect with UChicago.

Start by researching UChicago’s academic programs, teaching philosophy, campus culture, extracurricular activities, and anything else that resonates with your interests. Understand the university’s approach to education – how it encourages inquiry, discussion, and innovation.

Reflect on how these aspects satisfy your thirst for knowledge and personal growth. The key is to be specific: avoid general statements and focus on particular elements of UChicago that excite you and match your educational aspirations.

Brainstorming Your Response to Question 1

• Identify Your Academic Interests : List the subjects or fields you are passionate about and how UChicago’s programs or faculty can help you explore these areas further.
• Reflect on Learning Style : Consider how UChicago’s unique educational approach complements your learning style. Are you drawn to their seminar-style classes, interdisciplinary studies, or research opportunities?
• Community and Extracurriculars : Think about the community you want to be a part of. What clubs, organizations, or community projects at UChicago appeal to you
• Career Aspirations : How do UChicago’s resources and alums network align with your career goals? List specific programs, internships, or mentorship opportunities that interest you.
• Campus Culture : Reflect on aspects of UChicago’s campus life that resonate with you. This could include traditions, diversity initiatives, or even the architectural vibe of the campus.
• Personal Growth : Consider how being a part of the UChicago community will contribute to your personal development. Are there specific experiences or challenges at UChicago that you believe will shape you?

Structuring Your Answer to Question 1

When structuring your response to Question 1 of UChicago’s supplemental essays 2023-2024, start with a clear introduction that outlines your main interests and how they align with UChicago’s offerings. In the body of your essay, delve into specifics: discuss particular programs, courses, professors, or extracurricular activities at UChicago that excite you, and explain why. Use personal anecdotes or reflections to illustrate your points and to show a deep understanding of how UChicago fits into your academic and personal journey.

In conclusion, tie your points together and reiterate how UChicago stands out as the ideal place for you to grow, learn, and achieve your future goals. Remember, clarity and specificity are essential – your goal is to paint a vivid picture of why UChicago is the perfect fit for you.

UChicago Question 2

For the second of UChicago’s supplemental essays 2023-2024, applicants are presented with diverse prompts, each requiring a unique approach and a deep well of creativity.

With a generous word limit of 650, this essay invites you to engage in various intellectual exercises, from exploring paradoxes and portmanteaus to addressing cultural phenomena and unwritten societal rules.

The variety in these prompts is a testament to UChicago’s commitment to intellectual diversity and creative thinking. Whether you’re dissecting language, pondering over historical continuities, or challenging societal norms, this essay is your platform to demonstrate your capacity for innovative thought and your ability to engage with ideas profoundly and meaningfully.

Understanding Question 2

To effectively respond to Question 2, it’s crucial first to understand the prompt you choose. Each option requires a different style of thinking and writing.

For instance, discussing two things that undo each other requires understanding those concepts and exploring their necessity and interdependence. Similarly, answering a question from a song lyric demands both creative interpretation and personal reflection. The portmanteau prompt invites linguistic creativity, while the misnomer question requires a blend of critical thinking and wit. Discussing a modern game that will stand the test of time involves cultural analysis and foresight, and challenging an unwritten rule calls for introspection and societal critique. The open-ended prompt is the most challenging, as it offers complete freedom and thus demands high originality and thoughtfulness.

Your prompt choice should align with your strengths and interests, allowing you to showcase your intellectual curiosity and creative thinking skills.

Brainstorming Your Response to Question 2

• Identify Your Interests and Strengths : Choose a prompt that resonates with your interests, whether it’s language, history, culture, or societal norms.
• Research and Reflect : Do some research for prompts that require specific knowledge, like the one about games or societal rules. Reflect on your personal experiences and opinions.
• Creative Thinking : Let your imagination run wild for prompts that demand creativity, like creating a portmanteau or discussing a misnomer. Think outside the box and play with ideas.
• Personal Connection : Find a unique angle or story to connect to the prompt. This will make your essay more engaging and authentic.
• Drafting Ideas : Write down all your ideas, no matter how rough. This will help you see which concepts have the most potential to develop into an entire essay.

