I Wish to Be a Part of The Family: Why Uchicago

After a conversation I had with a UChicago admissions counselor at my high school, I knew that the University of Chicago would be the right school for me. I asked her my go to college question: “what, if anything, would you alter about your college or college experience itself?” Answers I received in the past had varying degrees of criticisms. Anything from wanting food that was actually edible in the dining halls to better opportunities for undergraduates to conduct research. After I asked her this question, though, she didn’t hesitate. She told me that UChicago not only “fostered her sense of self” but “allowed her to grow as an individual but more importantly, as an active citizen”. The community of UChicago is “eclectic” and “everyone compliments each other’s’ missing links”. Her last line though, is what still resonates with me today.

“At UChicago, I had the ability to just be me and I knew regardless of my opinions or beliefs, I I had a community that would support me.”

I dream of becoming a part of the University of Chicago community for my college journey. From speaking with the admissions counselor, I know UChicago is the only university that will encourage my out-of-the-box thinking. Although I want to pursue a career in Creative Writing, I also want to study astronomy and psychology so that I can further debate the theory of relativity and have a conversation with Malcolm Gladwell on the importance of vulnerability. With a third of my time at the college being dedicated to studying the core curriculum, I’ll construct a solid academic foundation for me to grow upon throughout life and my career as a novelist.

The flexibility the college offers students by exploration through the core curriculum is another reason I’m applying. UChicago’s small class sizes offer the perfect space for me to grow as a writer but also as an engaged citizen. If offered admission, I’d love to apply skills gained through a creative writing concentration to work on Sliced Bread and Bite Culinary Magazine. Sliced Bread especially caught my attention; any publication where poets speak of their carb obsession is somewhere I want to write!

Additionally, I’m interested in UChicago’s Paris Astronomy Program. Having never been abroad, the opportunity to delve further into my astronomy hobby through classes like Exoplanets with Professor Leslie Rogers is exciting for me. The emphasis on exploration and curiosity in one’s education through the core curriculum, rather than just fulfilling a large amount of core requirements is another key reason UChicago stands out.

I look forward to conversations about Nicolas Sparks’ best novel (it’s Dear John) with physics majors, debates with political science majors about Pluto’s planetary existence, and performing in an acapella group with biomedical engineers. I’m not sure why people say the University of Chicago is “where fun goes to die”, because from what I’ve encountered, it’s not truthful. I’ve never heard alumni who were so inspiring or read of such an engaged student body that are determined to make a lasting impact in society. This a community I’d love to become a member of.