No PrescreenNo AuditionNo InterviewUniversity App Required
Program Recognition
•Bullet: Department founded in 1995 and hosts the Mitchell Cobey Lectures on Cinema each year, bringing outside filmmakers and scholars to campus
Training
•Bullet: Standard Track: CMST 10100 Introduction to Film, a three-course history survey (Silent Era; Sound to 1960; 1960 to Present), an advanced seminar (CMST 29201 or 29202), and seven CMS electives — no capstone thesis required
•Bullet: Department faculty include Jacqueline Stewart (Edward Carson Waller Distinguished Service Professor in Cinema and Media Studies and the College) and D.N. Rodowick (Professor Emeritus in the Department of Cinema and Media Studies)
Facilities
•Bullet: The Film Studies Center holds 35mm and 16mm prints, Library of Congress Paper Print Collection holdings, and Black Images Collection materials, with dedicated screening rooms and individual viewing stations
Study Abroad
•Bullet: CMS offers an undergraduate study-abroad option in Paris
•Bullet: Department founded in 1995 and hosts the Mitchell Cobey Lectures on Cinema each year, bringing outside filmmakers and scholars to campus
Training
•Bullet: Standard Track: CMST 10100 Introduction to Film, a three-course history survey (Silent Era; Sound to 1960; 1960 to Present), an advanced seminar (CMST 29201 or 29202), and seven CMS electives — no capstone thesis required
•Bullet: Department faculty include Jacqueline Stewart (Edward Carson Waller Distinguished Service Professor in Cinema and Media Studies and the College) and D.N. Rodowick (Professor Emeritus in the Department of Cinema and Media Studies)
Facilities
•Bullet: The Film Studies Center holds 35mm and 16mm prints, Library of Congress Paper Print Collection holdings, and Black Images Collection materials, with dedicated screening rooms and individual viewing stations
Study Abroad
•Bullet: CMS offers an undergraduate study-abroad option in Paris
Program Highlights
Program Recognition
•Bullet: Department founded in 1995 and hosts the Mitchell Cobey Lectures on Cinema each year, bringing outside filmmakers and scholars to campus
Training
•Bullet: Standard Track: CMST 10100 Introduction to Film, a three-course history survey (Silent Era; Sound to 1960; 1960 to Present), an advanced seminar (CMST 29201 or 29202), and seven CMS electives — no capstone thesis required
•Bullet: Department faculty include Jacqueline Stewart (Edward Carson Waller Distinguished Service Professor in Cinema and Media Studies and the College) and D.N. Rodowick (Professor Emeritus in the Department of Cinema and Media Studies)
Facilities
•Bullet: The Film Studies Center holds 35mm and 16mm prints, Library of Congress Paper Print Collection holdings, and Black Images Collection materials, with dedicated screening rooms and individual viewing stations
Study Abroad
•Bullet: CMS offers an undergraduate study-abroad option in Paris
250–650 words · Choose 1 of 7 prompts · Written once for all your Common App schools
Background, identity, interest, or talent: Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
Facing adversity: The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
Challenging an idea: Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
Gratitude: Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
Personal growth: Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
Intellectual curiosity: Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
Topic of your choice: Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.
The Common App enforces the length inside the application.
Why UChicago
300–600 words
How does the University of Chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire for a particular kind of learning, community, and future? Please address with some specificity your own wishes and how they relate to UChicago.
UChicago has no strict word limit; its admissions FAQ (collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/apply/uchicago-admissions-faq/) gives 300-600 words as a rough guideline, not a requirement.
Extended Essay
500–700 words · Choose 1 of 6 prompts
Food for thought: How do thoughts eat?
The James Webb Space Telescope, launched in 2021, utilized origami-inspired techniques to compactly store and deploy its sunshield in space. Choose an artistic practice and use its principles to propose an elegant solution to a problem.
Sometimes metaphors get mixed up. For one reason or another, one could say, “we'll burn that bridge when we get there” or “the world is your china shop”. Make up your own mixed metaphor. Explain how it could make sense, be understood, or even applied.
The Olympics have long celebrated the pinnacle of human athletic achievement. But what if they expanded to honor the mundane? Imagine a new Olympic event built around an everyday activity like speed dishwashing or competitive grocery bagging. How is it scored, officiated, and judged? Why is it a worthy addition?
AI: Allen Iverson. NASA, or the North American Saxophone Alliance. Share a potentially confounding, comedic, or captivating example of MIA (Mistaken Identity of Acronym) and tell us its backstory.
And, as always… the classic choose your own adventure option! In the spirit of adventurous inquiry, choose one of our past prompts (or create a question of your own). Be original, creative, thought provoking. Draw on your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary, social critic, sage, citizen of the world, or future citizen of the University of Chicago; take a little risk, and have fun!
UChicago has no strict word limit; its admissions FAQ (collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/apply/uchicago-admissions-faq/) gives 500-700 words as a rough guideline, not a requirement.
•Bullet: Department founded in 1995 and hosts the Mitchell Cobey Lectures on Cinema each year, bringing outside filmmakers and scholars to campus
Training
•Bullet: Standard Track: CMST 10100 Introduction to Film, a three-course history survey (Silent Era; Sound to 1960; 1960 to Present), an advanced seminar (CMST 29201 or 29202), and seven CMS electives — no capstone thesis required
•Bullet: Department faculty include Jacqueline Stewart (Edward Carson Waller Distinguished Service Professor in Cinema and Media Studies and the College) and D.N. Rodowick (Professor Emeritus in the Department of Cinema and Media Studies)
Facilities
•Bullet: The Film Studies Center holds 35mm and 16mm prints, Library of Congress Paper Print Collection holdings, and Black Images Collection materials, with dedicated screening rooms and individual viewing stations
Study Abroad
•Bullet: CMS offers an undergraduate study-abroad option in Paris
