Like this: Choose a topic. Common App and Coalition Essays Supplemental Essays University of California Essays University of Texas Essays Resume Review Post-Grad Essays Specialized Services Waitlist Letters Other. If you used creativity to solve a problem, uc essay topics, what was your solution? Of course, it's true that many of the stories you think of can be shaped to fit each of uc essay topics prompts. Nearly kids, including my little brother, would be robbed of the opportunity given to me. What are they asking you for?
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Heads-up: This is basically a crash course on the UC application, uc essay topics. For the longer version, check out my actual course, linked below. These are the elements that UC readers are looking for when they evaluate your application. Performance in and number of courses beyond minimum A-G requirements. Eligibility in the Local Context ELC CA residents only. Outstanding performance in one or more academic subject areas. Academic accomplishment in light of life experiences. More detail on these here. The golden question. Your goal with these prompts is to do three things:. Stand out in a good way from other students applying from your school. Most importantly connect back to the points of comprehensive review.
Your UC Activities List is a great place to start. Your UC Activities Listin my opinion, the best place to find your topics. You can do that by clicking here. For example Should you avoid these topics? Having said that, uc essay topics, here are The Big Game PIQ, in which the author either wins the game! Or more likely loses the game, but learns An Important Life Lesson and proceeds to winatlife. The Uc essay topics Trip PIQ, in which the author takes a trip to a foreign country and ultimately learns one uc essay topics three things: a how much they have to be grateful for, b how crazy it is that people living in extremely difficult circumstances can still be happy, or c while they initially went there expecting to teach, what instead happened was just the opposite you get where I'm headed here, uc essay topics.
Prompt: Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively uc essay topics others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time. Tip: Writing for this topic is a strong way to start your application. There are so many ways to show leadership—maybe you took on huge responsibilities in your family, for example, or maybe you identified a need in your school or community and worked to do something about it. Uc essay topics Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.
The UCs are interested in more than just your academics, and this can be a great chance uc essay topics bring variety to your application. Prompt: What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time? Because chances are your GPA and course rigor already show that. Otherwise, your PIQ may sound super general. Show how volleyball has taught you that. Prompt: Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced?
Prompt: Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement? Tip: Some topics are stronger than others when it comes to this prompt. Racism, sexism, crime, violence, unemployment, physical disability. How a difficult family situation led you to take on more responsibilities. More on this in the next lesson. One final tip: Make sure to address how the challenge impacted your academicssince the uc essay topics asks about this. Prompt: Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Tip: This is a great prompt to consider. Prompt: What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?
Tip: This is another prompt to strongly consider. Can you think of any ways you have? Or several ways? Prompt: Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California? What about your intellectual side? Ask yourself: Am I repeating myself? Maybe your GPA and course load already show that; if so, uc essay topics, find something else to emphasize. Consider combining similar topics so you can free up space to write about something else using another prompt.
A just-okay volunteer PIQ, for example, uc essay topics add more to your application than a second PIQ on your love of for example coding. Speaking of which Ask yourself: Am I showing variety? If computer science is your thing, make sure that not all four of your PIQs are on tech-related topics. Treat your topics like a playlist. Your UC reader will likely read these in order by number, so start with a topic that makes a strong impression, uc essay topics, then move forward accordingly. If one topic e. Ask yourself: Is each topic connected to at least one of my activities? If so, great! If not, it may be that your topic is too vague. And finally:, uc essay topics.
Is each topic somehow connecting back to at least one of the points of comprehensive review? Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time. Decide on a structure, uc essay topics. Does your BEABIES content focus on a particular challenge you faced, what you did about it, and what you learned? Does your content focus on a few different experiences and problems that taught you different values and insights about leadership? To outline a narrative, organize your BEABIES content into three sections:, uc essay topics.
What I Did About It What I Did and Impact I Had columns. Think about and write down how different actions connect to and taught you about different values and insights regarding leadership. These can become your body paragraphs. So if, for example, you write a word intro, uc essay topics, you have words left. Obviously, the fewer examples, the deeper you can go. The more you have, the wider you can go in other words, you can show more variety. UC Prompt 1 example essay: Ming Ji Restaurant. As I developed more in this role, I became a keystone piece for the waiters. I taught them how to properly attend groups of unsatisfied customers and the fundamentals of customer service. Consequently, I acquired organizational habits and dialogued more fluently to resolve problems.
