# UChicago clubs and how to join one

> UChicago has more than 400 RSOs, and many take you without an application. The selective consulting, finance and venture clubs run their applications in the first few weeks of autumn quarter. Club sports and intramurals go through Athletics, not Blueprint.

By Victor Hardt. Published September 15, 2026, updated September 29, 2026. Canonical: https://pooluchicago.org/blog/uchicago-clubs-how-to-join

UChicago has more than 400 RSOs, and many of them take you without an application. The selective ones on this page are consulting, finance and venture clubs, which recruit on their own schedule in the first few weeks of the quarter. To join, go to the fair, sign up for four or five email lists, and drop the ones you stop going to.

## How clubs are organized at UChicago

Two separate things get called clubs here. RSOs are recognized student organizations, run through the Center for Leadership and Involvement. They are listed on [Blueprint](https://blueprint.uchicago.edu), the university directory. Sport clubs and intramurals are run by Athletics on a different system, so a team you're looking for may not be on Blueprint.

Use Blueprint on its own site. The directory is a JavaScript app, so a club's page shows almost nothing in a Google search result. Search it there with the site's own filters.

## The club fair

Clubs set up tables at one big event at the start of autumn. CLI runs it, and per the Center for Leadership and Involvement, this year it is the Engagement Expo, Friday, October 2, from 3 to 5 pm on the main quad, with more than 400 departments and RSOs. Check the [CLI events page](https://leadership.uchicago.edu/programs-and-events/) before you go in case anything moves.

At the fair, sign up for more lists than you plan to keep. You'll get the emails, go to a few first meetings, and the ones you stay with won't always be the ones you expected.

## Clubs anyone can join

Many RSOs have no application at all. You come to a meeting and you're a member. If you're not sure, check the group's Blueprint page or ask at its fair table.

Model UN has three separate groups. TEAM is the competing delegation. It doesn't hold tryouts, asks that you come to practice, and takes about three hours a week. MUNUC and ChoMUN are the two conferences UChicago students run and staff, one for high schoolers and one for college teams. ChoMUN's site says it welcomes anyone who wants to staff.

## Clubs with applications

Consulting, finance and venture clubs choose their members. Prism, Eckhart, the Undergraduate Investment Banking Group, [Maroon Capital](https://pooluchicago.org/blog/uchicago-finance-investment-clubs), [Midway Ventures](https://pooluchicago.org/blog/uchicago-startup-vc-clubs) and a handful of others run written applications and interview rounds in the first few weeks of autumn quarter, and the [consulting clubs](https://pooluchicago.org/blog/uchicago-consulting-clubs) use cases. A separate guide covers how they line up with [internship recruiting](https://pooluchicago.org/blog/uchicago-internship-recruiting).

These clubs are competitive. UIBG's site says more than 300 students applied in its fall 2025 cycle, and Midway Ventures says it usually takes 5 to 6 new members per cohort group. None of them publishes an admit rate, so I won't guess one. The Blue Chips says many of its successful members got in after more than one application. Getting turned down in October says very little about you.

My advice is to care about the specific club and sound like yourself in the interview. Know why you want this one. Be ready to talk about something you care about without a script.

Some clubs teach you once you're in. The Blue Chips runs a New Member Education curriculum that starts from finance and investing fundamentals, and its page says it's looking for motivated underclassmen with intellectual passion and business intuition. That curriculum comes after you join. Getting in takes a written application and two rounds of interviews, so prepare the basics before you apply. Each club sets its own process, so read each club's own page too.

It helps to prepare with other people. You get better at cases by doing them out loud with someone else, and clubs like Maroon Capital say their information sessions are open to anyone. Go to sessions for a few clubs, even if you already have a favorite. You'll meet others applying to the same thing, and someone who has already been through a round will usually tell you what it involves if you ask.

