University of Chicago, Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS)

Deadlines

Essays

1. Statement of purpose · 2-4 page candidate statement · required

   You must submit a 2-4 page candidate statement that clearly and specifically describes: 1) your topics of research interest (as pertains to a potential MA research project), 2) what has brought you to those specific research interests, and 3) why MAPSS in particular and the University of Chicago broadly are a good fit for your research interests and goals.

   Get a read on this essay

MAPSS Psychology applicants get a different first clause (research experiences and how they have contributed to intellectual goals and skills) and QMSA applicants are told to show a strong interest in rigorous quantitative training and to name two QMSA faculty members. Deadlines are the division's four master's rounds, from its Deadlines and Decisions page labelled Autumn 2027 enrollment, 11:59 p.m. U.S. Central Time; that page prints month and day only, so the years here are inferred from the label. Decisions come about four to six weeks after each round. The page bans generative AI in the candidate statement outright.

Checked against socialsciences.uchicago.edu/admissions/application-materials/candidate-statement on September 11, 2026. Programs change their prompts between cycles; confirm on the program’s own page before you submit.