University of Chicago

“UChicago's Extended Essay invites you to respond to one of several creative, intellectually playful prompts. Choose a prompt that excites you and use it as a vehicle for showing how you think. Enter the specific prompt you are responding to below, then write your essay.”

How to approach it. Pick the prompt that genuinely excites you, then take a real intellectual risk — UChicago's quirky prompts reward originality and follow-through, not the safest interpretation. Let the essay actually go somewhere: build an idea, chase a tangent, surprise yourself, and bring your voice the whole way. The prompt is a vehicle, so the destination is showing how your mind moves.

“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. Go deep on what makes UChicago intellectually distinct — the Core, the life-of-the-mind culture, specific courses, professors, or programs — and connect each to your own wishes. Surface-level praise won't survive here; the school explicitly asks for specificity. Show that you want UChicago's particular kind of rigor, not just a prestigious name.