The University of Chicago, or UChicago, is a private research university located in, get this, Chicago, Illinois. UChicago is ~quirky~, famously very hard, and attracts a specific type of student. If you’re that kind of student, you know it, and you probably really, really like UChicago, which of course is why you’re here.
UChicago is hard to get into, but also offers a lot of these early/priority admissions options. That’s because they know the students who are good fits to UChicago will go out of their way to make that known, whether through ED0, ED, ED2, or EA. This is also probably why UChicago’s yield rate is 86%, higher than Harvard, Stanford, or MIT. UChicago boasts a 5% acceptance rate and doesn’t publish their ED data, but we know it’s the best shot someone has at being admitted. If you’re serious about UChicago and really want to go there, ED2 is probably the best move you have left.
Why You Should Apply ED2
If you’re here, you might be on the fence about applying ED2, which we definitely understand. You might be holding out hope for another deferral-to-RD acceptance, feel hesitant about another binding decision, or just don’t know enough to make a decision. This is totally fair, but you need to take stock of your strategic options. ED2 gives you the best shot at admission at the point in the game.
UChicago has the highest yield rate out there right now, which means they really care about it. They want that yield rate high! Applying ED2, a binding admission decision, signals to them that you’re going to go there and positively contribute to that yield rate.
ED2 is your best possible strategic move right now, and it’s one of the few things you can control. Even if you don’t ED2 to UChicago, we recommend you ED2 somewhere.
If you’re dealing with a deferral or rejection from your Early Decision school, we can help. Whether you need a deferral letter, a college list for Regular Decision, polishing your Common App essay, an Early Decision 2 application, or even a complete rehaul for this next round, we have you covered. Reach out to us ASAP. Everything will be okay.
The Supplement
UChicago has one, very standard, why essay, followed by a very creative essay where you choose from a number of prompts. Essays tell us a lot about a school, and UChicago’s prompts are certainly… quirky. Let’s get into it.
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.
UChicago’s Why essay doesn’t have a word limit, but a page will be appropriate. It’s important to note that this prompt is fairly all-encompassing, including academics, community, and your future goals. Like all Why essays, it should follow a pretty set structure:
Origin Story
Declaring Your Major
Evidence
2-3 Upper Level Classes
1-2 Professors
Academic extracurricular
Community
1-2 Organizations/Clubs
Wrap Up Sentence
Your origin story should lay out why and when your interest in your major formed, and take us briefly through how you’ve explored the topic. You’ll end by explicitly saying something like “That’s why I want to study XYZ at UChicago” or “Studying XYZ at UChicago will allow me to…”
Next is the evidence portion. You want to show you’ve done your research into the school, so make sure to pull upper-level classes and professors that relate to your origin story and major. If you want to study American history, international relations classes won’t make a ton of sense. Explain why these things are interesting to you, and how they will help you in the future. If you see yourself going into law after graduation, for example, how will that particular class or professor help set you up for success? You’ll also want to find one or two academic extracurriculars that align with your goals as well – these could be major-specific societies, labs, interest-oriented groups, or things like Model UN or Debate.
The next part of this essay is about the community you’re hoping to be a part of at UChicago. You want to find extracurriculars that align with things you’ve already spent time doing in high school, or it won’t make a ton of sense. That doesn’t mean it needs to be one-to-one; if you did music reviews for your school paper, joining student radio makes sense. You can also use this spot to talk about any traditions or UChicago-y activities outside the classroom you’re excited to participate in.
End by summarizing your major points and how it makes UChicago a perfect fit for you.
Now onto UChicago’s more… interesting essays. One note here is that you should go with the question that immediately clicks with you – don’t try to force something that doesn’t feel right.
Choose one of the six extended essay options below and upload a one- or two-page response. Please include the prompt at the top of the page.
In an ideal world where inter-species telepathic communication exists, which species would you choose to have a conversation with, and what would you want to learn from them? Would you ask beavers for architectural advice? Octopuses about cognition? Pigeons about navigation? Ants about governance? Make your case — both for the species and the question. (Inspired by Yvan Sugira, Class of 2029)
This question is fun, and it wants you to commit. Set the scene where you’d have this conversation with your animal, and we recommend even writing the dialogue itself.
