Do UC’s give financial aid and scholarships off personal statements?
^What does that mean? What is a “personal statement”?
Need-based aid is based on your FAFSA app only.
Regents, although mostly given to those w/ top stats (2200+ SAT), uses holistic evaluation, I think. So they may look at your essay (if you have the qualifying #'s in the first place). It’s very rare/hard to obtain regardless.
Everything else is outside scholarships. There are some alumni scholarships which they’ll send you an email to apply for if you’re eligible. Doesn’t mean they’ll award it automatically. They involve personal statements as well, so you can recycle the one from your app.