The 2024 AEPP has two sessions:
The AEPP schedule includes the following activities:
AEPP Welcome Days (Required): For the ID Check, you should bring your UCID, passport, or another form of identification. At the Class Meet-n-Greet, you will get to know your instructor and classmates. At the Orientation Session, you will hear from partnering offices, and there will be catering from local restaurants at the Networking Picnics.
Intensive Academic English Classes (Required): You will build your spoken or written Academic English proficiency as you synthesize, analyze, and integrate the linguistic and cultural information acquired in and out of class. You should expect a significant amount of homework each day.
Weekend Assignments: Chicago as Classroom (Required): Build your confidence and cultural knowledge through structured and rigorous assignments.
Friday Workshops (Required): These are workshops with a wide variety of linguistic and cultural topics, and you can choose which workshop to attend.
AEPP Tutor (Optional): Receive some extra feedback on your speaking or writing.
Extracurricular Activities (Optional):
- Conversation Hour – Practice your English in a fun, relaxed setting!
- Soccer – Let’s play some footie!
- Board Games – A perfect way to wind down from a busy week!
Weekend Excursions (Optional): Hang out casually with fellow students and the Summer Language Assistants in Hyde Park and Downtown Chicago.
AEPP Farewell (Optional): Let’s gather together one last time to recognize student accomplishments in a semi-formal setting.
“Taking AEPP was one of the best choices I ever made. I have made a lot of friends here, and it has made the rest of my academic life less daunting. I am more brave than ever to speak English in front of others.”
-2022 AEPP-Speaking student
“AEPP is an astounding orientation course that helped me acclimate with the culture in Chicago and the academic environment at the University of Chicago. The rigorous classes drove me out of my comfort zone (in a great way!) to be a better writer in casual and academic English.”
-2022 AEPP-Writing student
This three-week intensive course has two tracks: (A) Speaking and (B) Writing.
You cannot do both, as the two tracks have similar content and themes (but the assignments will be speaking- vs. writing-based).
“I enrolled in the Academic English Pre-Matriculation Program: Writing because because I thought this is a great opportunity to learn North American academic writing, and it did really help me a lot. My instructor, Tim is very patient and thoughtful. He explained topics like controlling claims, sentence boundaries, and even networking etiquette. In addition, we even had outdoor excursion, which was a great way to get to know Chicago and your cohort! Lastly, thanks every instructor and staff member in the AEPP for providing such a fun and warm place for us to learn and have fun!”
“I took the Academic English Pre-Matriculation Program as a requirement for my graduate program. However, I not only found it useful, but also very interesting in regards to what you can learn about Chicago and its neighborhoods. Christine is a very fun instructor! Classes were both open discussions on social issues, such as segregation in Chicago, and tips on English grammar and pronunciation. Some other important aspects covered were learning about health system in US and how to navigate in UChicago. I think that the AEPP has an interesting feature for everyone from networking to history.”
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