About University of Chicago

Founded in 1890, University of Chicago. is a Private college. Located in Illinois, which is a city setting in Illinois, the campus itself is Urban. The campus is home to 6,001 full time undergraduate students, and 9,774 full time graduate students.

The University of Chicago Academic calendar runs on a Quarter basis. In the school year the student to faculty ratio was 6:1. There are 1330 full time instructional teachers. Degrees awarded at University of Chicago include: Bachelor's Degree, Masters Degree, Post-master's certificate, Doctor's degree.

Quick Facts

Acceptance Rate7%
Application Deadline
Application Fee75
SAT Range1450-1600
ACT Range32-35

Admissions at are considered Most Selective, with ,43% of all applicants being admitted.

In the school year, of the students who applied to the school, only 5 of those who were admitted eventually ended up enrolling.

100% of incoming freshmen are in the top half of their high school class. 99% were in the top quarter, and 95% were in the top tenth. You can apply online.

STUDENT LIFE Reviews

We asked, and students answered these important questions about student life at University of Chicago.

2%
“We”re apathetic”
29%
“We know about current events and vote”
50%
“We participate and encourage others to get involved”
19%
“There”s nothing we won”t protest”
1%
“We save it for the classroom”
5%
“Sometimes, but not often”
24%
“There”s usually intelligent conversation to be found”
70%
“All the time, including weekends”
4%
“I”m always terrified”
25%
“I only go out in groups”
51%
“I usually let someone know where I”m going”
21%
“I feel extremely safe”
83%
“We don”t play sports”
0%
“We play recreationally”
13%
“We bought the gear”
4%
“We live for the big game”
2%
“It”s not really our thing”
30%
“Occasinally we gallery crawl”
56%
“There are a variety of opportunities”
12%
“We”re a very artistic group”
2%
“Haven”t met them”
5%
“Available in class”
66%
“They keep regular office hours”
28%
“They”re always available”
9%
“No greek life, but other groups to join”
73%
“There is some involvement, but not a lot”
17%
“Plenty of people join a sorority or fraternity”
1%
“It”s everything. If you”re not greek, you”re a geek”
0%
“We”re not into drinking at all”
21%
“Maybe a little, but it”s not a big thing”
68%
“We only party on weekends”
11%
“There”s some drinking happening every night”
8%
“Never, we”re here to learn”
47%
“There might be people who do”
41%
“People are known to partake on weekends”
5%
“There”s a huge drug scene”
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  • How would you rate on-campus housing?

    93 Students rated on-campus housing 4 stars. 32 % gave the school a 5.0.

  • How would you rate off-campus housing?

    67 Students rated off-campus housing 3.4 stars. 0 % gave the school a 5.0.

  • How would you rate campus food?

    94 Students rated campus food 3.2 stars. 19 % gave the school a 5.0.

  • How would you rate campus facilities?

    95 Students rated campus facilities 4.1 stars. 46 % gave the school a 5.0.

  • How would you rate class size?

    95 Students rated class size 4.4 stars. 54 % gave the school a 5.0.

  • How would you rate school activities?

    94 Students rated school activities 4.1 stars. 46 % gave the school a 5.0.

  • How would you rate local services?

    94 Students rated local services 3.5 stars. 29 % gave the school a 5.0.

  • How would you rate academics?

    95 Students rated academics 4.1 stars. 54 % gave the school a 5.0.

University of Chicago REVIEWS

What's your overall opinion of University of Chicago?

28 Students rated University of Chicago

Mella - 08/14/2024

While I may say otherwise if you asked me during finals week, I would say that overall, I absolutely love UChicago. I am a nerd at heart, and when I first talked to other students on my visit, I immediately could tell they were too. My classmates are incredibly intelligent, accomplished, and interesting, and students and professors alike inspire me every day. The work is hard, and you have to really try to get a balance between homework and social life on campus, but I wouldn't make a different choice if I had to choose again.

