UC Application: Personal Insight Questions
The personal insight questions in the UC application differ from the Personal Statement in the Common Application in several ways. First, instead of answering 1 of 7 prompts like in the Common Application, the UC application requires answering 4 of 8 prompts. The maximum length of responses, however, are considerably shorter, 350 words each rather than the 650 word maximum for the Personal Statement.
The shorter length requires a direct response to the prompts and students should answer these prompts as if they were interview questions. While responses should have examples to illustrate your points, the anecdote you wrote in the Personal Statement will likely be too lengthy to fit here.
Like the Personal Statement, the purpose of these prompts is for the college admissions officers to learn more about you; therefore, when you begin this process, first think about your most positive attributes and then which prompts would allow you to best illustrate those attributes.
2024-25 PROMPTS
These are the prompts for the 2024-25 UC Application:
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 artistically, 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 a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?
SAMPLE RESPONSE
Here is a sample response to prompt #6:
When I was ten years old, I went on a four-day trip to Catalina Island. I particularly remember the time spent with the forest rangers and the ecosystems and wildlife we investigated: hiking a mountain top, kayaking the rocky coast, snorkeling a secluded cove, and dissecting a squid. This event ignited my interest in learning about our natural environments. I remember begging my parents to return to Catalina Island, and although I couldn’t convince them, they did agree to start taking me to national parks. Our following summer vacations included trips to Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Rocky Mountain National Park.
In addition to learning about ecosystems, I’ve also had a desire to learn how to survive in the wilderness, and my parents fortunately allowed me to enroll in a wilderness survival camp called Camp Jack Hazard in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The wilderness instructors taught the importance of both respecting and understanding nature. No Internet, no phones, no luxuries - we built our own fires, cooked our own food, and slept beneath the stars. Because of this experience, I couldn’t wait to take AP Environmental Science and am now enjoying my AP Biology class. These science courses have given me a better understanding of how people’s daily actions affect our planet. Outside the classroom, I have read numerous books and environmental studies on my own, such as Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. These readings have broadened my understanding of the environmental challenges we face from social, political, and scientific perspectives.
While I certainly recognize the importance of scientists who study climate change, I see myself taking a very pragmatic approach to helping solve this problem. I plan to study business or economics in college and want to focus on how industries can evolve to reduce their environmental footprint. I agree with Bill Gates that it is probably unrealistic to expect people to stop driving cars or eating hamburgers. I believe, however, that business and technological innovations will be critical to saving our planet. In the future, I would like to help businesses with identifying and adopting more ecologically friendly systems and processes.
ANALYSIS
Some strengths of this essay include:
1) provides numerous examples to illustrate the student's interest in the environment
2) the details and highly specific language help make the essay convincing
3) including past and present experiences along with future goals, helps demonstrate the student's long-term interest in this topic