<p>i'm sort of jumping the gun here, but i'm looking over the transfer applicant prompts of the past few years. i know that the prompt involves me having to draw from my experiences from...well. experiences of internships, etc etc. </p>
<p>but. i was - for various reasons - really unable to actually get involved in any internships this past year - though i did volunteer, but those volunteer opportunities don't really apply to my major (English) since they're not...very pertaining to that said major. redundant, but true. unless working at a library by tutoring and reading to little kids really works for that sort of thing. i really doubt it though. heh.</p>
<p>i know what UCs are looking for - that is, growth and development and all so i can prove myself worthy to be accepted. i'm all just very anxious as to how i should address that part of the prompt, since i'm rather deprived of experiences.</p>
<p>for everyone's interest, this is the prompt: What is your intended major? Discuss how your interest in the subject developed and describe any experience you have had in the field such as volunteer work, internships and employment, participation in student organizations and activities and what you have gained from your involvement.</p>
<p>i was just wondering - for past applicants, as well as future applicants, if anyone was in the same position as me? that is - people who really didn't get involved all that much in activities that went with their field of major?</p>
<p>“describe ANY experience you have had in the field”
That means that whatever sort of experiences you did have that pertained. So the whole library thing would work as long as you express why it influenced your chosen major. Colleges like internships, etc, etc but the personal statement’s most important aspect should involve the aspects of your academic and personal life that made you want to take on your intended major.</p>
<p>i did have some experiences, but it wasn’t until later in the game, not until i figured out what i wanted to do and that was in community college. i wrote about how those little experiences added up to where i wanted to be. </p>
<p>i was completely honest in my personal statement and explained that i didn’t figure out what i wanted to do until community college; and therefore, i lacked much more experience than i should have had, but to make up for it, i explained the little steps i was making to go towards me studies/interests since my revelation. </p>
<p>be creative and be honest… unless of course, you just chose a random major…</p>
<p>ahh~ okay… see. i wasn’t sure…how to read that. but thank you.</p>
<p>now is just the issue that…i have to just further how those experiences influenced my decision to major as an English major, when…they didn’t, really. not a powerful impact, i mean. /scratch head</p>
<p>thanks again - i appreciate everyone’s quick responses!</p>
<p>I think it would be impossible to have NO experience. If you took a class on the subject or interacted with others that influenced you, you should write about those experiences.</p>
<p>you must have at least one experience with your major…whether it be that cool lecture or that awesome project you worked on…yeah it may not be field experience or an internship but this is where creativity and b.s.-ing like your life depended on it comes in handy.</p>
<p>make one pathetic little experience sound life changing, passion gets you places that you never thought you would ever end up in.</p>
<p>Imagine you are talking to a friend or an acquaintance over coffee about why you want to be an English major. There must be some reason other than “for all the cash and groupies”. Talking from your heart eliminates the problem of trying to be overly creative.</p>
<p>The job at the library actually DOES pertain to your major very well. If you’re an English major, you shouldn’t have much trouble connecting that experience to your field of study once you get started. :)</p>
<p>Well. I’m an English major and I didn’t get involved in much of anything and I got into every UC I applied to (I didn’t go for UCLA or Cal though). I just wrote about my passion for literature (lol cheesy) and my involvement in the Honors program at my CC. I also mentioned some private English tutoring I did - and that’s about the only English-related job I had - so your job at the library definitely would work and is a great thing to mention in your statement, I think. Feel free to PM me if you want someone to look over your draft.</p>
<p>i get cha, i get cha. i’m just…a little perplexed how i should just WRITE it, ya’ know? class experience, i can see not much to say, except to BS it. and i can only go so far saying about my library experiences that “I enjoyed my time tutoring by reading over essays and helping students strengthen their writing. It was a pleasure to also sit down with the children and see them be involved in a simple story about a frog and his travels over…”</p>
<p>yeah. cheesy. and corny. :D</p>
<p>btw - i don’t have anything fully written, i’m just in the preparation FOR writing it. but - i’m wondering. do the prompts for transfer applicants actually really change? from 2008 and onward, the prompt didn’t change. but i know that - officially - it’s said that the prompts are never always the same.</p>
<p>thanks again for everyone’s helpful contribution to my thread. and i’m wondering…if it isn’t a huge misstep of asking this: but is anyone interested in providing direct examples from their PS that i may see? it might be too rude and forward of me to ask such a request, but i’m just a little nervous and anxious. plus, i HATE PSes with a huge vengeance. this’ll be the second time around that i’ll be applying to UCs…so i just want to make this time COUNT and not get…rejected. again. >.> /wallows in rejection misery</p>
<p>I’d be ok with letting you see my personal statement. I had to write multiple ones because my major was impacted, so I got a lot of experience lol</p>