University of Chicago Summer Session Summer Immersion Program

You need to be in 9th, 10th or 11th grade and at least 14 years old. UChicago admits only students who show a superior level of English, and it offers no ESL support. Your application itself can show your English, or you can add a score from any English test you choose, such as TOEFL, IELTS or Duolingo. Some courses set their own bar. Pathways in Economics required pre-calculus, and Creative Writing applicants had to send a piece of fiction as well as the usual writing sample. Courses in computer science, creative writing, data science, economics, math, physics and quantum also ask for an extra Additional Academic Information section. SAT, ACT and AP scores are optional.

UChicago doesn't publish an acceptance rate or cohort size. By the end of the 2026 cycle, though, Creative Writing and Pathways in Economics were both listed as full, with later applicants considered from a waitlist as places opened up.

Class runs Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. with a lunch break, so most of your day is spent in one course. The format depends on the course. Creative Writing runs mostly as a seminar with daily writing and one-on-one conferences with the instructor, while Pathways in Economics pairs lectures with small discussion groups led by current UChicago students. There's no class on Juneteenth (19 June) or 4 July.

Each session starts with a two-day orientation after check-in, which residential students must attend in full and commuters attend for the first day. Evenings and weekends combine homework with activities run by the residential staff, which in past summers included baseball games, museum and aquarium trips, beach days and city festivals, many of them free or low-cost. Meals are in the dining commons, and if the pace gets hard, there's a weekly writing tutor and an academic adviser you can book.

You leave with an A to F grade in an undergraduate course worth 100 UChicago units, which UChicago equates to 5 quarter hours or 3.3 semester hours. It's recorded on an official UChicago transcript that you can order from the Registrar from late August. UChicago notes that college applications, including the Common App, will require you to submit that transcript, so the grade goes on your record whether it's strong or weak.

Whether the credit counts anywhere else is up to the college receiving it, since transfer is at that school's discretion. If you later enroll at UChicago, it won't count toward your graduation requirements.

For summer 2026, the fee was $9,300 to live on campus, which covered tuition, housing, dining hall meals and accident and sickness insurance. Students who live in the Chicago area with a parent or guardian could commute for $6,100, which included lunch on class days, but they had to arrange their own transportation. On top of either option, you pay the $75 application fee (waived if you apply for aid), travel, course materials and spending money for outings, plus an extra fee if you want the shuttle from O'Hare. International students should also budget for visa costs. Check the 2027 fee when applications open in December.

Need-based aid is partial only, and UChicago awards it first-come, first-served from a limited number of awards. In 2026, the residential fee after aid was $4,650 for households earning under $125,000 and $2,325 for those under $80,000, depending on available funds, while the commuter fee dropped to $3,000 and $1,500. Chicago Public Schools students in 9th to 11th grade from households earning under $125,000 could instead apply for a CPS-UC Summer Scholarship as commuters. It cut the fee to $800 plus a $75 transcript fee, or to $0 for households earning under $60,000, although UChicago describes it as highly competitive.

Payment comes soon after admission, with a $1,000 non-refundable deposit due within a week and the balance within four weeks. In 2026, the rest of the fee could be refunded on written request only until 4 May, and no refunds were issued after that, although students who had to leave for medical or serious family reasons could contact UChicago to discuss what they owed.

Students under 18 live in their own residence hall (Woodlawn Residential Commons in 2025). Resident assistants, who are UChicago undergraduates or recent alumni, live on the same floors, and senior residential staff are available 24 hours a day. Curfew runs from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., and you sign in with your RA during a 15-minute window from 9:45 p.m. Missing curfew brings escalating discipline and a call to your parents, and repeat offenders can be dismissed. Before curfew, you can leave campus without staff, as long as you tell the residential staff where you're going. UChicago has a zero-tolerance policy on alcohol and drugs, so possessing or using them, or even being around them, can get you dismissed immediately.

Halls have security staff, a 24-hour front desk and secured entrances, and you show your UChicago ID to get in. For health care, you can use Student Health Services, an on-call physician after hours and the University of Chicago Medical Center on campus. Parents sign a medical release, and if a student has to leave for health reasons, a parent must pick them up within 48 hours at the family's own cost.

Everything goes through UChicago's Summer Session application portal, which opens in December.

1. 1

   Rank your courses

   You can list up to four course choices in order of preference.

2. 2

   Gather your documents

   You'll need unofficial transcripts for every high school year (plus 8th grade grades if you're in 9th grade), a typed essay or research paper with your teacher's grade and comments as your writing sample, and the email address of a teacher in a related subject who will write your recommendation.

3. 3

   Write two essays

   One of up to 500 words explains why you chose your courses, and the other, of up to 250 words, describes your most rewarding academic project.

4. 4

   Request aid at the same time

   If you need aid, fill in the Financial Aid section and upload your parents' tax documents. UChicago can't award aid after an admissions decision, so this has to go in with your application.

5. 5

   Submit by a deadline

   Apply by the priority deadline of 13 January 2027 for a decision in mid-March, or by the regular deadline of 3 March 2027 for one in mid-April. Make sure your parent or guardian answers the confirmation email, because UChicago won't review your application without it.

6. 6

   Confirm your place

   Accept your offer and pay the $1,000 non-refundable deposit within seven days of your decision, or you won't be registered for your course.