UChicago Supplement

If you choose to apply through the Coalition Application, you can submit your supplement through either your UChicago account or the Coalition Application.

Personal Statement

Different colleges may allow you to complete the personal statement component of the application in different ways. UChicago, for instance, allows students to submit something that they've previously written or created that addresses one of the prompts, which are as follows:Please respond to one prompt of your choice. Through the personal essay, the committee hopes to learn more about who you are. While you are welcome to craft an original 650-word essay in response to the question, you may also elect to submit something you have previously written, performed, developed, or otherwise created that you feel addresses any of the prompts below. You may use anything you have created in the past four years; your Locker would be a great place to find examples! We will give equal consideration to all questions and methods of response.

• Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it.
• Describe a time when you made a meaningful contribution to others in which the greater good was your focus. Discuss the challenge and rewards of making your contribution.
• Has there been a time when you've had a long-cherished or accepted belief challenged? How did you respond? How did the challenge affect your beliefs?
• What is the hardest part of being a teenager now? What's the best part? What advice would you give a younger sibling or friend (assuming they would listen to you)?
• Submit an essay on a topic of your choice or a graded course paper from 11th or 12th grade including instructor comments.

If you submit a graded paper for Option 5 or in response to any other question, we understand that the original assignment may have exceeded our suggested 650-word limit. We will consider graded papers of up to 5 pages including instructor comments.

Sample Personal Statement Essay

I have always been an enthusiast of sports and all the things related to it. In 2013 I got the opportunity of going to an international sports conference which changed my life forever. When I came back from that conference, I just knew I had to bring change through sports. I had to contribute to the society in some way. I knew that this would be a challenge because in our society girls do not have as much freedom to do what they want. But my mind was made. I had to do this. I contacted a couple of friends and asked them to start collecting as many donations as they could so that we could buy different sports equipment for the underprivileged kids that lived on the other side of my city. These kids spoke a different language from me and were not educated at all. But I had heard that they were naturally good in sports and loved them. I knew that giving them these sports goods would not really benefit me in any way but this was something that would help improve their lives and give them happiness in a time when they could not even smile. In around fifteen days we collected enough donations to buy many sports goods. We got cricket bats and balls, footballs, hockey sticks and many other things which were played around the area. This buying of the materials was not easy either. We wanted to get a large number of things and wanted to get them as cheaply as was possible. For this, we had to travel to a sports factory located on the outskirts of another city approximately 3 hours from my home. This took us a whole day, after getting the items we decided a day on which to go to the kids to give them all this stuff and to spend a few hours with them too. I was prepared for facing difficulties in communication, but I was not prepared for the scene that met us when we reached the other side. The whole place was totally messed. The houses were falling apart and the people barely had enough to eat. When the kids saw us they ran towards our car. It took us two hours to assemble them and then we started the long process of distribution. I can never forget the look in the kids eyes as they got the sports gifts. The joy and happiness were clearly visible in their laughs and their jumps. They were so excited to be receiving these things. When we had distributed all the things equally we decided to hold a football match for the boys and girls. We divided them into teams. I must say I was so impressed by some of the kids. They were very talented. All they lacked was proper training. I had a tough time communicating with the kids because unlike the elders they only spoke their native language. However, after spending several hours with them I began to understand some of the words. And to my surprise, the most common word they spoke was “Thank you”. It was then that I realized the full extent of what I and my friends had done. We had given hope to kids who never even thought of getting gifts. We had given them happiness when all they faced were problems. This for me was the greatest reward anyone could have ever given. I was satisfied. I was happy. I had brought a smile to a face. I had changed some kid’s life because who knows where he may go from here. Someone might recognize his talent and he may be the worlds next best cricket player. This experience was a great challenge for me, but I was glad I took it. We all can change the world bit by bit if we try. This change can start from the other side of your city.