University of Chicago Admission Counselors

A Guide to the Chicago Admissions Process - Essays, Interviews & Deadlines

University of Chicago Admissions Guidance

Solomon Admissions provides University of Chicago admissions consulting to ensure our students are accepted.

Below is some guidance on how to apply and meet all requirements for the University of Chicago.

University of Chicago Admissions Counselor

What is UChicago Admissions Looking For?

Founded in 1890, UChicago claims to be the best of both worlds, a liberal arts college situated under a much larger research university. UChicago is looking for an academically well-rounded student with an interesting perspective and extracurricular experience to view the world (ideally in seemingly unrelatable areas).

The Office of Undergraduate Admission at the University of Chicago evaluates their applicants in three categories:

  • Academics
  • Extracurriculars
  • Intellectual Fit

Academic rating

The applicant with the highest academic rating would have these credentials:

  • Top 5% of high school class
  • Most challenging course load of AP courses
  • SAT/ACT scores in the 99th percentile (1540 / 34)

An applicant with an academic rating of 3 out of 6 would have these credentials:

  • Top 15% of high school class
  • Some of the most challenging course load of AP courses in key content areas
  • SAT/ACT around 700 (per section) / 30 (per section)

UChicago looks for students who are the best in one thing or students who are thoughtfully involved in a range of things. While the strongest students will have exemplary involvement and score the highest in this category, it isn’t uncommon for UChicago to take a student without exemplary extracurricular accolades so long as their involvement is thoughtful and thematic to their interests.

UChicago’s Intellectual Vitality rating will be based on your recommendations as well as your supplements. The strongest teacher recommendations describe a student who’s interested in learning for its own sake, seeks to make the deeper connections between subjects, and those who are equally involved in their own as well as their classmate’s education.

UChicago's 2022 Applicant Profile:

According to the University of Chicago, the following represents their 2022 applicant’s high school involvement.

  • 81% Community Service
  • 53% Varsity Athletics
  • 44% Music
  • 31% Student Government
  • 26% Editorial Involvement
  • 17% Theater
  • 12% of Religious Organizations

Acceptance Rates

University of Chicago's
current acceptance rate?

​5.4% for the 2021-2022 admissions cycle. ​

Due to this extremely competitive applicant pool, we work with all of our students to ensure you know all the ins and outs when applying to UChicago.

What is Solomon Admissions' success rate for UChicago?

For the 2021-2022 admissions cycle, we had a 25.0% acceptance rate to the University of Chicago.

Solomon Admissions provided an advantage factor of 4.6X for our clients. You can see more of our acceptance rates here.

Approaching the UChicago Supplement Essay

Solomon Admissions provides extensive guidance on the UChicago supplement. While their extended essay prompts vary greatly, they’re always looking for the same thing: an interesting perspective to look at something differently, an interdisciplinary approach to solve problems, and/or a penchant to pursue knowledge diligently.

As for the ‘Why UChicago’ essay, be sure to include the following elements:

  • The Core Curriculum—You’ll take courses not in your major for 1/3 of your time at school so be interested in all courses. Also know, this Core is different from Columbia’s Core.
  • Pre-professional development—UChicago is a liberal arts college, so no premed major nor business major. However, they’re equally capable to prepare students with those interests. Cue their UChicago Careers in programs.
  • Student life—whether it’s intramural sports, the city of Chicago (be careful here), or SCAV, be sure to address how you’ll be involved in the social life on campus. UChicago has a long history of where fun goes to die, so they want to know you’ll be as committed to your extracurriculars as you are to your academics and pre-professional development.

Act as if you go there and show them that you fit in perfectly and would contribute to academic life (undergraduate research and intellectual discourse), social life, and most importantly, show them that you have personality and are an interesting person.

For more information about the University of Chicago application process, contact us at one of the following: