University of California: University Insights

About the University

University of California schools, also known as UCs, are public 4-year institutions that are located across the state of California. The University of California began more than 150 years ago on a simple but revolutionary idea: that college should be available to everyone.

The University of California opened its doors in 1869 with just ten faculty members and 40 students. Today, the UC system has more than 280,000 students and 227,000 faculty and staff, with 2.0 million alum living and working around the world.

With nine campuses across California, each school offers various degrees and specialties and has different acceptance rates.

Application Requirements

1. High School GPA - Required

2. High School Rank - Neither required nor recommended

3. College Prep Courses - Required

4. SAT/ACT Scores - Neither required nor recommended

5. Recommendations - Neither required nor recommended

Campuses and Rankings

University	QS Rankings	US News	Forbes
UC Berkeley	27	20	2
UC Davis	102	38	23
UC Irvine	235	34	30
UC Los Angeles	44	20	6
UC Merced		97	309
UC Riverside	453	89	84
UC San Diego	53	34	17
UC Santa Barbara	149	32	39
UC Santa Cruz	375	83	87

Essay Prompts ANALYSIS

The UC application essays, also known as UC Personal Insight Questions, are your way to give admissions officers a sense of your personality, your perspective on the world, and some of the experiences that have made you into who you are. The word limit for these essays is 350 words. You have the following eight prompts to choose from:

#1: Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time.

#2: Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem-solving, original and innovative thinking, and art, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.

#3: What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?

#4: Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.

#5: 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?

#6: Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.

#7: What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?

#8: Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admission to the University of California?

We can put these eight prompts into broader categories to ease the brainstorming:

• Topics 1 and 7 are about your engagement with the people, things, and ideas around you. Consider the outside world's impact on you and how you handled that impact.

• Topics 2 and 6 are about your inner self, what defines you, and what makes you who you are. Consider your interior makeup--the characteristics of the inner you.

• Topics 3, 4, 5, and 8 are about your achievements. Consider what you've accomplished in life and what you are proud of doing.

Essay Prompts BREAKDOWN

Prompt #1: Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time.

The central theme of the prompt: Leadership

When addressing this prompt, think of a leadership role that is more than just a title. It can also mean being a mentor to others, being in charge of a specific task, or taking the lead role in organizing an event or project. Brainstorm what you accomplished through this experience and what you took away from learning. You can also address your responsibilities and experience with them.

The point of this prompt is to help you highlight a leadership experience. Therefore, try to address a single leadership moment and bring it to life with your details. Make sure to describe where you were, what was happening around you, and most importantly, how you felt. You can also address the challenges you faced as a leader and how you managed to cope with them.

While addressing the experience, provide a backdrop or a frame of reference and context for your actions to help the reader understand your course of action. Then, you can explicitly talk about your actions and the reason behind them. Lastly, consider how this experience has shaped the person you have now become.

Prompt #2: 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 central theme of the prompt: Creative

While addressing this prompt, think of what creativity means to you. Do you have a creative skill that is important to you? What have you been able to do or accomplish with that skill? Have you used this creativity to solve a problem? What are the steps that you took to solve this problem? You can also talk about how this creativity influences you and your personality and your decision-making and if this creativity relates to your major.

While crafting your essay, remember creativity lies in your outlook: seeing the opportunity to use one of your skills in a novel situation; looking at a problem from a new angle to find the solution that no one else could see. Every person has a creative side, which can be expressed in many ways: problem-solving, original and innovative thinking, and art, to name a few. Pick the creative skill that best describes you.

You can break down this prompt into different parts and address the essay as a whole -

1. Describe your creativity

2. Connect this creativity to your overall self

3. Connect this creativity with your future

Make sure you answer this prompt specifically yet descriptively while providing them with a narrative of your relationship to your creativity.

Prompt #3: What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?

The central theme of the prompt: Greatest Talent or Skill

You should address this prompt if there’s a talent or skill that you’re proud of and you want to share it. It’s not necessary for you to have been recognized or rewarded for this talent. Think of why this skill is essential and meaningful to you. Does this skill come naturally to you, or have you worked hard to develop it? Does this skill allow you opportunities in or outside the classroom? How do they fit into the big picture?