I developed better strategies to speed up home-delivery and in restaurant service. It implanted a strong work ethic in me that reminds me of the hardworking farmers of my past generations. I believe that to achieve efficiency and productivity in the working environment between employees and the manager, it requires not only the firmness and attention of a boss, but also the empathy and vision of a leader. Working through the many facets of a small business has taught me the key role of small groups in a system, and I applied this beyond the walls of the restaurant. As a result of my years laboring for my family restaurant, you might think that I would like to become an entrepreneur.
But in actuality, I picture myself as an engineer, as I believe both require the adaptability, perseverance, dedication, and strategy to succeed in this field. In paragraph 1, the author defines leadership in an unconventional way. Uc essay topics can lead in your family, uc essay topics, or through work. This student was accepted to and ultimately attended UC Berkeley, by the way. In paragraph 3, he shares what he learned. In paragraph 4, he describes how he applied these lessons elsewhere. He even highlights a few in the final sentence: adaptability, perseverance, dedication, and strategy. He also connects these to his future career. Finally, the clear structure makes this PIQ super easy to read.
In fact, notice how you can read the first sentence of each paragraph aloud, and it creates a short version of the whole story. Re-read those first sentences now to see what I mean. How to write an essay for UC Prompt For Prompt 2 I recommend the Uncommon Connections Exercise:. Imagine what uc essay topics else writing an essay on this same topic might write about—in uc essay topics, what values might that person emphasize? To give you some ideas of what values others might write about, use the Values Exercise.
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In paragraph 2, the author describes the first thing he did to resolve this challenge : play drums in everyday life. Note that this paragraph was directly inspired by brainstorming from the first column of his BEABIES Exercise. In paragraph 3, the author helps us understand what he learned by connecting to a value : artistic freedom. In paragraph 5, the author describes the second thing he did to resolve his challenge : He decided to invent his own instrument. Not too much, though, as you might distance your reader. A little, like this author uses, is great. As with Prompt 2, I recommend completing the Uncommon Connections Exercise. Imagine what someone else writing an essay on the same topic might write about using the Values Exercise—in other words, brainstorm the cliché version.
Stand out by instead electing to:. Then, before you start writing:. Create a simple outline by picking a theme for each paragraph. UC Prompt 3 example essay: Finding connections among the dissimilar. It started when I was a kid and my dad taught me Sudoku. As he explained the rules, those mysterious scaffoldings of numbers I often saw on his computer screen transformed into complex structures of logic built by strategy. Gradually, puzzles became a constant in my life. In elementary school, I began searching for patterns in the world around me: thin, dark clouds signaled rain, the moon changed shape every week, and the best snacks were the first to go.
I wanted to know what unseen rules affected these things and how they worked. My parents, both pipeline engineers, encouraged this inquisitiveness and tried explaining how they solved puzzles in their own work. Their analytical mindsets helped me muddle through homework and optimize matches in Candy Crush. In high school, I threw myself into all my classes and studied by linking concepts across subjects. Mathematical syntax transitioned easily to English grammar, and the catalysts for revolutions resembled isomers of the same element, nominally different with the same properties. As I grew older, my interests expanded to include the delicate systems of biology, the complexity of animation, and the nuances of language.
Unsurprisingly, my career aspirations changed every week: one day I wanted to be an illustrator, the next a biochemist, then a stand up comedian. But when I discovered computer science, something seemed to settle; I had finally found a field where I could be creative, explore a different type of language, and, yes, solve puzzles. Best of all, I believe my superpower has helped me knit together my identity. My multicultural friend group is linked by our diverse passions: k-pop, hockey, Hamilton. While to others my life may seem like a jumble of incompatible fragments, like a jigsaw puzzle, each piece connects to become something more. Overall note: Even though this author has chosen an abstract quality finding connections among the dissimilar , she lists many specific examples , and these examples provide the structure for her PIQ.
Note the variety and specificity of her examples:. Prompt: Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced. But notice that the student interpreted the prompt in an unusual way. Five years ago I took up a job in construction from a couple of neighbors who needed help doing a demolition job on an old house. I saw this as an opportunity to help pay bills around the house as well as cover my own personal expenses. I did a good enough job that my neighbors told me that, if I wanted, I could continue working with them. It has been a demanding job and I made numerous mistakes at first, like using the wrong tools for different tasks or the wrong size screw.