Evelyn - 11/13/2021

Specifically Master of Business Administration. It's more about partying, meeting up with, and finding partners. There's a huge scene for poor, cheap suburban women seeking males who are rich. It all happens in the clubs. The amount of filth I've seen, especially the prom dance is absurd. Learning and education is 10% of what going there is about. If you're flinging dollars, you'll get more out of the middle-aged women there than at a gentleman's club.

Yitong - 08/14/2021

Very well

Nat - 03/31/2021

You can get one of the best educations at the world at the University of Chicago, but remember that depressed people don't learn at their full capacity. In my experience, a significant portion of the students (myself included) were depressed to the point of incapacitation. Social opportunities are minimal outside of student housing (I know almost no one who had friends outside of their houses). If you don't jive with your house in the first couple of weeks, you may LITERALLY be alone for the next four years. It is almost seen as bizarre or a faux pas to pursue friendships outside of your house. For all that UChicago is a school full of socially awkward intellectuals, it is not a school where anyone but the most socially adept can thrive. Perhaps this is true of all (elite) colleges. But I can only speak to my own undergraduate experience. I don't regret for a moment holding a degree from the University of Chicago, but I do resent the four years that very nearly destroyed me psychologically and the cold silence of the administration.

University of Chicago FAQS

  1. What is the Acceptance Rate at University of Chicago?

    The fall 2020 acceptance rate for University of Chicago is 7%. That means, out of _____ applications received in 2020 , _____ students were offered admission. The number of males who applied was _____ vs the number of females which was _____.

  2. Describe the students at your school.

    University of Chicago students are self-selecting in that they are ready to enter an intense learning environment and become a resident of the city of Chicago; if you think you belong there, then you probably do.

    Read all 96 answers
  3. What are the academics like at your school?

    We are delightfully hardcore here. Be prepared to be surrounded in class by a lot of students who did the readings more carefully than you. While it can be intimidating at times to be surrounded by students who are so darn smart, it's also refreshing-- I mean, when else in life will I have the opportunity to be in this kind of environment? Part of the reason I wanted to come to a school like Chicago was to be surrounded by a group of students who really cared about what they were learning, not students who found the path of least resistance to the highest grade. This is definitely a "learn for the sake of learning" environment. There are a lot of legendary profs here, both on the research side and on the teaching side. I've been very happy with the quality of education I've gotten here-- no doubt I've been pampered throughout high school, so I came in with expectations that I think are unrealistic of most universities, but Chicago really delivers. Professors and the grad students I've had have been more than happy to slip into fuzzy roles as well-- as an English major, I've gotten plenty of advice on how to think about writing papers and how to construct good arguments. Most classes are taught by profs, and at least in English, you can avoid taking classes with grad students entirely. However, I have found my grad students just as cool as my profs.

    Read all 93 answers
  4. What is your overall opinion of this school?

    The undergraduate body is small-ish (4500 students or so) but it's impossible to get to know everybody or do everything. As a third-year, I continue to meet lots of new people who are in my year. I feel like if I went to a school with a fourth the number of undergraduates, I wouldn't get that experience. I divide my time between Hyde Park and the rest of the city. Sometimes I'll go downtown 2-3 times a week, sometimes not for a month. People like to complain about Hyde Park (five places to buy books, zero places to buy pants), but I like it very much just the way it is... though yes, being able to buy pants here would be nice. If you come here, don't expect people to be patting your back about how awesome/smart you are. Yes, this school is prestigious, but only in certain circles (i.e. if people care about the name on the degree, like law schools, consulting firms, academia, they'll know the school and know how awesome it is) but I'm telling you right now that Joe the Plumber thinks we're the same as UIC or Chicago State. To me, that's also a blessing of sorts-- I didn't want to go to a school where students were overly self-satisfied with the name on their sweatshirt.

    Read all 80 answers
  5. What should every freshman at your school know before they start?

