How much do UC personal essays really count?

Applying to College
1

<p>How much do UC personal statements count? </p>

<p>If I have average stats, or maybe a bit above average (but nothing higher than a 4.0), will writing REALLY good essays help at all? Or is it one of those things that count for like 5% of the application..</p>

<p>Obviously I know that if you write a crappy one, that's not going to help at all.. But what if I write really good essays? Since it's obviously too late to do anything to change my grades and all that, my essays are all I can depend on.. </p>

<p>At first I wasn't planning on applying to UC Berkeley or UCLA at all, but people have complimented my essays saying they're very well written, that it's convincing me to change my mind.. But I don't want to bring my hopes too high if they're barely going to make a difference. </p>

2

<p>If you can write eye-falling essays, then apply to UC Berkeley and UCLA! Take advantage of their holistic side to admissions as supposed to the more subjective nature of the other UCs.</p>

3

<p>Essay makes a difference at top UCs like UCLA and Berkeley. It’s not what you write but what you tell them I think. They are holistic in that they take into account your circumstance.</p>

4

<p><a href=“http://opa.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/UC%20Berkeley%20CDS%202013-14%20(July).pdf”>http://opa.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/UC%20Berkeley%20CDS%202013-14%20(July).pdf&lt;/a&gt; Look at section C7</p>