I would not expect any professors to read application essays. They may occasionally read research papers written by the students if the admissions committee asks them to.
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What we learned is that the Admissions Office relies very little on the academic side of the university. So, for instance, my son’s music supplement wasn’t looked at by anyone in the music department. It’s possible that a research paper is different.
@ganseliesel most of the AO’s are UChicago grads so they should be used to some pretty “UChicago’y” writing!
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“most of the AO’s are UChicago grads so they should be used to some pretty “UChicago’y” writing!”
LOL…I suppose that core curriculum has its purpose…
I never gave it much thought then, but in retrospect, what if the AO reading his essay was, say, a math person with limited knowledge of history? Or, what if some math person’s essay is read by a languages person? I wonder how that would have affected the applicant’s chances. Glad it’s all over now!
Multiple people read the essays and the Uncommon Blog has a few posts about how to write a good essay. Very different from, say, MIT’s advice on how to do their short-answer prompts. UChicago takes essay-writing in a different direction with the quirky prompts and 600-word free response. You either love it or you don’t. The university’s writing program is famous, by the way: https://writing-program.uchicago.edu/ Also, you are correct that any AO who’s an alum has been through the writing portions of the Core, the humanities writing workshops and so forth.
Thank you, JB. Absolutely. I read some of those essays from previous years, and they are, indeed, peculiar- to say the least. It took my son literally a half hour to write his ‘uncommon’ essay. Truly amazing what these kids can come up with. Chapeau!
To me, the uncommon essays really help determine fit for UChicago. If the essay prompts ‘speak to you’ and you can write a good response quickly, then you are a potential fit for UChicago. My D also wrote hers very quickly as well.
@hebegebe, seems like it, doesn’t it? What’s your daughter’s major, if you don’t mind?
She started off as neuroscience but later switched to economics.
@hebegebe Yes! I remember my daughter verbally riffing on one of the uncommon essay prompts on a road trip. She was coming up with some great ideas, and I said “Write these down before you forget!” She ultimately went with the ideas that she came up with in the car for her essay, and her AO later wrote her a note that said it had him laughing out loud (which was her intent). Now she’s a happy third year at UChicago.
Interesting! My son’s intended major is Econ as well. During our tour, our guide said he was taking some classes in the Econ Dept. ,and that they get to have lectures with many prominent economists and a few Nobel laureates. Ahhh…how cool!
My kids also composed a few college essays while on road trips - especially road trips for Thanksgiving weekend somewhere lol.
I think everyone is an Econ major. They should just expand the Core to include the major.
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Economist parent (two of us, actually) with two “anti-econ” majors at UChi. The Core kind of does include econ as you can opt to take the Gary Becker subset of SSI - I think it’s called “formal methods.” However, if I were going to be majoring in econ the last thing I’d want in my Core is just more econ. I’d probably take another social science sequence and broaden my horizons a bit. Of course, the core and the major together are only about 2/3rds of the total academic program. That leaves plenty more room for broadening the horizons.
Fellow economist here (can’t wait to nerd out looking at course descriptions and wandering in the bookstore). What are the anti-econ majors?
S21 is a math major, but he had always said that depending on the school he would like to pair it with something. He’s currently looking through the Econ stuff.
CR, I suspect that pretty much all the remaining majors at UChicago are considered “anti-econ.” Specifically, my D is graduating with a history major and my son has declared philosophy.
For dropping off kids in the fall, is it better to stay in a hotel in Hyde Park (and be closer to the school) or to be in the downtown area (and enjoy Chicago a bit more)?
We’re staying a few days before the drop-off date to enjoy the city and re-connect with some friends. Ive been to Chicago many times, even spent a summer there as an undergrad, but I’m wresting with the decision. Any insight would be appreciated.
I’m also wondering about the timing of move-in Sept 21-22. Is it best to arrive by 9/20, and do parents say goodbye on 9/22? Is there a parent event the evening of 9/22? This may be on the orientation website that I haven’t read yet.
It’s whatever floats your boat, CR. Downtown will allow you to access the museums and other sites more readily and perhaps your friends as well, but it will be more expensive. You might check out South Loop as I’ve found decent hotel prices there (I use Hotels.com but others might have another site to recommend). Most parts of Chicagoland are easily accessible from other parts, especially if you have a car.
Minutes after I asked the question here, I noticed a new post this morning on the UChicago parents page, which is kind of split on the question. The downtown hotels are actually pretty cheap for that weekend…found good options in the River North area at the same price as the Hyatt place in Hyde Park.
We’re flying in…debating if we’re going to need a car or not. Probably going to pre-order stuff and use Uber.
@Culbreath from what I’ve read about previous years they expect parents to leave after the second day (think there’s a lunch activity), but I’m guessing COVID restrictions might change that rabbit (last year parents left right after dorm drop-off).
What UChicago parents page? What am I missing?