University of Chicago supplemental essays

Answer Why UChicago, plus one extended essay option. UChicago doesn't set a strict word limit; 650 is used here as a guide.

1. Why UChicago

   650 words max

   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.

2. Extended essay: how do thoughts eat?

   650 words max

   Food for thought: How do thoughts eat?

3. Extended essay: an artistic practice

   650 words max

   The James Webb Space Telescope, launched in 2021, utilized origami-inspired techniques to compactly store and deploy its sunshield in space. Choose an artistic practice and use its principles to propose an elegant solution to a problem.

4. Extended essay: a mixed metaphor

   650 words max

   Sometimes metaphors get mixed up. For one reason or another, one could say, “we'll burn that bridge when we get there” or “the world is your china shop”. Make up your own mixed metaphor. Explain how it could make sense, be understood, or even applied.

5. Extended essay: a mundane Olympic event

   650 words max

   The Olympics have long celebrated the pinnacle of human athletic achievement. But what if they expanded to honor the mundane? Imagine a new Olympic event built around an everyday activity like speed dishwashing or competitive grocery bagging. How is it scored, officiated, and judged? Why is it a worthy addition?

6. Extended essay: mistaken acronym

   650 words max

   AI: Allen Iverson. NASA, or the North American Saxophone Alliance. Share a potentially confounding, comedic, or captivating example of MIA (Mistaken Identity of Acronym) and tell us its backstory.

7. Extended essay: choose your own adventure

   650 words max

   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!

Source: University of Chicago admissions