Structuring Your Answer for Question 2

To start your essay captivatingly, create an introduction that effectively sets up the context for your response. Additionally, ensure that your writing is free of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.

If you’re discussing a paradox, start by briefly explaining the concepts. You might start with why you chose that particular question for a song lyric. In the body of your essay, delve into your analysis or narrative, ensuring that you address the prompt thoroughly and thoughtfully. Use examples, anecdotes, or hypothetical scenarios to illustrate your points. Be sure to maintain a clear and logical flow of ideas.

In your conclusion, tie together your main points and reflect on your response about you as a thinker and a potential member of the UChicago community. Remember, clarity, creativity, and depth are essential in crafting a compelling reaction to UChicago’s supplemental essays 2023-2024.

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Take the First Step Towards Your Dream College with AdmissionSight!

Our team of experienced consultants at AdmissionSight is dedicated to helping you craft compelling and authentic essays that resonate with admissions committees. We understand the nuances of UChicago’s supplemental essays 2023-2024 and can provide you with the insights and support you need to create responses that stand out. From brainstorming sessions to detailed feedback, we’re here to elevate your essays from good to exceptional.

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• Expert Guidance: Benefit from our years of experience in college admissions consulting.
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At AdmissionSight, we’re committed to helping you achieve your college admissions goals. Whether you’re just starting your application or looking for that final polish on your essays, we’re here to assist you. Take advantage of the opportunity to make your application stand out in a highly competitive pool.

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University of Chicago 2024-25 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Early Action/Decision: Nov 1

Regular Decision Deadline: Jan 2

University of Chicago 2024-25 Application Essay Question Explanations

The Requirements: 2 essays of 1-2 pages each

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Why , Oddball

This is it, the infamous UChicago supplemental application. These quirky prompts have been a rite of passage for generations of applicants, so before you dive in, just remember: if they could do it, so can you! Your goal in writing your UChicago extended essay should be the same as ever: to reveal something new to admissions. It might even help to have a few ideas in mind before reading through your options. These prompts are so specific and strange that, in the end, the key is just to follow your instincts. What speaks to you right away? What inspires you?

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..

Think of this run-of-the-mill Why Essay as the overture to your magnum opus (i.e. the Extended Essay). Chicago wants you to cover all the bases—“learning, community, and future”—so as with any Why Essay, you’d best buckle down and do your homework. The more specific details you can incorporate into your essay, the more sincere and personal it will feel (and be!). Explore both academic and extracurricular opportunities. How will you pursue your interest in oceanography? With a major in Biology and a semester in Australia? What research opportunities will you pursue? Will joining the Club Crew team help you feel more connected to aquatic life despite your midwest location? One thing you won’t find on the school website, though, is that third piece, that “future” thing. Think about where you’d like to be five or ten years from now—your career or the impact you’d like to have or even just a geographic location. How will a UChicago education help you get there? How will your scholarly and social pursuits help you grow? Show admissions how UChicago is the bridge between the person you are and the person you hope to be.

Question 2: Extended Essay ( Required; Choose one )

Essay 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.

This is a great question for artists, those of you with synesthesia, or anyone who’s been down the rabbit hole of seasonal color theory on social media. If you have strong associations with different colors or are language-obsessed, then this is a great chance to combine logical and creative thinking to breathe new life into these old sayings. Look at a rainbow or color wheel and see if any feelings or ideas jump out to you. Maybe you feel a certain calm when you see fuchsia, so “out of the fuchsia” might mean a solution that came from deep meditation, a practice introduced to you by your late grandfather. Perhaps you associate sky blue with familial love, and “a blue thumb” would mean someone who is very in tune with their family, culture, and traditions. Ultimately, your argument will (hopefully) show admissions how your brain works and pepper in a few insights as to the kinds of things you hold dear along the way.

