The University of Chicago, or as we like to call it around here, UChicago, is a private research university in, shocker, Chicago. To say UChicago is for academics and high achievers is an understatement – they boast 94 Nobel laureates, 10 Fields Medalists, 4 Turing Award winners, 52 MacArthur Fellows, 26 Marshall Scholars, 53 Rhodes Scholars, 27 Pulitzer Prize winners, and 20 National Humanities Medalists. Unsurprisingly, UChicago is verrrry selective, with a 6.4% acceptance rate.
UChicago is very into their own prompts. They’re uhhh… quirky. They change every year, and we also don’t love them. But, they do serve a purpose. Even if you’re applying to UChicago as a STEM major, they want to make sure you’re a good writer. And these questions tell us a lot about UChicago too – if you think these are cringey and weird, let’s look at some other schools. If you look at the following questions with delight and glee, apply away. Let’s look at ‘em.
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.
“Upload a one or two page response,” wow we love vague directions on college apps.
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”). Moze jutro ta dama da tortu jezom (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
There are only so many palindromes in the world, so the chances of you overlapping someone else are probably pretty high – this means you need to think outside the box. We’d advise picking one that connects to a story in your own life. Like if George Michael from Arrested Development was writing this one, we’d probably suggest picking the palindrome “Yo, banana boy!” You want to use your supplements to tell them something new about yourself, so think of silly palindromes and how they connect to experiences you’ve had or things you want to say or do.
2. What advice would a wisdom tooth have? —Inspired by Melody Dias, Class of 2025
Floss more?
Look, since wisdom teeth get pulled with great regularity, we’re not so sure they’re reliable sources of wisdom. BUT, you could play with that concept. Or with the idea that wisdom teeth kind of push all the other teeth around. Or with tips for dealing with oral surgery. Or not so literal! Again, these questions are meant to help UChicago learn more about you, so if there’s advice you would want to give, there are certainly ways to make it seem like a tooth should have given it instead.
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
Kinda pro colonization, but okay. What a massively huge question and concept – thankfully, you don’t need to take it so literally. Start by thinking about your favorite traits in people, whether yourself of others. Maybe it’s humor or resiliency or intelligence or kindness. Think local with this one – what experiences from your own life would you want other people to look at and feel proud of? Tell them the thing and then tell them the story.
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
If you have an interest area or hobby that is not economics, physics, or peace, this is a good question to explore it. Feel free to be silly. You want to create a Nobel prize for napping, given to the individual who revolutionizes napping like no other before. Maybe you yourself have completely optimized the napping process. Similarly to above, use this space to tell a fun story or highlight a trait you have that you can’t capture elsewhere.
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
This could be a fun spot to combine your special interests, especially if one is historical. Perhaps you’re one of those people who is really into yo-yoing to relax, and you’d love to teach Queen Dido of Carthage how to yo-yo, since she has a pretty stressful existence after fleeing her brother after he killed her husband. This is a prompt that basically begs you to have fun and be funny, so please have fun and be funny with it.
6. In the spirit of adventurous inquiry, pose your own question or choose one of our past prompts. 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 normally love a choose your own essay prompt, but not this time. UChicago has given you plenty of options above for creativity and expression, take what they’ve supplied and run with it. They love their own prompts, so show them that love back.
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.
Now, your mandatory and normal question. This is essentially a “Why UChicago” essay, and it’s easy to hack the format. Hopefully, throughout high school, you’ve developed a niche with extracurriculars to back it up. Start by telling them your origin story – aka how you got interested in the thing you want to do, and end that thought with declaring your major. The purpose of this prompt is to connect you between what you’ve done throughout high school and what UChicago has to offer. Find one or two upper level classes you’d want to take and connect them to your background. Same with a professor doing research in your interest area. Next, go into cool extracurriculars that you’d want to pursue while at UChicago, and conclude with a sentence or two about Chicago and what it has to offer you.
The UChicago supplement tells you just as much about them as your answers to it will tell them about you, so remember if this isn’t your jam, time to look elsewhere. UChicago is a specialized place and culture and it’s not for everyone. But if you loved these questions and are excited to answer them, this might just be the place!
If you need help with your UChicago application or your Common App essay, reach out to us here.