Jul 28, 2026
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By Justin Neiman, Former Ivy League Admissions Officer
The University of Chicago has officially released its supplemental essay prompts for the 2026–2027 application cycle. Applicants complete two required pieces of writing: the “Why UChicago” essay and one extended essay selected from five new prompts or the recurring choose-your-own-adventure option.
UChicago’s extended essays are intentionally unusual. They are designed to give applicants room to experiment with ideas, structure, humor, argument, narrative, and voice. A strong response does more than produce a clever premise. It reveals how the student thinks and makes that thinking engaging to follow.
Required
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.
Required; choose one
Option 1
Food for thought: How do thoughts eat?
Inspired by Ernest Leong, Class of 2026.
Option 2
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.
Inspired by Akhil Korra, Class of 2028.
Option 3
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.
Inspired by Julia Nieberg, Class of 2029.
Option 4
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?
Inspired by Ewan Smith, Class of 2028.
Option 5
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.
Inspired by Jeeho Byun, Class of 2030.
Option 6: Choose Your Own Adventure
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!
The two UChicago essays serve different purposes. The first should establish a researched and personal connection between you and the university. The extended essay should demonstrate intellectual playfulness, originality, and control of an idea.
Do not make both essays perform the same job. The “Why UChicago” response can be direct and specific. The extended essay can be surprising, experimental, or humorous, but it should still reveal something meaningful about your mind, experiences, or perspective.
UChicago’s prompts invite applicants to display curiosity, independence, imagination, and pleasure in thinking. The admissions committee is not looking for one correct interpretation of an extended prompt. It is evaluating what you do with the freedom you are given.
A successful response does not have to be comedic or eccentric. Serious philosophical analysis, speculative design, personal narrative, and disciplined argument can all work. What matters is that the essay is engaging, internally coherent, and unmistakably yours.
Across both essays, the application should demonstrate that UChicago is not merely a prestigious destination. It should show that the institution’s culture of inquiry fits the way you want to learn and that you would actively contribute to it.
UChicago’s 2026–2027 supplement asks applicants to combine institutional fit with intellectual creativity. The “Why UChicago” essay should clearly connect your priorities to the university. The extended essay should then give the admissions committee an experience of your mind at work.
Do not try to reverse-engineer what sounds most like a UChicago student. Choose an idea that genuinely interests you, develop it with discipline, and preserve the voice and perspective that make the response your own.
Selective Admissions provides personalized application strategy and essay guidance for students applying to the University of Chicago and other highly selective universities. Contact Selective Admissions to learn more.
The University of Chicago has officially released its supplemental essay prompts for the 2026–2027 application cycle. Applicants complete two required pieces of writing: the “Why UChicago” essay and one extended essay selected from five new prompts or the recurring choose-your-own-adventure option.
UChicago’s extended essays are intentionally unusual. They are designed to give applicants room to experiment with ideas, structure, humor, argument, narrative, and voice. A strong response does more than produce a clever premise. It reveals how the student thinks and makes that thinking engaging to follow.
Required
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.
Required; choose one
Option 1
Food for thought: How do thoughts eat?
Inspired by Ernest Leong, Class of 2026.
Option 2
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.
Inspired by Akhil Korra, Class of 2028.
Option 3
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.
Inspired by Julia Nieberg, Class of 2029.
Option 4
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?
Inspired by Ewan Smith, Class of 2028.
Option 5
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.
Inspired by Jeeho Byun, Class of 2030.
Option 6: Choose Your Own Adventure
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!
The two UChicago essays serve different purposes. The first should establish a researched and personal connection between you and the university. The extended essay should demonstrate intellectual playfulness, originality, and control of an idea.
Do not make both essays perform the same job. The “Why UChicago” response can be direct and specific. The extended essay can be surprising, experimental, or humorous, but it should still reveal something meaningful about your mind, experiences, or perspective.
UChicago’s prompts invite applicants to display curiosity, independence, imagination, and pleasure in thinking. The admissions committee is not looking for one correct interpretation of an extended prompt. It is evaluating what you do with the freedom you are given.
A successful response does not have to be comedic or eccentric. Serious philosophical analysis, speculative design, personal narrative, and disciplined argument can all work. What matters is that the essay is engaging, internally coherent, and unmistakably yours.
Across both essays, the application should demonstrate that UChicago is not merely a prestigious destination. It should show that the institution’s culture of inquiry fits the way you want to learn and that you would actively contribute to it.
UChicago’s 2026–2027 supplement asks applicants to combine institutional fit with intellectual creativity. The “Why UChicago” essay should clearly connect your priorities to the university. The extended essay should then give the admissions committee an experience of your mind at work.
Do not try to reverse-engineer what sounds most like a UChicago student. Choose an idea that genuinely interests you, develop it with discipline, and preserve the voice and perspective that make the response your own.
Selective Admissions provides personalized application strategy and essay guidance for students applying to the University of Chicago and other highly selective universities. Contact Selective Admissions to learn more.
Former Admissions Officer, Harvard University
Former Assistant Dean, Stanford University
I’m a college admissions counselor and the founder of Selective Admissions. I help students navigate the college application process and position themselves as competitive applicants to top universities.
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