If an admissions officer at UCSB reads your essays and believes they are really good, is it likely that admissions officers at UCLA and UCB will think the same?
The admissions officers at each university are different people. Different people have different opinions. No one knows if your essay will spark the same interest.
The UC’s including UCLA, as well as Berkeley, see hundreds of thousands applications. They read applications and can choose, for themselves, if they like the flow of one essay versus another.
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I agree with @aunt_bea that an essay may resonate with one admissions officer at one campus but necessarily every campus. Each UC campus is unique and they are looking for applicants that “fit”. The secret is unfortunately no one can tell you what will make you a “fit” for each school.
With 4 PIQ’s to answer, hopefully you can present a favorable overall perspective as an applicant.
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i’d add that a stellar set of essays rarely is enough to overcome a GPA well below the median at that school.
With admit rates of 17% % and 14% successful applicants at UCB and UCLA have strong essays AND 4.2+GPAs AND strong ECs.
Hi all, we are getting conflicting advice regrading how UC PIQs are read - any help in clarifying our confusion is appreciated.
Our understanding on PIQs was that they are more reflective essays that answers the prompt. The activities section takes care of the comprehensive list of things you have done. This is how my older daughter approached it when she applied a few years ago (and she was admitted).
Now, we are getting advice from counselors (and my daughter heard the same in a talk by a UC admissions officer) that they are looking for a matter-of-fact essay (not sure how else to describe), that answers the prompt with data, numbers, achievements rather than with a lot of background and emotions. Argument is that some context needs to be there, but the background story takes away space from telling more about you. Now the question is then what does “Activities” section do - we are told that PIQs, even if they repeat some of the Activities section, it provides bit more context and sequence in the framework of that prompt.
Is there any recent change in how PIQs are read? This is very confusing. We understand essays have become more important in UC admissions in the recent years, we do not want to take a chance going the wrong route. Thanks!
The PIQ’s should not be a rehash of activities/EC’s already listed on the application but should give a clearer picture of what makes the applicant unique. Expanding upon one specific activity/EC is fine but what makes the applicant “tick” is far more important.
Well, I don’t know the “right” answer, but one of the tips on the UC admissions directly states:
“ Write persuasively.
Making a list of accomplishments, activities, awards or work will lessen the impact of your words. Expand on a topic by using specific, concrete examples to support the points you want to make.”
Based on that, my daughter went with the “what makes her tick” approach. She’s also more of a team player / help the community kind of person, not one who racks up a lot of individual titles and awards, so I don’t think the data-driven accomplishment essay would highlight her strengths as well. The type of student writing the essay also dictates the best kind of essay to write, in my opinion. (In other words, better to write a really strong essay that is the “wrong” kind than a weaker essay that does it “right.”)
My opinion (for what it is worth) is that Personal Insight Questions should be personal and give insight into the student. Applicants should elaborate on their interests, thoughts, passions and ambitions without being too flowery if that makes sense.
From the UC website on PIQ:
There is no right or wrong way to answer these questions. It’s about getting to know your personality, background, interests and achievements in your own unique voice.
Remember, the personal insight questions are just that — personal. Which means you should use our guidance for each question just as a suggestion in case you need help. The important thing is expressing who you are, what matters to you and what you want to share with UC.
My understanding is that the student can make the essay their own. What the readers don’t want is “setting the scene” types of sentences (It was dark. My heart was beating through my chest and my sweaty palms traveled along the banister.) Using valuable words in a short answer response to describe something not pertinent to you, your personality, your ambition, your experience and your goals is what is frowned upon in the UC essays. Other than that your student should make them their own. Good luck!!!
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