University of Chicago
UChicago
As is probably evident from the essays, the UChicago application is designed to filter out and select "quirky" students to take on. Chicago wants students with interesting, albeit sometimes strange personalities, and the school itself has a large emphasis on learning for the sake of learning, not merely for application or getting a pretty GPA (which will carry over to the school).
That being said, don't be afraid to write about something strange or seemingly unrelated to your academic achievements in your essays. I wrote about a math problem (attached), one person I know wrote about her grandpa in Shanghai (I think... it nmn may have been about Vogue, she wrote 2 because she liked the prompts), and friends I've met have written about Scrabble, scavenger hunts, etc. The "why do you want to go to Chicago" is honestly pretty generic, but try to work in traits emphasized or unique to the school (integrated into the city, econ nobel laureates, emphasis on academia, etc.). As for optional essays, you should write them for any school you're genuinely interested in, doing the extra work shows the extra interest. For the "favorite book/music/w.e" essay, I just wrote about my favorite book, Catch-22, in what was practically a literary device assignment <http://classroom.quixoticpedagogue.org/class-downloads/doc_view/338-literary-devices-writing-assignment>.
One trick I used was to switch my main common app essay with the UChicago essay and replace my main common app essay with one of my UC essays. This was because my main common app essay was fairly strange and unique (I talked about a math problem, complete with diagrams, generated by Mathematica =P), and I felt like UChicago would like it better. I'd have to say it paid off, because UChicago accepted me.
Application: UChicago Supplement
- UChicago Supplement, Eric G., Math, UChicago
- Acceptances with these essay(s): UChicago