There were even days that I considered quitting, but I stuck with it. Since then, I've built , repaired , and remodeled numerous homes for family, friends, neighbors, and even strangers. The best part? Knowing that some family will get to enjoy my work. In fact, I have a feeling that would be an even more fulfilling journey. Working in construction has, in fact, taught him a lot. Alternately, he could have also emphasized the creativity he developed while on the job see: UC 2. The author uses active verbs to describe what he actually did.
I also appreciate that this author reveals a wide range of values in this PIQ, including: family, perseverance, hard work, community, pride, independence, ambition. Complete the Feelings and Needs Exercise. Note that you might also choose to take your Feelings and Needs Exercise and simply write a paragraph on each column. Cool, huh? The student wrote this after completing the Feelings and Needs Exercise , and then shortened it from words for the Common App to words so that I could share it with you here :. UC Prompt 5 example essay: Example 1: What had to be done Narrative Approach, based on a challenge.
At six years old, I stood locked away in the restroom. My dad was being put under arrest for domestic abuse. For a few years the quality of our lives started to improve as our soon-to-be step-dad became part of our family. I cooked, Jose cleaned, I dressed Fernando, Jose put him to bed. We did what we had to do. I grew determined to improve the quality of life for my family and myself. Without a father figure to teach me the things a father could, I became my own teacher. I learned how to fix bikes, how to swim, and even how to talk to girls.
I found a job to help pay bills. I became as independent as I could to lessen the time and money mom had to spend raising me. I tutored kids, teens, and adults on a variety of subjects ranging from basic English to home improvement and even Calculus. And I have yet to see how Fernando will grow. Not because I have to. In paragraph 1, the author makes the challenge very clear. Summon the BEABIES. To learn more about how to fill out the BEABIES Exercise, head here. For my IB Extended Essay , I am writing about the Second Amendment, and I hope to elucidate the current gun control debate with research surrounding the legacy of the Glorious Revolution. My passion for history led me to an internship at the Sejong Institute, a think-tank specializing in Korean diplomacy.
This notion also applies to my participation in Model UN. Exploring the ramifications of historical events has helped me create more comprehensive solutions; learning about the often-controversial past actions of nations has prompted me to raise ethical questions. In resolving these conflicts, how do we balance national sovereignty with the responsibility of former colonial powers to stabilize the region? From tracing the African exodus of Homo erectus two million years ago to examining La Bestia Mexican freight trains used by US-bound migrants , I now understand that migration is as old as history itself. In college, I hope to continue drawing connections between history and contemporary geopolitics as a Political Science major.
Eventually, I hope to become a civil rights attorney, and the first Asian woman on the Supreme Court. In paragraph 1, the author clarifies the subject right away : History. She includes one way per paragraph , which provides a clear structure. You can totally steal this for your extracurricular essay. Shall I show you? I shall. Get a blank sheet of paper, turn it horizontally, and create these columns:. Column 1: Identify the problem. Describe the challenge you were or are currently facing. The problem could be something global, like an environmental issue, or something more local, like a lack of creative opportunities in your high school. Column 2: Raise the stakes. Help us understand: Why was or is overcoming this challenge important? What might happen if this problem went or goes unchecked?
Column 3: Articulate the vision. What might the world look like if this problem were solved? Column 4: Describe what you did. Tell us the specific things you or you and your team did to solve the problem. Column 5: Clarify your role. Describe your particular involvement. Column 6: Share the impact you had, lessons you learned, or values you gained. Provide specific evidence that gives us a sense that your work mattered. Turn the paper vertical and notice voila! If not, rewrite them so they do. Then rewrite the paragraphs so they connect to those first sentences. If they do flow together, walk away from your computer, and go get a glass of cold water. And because hydrating is important. Although the magnitudes of these quakes ranged from 2. A disaster is unprecedented and unpredictable and, in our community, we always acknowledged their occurrence elsewhere but never fully admitted that a large-scale catastrophe may happen at our doorsteps.
Recognizing this unspoken apathy, I decided to take a step beyond my school club and get involved in the community chapter of the Reno Red Cross Disaster Cycle Services team. As I was learning the basics of preparedness i. As part of the DCS committee, it is my goal to increase the confidence of as many youth and families as possible. During my training, I accompanied volunteers during the Home Fire Preparedness Campaign, where we installed and updated smoke alarms and detectors in over thirty low income households in the Reno area, free of charge. Representing DCS on the Youth Executive Board for our local chapter, I also led a Youth in Disaster Services Seminar, where we trained young adults in CPR Certification as well as basic Shelter Fundamentals.
The impact of disaster services reverberates throughout our communities, both at home and internationally. Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Love this UC Essay prompt, and the Personal Insight Examples below do a great job showcasing this concept. Try to talk about something outside of AP Biology. What other experiences do you have outside of school that got you passionate about this particular subject? Upon returning from my AP Government field trip Washington D. I felt inspired by their platform of promoting the common good and refusing lobbying from large corporations. Although I may not be a politician, I was inspired to believe that I could still make a difference in my local community. After researching the effects of cellular towers, I found that close vicinity to one would put my family at a high risk of cancer.
Although learning about public policy was enthralling, actually applying it to the real world seemed like a distant idea—one that only my Congresspeople could do. Neighbors who once bickered over whose dog urinated on whose side of the lawn put their differences aside for the common interest of their community. Through these civic concepts, I truly understood that our free will determines our self-governed society. The power of public policy lies in the hands of the people. With an army of people behind me, I could see that they too, understood that politicians may have high statuses to make a change.
However, a community setting their differences aside for one common goal is much stronger than one politician. I realized it only takes the power of one—one person, one action, one community—that makes all the difference. In the crisp white room of the Tate gallery, something caught the corner of my eye. This was a piece that, despite appearing distinctively simple to me, held significant value in the art world. Although I held a lot of respect for an artist like Matisse, I questioned the presence of the art piece in the gallery: Why is this regarded as priceless in the art world? Having studied art for over 10 years, I have often wondered how some pieces were deemed priceless while others were left to be forgotten.
This subsequently led me to question how one quantifies the value of art. During my study between the intersection of art and economics, I explored this question by learning about the economics of supply and demand, and looking into economic bubbles. Studying the economic explanation behind the value of art has taught me to reconsider what I would describe as quantifiable value, and consider the meaning behind utility. This process taught me the importance of making connections between seemingly unrelated fields like economics and psychology to investigate the meaning behind art that gives it new meaning, new light.
Upon returning to the Tate Gallery the following summer, I approached exhibitions with a new mindset, and a newfound appreciation for art pieces that provoke new questions and curiosity. There is a certain joy in appreciating the beauty of the natural world. Learning the processes of life is like enjoying a entrancing story, a tale that further captivated me through science classes. I wanted to continue reading this story outside of school, and over the past summer, I was able to work at Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma at Stanford University. There, my internship with Dr. I had some prior wet lab experience through food chemistry projects to create vegan cheese at [organization name] my neighborhood bio-hackerspace , but working with world-renowned scientists and a Nobel Prize winner just a few doors down was definitely intimidating.
I was assigned to work with Dr. Defects could lead to serious diseases affecting the lung, including asthma. We use cutting-edge single-cell analysis to look at expressed genes in the lung to create a library and understand how the cells reacted to disease. My main task was optimizing our single cell protocol since we desperately needed higher efficiency. I scoured the internet for ideas, reading papers that left my head spinning and talking to experts who made me more confused. After a summer of struggle, I came across a paper that described an enzyme that could join incomplete genetic sequences together so they would not be lost — bingo, just what I needed.
The internship exposed me to the two sides of research — the grind and the overwhelming happiness following a positive result. The pure joy of watching my project bear fruit made me fall more in love with research and has influenced me to continue my journey towards making the world a healthier place. Take a look at the essay examples below; you can definitely feel just how much these students cared about their specific cause. He is my friend. Weeks following, I hosted a [Cancer] Awareness Week to help my peers to not only empathize with [Name], but also see life through his eyes. I wanted to show him that his school community would fight alongside him during his battle.
In [xth] grade, I was lucky enough to join the middle school debate team; it made me articulate, graceful, and deliberate with my thought process. However, in high school, I learned that my middle school debate program was shut down—my childhood playground was torn down in front of my eyes! Nearly kids, including my little brother, would be robbed of the opportunity given to me. I envisioned a program that would meet after school, getting kids and parents excited about forensics at a younger age. Within 2-weeks, I started meeting with the school principals in my city to communicate my visions.
Fortunately, they were very receptive to the idea, prompting me to begin advertising the [name of organization] immediately. By November, we held our first practice. We started our meetings by teaching the kids to give second speeches debating fun topics like Spiderman versus Superman or Chocolate versus Vanilla Ice Cream, to capture their interest. Each of the 30 students approached debate differently and pushed me to expand my own understanding of public speaking. The most amazing experience I had was when [Name], who would cry behind his wireframe glasses when asked to stand in front of the class, gave a one-minute speech in front of everyone.
In his courage I saw the grit and wit of a successful speaker. This is my second year running the club and my other team members clearly show the enthusiasm to keep the organization alive. Best of all, within two years, we will see the first batch of [name of organization] alums in varsity debate at my high school. She was nothing like I imagined. Sitting in a wheelchair like a pale doll, she had tubes and inch-long stitches covering her body. I had no idea what I had signed up for when I took the job of caring for [Name], who has disabilities that prevent her from talking, walking, and standing. I knew that this would be an enormous responsibility, but I resolved to stay committed, believing that helping someone who needs it is a must.
Can I touch her? Despite my efforts, there was a palpable distance between us—physically and emotionally. Eventually, I noticed her irrevocable schedule, consisting of stretching, using her standing frame, watching movies then napping in an endless loop. Her nurses rarely engaged with her or even asked her what she wanted to do. So I took a different approach by simply talking to her and treating her like any human should. Slowly she began opening up to me, and eventually, I learned that she enjoyed piano. A week later, I brought a keyboard to teach her how to press the keys and she began clapping when I entered her room! I have been taking care of [Name] for three years now. She blows me a kiss when I play piano and claps when I walk in the room.
Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California? This UC essay makes people a bit anxious. I mean, what is that ONE THING that sets you apart from everyone else? A question your future employer WILL ask is something very similar to this UC essay. So, see this UC Personal Insight Question as the perfect opportunity to practice your answer. The essay examples below do a great job showcasing the plethora of different interpretations you can take on this prompt. My cheeks blushed with embarrassment, as I glanced over my pack of crayons that were, in fact, from the Dollar Store. I was told by my parents to value these crayons because their sheer quantity would last me through elementary school.
And, out of all my friends, I was the only one to receive free meals. I was convinced that our family was special; when in actuality, I was being protected from a harsher reality. Thus, my father continued his career as a postal carrier. He endured an exhausting daily cycle: delivering mail along a mile route, running errands after work, then resting until his next shift. But this was a white lie. I was given a quality education, because my parents took out a mortgage for a house in a better school district. I was given ceaseless love and support, because my mom gave up her career to become a full-time mom. Having grown up in a working class family, entitlement did not exist; only hard work, regardless of whether it was mine or my parents, would better the conditions over time.
Thus, raised by the altruistic and diligent examples that I call Mom and Dad, I became an individual who aids others unconditionally and values the simple pleasures of life. Yet, above all, I value connectivity, as there are always people who have pushed me towards success. Amongst the tantalizing choices—including Chevron—I chose CVS for my escapades. I enjoyed reading shampoo ingredients, leading me to learn about the chemical bonds of its compounds like sulfate, an insecticide. One Tuesday in late-January, I found myself crashing into the velvet adorned Hallmark card aisle.
As a straight female, I unquestioningly supported LGBTQ rights. However, this moment opened my eyes to the nuances that quietly lurked in my pharmacy—nuances that could make a gay person feel excluded. I later learned 1-in Americans identify as LGBTQ, meaning Hallmarks of the world were turning a blind eye to million LGTBQ-identifying people, sending the message that their love was different! I felt uncomfortable, like all eyes were on me as my classmates witnessed me walking into LGBTQ meeting. Later, I wrote a piece in my school newspaper detailing my CVS revelation and LGBTQ Club experiences, imploring our school to be more mindful of the unconscious biases we create. I smile when a student who I later learned has two mothers came to give me a fist-bump.