You should avoid choosing any of the animals or questions in the prompt itself, and don’t feel like you need to choose something related to your major or academic interests.
If you could uninvent one thing, what would it be — and what would unravel as a result? (Inspired by Eitan Fischer, Class of 2027)
Start by thinking about what you’d want to unravel first, and really zoom in on that thing. Now, go backwards and think about all of the consequences, good or bad, that might come from this invention never happening. You can also think about this from the “butterfly effect” angle – what small thing caused all these other huge things to happen?
Make sure to actually do research on the invention you’re mentioning. If you have a lot of incorrect information about the thing, that’s not going to send the best message to the admissions committee.
“Left” can mean remaining or departed. “Dust” can mean to add fine particles or to remove them. “Fast” can mean moving quickly or fixed firmly in place. These contronyms — words that are their own antonyms — somehow hold opposing meanings in perfect tension. Explore a contronym: a role, identity, or experience in your life that has contained its own opposite. (Inspired by Kristin Yi, Class of 2029)
This is a really cool question, but one we would probably suggest you avoid. If your first impulse is to talk about a challenge caused by a role you had or part of your identity, but that ended up as a positive, you’re going to blend in with a lot of other essays.
Really think deeply about the times you’ve been a contronym. Maybe you’ve been both coach and player – or a trip in the woods left you alone, but surrounded by life. The more unique here, the better.
The penny is on its way out — too small to matter, too costly to keep. But not everything small should disappear. What’s one object the world is phasing out that you think we can’t afford to lose, and why? (Ella Somaiya, Class of 2028)
If you’ve got an immediate answer here, great! We think it works best if you talk about the item in the framing of a story. Maybe the object has important meaning to you!
The most important part here is not the object you choose, but the story behind the object and why you chose it. Remember, essays are about you, not things or other people, but about how you see the world and interact with your surroundings.
From Michelin Tires creating the Michelin Guide, to the audio equipment company Audio-Technica becoming one of the world’s largest manufacturers of sushi robots, brand identity can turn out to be a lot more flexible than we think. Choose an existing brand, company, or institution and propose an unexpected but strangely logical new product or service for them to launch. Why is this unlikely extension exactly what the world (or the brand) needs right now? (Inspired by Julia Nieberg, Class of 2029)
This question is cool, but you risk coming off a little snooty if you think your pitch is the thing to save (insert massive company). Instead, approach this prompt with curiosity, questions, and focus on the connections you’re trying to draw. This question also might be exceptionally good for the students interested in business, but again, approach it with humility and not hubris.
Statistically speaking, ice cream doesn’t cause shark attacks, pet spending doesn’t drive the number of lawyers in California, and margarine consumption isn’t responsible for Maine’s divorce rate — at least, not according to conventional wisdom. But what if the statisticians got it wrong? Choose your favorite spurious correlation and make the case for why it might actually reveal a deeper, causative truth. (Inspired by Adam DiMascio, Class of 2025)
Remember, students, college essays need to be about you and how you see the world. This question has a lot of fun potential answers, but it also has the opportunity for you to go off on a tangent about something else without any kind of connection to you or your life.
We’d probably advise choosing another prompt, but if you do write this, the spurious causation you choose needs to connect to something in your life. Maybe you embody both sides of the causation, and can speak to how that’s manifested in your everyday experiences!
And, as always… the classic choose your own adventure option! In the spirit of adventurous inquiry, choose one of our past prompts (or create a question of your own). 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!
If we can give you one directive: don’t write this one. Typically, we love some freedom and whimsy, but they’ve already given you a highly curated list of oddball questions to choose from. You don’t need to overcomplicate an already complicated application.
Submit and Wait
UChicago’s ED2 is due on January 5th, same as their RD. We advise you to get your application in as early as possible, since lots of other apps are due at the same time.
Now, all you can do is wait. You will most likely hear back from UChicago earlier than their RD decisions. You’ve worked hard and submitted your best work. You’ve got this!
Deferred or rejected and need help with an ED2 app? Don’t hesitate to reach out to us ASAP.