When you reflect on the reputation of the University of Chicago, you’ll likely know that the school is at the forefront of intellectual rigor. In fact, it currently ranks as the 11th overall best national university this year, according to the US News reports.
Zoom in, and the tapestry of excellence tells the story: in the scholarly world, UChicago is celebrated for its groundbreaking social and theoretical scientific research, as well as its world class reputation in both economics and mathematics.
Relative to these accomplishments, its ranking at #24 for US News’ “Best Computer Science Programs in America in 2025” might feel a bit discouraging. You may be thinking, “should I really be considering this university as part of my applications goals as a CS student, if the discrepancy is that wide?” After all, with an acceptance rate more similar to Harvard’s than its CS-ranked neighbors like UMass - Amherst and NYU: shouldn’t you expect more? Is the program really worth it as an option on your list of Reach Schools?
The answer is: it depends! Students who are mostly interested in a standard career-track opportunity at a major tech company may find that other top programs offer a more reasonable ratio of risk to reward. However, CS is an incredibly interdisciplinary field, and there are ways in which one can pursue the best of what a UChicago education has to offer while still getting the necessary training for a technology-oriented career.
Let’s take a closer look at what UChicago brings to the table.
While applicants are invited to share their academic ambitions with UChicago in their application materials, they do not directly enroll in that field as their major if admitted. Plenty of elite schools do this, especially across the Ivy+ schools (e.g. UChicago, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, etc.) There is a sense in these spaces that the quality of the education you’ll receive may broaden your horizons and introduce new ideas or avenues that were previously opaque.
By consequence, UChicago is likely to evaluate the student’s application more holistically when compared to other programs. The student who gets in will showcase leadership, intellect, geniality, moral insight, clarity of vision, and excellent communication skills.
However, they may or may not have that laser-sharp focus on CS. That’s okay. In fact, that might be exactly the kind of student who should be applying to UChicago: someone who discovered their passion for tech later in their high school tenure, who already has significant commitments that would prevent a pivot towards complete immersion in CS.
The student who is an academic go-getter, whose personal growth journey has led them organically towards implementation of computer/data science, ML, etc., may have more reason to consider UChicago as an ideal admissions goal. Here’s why:
UChicago’s application requirements give a better picture of what they prize above all else: their quirky and expository essay prompts seek to identify budding intellectuals who are passionate, motivated, and insightful. The school seeks individuals who find themselves at an inflection point of growth in their life: who have maximized value from the opportunities available to them, and will require an immaculate institution like UChicago to continue growing to their greatest potential.
The indicated major shapes the perception of the admissions officers in that it tells them where the student’s attention is focused. Growth is a process: the student should have evidence of remarkable ambition and success in that field to qualify their declared interest.
For computer science, that might look like a world-class extracurricular profile that would have similar chances at more esteemed CS programs like CMU or UIUC. UChicago’s CS department is smaller by comparison, even though it is excellent in its own right. Nevertheless, they have to turn away more students than they would like to.
The reality of the situation is that indicating an interest in a certain major will mostly only serve to frame your priorities narratively for the admissions office. You could apply with an emphasis on a different major and then emphasize a growing interest in that field’s intersection with tech.
For example, perhaps you’ve been very interested in politics and/or economics while in high school, and your extracurriculars reflect that better than CS. There are many more seats in those majors at UChicago vs. CS, and they’re higher-ranked! That’s an advantage for you. Indicate that interest and then craft a narrative that suggests you’re seeing a special role for technology in that space, and that you want to explore that.
The critical distinction here is that you want to show intellectual vitality, insatiable curiosity, and adaptability. The narrative you craft in your college essays and application choices will need to link these prior experiences to a future vision that is currently unfolding. That is a strength, but if the narrative isn’t coherent, the application will read as though the student is indecisive or apathetic, which is a nonstarter for a place like UChicago. The balance is delicate.
If that sounds scary to face alone, you don’t have to: Pathivy is a team of highly passionate experts in this process who would be happy to work with you in developing your applications. Reach out to us to schedule a free consultation to learn how we can help you in your admissions goals.
But why make such elaborate plans to gain admission if the program is only modestly ranked among top schools?
Well, that’s just it: you don’t want to do that if your only purpose is in attaining a software engineering gig at a big tech company. Yet UChicago is an enormous school with many excellent offerings. If you’re genuinely fascinated by a subject outside of CS that you’d love to incorporate into your career planning, look at UChicago’s rankings in that field. It’s highly likely to be among the very best. If that’s physics, math, economics, or political science, it’s absolutely a ‘yes’ for the value of an app to UChicago, even if you’re specifically applying for a tech career. After all, policy think tanks, political parties, and government need technologists, too!
Also, UChicago has a core curriculum that is intensely rigorous and intellectual with which its alumni network and prominent employers are well-versed. Hiring is a commitment to more than just primary work skill sets—it’s a commitment to and for the individual, especially in CS as a field. It’s good to know you’re hiring someone with a robust capability for thought and insight in a wide variety of contexts: UChicago is known to accomplish this better than almost anyone.
There are some schools where anyone could be excited to study for CS: UWashington, UIUC, CMU, Stanford, etc. While UChicago might not fit that list quite so easily just yet, it only takes a slight reframing to justify such an application strategy.
Anyone should be excited to study at the University of Chicago, whether or not CS is an important component of their career planning. Sometimes, a school is worth far more than its individual ranking on a website. If you want help figuring out how, why, and when to be thinking that outside-the-box on your college applications strategy, let’s connect!