Here are some tips for acing the third of the UC essay prompts:


But if you do the UC essays right, they can also serve as the groundwork for all your other writing. This is because UC essays are relatively straightforward and to-the-point. You tell a story, highlight what steps you took to make a change, and reflect briefly on what it all means.
The UC essays (see UC essay examples below), by contrast, ask you to provide as much concrete detail as possible while showcasing your positive traits. The UC essays are entirely different than your Common Application essay or supplemental essays. In particular, the most important thing you need to know about the UC essays is that they require a different tone and structure than the other, more personal essays required by many schools. This is the skills prompt; students can talk about anything they are good at and proud of. While students may think about major related skills--such as coding, research, musicianship, artistry--be sure to also consider soft skills. People skills such as networking, pitching, negotiating, are all fair game. Athleticism is also something you could write about here. Of course, being able to mention awards here is helpful, but a narrative about how you practiced the skill and how you’ve used it can be just as strong. And lastly, on the UC Application, you can list up to 20 activities or awards (with no limit on how many of those fall into each category), compared to the 10 activities allowed on the Common App. Scroll to the bottom of the page if you want to jump straight to our prompt-specific guides, but we think it’s helpful to first go over three rules that will keep your UC essay strategy on track. When approaching the UC personal insight questions (PIQs), think about which prompts will give admissions officers the best sense of who you are and what you care about. Remember that you only need to answer four of them, so you should choose the prompts that are most relevant to your own experience. To make the most of your PIQs, keep this advice in mind:

UC Prompt 1 example essay: Ming Ji Restaurant

If you’re following along on the UC’s How Applications are Reviewed list, then you’ll see that numbers 10-12 are bulky. They’re also the places where your UC essays can shine the most light and have the biggest impact, so pay close attention.

How to write an essay for UC Prompt 2:

Note that if you’re applying to UC San Diego, you will also need to indicate which undergraduate colleges you’re interested in. UC San Diego is unusual in that the undergraduate colleges are not linked to majors; all undergraduates can choose any of the majors offered by the university. What’s important about your choice of college is everything else! Each college has its own campus culture, residential facilities, and even distinct general education requirements. More information on each of UC San Diego’s undergraduate colleges can be found .

UC Prompt 2 example essay: Drumming

Let’s start with the basics. There are eight prompts; you have to write answers to four different prompts of your choice, with a maximum word count of 350 words each, which is not a lot of space. Since you’re constrained by the word limit, we recommend that students answer the prompt directly in the first three sentences and then describe the process or give specific examples in subsequent paragraphs. Since these essays are so short, students can tend to write too much background information and not get to the point. So remember, answer the actual prompt question within the first three sentences of your response.

How to write an essay for UC Prompt 3:

We call this the leadership prompt. Even though the question is asking about your leadership experience, you need not have a specific position or title to use this essay question. Thus, the prompt can feature essays that talk about major fundraising and volunteering events that students have organized, but essays can also focus on experiences such as mentoring a fellow classmate who was having trouble in a subject you excelled in. Leadership is as simple as noticing a problem, choosing to do something about it, and acting to make things better. You don’t need a title to take those steps.

UC Prompt 3 example essay: Finding connections among the dissimilar

With eight prompts to choose from, writing essays for four UC Personal Insight Questions can seem like a daunting task. Where do I start? What do I talk about? Which prompts do I tackle? We’ll address these questions and take a look at the UC essay prompts, one by one.