Application Requirements

Questions about application requirements? Contact the Admissions Office at ssd-admissions@uchicago.edu.

All applicants must apply using our online application system.

There are three application rounds:

• Early Action – November 14th
• Round 1 – January 7th
• Round 2 – May 1st

All supporting material – including letters of recommendation, transcripts, supplemental material, and writing samples – must be submitted electronically with your online application. The Division of the Social Sciences allows for a short grace period of about one week for receipt of recommendations and required test scores. Materials that arrive more than a week after the deadline may place your application at a significant disadvantage.

The Admissions Committee evaluates all official transcripts of academic work, candidate statements and essays, letters of recommendation, performance on any required standardized test, and any special factors brought to its attention. The committee considers each application on the basis of all materials submitted and does not automatically eliminate applications based on grade point averages or test scores.

Current UChicago College students applying to the BA/MA: View BA/MA application requirements on the Division of the Social Sciences website.

Unofficial transcripts are required from all prior post-secondary institutions attended. Transcripts are not required for an institution if all grades are reflected on the transcript for a different school (for example, when a student has transferred or participated in study abroad).

You must submit a 2-4 page candidate statement outlining your research interests and potential methodological approaches, relevant training, and your prior academic distinctions. You should also identify one or more UChicago departments or programs whose faculty have research interests that align with yours.

Applicants to MAPSS-Economics: Please provide a 1-page candidate statement that discusses your post-graduation plans and how the resources that MAPSS-Econ will make available to you will help you achieve them. You may want to discuss the coursework you would like to complete in the context of your career goals and your prior background.

If applying to the research intensive track, please submit an additional 1 to 2 page statement that discusses the research plan you wish to develop while a student in the MAPSS-Econ program:

• Provide a description of 1 or 2 research topics that you would like to pursue and explain how your prior research background supports them.
• Place the research questions in context of the coursework that you plan to complete during your MAPSS-Econ year.

Provide the name of a member of the research faculty who you believe will be the ideal advisor and explain why.

Applicants to MAPSS-QMSA: Applicants to Quantitative Methods and Social Analysis should indicate a strong interest in seeking rigorous quantitative training, identifying a domain of substantive interest in the social or behavioral sciences, outlining their intended research, and naming two QMSA faculty members they most hope to work with.

Applicants to All Areas Except Economics: Your writing sample should be single-authored and speak to your abilities in the discipline to which you are applying. A total of 15 to 30 pages is ideal, but 7 pages is the minimum. More than one document may be uploaded if you have two or three shorter papers that best show your ability. This should not be a paper written specifically for your application but work that has been or will be submitted for either a grade or publication. If more than 5 years has elapsed since receipt of your degree and prior academic work is no longer accessible, you may choose to submit something you have written in an employment capacity or a stand-alone piece of writing. If you are unable to submit a single-authored writing sample, we will accept a paper that is co-authored if all writers’ names are included as well as a memo explaining your contribution to the work.

Applicants to MAPSS Economics: Please submit a 5 to 10 page class paper that demonstrates your ability to synthesize research. Applicants to the research intensive track must also submit a journal-length article that showcases your ability to conduct independent research. This article should, ideally, be an undergraduate thesis in Economics or the equivalent. It should include a literature review, a blend of modeling and empirical work, a clear identification strategy (if it is an applied economics article) and a discussion of the main results.

Upload a current resume or CV that reflects your work experience, education, community service, professional honors, and any other relevant information.

Recommenders must submit letters through the online application. To submit your application, you must provide the names and contact information for three recommenders in the application portal. You can submit your application prior to the actual letters being received, but you must list the names and contact information for three recommenders in order to submit. We allow a grace period of one week for receipt of recommendation letters after our deadline; applications incomplete after that grace period may be at a disadvantage in the review process.

Guidance for who to select as a recommender, as well as best practices for requesting letters, can be found on the Division of the Social Sciences website.

We ask you to answer the following question in a few paragraphs: What are the most important challenges you have faced, as an individual, in your educational path to date? How have you tried to meet or overcome those challenges?

GRE scores are only required of applicants applying to the following areas of study: Economics, Political Economy, and Quantitative Methods and Social Analysis. GRE scores are recommended, but not required, for applicants to Psychology. GRE scores are not required for applicants to all other areas of study, and applicants who do not submit scores will receive equal consideration. The University's institution code for sending scores is 1832 (department code does not matter).

Applicants who do not qualify for a waiver of the University’s English proficiency requirement must submit official IELTS/TOEFL scores. Acceptable test variations, score requirements, and a detailed explanation of the waiver options can be found on the Division of the Social Sciences website.

MAPSS requires a high-level of English proficiency. To succeed in the program, you must be able to participate verbally in English in graduate-level seminars and workshops, communicate your ideas clearly to faculty and peers in English, write graduate-level papers in English, and understand faculty written and verbal comments

A non-refundable application fee is required of all applicants. Application fee waivers are available; learn more about available application fee waivers on the Division of the Social Sciences website.