UChicago Graduate School

September 18, 2022
By AdmissionSight

UChicago Graduate School

The University of Chicago is a private graduate school in Chicago, Illinois. There are 10,370 graduate students enrolled at this institution, making it home to a sizeable graduate student body. At the University of Chicago, each of the 68 graduate programs can only be completed on-campus; none of them are available online.

At UChicago Graduate School, the three areas of study that are most sought after by students are Business Analytics, Public Policy Analysis, and Business. 19% of its graduate students are enrolled in the program on a part-time basis. The UChicago Graduate School awards degrees in conjunction with a number of other schools, including the Booth School of Business, the Pritzker School of Medicine, and the Pritzker School of Engineering, amongst others.

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How to get into UChicago Graduate School?

How to get into UChicago Graduate School? At the University of Chicago, all of the graduate programs make use of an online application process, and the Graduate Admissions office is responsible for coordinating the majority of these applications.

Applicants to the Pritzker School of Medicine and the University of Chicago’s School of Law are required to submit their applications through the LSAC and AMCAS programs, respectively. If you want to apply to more than one program, you will typically need to create a unique application for each one in order to do so.

This is due to the fact that the real admissions process takes place within each school, division, and department. We provide some general guidelines about the application process here, but we encourage you to follow up directly with the admission staff for your program(s) of interest with questions specific to their application process. If you have any questions about the application process, please feel free to contact us.

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Applications should be filed as early as feasible, as a general rule, so that applicants can monitor the status of their applications, as well as the receipt of standardized test scores and letters of recommendation. After submitting your application, you should check its progress of it periodically by logging into the system and checking for updates. After you have submitted your application, you will not typically be able to send in any further supporting documentation for consideration.

  • Visit the website of the University of Chicago Graduate School to obtain the application procedures.
  • Create an account to use the online application system.
  • You need to get yourself registered for any and all standardized tests, take those tests, and then keep the results handy as you work on your application. Request that the testing organization sends the official scores to the University of Chicago in an electronic format.
  • Make contact with the people whose recommendations you would like to include in your application and ensure that you allow them sufficient time to do the task. The application for your program will include very specific instructions about how to proceed.
  • Make sure to get your transcripts from all of the postsecondary colleges that you have attended, and make sure to get translations if you need them.
  • Update your résumé or CV.
  • Take the time to meticulously prepare the individual components of each application, which often take the form of written statements or essays.
  • Ensure that your application is received before the specified cut-off time, and continue to monitor both your e-mail and an online account for any new information that may be communicated by the admissions office.
  • Applicants from other countries are encouraged to look into the extra requirements listed in the International Applicants section of the University of Chicago Graduate School website.

UChicago Graduate School Requirements

What are the current UChicago Graduate School requirements? Prospective students are encouraged to submit applications to the University of Chicago for participation in any of its many academic programs. An online application system is available for use by every program offered by the University of Chicago.

It is important to note, however, that each school and division has its own application, and that in order to apply to more than one program, you will likely need to make a separate application for each of those programs. Take note that you should carefully read the information that is offered by each program in order to familiarize yourself with its prerequisites.

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In the majority of doctoral programs, faculty committees are responsible for reviewing the applications that are submitted and making the final decisions. In some master’s degree programs, there may be committees that include representatives of both the teaching faculty and the admissions staff. However, because the graduate-level study is so specialized, every graduate degree program has its own method for deciding which applicants they intend to admit in any given year. This is because the graduate-level study is so specialized.

Application Fees and Waivers

A fee must be included with your application to participate in a graduate program at the University of Chicago. Once you have submitted your application, you will be required to pay the application fee, which is non-refundable, and this fee will be clearly specified in the instructions that are included in your application.

Do not send in the application fee if you intend to ask for a fee waiver; instead, wait until after your request for a fee waiver has been evaluated before sending in the application money. In the event that it is necessary, you will be able to access your online account in order to make the application fee payment.

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If your application is approved, you will typically be able to apply for a fee waiver as part of the application itself. Please do not let the cost of the application dissuade you from submitting your application. There are several programs that will exclude applicants from having to pay application fees if they meet certain requirements, which will be outlined in the online application process.

If you make a request for a fee waiver and send it in, the school or division will often get in touch with you if they need any further information from you. Please be aware that, with very few exceptions, the majority of programs will only waive fees or other requirements for people who are citizens or permanent residents of the United States.

When applying to the majority of our schools and divisions, current University of Chicago students and alumni will not be required to pay any application fees. Participants in certain programs, such as the Leadership Alliance, Institute for the Recruitment of Teachers (IRT), National Name Exchange, and those who will submit a Big Ten Academic Alliance FreeApp request, should complete the fee waiver forms as part of the application and submit any requested documentation through those organizations rather than submitting the application fee. These programs include the Leadership Alliance, Institute for the Recruitment of Teachers (IRT), National Name Exchange, and those who will submit a Big Ten Academic Alliance FreeApp request.

Transcripts

You will need to scan and upload a copy of your transcripts for every college or university that you have attended, including the page(s) that offers data on the grading standards and other information, in order to be considered for the majority of programs.

If you are a student who is actively enrolled in classes, you are required to upload the most recent transcript that is available at the time that the application is ready to be sent in. You are required to upload a corrected transcript after the grades for the autumn term have been posted to your record.

Applicants who have attended overseas schools or universities that issue transcripts in a language other than English are required to submit certified English translations of their original transcripts or attestations of study along with their applications. You need to make sure that the original transcript as well as the certified translations are uploaded to your online application.

