UC Essays out yet? Getting diff. ans. from diff. sources.

Applying to College
1

<p>Can anyone confirm if <a href="http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/apply/how_apply/personal_statement.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/apply/how_apply/personal_statement.html&lt;/a>
is the essay?</p>

<p>I've heard from some people that the essay will not be released until October, and from others that a different essay has already been released.</p>

<p>As you can see from that link, on the bottom, it states "Updated June 1, 2004"</p>

<p>Can anyone confirm that this IS the correct essay for the 2007 admissions?</p>

2

<p>I asked my counselor on Monday and she isn't exactly sure. She'll attend a UC meeting in a few weeks so I'll ask her when she gets back. </p>

<p>I hope they don't change because I already wrote a major essay for one of the questions. <em>crosses fingers</em></p>

3

<p>Yes, those appear to be the essay prompts ... </p>

<p>A word of advice: Start early in your essay preparation. Don't wait until the last minute to write your essays, and write multiple drafts. Outline first and don't be afraid to write without boundaries for your first draft. Get ideas down first and put structure/refine later. Consider the whole of your application, and use your Personal Statement to elucidate on factors or activities that have not been brought out fully in other parts of your application. </p>

<p>98% of applicants use the online application form. UC prefers this approach -- it's easier for them and less prone to human error possibilities. The online application becomes available on October 1st. You have between Nov. 1-30 to submit your application. There's no advantage to submitting early in this period; however, do not wait until the last night to submit your application. Last year, their server crashed, and fortunately UC extended their deadline by a couple of days. If you aim for Nov. 20-25 as your own deadline, you should be fine in case something unforeseen arises.</p>

<p>Here is a link to the PDF copy of the "Apply Online to UC 2007-2008" brochure (published in August 2006):
<a href="http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/educators/counselors/resources/materials/CC_2006/ApplyOnline.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/educators/counselors/resources/materials/CC_2006/ApplyOnline.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Here is a link to a matrix on the UC Campus Policies & Procedures for Evaluating Freshman Applicants:
<a href="http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/educators/counselors/resources/materials/CC_2006/Fresh_Matrix_06.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/educators/counselors/resources/materials/CC_2006/Fresh_Matrix_06.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Finally, here is a link to the UC Comprehensive Review Factors for Freshman Applicants (scroll down to the bottom of the page for individual campus methods):
<a href="http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/general_info/uc_reviews/freshman_app.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/general_info/uc_reviews/freshman_app.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

4

<p>ok I already have my essays done, but ifthe essay prompts are not for this year, I'll seriously get ****ed for two entire months that I dedicated only to essay. I don't wanna think that I wasted the entire summer.</p>

5

<p>If you haven't started looking at the essay topics, you're already behind.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Last year, their server crashed, and fortunately UC extended their deadline by a couple of days.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yes, this was from about 11PM on November 29th to roughly 3 AM November 30th (from what I remember anyway). I submitted it at 7 AM on November 30th. GOT INTO BERKELEY - WHO'S BAD! :eek:</p>

6

<p>I talked to my counselor today. She said that 2 questions are the same and 1 is different. The 2 that are the same are the "Tell us about a talent/experience/etc" and the open-ended one. The new one is something along the lines of "How have you demonstrated your passion for an interest?" I'm pretty sure that that my counselor's correct.</p>

7

<p>So, is what sparetire says true?</p>

<p>:( I'm still getting different answers from different people.</p>

8

<p>Well, I trust my counselor so I'm going with what she says. Plus my counselor is going to a UC conference tomorrow so if anything changes she would tell me. </p>

<p>We'll all know Oct 1. Why is everyone acting so neurotic about this?</p>

9

<p>I thought the prompts didn't change from year to year?</p>

10

<p>They do. In fact, last year's was slightly different from the year's before.</p>

11

<p>
[quote]
They do. In fact, last year's was slightly different from the year's before.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Can't be.</p>

<p>If you see at the bottom of the UC Personal Statement page, you'll be able to see that it was last updated on June 1 of 2004. This means those three updated questions were used for the 2004 Fall Applicants AND the 2005 Fall Applicants.</p>

12

<p>I doubt they'll change the essay topic for this year or they probably already would've. Heck, even at their site, one of their advice was to START EARLY. And I certainly don't think giving out the prompt just one month before the application date is really a logical thing for any sane-minded University Essay-Prompt-giver (eh, whatever you call those people) would do.</p>

<p>Universities usually update their prompts during the summer, if not earlier, because that's when most students start their personal statements. So all in all, I place my bet that the essay prompts will be the same for this year.</p>

13

<p>karupt, I know you are antsy about this... so, I will reiterate... and please, feel free to reference my previous post above.</p>

<p>The Personal Statement portion of the UC admissions application will have the same 3 prompt questions (see the first link in my post above). This is information that I am sharing based on my confirmation with the University of California system and also in reviewing various materials shared in the UC Counselors conferences. This is not secret information, and anybody who knows for certain will confirm what I am telling you. Good luck to you!</p>