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.

Submitting your enrollment deposit

After accepting your offer of admission by completing the online response form, individuals in MA and MFA programs will be required to pay an enrollment deposit to confirm their attendance. The deadline to submit the deposit is listed in your admission letter. Students who fail to submit the deposit by the deadline are assumed to have voluntarily declined their offer of admission. The enrollment deposit will be applied to your autumn quarter tuition bill.

The deposit is required and is non-refundable. The Autumn 2025 enrollment deposit is $500 USD for MA programs and $500 USD for the MFA program.

If you have questions or require additional support, please contact the Dean of Students office at ahd-admissions@uchicago.edu. 

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 ahd-admissions@uchicago.edu before your response deadline to learn if deferral is a possibility for your program.

Enrollment Quarter Policy

All divisional programs begin in Autumn Quarter each year. Enrolling students cannot begin their studies in any quarter other than Autumn.*

Enrolling PhD and MFA students cannot defer their offer and must begin their studies in the year they were admitted unless there are significant extenuating circumstances and with departmental approval.

Enrolling MA students can defer their enrollment one year to the following Autumn Quarter only. We do not permit two-year deferrals or non-Autumn quarter starts. The only exception is if an individual is active duty or reserve military and is unexpectedly deployed between the time they accepted their offer and their matriculation date.

*Students admitted to some MA and PhD programs may, with permission of their program/department, enroll in coursework in the Summer Quarter prior to the quarter for which they have been admitted. In those cases, PhD students will officially matriculate in Summer Quarter and have their stipend and time to degree begin. Students in Master’s programs who enroll in courses during the Summer prior to beginning the program may not have those courses be counted towards degree requirements, and the student matriculates into the program in the Autumn.

Information regarding divisional recruitment visit days

Individuals who are admitted to the PhD and MA/MFA (Round 1) programs will have the opportunity to visit campus for divisionally-led programming including campus tours, resource fairs, academic presentations, student experiences and engagement, and department/program events. The PhD Visit Days will be Wednesday, March 26 - Thursday, March 27, 2025. The MA/MFA (Round 1) Visit Day will be Friday, April 4, 2025. More information about these visit days will be included in offer letters received.