University of Chicago Summer Session Research in the Biological Sciences (RIBS)

Class runs from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday, and most of it happens in the lab, with lectures fitted in when an experiment needs background. Alongside the bench work you'll write something every week, keep a detailed lab notebook, read original research articles, give group presentations and attend a weekly lunchtime seminar given by research faculty.

Outside class you'll have homework, but residential staff also run daily activities across campus, Hyde Park and the rest of Chicago, from museum outings to baseball games, and many are free or low-cost. Meals are in the dining commons, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.

You need to be in 10th or 11th grade, at least 15 years old, and to have taken high school biology. UChicago says students do best when they've completed a year of advanced biology with a strong grade, so that's the clearest thing your transcript can show. UChicago doesn't publish a class size or acceptance rate, and test scores are optional.

The application asks for:

• Transcript

  An unofficial transcript covering every high school year so far, plus a grade report for current courses if they aren't on it yet.

• Two essays

  Why you chose this course and how it connects to your interests and plans (up to 500 words), and your most rewarding academic project or experience (up to 250 words).

• Writing sample

  A typed essay or research paper in English that shows your teacher's grade and comments. Lab notes aren't accepted, so it has to be expository prose.

• Recommendation

  One letter from a teacher in a subject related to the course.

• Parent sign-off

  Your parent or guardian gets a confirmation email, and UChicago won't review your application until they complete it.

Applications go through UChicago Summer Session's application page.

1. 1

   The 2027 application opens in December, and you can list up to four course choices in order, although you'll be admitted to only one.

2. 2

   Submit everything, including the financial aid section if you need aid, by 13 January 2027, which is the only deadline for RIBS.

3. 3

   Ask your recommender early, because UChicago won't review your application until at least one letter arrives.

4. 4

   Decisions for this round come out in mid-March.

5. 5

   If you're admitted, accept and pay the $1,000 deposit within seven days, then pay the rest of the fee within four weeks of admission or lose your place.

The 2026 fee for RIBS was $15,200, and a 2027 price hasn't been published yet. That one fee covers tuition, your residence hall room and dining-hall meals, and it includes accident and sickness insurance for the four weeks. On top of it you pay the $75 application fee (waived if you apply for aid), travel to and from Chicago, any required course materials and spending money for outings. International students should also budget for visa costs.

Need-based aid is partial only. In 2026, depending on eligibility and available funds, it could bring the fee down to $7,600 for families with household income under $125,000 and to $3,800 for those under $80,000. Awards go first-come, first-served, and you have to request aid in the application with your parents' tax documents, because UChicago can't award it after a decision.

The $1,000 deposit and the application fee are never refunded if you withdraw. In 2026 the rest of the fee could be refunded on written request until 4 May 2026, with nothing back after that, so settle your summer plans before that point in the cycle.

You leave with a letter grade (A to F) and 200 UChicago units of credit, which UChicago counts as two undergraduate courses, or 6.6 semester hours, recorded on an official UChicago transcript. UChicago notes that college applications, including the Common App, will require you to submit that transcript, so the grade travels with you. Whether another university accepts the credit is up to that university, and it won't count toward graduation if you later enroll at UChicago.

You also leave with your own project results, presented at the closing research forum. And once you reach your final year of high school, having completed the program makes you eligible for UChicago's binding Summer Student Early Notification option, an early decision route that returns a decision within three weeks of a complete application, so it only makes sense if UChicago is your first choice.

Residential Assistants, many of them current UChicago undergraduates or recent alumni, live on the same floor as students, and the Residential Director and assistant directors can be reached by students and families 24 hours a day. In 2026, students under 18 lived in Woodlawn Residential Commons in single or double rooms, with a front desk staffed around the clock and an ID check at the entrance.

Students must be inside the residence hall from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am and sign in with their RA each night, and repeated curfew violations can lead to dismissal. Alcohol and drugs fall under a zero-tolerance rule, so a student found with them, or even around them, faces immediate dismissal. Four-week students can use Student Health Services, with an on-call doctor after hours and the University of Chicago Medical Center on campus. If a student has to leave for health reasons, a parent or guardian must collect them within 48 hours, at the family's cost.