Essay 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.

This prompt will surely appeal to the philosophers among you, as it invites you to consider the trajectory of a person’s lifetime. With such a broad field to choose from, your answers can vary from the biological (some of our blood cells regenerate every four months , so they are always younger than the rest of us) to the comedic ( embracing cartoons that you used to pretend you were too old for ) to the profound (dementia patients reverting to childhood). As you brainstorm, make a list of all possible examples of this phenomenon and choose the ones that get you excited and that you can weave together into an essay that reveals what matters to you. Remember, admissions wants to see both creative thinking and strong analytical capabilities while learning what makes you tick. If anyone else could put their name at the top of your essay, you haven’t identified the right topic yet.

Essay 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.

If you love finding patterns, solving puzzles, or identifying what holds groups together, this is the prompt for you! As you go through your daily life, start observing and jotting down instances of “the odd man out.” As your list increases, see which ones jump out to you. Maybe you have the perfect explanation for why Washington, DC can’t become a state. Perhaps you’re ready to defend the tomato’s inclusion as a vegetable even though it’s technically a fruit. As with the other prompts, your choice can be as serious or frivolous as you like, as long as it is well reasoned and creative! 

Essay 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 language nerds, we at CEA love this prompt, which is perfect for pop culture buffs, linguistics fans, or those of you whose parents think their generation’s slang is “da bomb!” You can approach this either by choosing an old slang term you like and expounding upon it or by identifying gaps in our current English language use and finding a term to fit; what ideas or emotions are we leaving unexpressed without some crucial piece of missing slang? Sure, we can say something is “all that,” but do we need to indicate it’s “all that and a bag of chips ”? Maybe! Note that the prompt also allows you to choose slang from other languages, so those of you with multicultural backgrounds can highlight that through your choice of phrase. Bonus points if you weave in multiple examples as the prompt does so effortlessly!

Essay 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.

Finally, a prompt for the mathematically inclined! The key here is to think of an estimate that is aligned with your interests. If you’re an electrical engineering nerd, maybe you want to estimate the number of circuits in UChicago’s Physics Building. If you love anime, maybe you’ll estimate the number of pen strokes in an episode of your favorite show. If you’re into fashion, perhaps you’ll estimate the number of stitches sewn into Janelle Monáe’s Met Gala gown. As with many questions on your math tests, this prompt asks you to show your work, so be sure to share every step you took to arrive at your answer. Remember, the goal is not necessarily to get the answer right, but rather to learn more about you and how your brain works. Don’t be afraid to get weird!

Essay 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.

We love all the prompts from the past —there are so many quirky ones! If this year’s questions aren’t inspiring you, don’t be afraid to peruse the archives to find one that stands out to you. If you belong at UChicago, there is no doubt you will find a prompt that sparks a story within you. 

We’d also like to note that this is a great opportunity for recycling essays. If you wrote a strong longform essay for another school, see if any of the old prompts work in your favor, or make up your own question custom-built for your essay. Good luck! 😊

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The Chicago Blog

Smart and timely features from our books and authors

What to Read for Women in Translation Month

In honor of Women in Translation Month, we are pleased to share this exciting list of recent books from the University of Chicago Press and our marketing distribution client publishers that evidence the evocative power of women’s writing from around the globe.

From The University of Chicago Press

Slashing Sounds

A Bilingual Edition

Jolanda Insana, Translated by Catherine Theis

The first collection of Italian poet Jolanda Insana’s work to be published in English, featuring transgressive poems that evidence the power of language.

A Blue Tale and Other Stories

Marguerite Yourcenar, Translated by Alberto Manguel

This story collection is a welcome port of entry for any reader not yet familiar with Marguerite Yourcenar’s works.

Pow! Right in the Eye!

Thirty Years behind the Scenes of Modern French Painting

Berthe Weill, Edited by Lynn Gumpert and Translated by William Rodarmor with an Introduction by Marianne Le Morvan and Foreword by Julie Saul and Lynn Gumpert

Memoir of a provocative Parisian art dealer at the heart of the 20th-century art world, available in English for the first time.