I should name one more club, with a disclosure. [LTF](https://ltf.vc/), Learning To Fly Ventures, takes only [a few associates a year](https://ltf.vc/faq) and puts you on the investing side, sourcing and screening student startups and giving out equity-free grants. [LTF's own startup guide](https://ltf.vc/blog/starting-a-startup-at-uchicago) says it recruits in autumn quarter. I'm a general partner there, so read that knowing I'm not neutral. If you're building something of your own, you can also apply to LTF for funding. The founder side has its own guides, [how to actually start something here](https://pooluchicago.org/blog/how-to-actually-do-startups-uchicago), [where the money comes from](https://pooluchicago.org/blog/startup-funding-uchicago), the [College New Venture Challenge](https://pooluchicago.org/blog/college-new-venture-challenge) and [what past UChicago startups became](https://pooluchicago.org/blog/uchicago-startups). The [funding process](https://ltf.vc/blog/ltf-funding-process) is written up on LTF's site.

Search results for these clubs can mix in other organizations. A search for a UChicago consulting club can return Booth's MBA club, a directory listing, an old forum thread or a club from a different university. For current information, go to the club's own site or its Blueprint page.

## Club sports and intramurals

About 1,100 people play in 39 sport clubs. Intramurals run more than 32 sports a year with roughly 8,500 participants. Sport clubs come in two kinds. Athletic clubs compete against other clubs and schools. Recreational clubs focus on skills and compete outside only on a limited basis.

Intramurals have a residence hall division, where you play for your house, and an independent division. Teams register on IMLeagues, and the list includes broomball and inner tube water polo.

## Joining too many

It's easy to join too many. If by week five you only go to one thing and feel bad about the rest, that's normal. Drop the clubs you don't go to early on, and give your time to the ones you keep.

## Eating around the meetings

Some club meetings have food. For the ones that don't, there are deals nearby. [Pool](https://pooluchicago.org/about) is a food deals app for Hyde Park, free and only for verified UChicago students. This quarter it has [2-for-1](https://pooluchicago.org/2-for-1-hyde-park) 12 oz açaí bowls at [Deep Purpl](https://pooluchicago.org/restaurants/deep-purpl) (from October 8) and 2-for-1 subs at [Subway 53rd Street](https://pooluchicago.org/restaurants/subway), plus deals at 12 more Hyde Park restaurants (one from September 29, one from September 30, four from October 1 and one from October 8), live from Monday, September 28.

## Questions people ask

**How many clubs does UChicago have?**

More than 400 recognized student organizations, plus 39 sport clubs and more than 32 intramural sports run separately through Athletics. The RSOs live on Blueprint, the university directory. Sport clubs and intramurals do not.

**Do you have to apply to join a club at UChicago?**

For many of them, no. You show up to a meeting and you're in. Consulting, finance and venture clubs are the main exception, and they run applications early in autumn quarter.

**How do you join intramurals at UChicago?**

Teams register on IMLeagues. There is a residence hall division, where you play for your house, and an independent division. About 8,500 students take part across more than 32 sports a year.

**Are UChicago clubs hard to get into?**

Many take anyone who shows up. The consulting, finance and venture clubs are the exception, and they run written applications and interview rounds in the first few weeks of autumn quarter. None of them publishes an admit rate. UIBG says more than 300 students applied in its fall 2025 cycle, and The Blue Chips says many of its successful members got in after more than one application.

**How do you get into a selective club at UChicago?**

Show interest in that specific club and sound like yourself instead of giving the answer you think they want. Go to the information sessions (Maroon Capital says its sessions are open to anyone), and practice cases out loud with other applicants instead of reading about them alone. Check what each club asks for on its own page. The Blue Chips teaches finance and investing fundamentals in its New Member Education curriculum after you are admitted, so learn the basics before you apply. The Derivatives Group picks members through a technical assessment in Winter Quarter. For scale, LTF Ventures, a student-run VC fund, takes only a few associates a year and recruits once a year in autumn, per its FAQ. I'm a general partner there, so I'm not neutral about it.

**Does UChicago Model UN have tryouts?**

TEAM, the competing delegation, does not hold tryouts. It asks that you come to practice consistently and runs about three hours a week. MUNUC and ChoMUN are the two conferences UChicago students run, and both are staffed by UChicago students. ChoMUN's site says it welcomes anyone who wants to staff.