University of Chicago

“I often think how lucky I was to have been an only child. I had enough business sense, even at an early age, to realize that had I had a number of brothers and sisters, I would have been lucky to get a share of a single family pony, instead of which I was, for … Read more Golden Brothers

Why do you want to go to the University of Chicago? By all accounts, the University of Chicago is a unique place. My late grandfather, a Bachelors and Masters degree recipient from the University used to say, “for the right student, Chicago is the only place, but it can destroy the wrong student.” When I … Read more Why Chicago Is the Place for Me

Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. It tasted like jet fuel. But that didn’t surprise me, after all, I was kissing the tarmac at Ben-Gurion International Airport, … Read more It Tasted Like Jet Fuel

Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you. I often think of my home country, Vietnam, as a coin factory. At this factory, day in and day out, coins march in assembly lines out of metal strips in perfect conformity. I am just … Read more A Two-sided Coin

Using a quote as a jumping off point, tell us about an event or experience that helped you define one of your values. “No student ever attains very eminent success by simply doing what is required of him: it is the amount and excellence of what is over and above the required, that determines the … Read more Music’s Expanding Bubble

What is your greatest accomplishment, how did you go about reaching it, and where do you see yourself in 10 years? A smile breaks out on my face as I sit in a picturesque shopping area in the heart of Vienna, Austria. The spire of a Gothic cathedral towers over me, a reminder of how … Read more From

Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you. My spacebar popped off of the keyboard for the seventh time that night. I snatched it from the floor and rammed it back in place, knowing that it was a futile effort. Apparently, my laptop … Read more National Nonsensical Writing Month

Topic of your choice – common application. When I was eleven, I lived in a trailer park full of kids. I preferred reading and writing to playing with them, so pretty often, when they knocked on the door, I would pretend I was doing chores. Then I would resume reading Harry Potter and writing my … Read more Opening the Door

It responds to the quote:”Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.” -William Jennings BryanDo you agree with this quote? What experiences have you had that seem to reinforce the above (or render it completely … Read more Jan the Troubadour

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 Chicago. One of the first pieces of mail I ever received from The University of Chicago grossed me out. … Read more “The Postcard with the Coffee Stain”