From Swan Isle

Celia in the Revolution, New edition

Elena Fortún, Translated by Michael Ugarte, With a Foreword by Nuria Capdevila-Argüelles

The first major English translation of the final book in the expansive and essential “Celia” series by Elena Fortún.

Returning from Silence

Jenny’s Story

Michèle Sarde, Translated by Rupert Swyer

A novel that tells the story of a Jewish family in World War II and reaches deep into Jewish history.

From Brandeis University Press

Blanche Bendahan, Translated by Yaëlle Azagury and Frances Malino

A first-ever English translation of a compelling work by a forerunner of modern Sephardi feminist literature.

From Seagull Books

The Moon in Foil

Zuska Kepplová, Translated by Magdalena Mullek

A glimpse into the world of young people, modern nomads, roving in search of a new and promising life.

Eight Studies for Experts

Eva Menasse, Translated by Simon Pare

A collection of unique, profound, and witty stories that relate animals’ peculiarities to human attitudes.

Shining Sheep

Ulrike Almut Sandig, Translated by Karen Leeder

A collection of vital, melancholic, elemental, and vibrantly contemporary poems.

The Questionable Ones

Judith Keller, Translated by Tess Lewis

A brilliant collection of micro-fiction, reflecting our fragmented times.

No Storm, Just Weather

Judith Kuckart, Translated by Alexander Booth

An engaging exploration of romance focusing on disparate ages of lovers.

Wendy Guerra, Translated by Nancy Naomi Carlson and Esperanza Hope Snyder

Poems from a critically acclaimed Cuban writer available in English for the first time.

Samira Negrouche, Translated by Nancy Naomi Carlson

Poetry that serves as an evocative portrayal of diverse landscapes and cultures.

Becoming Animal

Teresa Präauer, Translated by Kári Driscoll

An unveiling of the presence of captivating figures and creatures throughout history.

Katari´na Kucbelova´, Translated by Julia Sherwood and Peter Sherwood

A beautifully written and moving story about the power of tradition and the importance of women’s stories.

From Karolinum Press, Charles University

A World Apart and Other Stories

Czech Women Writers at the Fin de Siècle, Second Edition

Edited and Translated by Kathleen Hayes

A collection of short stories by Czech women from the turn of the twentieth century.

Why So Easily . . . Some Family Reasons for the Velvet Revolution

A Sociological Essay

Ivo Možný, Translated by Phil Jones

A famed essay examines the Velvet Revolution from a sociological perspective.

Transfigured Night

Libuše Moníková, Translated by Anne Posten With an Afterword by Helga Braunbeck

A vision of late-twentieth-century Prague from an acclaimed Czech novelist.

Malvina, or Spoken Word in the Novel

Ewa Szary-Matywiecka, Translated by Magdalena Ozarska

Examines what is now widely considered to be Poland’s first psychological novel.

Beyond the World of Men

Women’s Fiction at the Czech Fin de Siècle

Edited and translated by Geoffrey Chew

An inclusive collection of modern Czech short fiction that features overlooked women writers.

Find all of these books and more in translation on our website or from your favorite bookseller .

• Cherepovets, Vologda Oblast /
• Burger King, Sovetskiy Avenue, 63

Burger King

That's a good idea to order tasty ice cream . Good cappuccino or delicious lemonade are the most popular drinks of this restaurant. Visitors don't like hamburgers at Burger King .

The cozy atmosphere of this place allows guests to relax after a hard working day. Courteous staff members work hard, stay positive and make this place great. According to the clients, the main problem of this spot is the downscale service. Here you will pay adequate prices. This restaurant can be characterized by the spectacular decor inside. But people rate Burger King below average on Google.

Frequently mentioned in reviews

Ratings of burger king, visitors' opinions on burger king.

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Tasty dishes in cherepovets.

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