Prompt: What is the one thing that you think sets you apart from other candidates applying to the University of California?
So I have a huge business background, and one of my ventures is the following:
I ran a Peer Tutoring app in my high school to help students connect, and I ended up merging my company with the school districts tutoring program, so I am the largest student employer in the tri-valley (Pleasanton-Livermore). My question is should I write about that? I already wrote about my other experiences and business stuff. Or is this essay question relating to more “weird” hobbies, things that don’t relate to one’s major?
P.S. I do not profit from my tutoring business, students are paid right after their sessions by parents and/or students.
Do you see the way that you can spin the Peer Tutoring work into a statement of the something-larger-than-yourself experience that it clearly turned out to be?
If you speak of the ways others benefited, were strengthened and moved toward their goals (on the educational/tutee’s side), and also given a platform for accessing a far wider base of clients on the business side (the tutor’s side), you lay the groundwork for showing how your work met a real need in real time.
If such work is then used as the basis for what you can see yourself doing in the future, or as the underpinning of a stated philosophy (what you believe may be an essential aspect of what is needed in society, with an eye toward valuing the work of bridging, of making connections) then you may cull out a strong personal statement which will certainly make an impression, if not mark you exactly as the prompt suggests, completely unique.
Thank you, I’ll try that!