@anikit-college We do not have any strict word count requirements for our supplemental essays. While we recommend 250-500 words for our Why UChicago essay, we will read the entirety of the essay you submit. The ideas presented in your writing matter much more than the specific length or format! For the extended essay, we suggest that you aim for around 650 words. This is generally plenty of space to sufficiently explain your argument, and an essay much longer than this length may struggle to succinctly explain an idea, while an essay significantly shorter may struggle to provide details.
2 Likes
To be eligible for consideration for a Gap Year, interested students should accept their offer of admission and place an enrollment deposit (or have a deposit fee waiver in place). You then must apply for a gap year through your regional admissions. Gap year requests should include a plan for a full year of structured programming, work, community involvement, or other exploration that could not be completed while enrolled in school. Students taking gap years will be asked to sign an agreement outlining expectations for conduct during their gap year.
1 Like
Applicants demonstrate leadership in a variety of different areas of the application. While the activities section might be the area where a student may specifically list out leadership positions, teacher recommendations, essays, and even coursework can demonstrate leadership as well. There is no singular type of intelligence that is most valued in our application process. We want a well-rounded student body which includes students who problem-solve and think in a variety of ways.
1 Like
What is the difference in acceptance rates between students who submit scores and those who do not, if you can say. Thanks!
Many different institutions may be our peers depending on what aspects of our college are of most interest. There are many other wonderful institutions in the city of Chicago or in the state of Illinois, a number of schools that offer a residential housing or colleges system, a number of schools that use the quarter system for their academic terms, a number of schools that compete with us in athletics in the University Athletic Association, a large number of liberal arts colleges around the world, and many other institutions that provide undergraduate students with opportunities to do research.
UChicago offers a unique combination of many different factors, and while liberal arts colleges often offer similar academic structures, they can vary widely in terms of size, location, opportunities for research, and student activities. When creating a list of colleges that interest you, it is important to consider your preferences in each of these areas and then also determine how important each of those factors are to your ultimate decision. By starting with the aspects that interest you, you’ll be able to more easily make a list of colleges that could be good fits.
1 Like
@MotherCopter
We do not publish admissions data for individual application rounds. Because we offer four different rounds (EA, ED1, ED2, RD), the data will often change a lot from year to year so it just wouldn’t be useful. You should choose the application plan that makes the most sense for you in terms of timing, commitment, and where we fall on your list of colleges.
2 Likes
*expecting sorry!
- Dual-enrollment students are considered first-year students in the application process. We do not accept dual-enrollment courses for credit at our institution.
- We do have a Debate team (the Chicago Debate Society). They are a no-cuts team and also consistently one of the best debate teams in the country. We have several other competitive academic teams like Model UN, Mock Trial, Moot Court, and others that might be of interest.
- We use a holistic process of application review which means every part of your application is meaningful, impactful, and important. There is not one section that inherently matters more than any of the others. We look for students that we think will thrive at the University of Chicago, both academically and as part of our campus community.
- We have robust research and internship support. Over 80% of our students do research in their four years, and many of our students have multiple internships throughout their time in the college. You can get involved with both research and internships during your first year. You can have research or internship positions abroad. We do not offer any specific scholarships for study abroad, but we meet 100% of demonstrated need through our Financial Aid program which means any student that receives need-based aid for our institution will not see an increase in cost when they study abroad. You should look into our College Center for Research and Fellowships as well as our Office of Career Advancement because they will have much more specific information available about our offerings than I can provide in this brief setting.
- There are a large number of resources for First-gen, low-income, and BIPOC students at our institution. I would struggle to succinctly list all that we offer in a short AMA-style reply. Our Odyssey Scholarship Program provides first-generation and low-income students with a large number of resources. This includes dedicated advising, funding for study abroad, internship opportunities, and more. Our Center for Identity + Inclusion is the home of our Office of Multicultural Student Affairs which has a number of resources for students including being the home of cultural student groups, mentorship programs, signature events, and more.
3 Likes
The best way to think about it is one last way for you to show us a bit more about yourself in a more personal way since we actually get to hear your voice and see your personality! My best recommendation for students is to try and think about what you maybe didn’t get to talk about (enough) in your application that you think would help us get to know you better!
1 Like
For the extended essay, it’s a chance for us to get to know the way a student thinks. The focus should be on answering the prompt, not telling a personal story. It’s a good way to demonstrate that you are willing to run at a question with no clear answer and challenge yourself to construct a response. It can be written in the first person, but does not need to be as it might not make sense to include your own perspective depending on the prompt you choose and approach you take.
3 Likes
@dlaugh For the extended essay, it’s a chance for us to get to know the way a student thinks. The focus should be on answering the prompt, not telling a personal story. Seeing the way applicants approach these questions tells us a ton about the applicant, even though it may seem like a more indirect format than an essay that asks a student to talk about themselves. Students don’t necessarily have to demonstrate wit; many of the essays we receive are earnest in nature, but the approach one takes to answering uncommon questions shows a willingness to think outside the box.
1 Like
@mxdunne The video profile is recommended, but not required. We will admit students that do not include a video in their application, but it is a really great opportunity for you to put your best foot forward in your application.
Thanks!
@Mintesinot_Sturm We do not have any strict word count requirements for our supplemental essays. While we recommend 250-500 words for our Why UChicago essay, we will read the entirety of the essay you submit. The ideas presented in your writing matter much more than the specific length or format! For the extended essay, we suggest that you aim for around 650 words. This is generally plenty of space to sufficiently explain your argument, and an essay much longer than this length may struggle to succinctly explain an idea, while an essay significantly shorter may struggle to provide details.
1 Like
@ElizaGandel This is an opportunity for you to paint us a picture of how you would join our campus community. Students will approach it in a variety of ways depending on which aspects of UChicago are most appealing to them. Do not feel like it needs to be a solely-academic essay. There are likely non-academic reasons that you are interested in our college, and you are welcome to include those reasons in your Why UChicago essay as well! We really want to know why you are interested in our institution and how you envision spending your years on our campus.
1 Like
@dlaugh We don’t typically publish this information, simply because it can vary each year, and we truly want students to choose the option that they feel allows them to put their best foot forward on their application. In general, we tend to see similar numbers in the percentage of students that apply without testing and the number of admitted students that applied without testing.
If a student applies Early Decision and has a pending ACT/SAT retake score that is received shortly after the ED application deadline, is there still a way to send that score afterwards? Will the applicant be penalized for sending late scores?
@Mintesinot_Sturm We have a grace period after our application deadlines where last-minute materials may still be submitted. We will reach out to any students that have missing materials and provide ample time to submit them. There is no penalty for submitting a portion of the application after the deadline.
2 Likes
Are the ACT sub score evaluated in the context of the composite score?
@Ajmanischolar24 We will see each of the section and sub-scores for the ACT, but we are typically less focused on sub-scores. We also allow students that submit testing to superscore.[quote=“Ajmanischolar24, post:40, topic:3647654, full:true”]
Are the ACT sub score evaluated in the context of the composite score?
[/quote]