    I would tell myself to be a little more outgoing as a freshmen. Making friends with other freshmen when you start college is a great way to make lasting friendships throughout college. Making friends with a peer in the same situation makes it easier to transition into college because you have a go-to person who is probably undergoing the same difficulties in terms of transitioning. Being involved in a univeristy is key to social networking that can potentially help you in the long run; i belive that a student should be as outgoing as possible as well as open-minded. If a student isn't interested in expanding their horizons, then college becomes a chore and it makes it feel much longer than it really is. Being open to change leads to new experiences and college is all about the experience.

    Read all 76 answers
  6. What are the most popular student activities/groups?

    Again, the social activities are diverse as the students. There are frat parties every weekend, and while they get "lame," they can still be fun. There are also movies, concerts downtown, dinner downtown, on-campus events. Apartment parties. The one thing about the party scene is that students don't really put a lot of energy into it. This is a good thing rather than a bad thing-- students don't feel pressured to binge drink or rush certain frats and women don't feel pressured to hook up. This also means that frat parties can feel like bar mitzvahs with beer. That's why I think apartment parties tend to be more fun-- it's with people who know each other slightly better hanging out together and dancing rather than a sketchy and anonymous basement.

    Read all 71 answers
  7. Is the stereotype of students at your school accurate?

    See and ye shall find. You will find a segment of students who do little else but work, but my impression is that a) that workload is self-imposed (i.e. nobody's forcing you to take honors analysis!) and that b) sometimes work can act as a safety blanket for people who are a little afraid to socialize. I feel like on any given night, I can find people hanging out, watching TV, and playing midnight soccer, and I can also go to the Reg and find people working very hard. Which one is the "right" U of C?

    Read all 67 answers
  8. What is the stereotype of students at your school?

    Bookworms, nonsocial, elitist, pompous, spoiled rich kids, fun comes to die here, there is nothing to do, everyone goes to the reg on Saturday night

    Read all 67 answers
  9. Here's your chance: Say anything about your college!

    My school requires students to think critically in all their their classes. My coursework has focused more on reading and writing than any of my friends' at other schools--writing well and often is necessary. The students have a quirky sense of humor (look up the T-shirts we make; if they make you laugh, you'd probably fit here). Everyone comes from different regional and socioeconomic backgrounds, and no one cares at ALL. If anything, we're more interested in people who are different, and we don't try to fit others into boxes for our own comfort.

    Read all 41 answers
  10. What is the stereotype of students at your school? Is this stereotype accurate?

    The University of Chicago is known for, well, being intense. This is pretty true - we're hard working, ambitious and dedicated to the Life of the Mind, and you'd be hard pressed to find a student here who doesn't go to the library, or isn't a bit of a genius. But if you come to UChicago and expect 'fun to die' the second you step on campus, please don't. Because despite the nerdy stereotype, we aren't just nerds about our academics. We're nerds about EVERYTHING. Nerds are people who are dedicated, fascinated and compelled by a subject. True, this can be taken to apply to the kind of subjects you can get homework in, but we also love Scavenger hunts, athletics, circus skills, gourmet cooking, Greek life, creative writing, orchestra and fashion shows. We go dancing downtown and on apple picking trips. We study in Paris and South Africa. We do yoga at sunrise by Lake Michigan, laugh at the on-campus comedy groups, sing. We ice-skate and roller-skate and know our Plato back to front. If you're interested learning lessons that expand beyond the (ivied) walls of your classrooms, this is the plac

    Read all 31 answers
  11. What do you consider the worst thing about your school? Why?

    The weather and the lack of breaks during the academic year.

    Read all 19 answers
  12. What's unique about your campus?

    opportunity

    Read all 16 answers
  13. What's the most frustrating thing about your school?

    The most frustrating thing about my school is also the best: Being constantly surrounded by the some of the most brilliant people of our generation. I'm intimidated at the worst of times, but I've never been more inspired.

