University of Chicago undergraduates find considerable success in applying to and pursuing top master’s and doctoral programs around the world. Within five years of graduation, around 85 percent of UChicago students are attending or have attended graduate school, and 15 to 20 percent go on to receive PhDs.
Students interested in going on to graduate programs are guided by their professors, advisers, and Career Advancement.
Career Advancement provides regular alumni and graduate student panels so undergraduates can learn what life in graduate school is like. They also provide advice on reaching out to faculty for letters of recommendation and access to test preparation materials and financial aid information. Consideration of how a graduate or professional program might fit into a student's career plan is built into each Careers In program, as is preparation for relevant graduate admissions applications. Faculty and academic advisers can give advice on academic projects, letters of recommendation, and graduate programs that would match a student’s specific interests.
Attending a liberal arts College at the heart of a major research university gives UChicago students the advantage of having a range of professional schools and graduate programs—and their students—right at their fingertips. This makes it easy to gain an inside perspective from current graduate students and preview graduate courses, events, and research projects. This familiarity can help clarify students' plans and guide them in putting together strong graduate program applications. Over 80 percent of UChicago students participate in research via the over 160 research institutions and committees on campus, not to mention various off-campus opportunities, previewing the world of scholarship that awaits in top-level graduate programs.