Maybe you'll discuss your interest in ending world hunger and imagine that crews could be sent regularly to the moon to take hunks away and distribute it in areas that are having food crises.
Or perhaps you imagine that Neptune is full of powdery snow and perfect ski slopes, and humans and aliens go there to compete in intergalactic ski competitions that show how sports can bring different groups together. Choose any combination that strikes your fancy, and use it to show a little bit about your personality, interests, or values. This is a classic UChicago question that allows you to answer the question literally The year I applied, the version of this question was "Describe your table.
You can answer this literally and explain something like how your giant family all loves pie, so when you have family reunions, it's the obvious choice for dessert and allows people to focus on enjoying togetherness instead of worrying about food.
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. Is pie easy because the word is short and easy to pronounce, which made it easy when you were learning English as a second language? Is pie easy because there are a set of directions to follow from start to finish, which you wish more things in life had?
Or maybe you don't find pie easy at all! Ultimately, responding to this prompt requires thinking outside the box about the wording of the question and the concepts included in the question. If you're able to come up with an interesting, logical explanation for why you think pie is easy, you'll be on the right track for a good response to this prompt.
This is a bit of a lengthier prompt, but what it's asking for is fairly simple: devise a new unit of measurement and explain it. If you struggled to think of a good topic for either of the first two prompts, you may have an easier time with this one, since it can apply to pretty much anyone.
Then brainstorm ideas of how they could include a new unit of measurement. For example, maybe you love cooking for others, and your new unit of measurement is a value for the volume of clapping you receive when testing out a new recipe for your family.
Or maybe your new value is based on how many times you visit Wikipedia to look up a fact while reading a new book A four-wiki-hole book?? That's the kind you love! The standard guidelines still apply here: choose something that's unique and gives insight into who you are. It's totally appropriate to get really specific in your answers here.
The prompt itself asks you to dive into the nitty gritty of your new value and explain what it means, how it can be used, and if there are similar values you can use either real or made-up values for the equivalents.
You can be as wacky or as serious as you want with your response, just make sure it fully answers the prompt and gives a little window into what's important to you. This is one of the broadest options of the prompts. You have free reign to discuss why pretty much anything in the world is original or unoriginal.
So, what's something that has dazzled you with its originality? Or something that's made you roll your eyes because of how derivative it is? The prompt suggests focusing on something in art, literature, philosophy, or technology, but your choice doesn't need to fall into one of those categories. Is there a song you think is unlike anything else you've heard? Do you think all new technology is just a repeat of a past invention? You can get as broad or as specific as you want with this prompt, discussing an entire field like literature or narrowing it down to a single book.
Of course, choosing your topic and stance is only the first part. Then you need to explain why you feel that way. Explain your position thoroughly and give specific examples to back it up. It's said that history repeats itself. This prompt is quite similar to 4, although it's less broad because it's only asking about academic disciplines and you must take the stance that the discipline does repeat itself. Some people prefer narrower prompts because it makes it easier for them to decide what to write about.
If that's you, this prompt may be a great option! This prompt is also a great way to give the admissions team a deeper look at how you feel about your future major and why it interests you. You aren't required to write about your future field of study, but we do recommend it as colleges love to see students with a deep interest in their academics. However, as for all these prompts, choose what you think you can write the strongest essay on.
Once you have your topic, dive into how it repeats itself. Like we advised with prompt 4, use specific examples to strengthen your argument.
Perhaps you decide to write about how, in literature, many novels follow similar plots. Mention the specific books and plot devices that support your take on this. This is one of the more straightforward prompts, but don't feel like you need to take it super seriously if that's not what you're feeling.
After all, UChicago even slipped a joke of their own into this prompt! In the spirit of adventurous inquiry and with the encouragement of one of our current students! 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 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 an 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 you're imagining Pluto to be made out of black diamonds. You'd want to tie it back to yourself and your life by explaining the reasoning. For example, maybe you have a treasured family heirloom with a black diamond, and you'd want to harvest those diamonds on Pluto so everyone could have a black diamond that means as much to them as yours does to you. 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 can feel you can write the best essay for.
In this section are two University of Chicago essay examples, each written by an accepted applicant. 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 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. 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.
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. I look forward to four life-changing years--this time, with a warm winter coat. The author of this essay did a great job highlighting their familiarity with the faculty's research and the university's traditions.
It happened in a dorm. The insider tour: coveted by many, enjoyed by few. As we were leaving the common space on her floor in Max P.
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.
I want a real story. 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. It was the chase. The Iliad would have been far less exciting had Achilles settled for glory, fought for Agamemnon, and killed Hector immediately. 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. 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. This community is not tied, but melded together—one that challenges, one that nips stagnancy in the bud. 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. 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.
I recognize the scientific irrationality, not just of superstitions, but of being picking nits within a particular superstition. I have my reasons. 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. It all seemed futile, meaningless. 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? Why does it even matter, though? I like to imagine that there is a being in charge of each superstition, both the common and obscure. 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.
So convinced, in fact, that those closest to me have picked up on my idiosyncratic neurosis. 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. As the UChicago essay prompt implies, the possibilities are quite literally endless! Technically, there is no UChicago essay word limit.
The Common App requests that applicants upload files with their responses to the UChicago essay prompts. So, while all essays no matter the school should be drafted outside of the Common App, the UChicago supplement essay responses must be written, revised, edited, and finalized in an outside document.
Without a UChicago essay word limit, your UChicago essays could theoretically be as long as you want. While there's no formal UChicago essay word limit, we recommend that your responses range from about — words or about 1—2 double-spaced pages each. That way, you have the room to infuse your personality and creativity into each without going overboard. The UChicago essay prompts are meant to reveal who you are as a student, a thinker, and ultimately a person.
In fact, UChicago is known for its creative essay prompts. Take a look at some UChicago supplemental essay examples with commentary from a former admissions officer on why they worked! Admissions officers want to know who you are and how you can contribute to their academic and extracurricular community. They want to know that you have the motivation, skills, and ingenuity to thrive in a rigorous, yet extremely rewarding, academic environment. As you saw in the UChicago essay examples, the school is looking for students who are interested in attending for reasons beyond prestige and ranking.
Moreover, the best UChicago supplemental essay examples show specificity in their knowledge of the school. Leveraging your knowledge of the university is very impressive to admissions officers. In fact, UChicago cares a lot! In recent years, UChicago has received more than 30, applications and generally accepts just over 2, Because UChicago is a top-tier school, the vast majority of applicants will have stellar GPAs, standardized testing scores, and extracurricular activities.
Therefore, Admissions Officers use the UChicago supplement essay responses to understand who their applicants are and how they will fit into the UChicago community.
This means that the UChicago essays form a key part of your application! Instead, use your UChicago supplement essay answers as a way to demonstrate to Admissions Officers all you have to offer.
Use this guide to create a strategy to write solid UChicago essay prompts, and remember to check out our UChicago essay examples if you need more assistance. Happy writing! For more CollegeAdvisor. Want help crafting your UChicago supplement essay answers? Create your free account or schedule a free consultation by calling Essay Guides essay guide Admissions Tips 10 min read. Georgia Tech Supplemental Essays Guide: Christopher Zhou. Boston University Supplemental Essays Guide: Tufts University Supplemental Essays Guide: Georgetown University Supplemental Essays Guide: Rice Supplemental Essays Guide: Laura Frustaci.
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