Order # 9213
Personal Insight
STEP 1 OF 3 (PAGE 1 OF 2)
Personal Insight Questions
You'll need to answer 4 questions: One question is required, and 3 are your choice.
Responses to each question are limited to 350 words.
All questions are given equal consideration in the review process.
Please answer the required question 300 word * 1
Required question
Please describe how you have prepared for your intended major, including your readiness to succeed in your upper-division courses once you enroll at the university. Things to consider: How did your interest in your major develop? Do you have any experience related to your major outside the classroom — such as volunteer work, internships and employment, or participation in student organizations and activities? If you haven’t had experience in the field, consider including experience in the classroom. This may include working with faculty or doing research projects.
If you’re applying to multiple campuses with a different major at each campus, think about approaching the topic from a broader perspective, or find a common thread among the majors you’ve chosen.
Please answer any 3 questions below 300 words * 3
Choose to answer any three of the following seven questions:
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. Things to consider: A leadership role can mean more than just a title. It can mean being a mentor to others, acting as the person in charge of a specific task, or taking lead role in organizing an event or project. Think about your accomplishments and what you learned from the experience. What were your responsibilities?
Did you lead a team? How did your experience change your perspective on leading others? Did you help to resolve an important dispute at your school, church in your community or an organization? And your leadership role doesn’t necessarily have to be limited to school activities. For example, do you help out or take care of your family? 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. Things to consider: What does creativity mean to you? Do you have a creative skill that is important to you? What have you been able to do with that skill? If you used creativity to solve a problem, what was your solution? What are the steps you took to solve the problem?
How does your creativity influence your decisions inside or outside the classroom? Does your creativity relate to your major or a future career? 3. What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time? Things to consider: If there’s a talent or skill that you’re proud of, this is the time to share it. You don’t necessarily have to be recognized or have received awards for your talent (although if you did and you want to talk about, feel free to do so). Why is this talent or skill meaningful to you?
Does the talent come naturally or have you worked hard to develop this skill or talent? Does your talent or skill allow you opportunities in or outside the classroom? If so, what are they and how do they fit into your schedule? 4. Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced. Things to consider: An educational opportunity can be anything that has added value to your educational experience and better prepared you for college. For example, participation in an honors or academic enrichment program, or enrollment in an academy that’s geared toward an occupation or a major, or taking advanced courses that interest you — just to name a few.
If you choose to write about educational barriers you’ve faced, how did you overcome or strived to overcome them? What personal characteristics or skills did you call on to overcome this challenge? How did overcoming this barrier help shape who are you today? 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? Things to consider: A challenge could be personal, or something you have faced in your community or school. Why was the challenge significant to you? This is a good opportunity to talk about any obstacles you’ve faced and what you’ve learned from the experience. Did you have support from someone else or did you handle it alone?
If you’re currently working your way through a challenge, what are you doing now, and does that affect different aspects of your life? For example, ask yourself, “How has my life changed at home, at my school, with my friends, or with my family?” 6. What have you done to make your school or your community a better place? 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? 7. 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.
https://admissions.universityofcalifornia.edu/applicant/persInsightQues.htm
persInsight
Personal Insight
Introduction
The personal insight questions are about getting to know you - your life experience, interests, ambitions and inspirations.
Think of it as your interview with the admissions office. Be open. Be reflective. Find your individual voice and express it.
While this section of the application is just one part UC considers when making our admission decision, it helps provide context for the rest of your application.
A few tips:
· It's a good idea to work on your answers before you enter them into the application. Visit the admissions website to read more about the questions, download the worksheets, and get tips and suggestions for how to get started.
· Use your own voice: Your answers should reflect your ideas and be written by you alone. Don't be afraid to talk about yourself in the first person (for example, "I" and "my").
· There are no right or wrong answers to these questions. It's about getting to know you in your own unique voice.
· Proofread and edit: Although this is not an essay or a writing test, make sure to check your work. Grammatical and spelling errors can get in the way of what you're trying to communicate.
Formatting your answers
1. Because of the 30-minute time limit in place on each page of this application, we recommend that you compose and save your answers using a text editing program such as MS Word, Google Docs, Notepad or Textedit, then copy and paste them into the form fields.
2. Use only standard American English alphanumeric characters (numbers 0 through 9 and letters a through z) and the other characters found on a standard English keyboard: ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _ + - = [ ] \ { } | ; : ' " , < . > / ? excluding ~ . Do not use smart quotes, accented characters or foreign language characters as they will be replaced with ASCII character substitutions.
3. Save and reread your answers to make sure you caught any issues.