Your email address will not be published. Describe your process. This essay is supposed to demonstrate your resourcefulness and creativity. The last thing you want is for you to not actually be the person responsible for overcoming the obstacle. Make sure that your story is clear that without you and your special brand of XYZ, people would still be lamenting the issue today. Don't worry if the resource you used to affect a good fix was the knowledge and know-how that somebody else brought to the table. Just focus on explaining what made you think of this person as the one to go to, how you convinced them to participate, and how you explained to them how they would be helpful.
This will shift the attention of the story back to you and your doings. The most exciting part of this essay should be watching you struggle to find a solution just in the nick of time. You want to do the same thing here. Bring excitement and a feeling of uncertainty to your description of your process to really pull the reader in and make them root for you to succeed. Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Things to consider : Many students have a passion for one specific academic subject area, something that they just can't get enough of. If that applies to you, what have you done to further that interest?
Have you been able to pursue coursework at a higher level in this subject honors, AP, IB, college or university work? Are you inspired to pursue this subject further at UC, and how might you do that? For some students, this will be an extremely straightforward question. For example, say you've always loved science to the point that you've spent every summer taking biology and chemistry classes. You can just pick a few of the most gripping moments from these experiences and discuss the overall trajectory of your interests, and your essay will be a winner. But what if you have many academic interests? Or what if you only discovered your academic passion at the very end of high school? Let's break down what the question is really asking into two parts.
At first glance, it sounds as if what you should write about is the class where you have gotten the best grades, or the class that easily fits into what you see as your future college major or maybe even your eventual career goal. There is nothing wrong with this kind of pick—especially if you really are someone who tends to excel in those classes that are right up your interest alley. But if we look closer, we see that there is nothing in the prompt that specifically demands that you write either about a particular class or an area of study where you perform well.
Instead, you could take the phrase "academic subject" to mean a wide field of study and explore your fascination with the different types of learning to be found there. For example, if your chosen topic is the field of literature, you could discuss your experiences with different genres or with foreign writers. You could also write about a course or area of study that has significantly challenged you, and where you have not been as stellar a student as you want. This could be a way to focus on your personal growth as a result of struggling through a difficult class, or the way you've learned to handle or overcome your limitations.
The second part of this prompt, like the first, can also be taken in a literal and direct way. There is absolutely nothing wrong with explaining that because you love engineering and want to be an engineer you have pursued all your school's STEM courses, are also involved in a robotics club, and have taught yourself to code in order to develop apps. On the other hand, you could focus on the more abstract, values-driven goals we just talked about. Then, the way you explain how your academics will help you can be rooted not in the content of what you studied, but in the life lessons you drew from it. In other words, for example, your theater class may not have created a desire to be an actor, but working on plays with your peers may have shown you how highly you value collaboration.
And the experience of designing sets was an exercise in problem-solving and ingenuity. These lessons would be useful in any field you pursue and could easily be said to help you achieve your lifetime goals. If you are on a direct path to a specific field of study or career pursuit, admissions officers definitely want to know that. Having driven, goal oriented, and passionate students is a huge plus for a university. So if this is you, be sure that your essay conveys not just your interest but also your deep and abiding love of the subject, and maybe even include any related clubs, activities, and hobbies that you've done during high school.
But of course, more traditionally, college is the place to find yourself and the things that you become passionate about. So if you're not already committed to a specific course of study, don't worry. Instead, you have to realize that in this essay, like in all the other essays, the how matters much more than the what. No matter where your eventual academic, career, or other pursuits may lie, every class that you have taken up to now has taught you something. You learned about things like work ethic, mastering a skill, practice, learning from a teacher, interacting with peers, dealing with setbacks, understanding your own learning style, and perseverance. In other words, the admissions office wants to make sure that no matter what you study you will draw meaningful conclusions from your experiences, whether those conclusions are about the content of what you learn or about a deeper understanding of yourself and others.
They want to see that you're not simply floating through life on the surface, but that you are absorbing the qualities, skills, and know-how you will need to succeed in the world—no matter what that success looks like. Focus on a telling detail. Because personal statements are short, you simply won't have time to explain everything you have loved about a particular subject in enough detail to make it count. Instead, pick one event that crystallized your passion for a subject, or one telling moment that revealed what your working style will be, and go deep into a discussion of what it meant to you in the past and how it will affect your future. Don't overreach. It's fine to say that you have loved your German classes so much that you have begun exploring both modern and classic German-language writers, for example, but it's a little too self-aggrandizing to claim that your 4 years of German have made you basically bilingual and ready to teach the language to others.
