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Visiting Undergraduate Students

Visiting graduate and undergraduate students can enroll in undergraduate courses drawn from the regular curriculum of the College at the University of Chicago, and will have access to the same exceptional educational resources that are available to all College students during the regular academic year. All of our classes are taught by distinguished professors and experienced lecturers. In these smaller class settings you will be able to receive personal attention from your professors and get to know other students in your class well. 

View all courses by subject code on the Summer Quarter page.

Apply now! Email summersession@uchicago.edu with any questions.

students reading on the UChicago quad

Apply

Learn how to apply for Summer Session here!

Costs, Financial Aid, Refund/Drop Deadlines

For details on costs and refund or drop deadlines, see the Costs page

Financial Aid

Visiting Undergraduate and Graduate Students may apply for aid awarded through their home institution – check with your school’s financial aid office to see if this is available. The UChicago Office of Financial Aid cannot process awards for non-degree students.

The Summer Language Institute has a limited amount of financial aid to help defray the cost of attendance for some visiting students who demonstrate financial need. To be considered for these need-based financial aid awards, all application materials and financial aid form must be completed in your application status page. We will review all aid applications received by the extended application deadline of April 11, 2024. Please note that we anticipate only being able to make aid offers to a portion of financial aid applicants.

Course Grades

Summer Session courses taught in-person or via remote instruction will provide the same undergraduate credit as the rest of the academic year. Students will receive a quality letter grade on their University of Chicago transcript. 

  • Undergraduate students must approach their instructor to request a Pass/Fail before the second to last day of class. but no earlier than half-way through the class. If the instructor approves, the student should forward the approval (email from the instructor is sufficient) to summersession@uchicago.edu for final approval and processing.

Official grades for all Summer Session programs, regardless of course dates, are not available until after the end of Summer Session (mid-September). Once official grades are available, you may log on to myUChicago to view your grades.

Credit

Undergraduate courses offered during Summer Quarter may be three to ten weeks in length and meet for approximately 30 contact hours, as required by the College. Each course, regardless of length, is therefore the equivalent of a full quarter-long course, yielding 100 units of credit.

Some intensive language courses offered as part of the Summer Language Institute, however, are six or eight weeks in length, and yield 300 units of credit. These courses are the equivalent of one full year's worth of language instruction. SLI's Reading and Research courses are 100-units each.

International Students

English Proficiency 

Competence in English must be demonstrated in order to qualify for admission. Applicants who are natives of the U.S., the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries where English is one of the official languages and the primary language of instruction in their schools has been English do not need to submit English proficiency test results.

All other international applicants must submit results from the Duolingo English Test (DET), Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). We strongly recommend a score of 104 or higher on the internet-based TOEFL, with subscores of 26 each. Minimum required scores on the IELTS (students must take the Academic test, not the General Training test) are an overall score of 7, with subscores of 7 each. The minimum acceptable score on the DET is 125.

OR

The only exception to the English language proficiency requirement is for applicants who have studied in full-time status for at least two full academic years within the last five years at a high school or college in a country where English is one of the official languages. Students must submit transcripts that demonstrate that they meet the conditions for a waiver of the English language proficiency requirement. 

Students who have studied in English in other countries are not exempt from the English language proficiency requirement.

If students meet the above conditions for eligibility, they should submit a written request for a waiver of the requirement to summersession@uchicago.edu. They will receive a confirmation of their waiver eligibility and application instructions via email.
 

Student Visas

Visiting Undergraduate international students who live outside of the US are only eligible for remote courses. UChicago Summer Session is unable to offer student visas to undergraduate students. 

Housing and Dining

Housing and dining for Summer Session will cost $1,100 per week and all housing assignments must include the dining plan. A $1,000 deposit is required to complete the housing application and is not refundable, even if housing is cancelled prior to the appropriate finalization deadline.

Visiting Undergraduate international students who live outside of the US are only eligible for remote courses. UChicago Summer Session is unable to provide housing to international undergraduate students. 

See more information on the Housing page

 

September Term

Unfortunately, September Term courses are only open to UChicago students; Visiting students are not eligible to take September Term courses at this time.