While I’ve heard people say that some UC’s simply skim over statements or don’t bother to read them at all, I’ve heard others say that a strong statement can push you into admission.
Although a “good” essay is subjective, how important are personal statements for UC’s? Would they only benefit the border line applicants?
Top level UC’s are becoming increasingly holistic with all the applications last year. 100k people applied to UCB and 110k people applied to UCLA so with that you know there are plenty of high stat applicants which means that personal statements will carry much more weight than before to differentiate the applicant.
I believe that the essays are very important. Pretty sure my essays were the main reason I got in to Berkeley. Regardless you should always make sure your essays are good.
Very important. I helped someone who had all the right stats but no interest in UCB and did not get in even though they got into many Ivies and very high level schools.
People definitely underestimate the power of a good essay. Every high school student can have similar stats and numbers to someone else, but no one can have the same story. Essays can make your application come alive and they’re the only part of your app that you can fully control by the time college app season comes along. Make them great for EVERY college you apply to (even for the UCs who people claim are “stats-driven”), it can be the one driving factor that gets you in!
@rdeng2614 Makes sense , thanks for info
@shadyconcepts Thanks, I’ll be working on my statements a lot then.
For UCLA and UCB, what kind of statements do you think they prefer? For instance, do they like students with diversity, certain academic interests, passion, etc.? I’m sure that they would like a student with all of these good qualities, but are there any that I should focus on in particular? Thank you 
Anything is fine, whatever you can show the most through your essays.
@LomoKuan The UCs are looking for leadership, demonstrated concern for others or challenges you have faced and overcome. If you can find a way to tie any of these into your area of interest (major) you will have a fantastic personal statement. They are not considered “essays” because the style of writing carries little weight. They are looking for “character” not style.
The statements carry more weight for non-engineering majors; engineering majors get the lowest bump from personal statements.
@monarch1 Cool! one of my essay focuses on sympathy and the other focuses on my intended major and passion.
However, I’m applying for Computer science, would that count as engineering even if its in the College of Letters and Science?
@lomokuan For Berkeley? All Letters & Science students at Berkeley enter as “undeclared” and must eventually petition to declare their major. http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Programs/two_ways.html So yes, CS would be viewed differently than engineering at Berkeley if you select the CS program within the College of Letters & Science. Keep in mind the program is impacted so there is no guarantee that you will be able to declare CS when the time comes.
@monarch1 Sorry didn’t specific but I’m not even applying to Berkeley. My main concerns are : SB, Davis, Irvine, SC. Thoughts?
@rdeng2614 Thank you very much