The University of Chicago is home to one of the most intellectually rigorous and prestigious undergraduate business programs in the country. We mean, it is considered the birthplace of modern economics, UChicago’s undergraduate economics and business economics tracks provide a direct pipeline into the top business grad schools in the country, like UChicago’s own Booth.
It’s a popular path for high-achieving students who are serious about business, but make no mistake: it’s also extremely competitive. Last cycle, UChicago’s acceptance rate dipped below 5%, and the bar for admission into business-adjacent tracks, like economics, is especially high. You’re setting your sights on the most popular major at one of the hardest schools to get into, so you have the ambition and drive they’re looking for. Now, it’s time to build the rest.
If UChicago is your goal, you’ll need more than a vague interest in business. You’ll need strategy, and that’s where we come in. In this post, we’ll walk through exactly what you should be doing now to build the strongest possible application for UChicago’s business and business-related tracks, like Econ, Business Economics, Data Science, and Entrepreneurship.
Is UChicago your top choice? We’ve helped countless students gain admission to UChicago and other top undergrad business programs. Our counselors are ready to provide expert, personalized guidance to help you meet your goals – reach out to us today.
Get the Grades
We’ll start with the obvious: your grades need to be flawless. UChicago is famous for academic rigor and intellectual seriousness, and they expect to see that reflected on your transcript. That means taking the hardest classes available (AP, IB, or honors) and earning straight As – unweighted. Yes, a 5.0+ is impressive, but if you take away the weighting and it’s not a 4.0, that doesn’t help.
This applies to testing, too. UChicago is test-optional, and they claim to have a “No Harm” policy, which means if your scores wouldn’t help you, they don’t consider them. Here’s the deal, kids, if it doesn’t add anything positive to your scale, then it’s not helping you. You need to have great test scores to be competitive. If the average UChicago admit is submitting a 1550+ SAT or a 35–36 ACT, your scores need to meet or exceed that range. We always recommend submitting strong scores if you have them, as it reinforces academic excellence and shows you can keep up in a high-octane environment like UChicago.
Build a Niche
You can’t just say, “I’m interested in business.” UChicago won’t buy it unless you show them what that actually means. Are you drawn to behavioral economics? Global markets? Data analytics? The school’s economics and business tracks are designed to help students specialize, and your application should reflect a similarly focused trajectory. And you need to start building that focus as early as freshman year of high school.
Let’s say you start out interested in finance. As you dig in, you realize what really interests you is venture capital and funding for sustainable startups. Then you discover the intersection between social impact and investment models. That’s the kind of academic and professional curiosity UChicago wants to see. Remember, this is the most popular major at this school, and a quick way to set yourself apart from the tens of thousands of other students applying is by being specific.
Courses and Reading
We encourage our students to explore business-related topics outside of the high school classroom. Online courses from platforms like Coursera or edX are a great starting point, and Open Yale Courses offers completely free college-level classes. Dive into economics, data science, or behavioral decision making, whatever you feel the most drawn towards.
Reading also matters. UChicago values independent thinking, and what better way to show that than through a well-informed, self-directed reading list? Look into works by economists like Richard Thaler (a Booth professor) or explore case studies in business ethics, market design, or global finance. Podcasts, journals, and current events can also round out your knowledge base. While there isn’t a place to put all this media consumption on your Common App, you need to do the legwork to find that niche, and bonus, it can help you talk confidently about your niche in your essays and interviews.
School Extracurriculars
If your school has a business or economics club, join it. If it doesn’t, start one. Join clubs like DECA, FBLA, the investment club, or build a group that hosts market simulations, invites local speakers, or takes part in competitions.
But don’t stop there, use your other activities to reinforce your business focus. Are you the editor of the school paper? Maybe you launched a finance column. In student government? Try managing budgets or running a fundraising initiative. Join the debate team to hone in on the public speaking skills you’ll need as CEO of the next big company. Show initiative, leadership, and problem-solving across the board.
Out of School Extracurriculars
Our clients work summer (and sometimes year-round) jobs. Our most successful clients take on this responsibility, not because it checks a box, but because it demonstrates ambition, hard work, and drive. Whether it’s retail, tutoring, or helping with a family business, showing up and doing real-world work goes a long way.
Internships and research opportunities are also key. Look for opportunities that align with your niche – marketing analytics, startup operations, research for an econ professor, etc. Consistency matters. If you say you want to study behavioral economics, but your resume is stacked with real estate internships, admissions officers may question the authenticity of your story. For behavioral economics, you might want to look at things like marketing, consumer economic think tanks, etc.
You might also consider pre-college programs, especially those with a business or economics focus. UChicago offers several programs that provide high school students with a taste of academic life on campus, which is beneficial for exposure and demonstrating interest. If the University of Chicago is your absolute top choice, we strongly recommend participating in their summer programs, since it gives you access to something we call ED0 (more on that later).
Start a Company
Saying you're into entrepreneurship is one thing. Starting something is another. We’ll be honest with you, when colleges see entrepreneurship all over an application, they see a dropout risk. Don’t be a walking red flag! At UChicago, where they value learning for learning’s sake, launching your own venture (even a small one!) can speak volumes.
Whether it’s a tutoring business, a reselling project, or a landscaping endeavor, what matters is that you’ve taken a concept from idea to execution. You don’t have to follow the elite-applicant-cliche and start a bogus nonprofit, in fact, the more tangible the work, the better. It shows you’re not just studying theory, you’re applying it.
And if you are interested in entrepreneurship, focus on tangible skill-building. That might mean learning project management, running marketing campaigns, or analyzing customer data. And then, when you go to apply, you can make one of those your focus in your essays – not the empty buzzword that is entrepreneurship. UChicago isn’t looking for the next dropout unicorn. They’re looking for students who are in it for the long haul.
Apply Early
UChicago loves students who apply early. They offer ED0, as mentioned, which is available to students who attend one of UChicago’s summer programs. You get to send in an application even earlier than ED and hear back even sooner. If that’s not an option, applying Early Action or Early Decision to UChicago can still give you a strategic boost. And if UChicago is your second or third choice, don’t be afraid to apply ED2. They’ve even been known to offer provisional transfer offers, although they don’t seem to publicize it. Word to the wise: if you’re applying Restricted Early Action to a school like Yale, Stanford, or Harvard, you cannot apply Early Action to UChicago, since it’s a private school. That’s why having ED2 in your pocket is especially valuable.
UChicago doesn’t release exact acceptance rates by application round, but historically, applying early does increase your odds. While they don’t release the specific data, we know they have the highest yield rate of top colleges across the board, 87.9%, which suggests that the vast majority of their incoming students come from early admission paths. More importantly, it shows commitment – which can help, especially at a school that values thoughtful applicants who genuinely want to be part of the university’s rigorous academic culture.
Long story short, if you’ve done the work, have the resume, and are confident in your application, applying early is absolutely the move.
UChicago is hard to get into, especially for business or econ applications. We’re not here to scare you – just to help you prepare. Building a competitive UChicago econ/business application means having excellent stats and a clear, cohesive narrative that connects your academic interests with real-world experience.
If UChicago is your goal, let’s start putting together a strategy that works. Don’t wait until senior year to figure it out. Reach out to us today, and let’s make a plan.
Need help strategizing for UChicago? Contact us now.