While addressing this prompt, you can ask yourself – what makes you proud? You can think about instances where hard work paid off. Once you know the incident you’ll be addressing in the prompt, list specifics and details. Please talk about your journey, the challenges you faced along the way, how you dealt with them, your growth, and learning from experience. Further, you can talk about how you plan to develop this talent in your college or even after college. Demonstrate how you have grown and will continue to grow as you take steps further.

Prompt #4: Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.

The central theme of the prompt: Significant Educational Opportunity/Barrier

While addressing this prompt, know that an educational opportunity can be anything that has added value to your educational experience and better prepared you for college. It could be participation in honors or academic enrichment programs, enrollment in an academy geared toward an occupation or a major, or taking advanced courses that interest you — to name a few.

You can talk about any educational barrier you’ve faced, its challenges, and how you overcome or strive to overcome them. You can also reflect on the characteristics or skills you demonstrated to overcome them.

You can also break down this prompt into two separate questions: You can write about either:

How have you taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity

OR

How have you worked to overcome an educational barrier?

The “or” is critical here. You do not have to write about both parts, just one.

Prompt #5: 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?

The central theme of the prompt: Significant Challenge

While addressing this prompt, know that a challenge could be personal or something you have faced in your community or school. Think of why this challenge was significant to you. This prompt lets you talk about any obstacles you’ve faced and what you learned from that experience. Did you have support from someone else, or did you handle it alone?

Address the bigger picture when discussing the challenges – how does it affect different aspects of your life? Often, questions that ask you to describe a struggle or failure are probing for success stories. Therefore, talk about different sides and characteristics of your personality that you discovered through this challenge. How will the skills you gained dealing with this challenge help you in college and beyond?

Prompt #6: Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.

The central theme of the prompt: Academic Subject

Many students have a passion for one specific academic subject area, which they can’t get enough of. If that applies to you, what have you done to further that interest? While addressing this prompt, discuss how your interest in the subject developed and highlight any experience you have had inside and outside the classroom and what you gained from your involvement.

Further, you discuss whether this interest influenced your major or future career. Are you inspired to pursue this subject further at UC, and how might you do that?

To address this prompt effectively, think about how your favorite academic subject has impacted your extracurricular pursuits, or you can also trace one of your hobbies back to its origins in the classroom.

Prompt #7: What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?

The central theme of the prompt: School/Community Service

While addressing this prompt, think of community as a term encompassing a group, team, or a place —like your high school, hometown, or home. You can define community however you want; make sure you talk about your role in that community. Was there a problem that you tried to fix in your community?

You should aim to discuss your inspiration behind this service, what did you learn from your effort, and how your action benefited others? While talking about community service, refrain from starting with yourself. Instead, dig into your motivations behind the service. You do not want to pick a topic only because it sounds impressive.

Think of a moment where you felt like you made a change in your local community. It can be something small and does not necessarily have to be monumental, but it should mean a great deal to you. Bring the moment to life by adding specifics and details, and also reflect on how you hope to continue these activities.

Prompt #8: Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admission to the University of California?

The central theme of the prompt: ”What Else”?

This prompt gives you a lot of freedom in terms of writing, which also makes it difficult to approach. If there is anything about you that you want the admissions officers to know but haven't been able to find the place to address, this is your place.

Think of what you haven’t been able to share that would help you highlight a skill, talent, challenge, or opportunity that you think is crucial to your personality. Whatever topic you choose to address in this prompt, make sure it is well-detailed and brought to life with descriptions that give an insight into your character, growth, and personality.

University Statistics

UC BERKELEY

OVERVIEW

Location: Berkeley, California, United States

Type: Private Research University System

Founded: 1868

Tuition: USD 70,000/year

ADMISSIONS

ACADEMICS

FAMOUS ALUMNI

MAJORS AVAILABLE

UC Davis

OVERVIEW

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UC IRVINE

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UC LOS ANGELES

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UC MERCED

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UC RIVERSIDE

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UC SAN DIEGO

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UC SANTA BARBARA

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UC SANTA CRUZ

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