Hey all, I am a rising high school senior (class of 2020), and I am considering applying to the University of Chicago. I was looking at the, particularly odd, essay topics they have released and I just had a question if anyone could answer. Does “Essay Option 6” mean that we can choose one of the prompts that are in the “Some classic questions from previous years…” section below it? Also, feel free to ask/ answer any other questions about the UChicago essays because I am overall confused, lol. Thank you
I looked at the prompts and liked them very much. Regarding your question - yes, i do think that they mean you can choose from past prompts. I will personally choose the one with the interstellar campus, but that’s mostly because I participate in nasa competitions so it’s more related to my interests; you should choose the one that you like the most i guess
@slimthugga
Yeah, you can write on a previous year’s prompt, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it: using an old prompt is by no means frowned upon, but you won’t produce your top work if you use a previous year’s prompt. Let me explain.
The Chicago essay is not meant to be another common app style essay just written on a different subject. People often come to the common app essay knowing what they will write about and then squeeze it into a prompt. This is not how you are supposed to treat the Chicago essay. You are not supposed to fit some essay you already have in mind to one of the given prompts.
The Chicago prompts are designed to spur original and creative though. You are supposed to respond to THE PROMPT. My worry is that if you are choosing a past prompt it is because you already have some response sketched out in your head, or because you quickly came up with a good response to that prompt. This is not ideal. The best essays aren’t the ones you can draft up quickly; the best ones are the ones you have to spend time thinking about. The more you grapple with a prompt, the more original thought you will produce.
The Chicago essays are largely about grappling with the unusual prompts. Chicago gives unusual prompts (partly) because they force people out of their comfort zones. They force people to respond in interesting and clever ways.
If you choose an essay from a past year, my worry is that you won’t grapple with it enough. You will come up with your response relatively quickly and what you write won’t be as interesting as what you otherwise might have written.
I would stick to one of this year’s new prompts. There are plenty of options and opportunities for you to write a good essay.
Also, @kathmiller , be careful not to turn your Chicago essay into another common app essay. You should mainly be responding to the prompts, not talking about your interests qua your interests (i.e. you can talk about space and that is something you are interested in, but you should not be talking much about your space-related accomplishments, academic work, ECs, etc. in your Chicago essay).
Hope this helps!
What I like about the Chicago essays is you can really have fun with them. My kid actually did recycle an essay he’d written for another college with a twist that made it fit the prompt. But he was just lucky it turned out that way. It was essentially a short story about his future self. He used it to show his creativity and also a long standing interest in ecology. But he didn’t say one word about his past activities. The essay got him into Chicago, but not into the college it had originally been written for. 
I disagree that
I think often the prompt that immediately speaks to you is much more likely to produce a good essay. At least that was what I observed with my kids. I also don’t think you should worry to much about being original, just be you.
D wrote her uncommon essay in less than an hour because the ideas came quickly and abundantly. Reviewed it a few days later with fresh eyes and submitted it. She entered it into a literary contest a few months ago and was awarded 1st place. Choose what appeals to you, and color outside the lines as you please.