<p>I'm starting my personal statement for my UC application, and I'm having trouble deciding on what to write about for the first prompt, which asks for you to describe the world you come from and how it has affected your dreams. I'm thinking about writing about how my parents divorce has made me want to become a legislator to change the way divorce is handled, or writing about how I grew up in Oakland and then moved to conservative suburbs and how i'm pretty much always a moderate, and somehow connect that to my political aspirations. For the second prompt, I'm planning to write about my love of reptiles as an accomplishment/talent and I'm just deciding on whether to write about how I saved one reptiles life or just my large reptile collection. Any help would be great, and some recommendations from people who have been successful getting into UC's, particularly UC Berkeley and UCLA would be great thanks.</p>
<p>Absolutely do not talk about your political views in your essay. In theory, it’s illegal for the UCs to make decisions based on your politics, but in practice…</p>
<p>Your goal with the application essays should be to maximize your chances of having the reader go “yeah, mkinane sounds like a cool person”.</p>