<p>Does the Uchicago essay have to be in a paragraph form? Could it be, say a dialogue… or poem or something? Or would that be too creative/not what they want?</p>
<p>If you feel like you could better express yourself that way, go ahead. But you should be careful - for some people, writing creatively/poems/dialogues/plays are just not their thing (and I’m sure there’s a grammar mistake somewhere in there :P). People have written poems and gotten in (there was actually a thread somewhere on this site with UChicago essays), but I’m sure you could also write a poem and end up not getting in (if you’re not really good with poetry).</p>
<p>So, in short, it doesn’t have to be in paragraph form, but it does have to be good either way; if you can’t write good poetry, don’t try to force it.</p>
<p>Is that only for the optional essay, because the other 2 say “a paragraph or 2”?</p>
<p>It does not.</p>