<p>I just received an email from UC Berkeley that starts by saying:
Each year we ask a small group of students for additional information to enhance their application.....
I was surprised to find that my questionnaire asked me about my disabilities when I don't have any listed on my UC app. One of my essay's talked about learning English in the second grade, but I don't feel like that's really a mental or physical difference. With this in mind, should I still fill out the teacher recommendation and leave the questionnaire blank or just not do any of it?</p>
<p>The questionnaire is optional. You can just elect not to fill it out (there is a checkbox for that) and you will simply be evaluated using whatever information is provided on the UC application.</p>
<p>It is an opportunity to make additional points in your favor. For example, they may have interpreted the essay as indicating that you have always been in the US and in an engllish-speaking household, but due to a disability or health challenge, didn’t gain language skills until second grade. If instead you lived elsewhere or were not in an environment where english was spoken until that point, then the supplemental request was sent for the wrong reason. I think they would rather send it out if they have even a suspicion that some hardship or disability was involved than miss someone who fought such disadvantages successfully. </p>
<p>If it were me, I would interpret the questions in light of whatever actual situation you faced. That is, if it was because you were new to an english-speaking environment at the time of second grade, then write about how lacking english was a challenge to you, how you worked to overcome it and to succeed as you have today. If they see that you have drive and commitment, can figure out how to handle needs and tasks in spite of the language gap, then they can see that those characteristics may also be valuable with any life challenges in the future. As a researcher, you might have the extra drive and stamina to persevere when some major obstacle stands in the way of our understanding, and you might figure out a way to move forward. </p>
<p>Read every question as a way that you might answer with a statement that shows why you are different and have interesting abilities or characteristics or personality traits that Cal might want as part of the new freshmen class.</p>