My general observations on stats of students who got in and denied at UCLA

[goldenbear2020]

Essay may provide a way to judge how well you write or how persuasive you are, but essay does not allow the admission officer to see your character, perseverance, etc. IMO those qualities are more important to succeed in life.

So how do you propose that UCs measure character, perseverance, etc.?

[websensation]

@goldenbear2020 Look at actions rather than words. Focus on length of EC such as volunteer services and GPAs. In other words, activities that take lots of time and effort over the course of years. I would forget the essay but just provide one or two paragraphs explaining why the applicant did not do as well in academics. That’s it.