Before they are allowed to enroll, students who have been accepted into the program will be required to provide an official copy of their most recent transcript. Be aware that any inconsistency between the copy you have on your own device and the copy that has been officially approved could be grounds for rescinding an offer of admission.

Standardized Testing

It is important that you study the prerequisites for applying to your program because the requirements for standardized examinations will vary depending on the program. You are welcome to contact the admissions office at that particular program for clarification regarding the testing criteria if you are unsure about what is expected of you. Your GRE and subject test scores can, in the majority of circumstances, be sent directly to the University of Chicago, and they will be shared with the program(s) to which you are applying.

If after a few weeks your scores have not been recorded as received, check to see that your name and email address appear exactly the same on both your application and the test, or get in touch with the University of Chicago Graduate School so that they can provide the information required to match your scores to your application. In addition to the program that you are applying to, please supply any reference numbers that are accessible to you (for the GRE or TOEFL, the batch number from ETS; for the IELTS, the TRF code).

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In most instances, international students will be required to provide a legitimate score from either the TOEFL or the IELTS. It is in your best interest to give the precise instructions for each application a comprehensive read in order to assess whether or not you qualify for the exceptions that they will provide. On the website for the University of Chicago Graduate School, the page designated for International Applicants includes a section with additional details about English proficiency testing.

Personal Statement/Statement of Purpose

Nearly all applications need to include a statement of some form as part of the application process. It is imperative that you read the directions very carefully because the standards for this vary greatly depending on the field. Typically, you will want to discuss your prior work, preparation for the preferred field of study, relevant background and interests, academic plans, and career goals in your personal statement. It is meant to be utilized in the description of the reasons you have for applying to the specific department or program.

The admissions committee may use this statement to help them evaluate your readiness for graduate study. It will also help them understand your academic and professional experience, training, and interests beyond what is evident from your transcripts. Finally, it will help them determine how well you and the department are a good fit for one another. In certain instances, this will be presented in a different section from a statement about the research or academic interests that you have.

Interviews

In the instructions for your program, the admissions committee will specify, if you are asked to submit a video statement or have an interview as part of the admissions process, and they will provide information regarding the interviewing procedure.

Admissions Decisions

Every degree program will announce its decisions at a different time, and some degree programs may choose to announce their decisions in a “rolling” fashion rather than all at once. You can expect to hear directly from a member of the admissions committee regarding the status of your application.

What is a Good GRE Score?

What is a Good GRE Score? The fact that standardized examinations can have a substantial influence on your life can make taking them a stressful experience. The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is essential since it helps determine which graduate programs you may be accepted into.

If you don’t do well on the GRE, you might have to settle for a program that you’re not as enthusiastic about as an alternative if you want to get into the school that you want to attend.

The majority of standardized examinations, including the GRE, do not employ the letter grading scale or the scale ranging from 0% to 100% which is common practice among students. Because of this, it may be difficult to determine whether or not your score is satisfactory.

Because of the odd nature of the grading structure, it can be difficult to determine what constitutes a decent score on the GRE. On a standard exam, a score of 130, along with any additional credit earned, would be considered excellent performance. The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) has a minimum score requirement of 130.

You are in luck because ETS occasionally publishes data that includes average test scores in addition to scoring percentiles, both of which you can use to evaluate how well you have performed.

The GRE was taken by approximately 1.64 million persons between July 1, 2016, and June 30, 2019, inclusive. The following is the typical score on the GRE:

  • The score for verbal reasoning was 150.37.
  • The numerical reasoning score is 153.39.
  • Critical Thinking in Writing: 3.58

If you achieve a score that is higher than these values, you can have a degree of confidence in the fact that you have outperformed the average score on the GRE.

However, if you have your sights set on enrolling in a prestigious graduate school like UChicago Graduate School, you could get the impression that you need to do more than just outperform the other applicants.

Researching the programs that interest you will give you an idea of the goal GRE score that you should strive to get. Many educational institutions provide information about the average GRE score of their incoming class on their websites. Although receiving a score that is higher than the program’s average will not ensure that you will be accepted into the program of your choice, it certainly won’t hinder your chances either.

UChicago Graduate School Acceptance Rate

What is the current UChicago Graduate School acceptance rate? The acceptance rate at the UChicago Graduate School is typically between 10 and 20 percent. It fluctuates depending on the number and caliber of the pool of applicants that we have. The admissions rate for the PhD program is almost never higher than that of the MS program.

The exact percentages change from year to year, but around half of the graduate students at the University of Chicago are from China. Students from other countries make up approximately 80% of the total student body at the UChicago Graduate School.

Late in the month of September, fall classes start. All first-year students are required to report to campus at least one hour before the start of the first class. The University of Chicago uses the quarter system for its academic calendar (four terms per year). MS students often are not required to be physically present on campus during the Summer Quarter, although PhD students typically are.

The Masters’s program can be completed in as little as one year or as much as two years, depending on the student’s prior academic experience and the electives they select. At the UChicago Graduate School, the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree might take anywhere from three to five years to complete.

Want to learn more about getting into UChicago Graduate School? You’ve come to the right place. At AdmissionSight, we have over 10 years of experience guiding students through the competitive admissions process, including our athletic recruitment program.

AdmissionSight can help you put your best foot forward when applying to college this fall. Contact us today for more information on our services.

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