Supplemental essays · 2026–27 application
University of Chicago supplemental essays.
All 7 essay questions University of Chicago asks this year, word for word, with the word limits and how to approach each one.
Checked against collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu on October 17, 2026
What you write: Answer question 1 and choose one extended essay.
UChicago's extended prompts are written with current students and are playful on purpose. We describe each one here; read the full prompt on UChicago's page before you write.
Why UChicago
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.
How to approach it
- Name things you could only find at this college: a class, a professor, a program, a tradition.
- Tie every detail to something true about you.
- Swap test: if another college’s name fits your sentence, it’s too general.
Extended: food for thought
(Described, not quoted.) A play on the phrase “food for thought”: what do thoughts themselves feed on, and how do they eat?
Pick one extended essay.
How to approach it
- Take the question seriously enough to play with it.
- Let your answer show how you think.
- Keep it honest under the fun.
Extended: art as a solution
(Described, not quoted.) Starting from the origami-style folding used for the James Webb Space Telescope's sunshield, choose an artistic practice and use its principles to propose an elegant solution to a problem.
Pick one extended essay.
How to approach it
- Take the question seriously enough to play with it.
- Let your answer show how you think.
- Keep it honest under the fun.
Extended: a mixed metaphor
(Described, not quoted.) Make up your own mixed metaphor and explain how it could make sense or be understood.
Pick one extended essay.
How to approach it
- Take the question seriously enough to play with it.
- Let your answer show how you think.
- Keep it honest under the fun.
Extended: Olympics for the everyday
(Described, not quoted.) Invent a new Olympic event built around an ordinary, everyday activity. How is it scored, officiated and judged, and why does it deserve a place?
Pick one extended essay.
How to approach it
- Take the question seriously enough to play with it.
- Let your answer show how you think.
- Keep it honest under the fun.
Extended: a mistaken acronym
(Described, not quoted.) Share a confusing, funny or fascinating case of an acronym that stands for two very different things, and tell its backstory.
Pick one extended essay.
How to approach it
- Take the question seriously enough to play with it.
- Let your answer show how you think.
- Keep it honest under the fun.
Extended: choose your own
(Described, not quoted.) Answer one of UChicago's past essay prompts, or write a question of your own and answer it.
Pick one extended essay.
How to approach it
- Take the question seriously enough to play with it.
- Let your answer show how you think.
- Keep it honest under the fun.
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