<p>I'm in the process of writing my personal statement to transfer to a UC school and am having a lot of trouble with prompt 2 (one of the three questions they want you to answer). In case you aren't familiar with it, here it is:
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POTENTIAL TO CONTRIBUTE
The University welcomes the contributions each student brings to the campus learning community. This question seeks to determine an applicant's academic or creative interests and potential to contribute to the vitality of the University. Tell us about a talent, experience, contribution or personal quality you will bring to the University of California.
<p>I'm really stuck on this one. The only things that students "contribute" to a campus is their presence and tuition money. What are the admissions people looking for with this question? How can a "talent or experience" count as a contribution? I do have talents and experiences to talk about but I don't know which ones to describe because I don't know what the hell it is they're looking for! At first I thought that perhaps they're using this prompt to look for, say, determination which would bring for instance motivation and enthusiasm to the campus, but I don't think that's right because that's basically what prompt 1 is looking for!</p>
<p>Can someone here please give me some concrete examples or at least a better explanation to help get me started in the right direction (examples would be best)? I'm really not trying to be lazy and have answers handed to me; I just need some help so I know what I'm supposed to say about myself.</p>
<p>Tell us about a talent, experience, contribution or personal quality you will bring to the University of California.</p>
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<p>It is true that a student only contributes tuition money and their presence to the University of California, or any college for that matter. But what the prompt is asking you is to explain what 'presence' you will contribute to the University of California. You could be just another face in the crowd, doing your school work and having fun, or you could be an outgoing person that really does contribute to the University of California to make the campus and the place as a whole seem like a better and more welcoming place.</p>
<p>For an example, someone gifted with teaching could contribute their teaching skills to students that are struggling with a certain concept. (tutoring) Or someone that is gifted with music could put on concerts to entertain their peers and provide an alternative to drinking and other illegal acitivites. Someone gifted at the arts could brighten up the school by showcasing their work ... Someone who did a lot of community service could do the same in college ... etc.</p>
<p>The oppurtunities are endless. So focus on something your talented on and tell them how that talent can be used to make the U of C a better place.</p>
<p>i was also doing my UC prompt, i am officers of three clubs and also going to be badminton varsity captain next year, can i say that i contribute leadership? of some sort? how can i use that to my advantage?</p>
<p>I'm not sure how much you should stress leadership in this essay--they're looking more for a sense of who you are, not who you think the colleges want to see.
I wrote my prompt #2 about activism, and how I planned to contribute to the Asian-American political scene.</p>
<p>I wrote my prompt 2 about my talent of interacting with people I didn't talk too much about leadership cause I talked about it in my prompt one and I didn't want to sound repetitive. I also used a personal experience to support it.</p>
<p>I teach kids at community college about interviewing for jobs and I always tell them, talk about a quality you have and then make it CONCRETE. For example, I am very dependable, my last job I worked the 5am shift and I was never late, never called in sick...
The same thing applies here..everybody who applies to the better UCs has leadership...Come up with something very specific like the reply about activism and contributing to the Asian-American political scene...or say you travelled a lot and it really changed your perspective on the world, how could you bring that perspective to the UC....be very specific.."leadership" in a vague sense won't really cut it...if you were the officer of a club what was a challenge you faced and how to you handle it, how can that translate into something you can bring to the UC? see what I mean??</p>