Visiting Campus

Visiting Campus before an Offer of Admission

The Division of the Humanities does not require interviews of applicants to its programs. If you are interested in visiting the University of Chicago before making an application for admission, you are very welcome to do so, but most departments and committees are not set up to arrange formal visits with scheduled meetings or activities; get in touch with the department coordinator in your area(s) of interest to find out what might be arranged for you. The Master of Arts Program in the Humanities (MAPH) does make arrangements for prospective student campus visits prior to offering admission, for which you should contact the MAPH program coordinator.

The Office of Graduate Enrollment offers campus tours for prospective graduate students. Visit the University's general Grad Admissions site for more details on these tours and to sign-up.

If you visit campus on your own there will be many things to do and see, some of which are outlined below.

The University of Chicago's 203-acre campus in the Hyde Park neighborhood, seven miles south of downtown Chicago, combines neo-Gothic architecture with modern buildings, surrounded by botanical gardens, several originally landscaped by Frederick Law Olmsted or his followers. Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, completed in 1910 and considered to be a quintessential example of Prairie style architecture, is one block east of the main quad. The neighborhood is, unsurprisingly, home to a number of excellent new and second-hand bookshops from the labyrinthine Seminary Co-op, widely regarded as one of the best academic bookstores in the world, to the original Powell's store, founded by then-graduate student Michael Powell in 1970. Hyde Park is also home to Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry and the DuSable Museum of African and African American History, tourist attractions in their own right. Several cultural institutions supported by the University are open to the public: examine artifacts from the ancient Middle East at the Oriental Institute; see a play at the Court Theatre, one of the city's best professional theater companies; or visit the Smart Museum and the Hyde Park Art Center for some visual stimulus.

The Division of the Humanities itself hosts a diverse range of public lectures, concerts, workshops, exhibitions, with readings by visiting artists, writers, directors, and performers are held throughout the year. Check the Humanities Calendar regularly for updates to the busy schedule. We encourage you to learn more about the Division of the Humanities at other pages of our Web site.

Visiting Campus after an Offer of Admission

Once admission decisions have been announced, many prospective students will want to visit campus to gain fuller knowledge about Chicago. Departments will contact newly admitted applicants with details about their campus visit days and many will arrange individual campus visits for those who cannot attend a formal event.