Make sure that whatever class achievements you describe don't come off as unnecessary bragging rather than simple pride. Don't underreach. At the same time, make sure that you have actual accomplishments to describe in whatever subject you pick to write about. If your favorite class turned out to be the one you mostly skipped to hang out in the gym instead, this may not be the place to share that lifetime goal. After all, you always have to remember your audience. In this case, it's college admissions officers who want to find students who are eager to learn and be exposed to new thoughts and ideas.
Things to consider : Think of community as a term that can encompass a group, team or a place — like your high school, hometown or home. You can define community as you see fit, just make sure you talk about your role in that community. Was there a problem that you wanted to fix in your community? Why were you inspired to act? What did you learn from your effort? How did your actions benefit others, the wider community or both? Did you work alone or with others to initiate change in your community? This topic is trying to get at how you engage with your environment. It's looking for several things:. Because the term "community" is so broad and ambiguous, this is a good essay for explaining where you feel a sense of belonging and rootedness.
What or who constitutes your community? Is your connection to a place, to a group of people, or to an organization? What makes you identify as part of this community—cultural background, a sense of shared purpose, or some other quality? Before you can solve a problem, you have to realize that the problem exists. Before you can make your community a better place, you have to find the things that can be ameliorated. No matter what your contribution ended up being, you first have to show how you saw where your skills, talent, intelligence, or hard work could do the most good. Did you put yourself in the shoes of the other people in your community?
Understand some fundamental inner working of a system you could fix? Knowingly put yourself in the right place at the right time? How did you make the difference in your community? If you resolved a tangible issue, how did you come up with your solution? Did you examine several options or act from the gut? If you made your community better in a less direct way, how did you know where to apply yourself and how to have the most impact possible? Community is a very important thing to colleges. You'll be involved with and encounter lots of different communities in college, from the broader student body, to your extracurriculars and classes, to the community outside the University around you. UC wants to make sure that you can engage with the communities around you in a positive and meaningful way.
Make it personal. Before you can explain what you did in your community, you have to define and describe this community itself—and you can necessarily only do that by focusing on what it means to you. Don't speak in generalities, but instead show the bonds between you and the group you are a part of through colorful, idiosyncratic language. Sure, they might be "my water polo team," but maybe they are more specifically "the twelve people who have seen me at my most exhausted and my most exhilarated. Feel all the feelings. This is a chance to move your readers.
As you delve deep into what makes your community one of your emotional centers, and then as you describe how you were able to improve it in a meaningful and lasting way, you should keep the roller coaster of feelings front and center. Own how you felt at each step of the process: when you found your community, when you saw that you could make a difference, when you realized that your actions have resulted in a change for the better. Did you feel unprepared for the task you undertook? Nervous to potentially let down those around you? Thrilled to get a chance to display a hidden or underused talent? Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?
Things to consider : If there's anything you want us to know about you, but didn't find a question or place in the application to tell us, now's your chance. What have you not shared with us that will highlight a skill, talent, challenge or opportunity that you think will help us know you better? From your point of view, what do you feel makes you an excellent choice for UC? Don't be afraid to brag a little. If your particular experience doesn't quite fit under the rubrics of the other essay topics, or if there is something the admissions officers need to understand about your background in order to consider your application in the right context, then this is the essay for you. Now, I'm going to say something a little counterintuitive here. The prompt for this essay clarifies that even if you don't have a "unique" story to tell, you should still feel free to pick this topic.
But, honestly, I think you should only choose this topic if you have an exceptional experience to share, and that any everyday challenges or successes of regular life could easily fit one of the other insight questions instead. What this means is that evaluating whether your experiences qualify for this essay is a matter of degrees. For example, did you manage to thrive academically despite being raised by a hard-working single parent? That's a hardship that could easily be written about for Questions 1 or 5, depending on how you choose to frame what happened. Did you manage to earn a 3. That's a narrative of overcoming hardship that easily belongs to Question 8. On the flip side, did you win a state-wide robotics competition? Well done, and feel free to tell your story under Question 4.
