Receiving your decision

The official admission decision is made available to individual applicants only through the online application, and applicants will be notified by email from the Office of the Dean of Students when their decisions are available. Decisions are released no later than the first half of March, or by late May for applicants to MA programs that accept a second round of applicants. Absolutely no decisions will be provided in an email or by telephone; applicants must log in to the application site to view the decision.

The department to which you applied may contact you regarding the admission decision or to request additional application materials during January and February. However, only the decision made directly by the Dean of Students is considered the official notification of admission and aid.

It is important to keep your contact information accurate.  You will be able to keep your contact information up-to-date through the online application system. It is particularly important that you provide an accurate email address as you will be notified by email when your admissions decision is ready for you to view at the online application website.

Responding to an offer of admission

If you are offered admission, your official decision materials will contain a link to the online response form where you may inform us of your decision to accept or decline our offer.  Individuals admitted to PhD programs are expected to respond by April 15, and those admitted to MA programs by April 30. The deadline for second round admits is typically June 1. If you have not responded by your respective deadline we will assume you have chosen to decline our offer, unless you have contacted us to request a response deadline extension and we have granted the request. Admitted students are under no obligation to notify graduate schools of their decisions prior to April 15. All member institutions of the Council of Graduate Schools have agreed to the "Resolution Regarding Graduate Scholars, Fellows, Trainees, and Assistants." Under this Resolution, member universities and colleges recognize that applicants often consider multiple admission awards and allow admitted students until April 15 to return their decision.

Deferring an offer of admission

We do not allow applicants admitted to PhD programs to defer an offer of admission. However, applicants who have been admitted to one of our programs and those who have declined an admissions offer may "reactivate" their applications for consideration for admission one year later without paying the application fee again. The programs reserve the right to request resubmission of particular materials (e.g., updated writing sample, recommendation letters, etc.). 

Applicants to certain MA programs may be allowed to defer an offer of admission to the subsequent application cycle. Aid offers are typically deferred in such cases along with admission. Contact us at humanitiesadmissions@uchicago.edu before your response deadline to learn if deferral is a possibility for your program.