    Read all 15 answers
  14. What's the one thing you wish someone had told you about freshman year?

    I wish I'd known more about my priorities; I wish I'd taken a gap year to figure things out before I got here.

    Read all 13 answers
  15. Describe how your school looks to someone who's never seen it.

    Going to the University of Chicago is like going to graduate school four years early; it's an enormous workload and there's very little social life on campus.

    Read all 13 answers
  16. What do you brag about most when you tell your friends about your school?

    The thing I brag about most is the academic rigor. In detail, I highlight the high expectations that professors had, the goals students set for themselves, and the quality of work that was encouraged. My undergraduate career prepared me well for graduate school. The expectations that were set helped me focus, work hard, and learn more about my capabilities. The skills I acquired at the University of Chicago have proved valuable adn necessary for graduate school.

    Read all 11 answers
  17. What kind of person should not attend this school?

    Any student who cares more about their GPA than the actual material learned should not attend the University of Chicago, which is known for having one of the lowest average GPAs in the nation. Expect to spend large quantities of time in the library reading, studying, and preparing for all of your classes; there is no such thing as a ?slack class? at this school, and, as such, you will be assigned a healthy amount of work for every class. Any student who wants to specialize in a field of study immediately should not attend this university.

    Read all 11 answers
  18. Describe your favorite campus traditions.

    Intelligent, hardworking people.

    Read all 11 answers
  19. What kind of person should attend this school?

    Someone who enjoys a challenge and wants to experience something new and different.

    Read all 10 answers
  20. Why did you decide to go to this school?

    I wanted a highly intellectual place without all the inter-student competition; I wanted my dorm mates to care about learning but help me and talk with me about the work, not constantly be trying to out-perform me.

    Read all 4 answers
  21. What are your classes like?

    Classes go by fast because of the ten-week quarter system, so professors usually plunge right in to the material. As an English major, I attend mostly seminar (small discussion) classes of about 8-15 people. I have about 100 pages of reading per class per week, which is definitely manageable. For these kinds of smaller classes, attendance is important because it also affects your participation (you can't speak if you're not there, duh), but for bigger lecture classes, skipping a couple isn't noticeable.

    Read all 2 answers

Student Body

Students

49%

female

51%

male

6,001

Total Undergrad Enrollment

9,774

Total Grad Students

70%

Out-Of-State

15%

In-State

15%

International

Organizations

400

Student Organizations

13

Fraternities

8

Sororities

Housing

Yes

On-Campus Housing

20%

of students living on campus

Student Diversity

% American Indian/Alaskan Native
N/A
% Asian/Pacific Islander
18%
% Black or African-American
5%
% Hispanic/Latino
11%
% White or Caucasian
43%

TUITION & AID

All students must apply yearly for financial aid. This process starts with the FAFSA. Though financial aid deadlines vary by school, it is a good idea to apply as soon as possible. For the upcoming school year, you can apply as early as October 1 for the FAFSA. Additional school aid will be dependent on the FAFSA results.

67% of students attending University of Chicago receive some sort of financial aid. 12% were awarded federal grants. While 8% received federal loans. Many students do also need to apply for additional private student loans.

Cost Out of State

$52,491

Tuition and fees(Out of state)

$1,800

Books and Supplies

$15,093

Room and Board

69,384

Total On Campus

Actual Cost By Income Level(W/Financial Aid)

Family Income
Cost
$0 - $30K
$2,551
$30 - $48K
$2,665
$48 - $75K
$4,536
$75 - $110K
$12,069
$110K & UP
$37,066

We use student reviews and the most current publicly available data on our school pages. As such, we don't typically remove or edit college information. Sources for school statistics and data include the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. Portions of college data include copyrighted material, which is reproduced on this website by permission of Wintergreen Orchard House, a division of Carnegie Communications. © 2009-2016 by Wintergreen Orchard House. All rights reserved.

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