Were you the youngest person to single-handedly win a season of BattleBots? Then feel free to write about it for Question 8. This is pretty straightforward. They are trying to identify students that have unique and amazing stories to tell about who they are and where they come from. If you're a student like this, then the admissions people want to know:. Let's run through a few tricks for making sure your essay makes the most of your particular exceptionalism. There are many experiences in all of our lives that make us feel elated, accomplished, and extremely competent, that are also near-universal. This essay isn't trying to take the validity of your strong feelings away from you, but I think it would be best served by stories that are on a different scale.
Wondering whether what you went through counts? This might be a good time to run your idea by a parent, school counselor, or trusted teacher. Do they think your experience is widespread? Or do they agree that you truly lived a life less ordinary? The vast majority of your answer to the prompt should be telling your story and its impact on you and your life. But the essay should also point toward how your particular experiences set you apart from your peers. One of the reasons that the admissions office wants to find out which of the applicants has been through something unlike most other people is that they are hoping to increase the number of points of view in the student body. Think about, and include in your essay, how you will impact campus life.
This can be very literal—if you are a jazz singer who has released several acclaimed albums, then maybe you will perform on campus. Or it can be much more oblique—if you are disabled, then you will be able to offer a perspective that differs from the able-bodied majority. Nothing will make your voice sound more appealing than writing without embellishment or verbal flourishes. This is the one case where what you're telling is just as—if not more—important than how you're telling it. So the best strategy is to be as straightforward in your writing as possible. You can do this by picking a specific moment during your accomplishment to narrate as a small short story, and not shying away from explaining your emotions throughout the experience.
Your goal is to make the extraordinary into something at least somewhat relatable—and the way you do that is by making your writing down to earth. No matter what personal insight questions you end up choosing to write about, here are two tips for making your writing sparkle:. Have you ever heard the expression "show, don't tell"? It's usually given as creative writing advice, and it will be your best friend when you're writing college essays. It means that any time you want to describe a person or thing as having a particular quality, it's better to illustrate with an example than to just use vague adjectives. If you stick to giving examples that paint a picture, your focus will also become narrower and more specific. You'll end up focusing on details and concrete events, rather than not particularly telling generalizations.
Let's say, for instance, Adnan is writing about the house that he's been helping his dad fix up. Which of these do you think gives the reader a better sense of place? My family bought an old house that was kind of rundown. My dad likes fixing it up on the weekends and I like helping him. Now the house is much nicer than when we bought it and I can see all our hard work when I look at it. My dad grinned when he saw my shocked face. Our "new" house looked like a completely rundown shed: peeling paint, rust-covered railings, shutters that looked like the crooked teeth of a jack-o-lantern.
I was still staring at the spider web crack in one broken window when my dad handed me a pair of brand new work gloves and a paint scraper. Both versions of this story focus on the fact that the house was dilapidated and that Adnan enjoyed helping his dad do repairs. But the second does this by:. Painting a picture of what the house actually looked like by adding visual details "peeling paint," "rust-covered railings," "broken window" , and through comparisons "shutters like a jack-o-lantern," "spider web window crack". Showing emotions by describing facial expressions "my dad grinned," "my shocked face," "I smiled".
The essay would probably go on to describe one day of working with his dad, or a time when a repair went horribly awry. Adnan would make sure to keep adding sensory details what things looked, sounded, smelled, tasted like , using active verbs, and illustrating feelings with spoken speech and facial expressions. If you're having trouble checking whether your description is detailed enough, read your work to someone else. Then, ask that person to describe the scene back to you. Are they able to conjure up a picture from your words? If not, you need to beef up your details. It's a bit of a fixer-upper, but it'll make a great college essay! All good personal essays deal with emotions. And what marks great personal essays is the author's willingness to really dig into negative feelings as well as positive ones.
As you write your UC application essays, keep asking yourself questions and probing your memory. How did you feel before it happened? How did you expect to feel after, and then how did you actually feel after? How did the world that you are describing feel about what happened? How do you know how your world felt? There's "it was exciting. This should give you a great starting point to attack the UC essay prompts and consider how you'll write your own effective UC personal statements. The hard part starts here—work hard, brainstorm broadly, and use all my suggestions above to craft a great UC application essay.
Making your way through college applications?
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