14 Successful UChicago Essays

Prompt: 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.

UChicago was the first college I toured and set the tone for what I believe a university should be. The most visible asset was the beautiful gothic campus, but as I toured I found much deeper value. Seeing the many interdisciplinary majors, I realized UChicago is committed to breaking conventional vocations and expanding a breadth of knowledge for all students. I’m intrigued by the Philosophy and Allied Fields major, in particular Philosophy and Economics or Mathematics. For someone who has many interests which are amplified when studied together, this is the perfect environment to foster that synergy. In addition, UChicago’s urban location offers a unique opportunity to put the skills I would develop into practice. Chicago would be an ideal place to continue my passion for promoting invention education. Illinois lacks such a developed curriculum but has great potential for the program, particularly in underserved communities and with native Spanish-speakers. In the same way that I am presenting myself to universities on this application, universities are presenting their values to me with what they ask me to include. It speaks volumes that the main essay for UChicago is the most creative and least directly academic prompt imaginable (and the only essay I zealously enjoyed writing in the application process). It signifies that regardless of a student's background or achievements, the University is interested most importantly in the way they think. UChicago has consistently demonstrated a commitment to fostering minds that find connections, my ideal college community.

Essay by Gabriel Mesa

Incoming History Ph.D. student at Yale interested in Physics, Early Soviet History, and Choral Music!

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