What ACT score do you need for University of Chicago?

The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 34-35 on the ACT, with a composite of 35 at the median. There is no cutoff: a quarter of the enrolled class scored below 34. Reported by University of Chicago to the US Department of Education, College Scorecard release of 2026-09-17.

What GPA do you need for University of Chicago?

The honest answer is that the federal data behind this page does not contain one. Colleges report their admit rate and their enrolled students' test scores to the Department of Education; they do not report a GPA distribution, so any site quoting an exact average GPA for University of Chicago is either reading that college's own Common Data Set or estimating. What the reported data does say is that University of Chicago admits 4.5% of applicants, and the more selective a college is, the closer to the top of the class its admitted students sit and the more the strength of your course load counts alongside the number itself.

How hard is it to get into University of Chicago?

University of Chicago admits 4.5% of the people who apply, which is about 1 in 22 applicants. At that rate no set of numbers makes admission likely, a perfect one included, because the college turns away far more qualified applicants than it takes. Strong grades and scores get the application read; the essays, the recommendations and what you have actually done decide it from there.

University of Chicago supplemental essays

University of Chicago asks for two supplemental essays in 2026-27, chosen from seven options. Common App, Coalition App. Personal statement required (250-650 words).

That is two supplements plus the Common App personal statement: three pieces of writing in all. Early Decision closes November 1, 2026, Early Action closes November 1, 2026 and Early Decision II closes January 4, 2027, with the rest in the table below. Every University of Chicago prompt is printed on this page in full, with its word limit and who has to answer it, checked against the college’s own admissions page.

Every essay it asks for, with a status, in the free essay manager.

Deadlines

University of Chicago application deadlines
Round	Date
Early Decision	November 1, 2026
Early Action	November 1, 2026
Early Decision II	January 4, 2027
Regular Decision	January 4, 2027

Checked against collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/apply/essay. Confirm on the college’s own page before you submit.

Every college’s early deadlines, side by side

The essays, 2026-27

Required
Question 1. 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.
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Required (choose 1)
Extended essay option 1. Food for thought: How do thoughts eat? (Inspired by Ernest Leong, Class of 2026)
UChicago publishes no word limit for the extended essay.
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Required (choose 1)
Extended essay 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)
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Required (choose 1)
Extended essay 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)
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Required (choose 1)
Extended essay 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)
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Required (choose 1)
Extended essay 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)
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Required (choose 1)
Extended essay option 6. The classic choose your own adventure option. In the spirit of adventurous inquiry, choose one of UChicago's past prompts, or create a question of your own.
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Your University of Chicago checklist

Two supplements, all required. The first deadline, Early Decision, is November 1, 2026.

Common App personal statementRequired250-650 words
Supplement 1Required
Supplements 2 to 7Required

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It saves these rows to your essay manager, where each one carries a status you set yourself and the prompt stays attached to it. Add your other schools and they land on the same page, in deadline order. Nothing written yet? The topic quiz is free as well.

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Not sure what a review is? What an AI college essay review can and cannot do, and what a college essay grader leaves out. What the read checks against University of Chicago’s own prompts is on the University of Chicago essay review page.

Getting into University of Chicago

University of Chicago admits 4.5% of applicants. The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 1510-1580 on the SAT and 34-35 on the ACT.

About 1 in 22 applicants are admitted, at a college of 7,569 undergraduates.

University of Chicago enrolled-student test score percentiles, US Department of Education College Scorecard, 2026-09-17
Enrolled students	25th	Median	75th
SAT total	1510	1550	1580
SAT reading and writing	740	760	780
SAT math	770	790	800
ACT composite	34	35	35

What SAT score do you need for University of Chicago?

A 1580 puts you in the top quarter of the students who enrolled, a 1550 at their midpoint, and a 1510 at the bottom quarter, meaning one in four enrolled students scored below it. The same three points on the ACT are 34, 35 and 35. A quarter of an enrolled class scoring under the 25th percentile is not a rounding error, so a score below the range is a reason to strengthen the rest of the application rather than a reason not to apply.

US Department of Education, College Scorecard (2026-09-17). Percentiles describe students who enrolled, not everyone admitted. SAT totals are the reading and math bands added together, which is how every source in this market reports them and is an approximation of about 10 to 20 points, because the two sections are correlated.

What SAT score do you need for University of Chicago?: University of Chicago sets no minimum. Among students who enrolled, the middle 50% scored 1510-1580 on the SAT: a 1510 sits at the 25th percentile, 1550 at the median and 1580 at the 75th. A score at or above 1580 is a clear strength in the application; below 1510 it is the part of the file the rest has to make up for. These are the figures University of Chicago reports to the US Department of Education, released in the College Scorecard of 2026-09-17.
What ACT score do you need for University of Chicago?: The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 34-35 on the ACT, with a composite of 35 at the median. There is no cutoff: a quarter of the enrolled class scored below 34. Reported by University of Chicago to the US Department of Education, College Scorecard release of 2026-09-17.
What GPA do you need for University of Chicago?: The honest answer is that the federal data behind this page does not contain one. Colleges report their admit rate and their enrolled students' test scores to the Department of Education; they do not report a GPA distribution, so any site quoting an exact average GPA for University of Chicago is either reading that college's own Common Data Set or estimating. What the reported data does say is that University of Chicago admits 4.5% of applicants, and the more selective a college is, the closer to the top of the class its admitted students sit and the more the strength of your course load counts alongside the number itself.
How hard is it to get into University of Chicago?: University of Chicago admits 4.5% of the people who apply, which is about 1 in 22 applicants. At that rate no set of numbers makes admission likely, a perfect one included, because the college turns away far more qualified applicants than it takes. Strong grades and scores get the application read; the essays, the recommendations and what you have actually done decide it from there.

What University of Chicago costs after grant aid, by family income, from the same federal data.

Sort your whole college list into reaches, targets and likelies, or find colleges that fit your GPA and test scores. Both are free and neither needs an account.

University of Chicago essay questions, answered

Does University of Chicago have supplemental essays?: Yes. University of Chicago asks for two supplemental essays in 2026-27, chosen from seven options. Every prompt is printed in full on this page.
How many essays do you write for University of Chicago in 2026-27?: Two supplements, plus the Common App personal statement.

Schools with similar admit rates

University of Chicago admits 4.5% of applicants. The colleges either side of it in our set by admit rate, most selective first, each with its own prompts and deadlines: Harvard University (3.6%), Yale University (3.9%), Columbia University (4.0%), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (4.5%), Princeton University (4.6%), Northeastern University (5.2%).