I’m in my 2nd year at a cc looking to transfer next fall and I haven’t started my essays yet. I want to define my topics first before writing them. Is it okay to use one thing about yourself for more than 1 essay? I’m still wondering this because some stuff I’ve done could honestly go in more than 1 prompt. Also, my major is psychology.
- Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time.
For this one I want to write about my part time job being an AVID Tutor at a middle school. I’ve built a really good relationship with my students and they get super excited to see me. Specifically, I’d talk about my kids who were struggling and getting to know them/making a difference in their life, and seeing how my impact on them gave them the motivation to do well in school and I was able to see their grades/attitude get better.
- Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.
I have 2 ideas, not sure if they’re good or which one to do.
My senior year of hs I took AP Calc AB and got a D 1st semester. 2nd semester I realized the AP exam was coming and was tired of getting around 30% on all my tests. I made a bet with my teacher asking if I got a 65% or higher if she would do a cartwheel, and she actually said yes! Studied for the next test but got a 45 lol, but the next ones I got a 61, 69, and 65. She had to do 2 cartwheels for me lol, and I ended with a 75% that semester as a opposed to a 63% 1st semester. I also got a 3 on the AP exam, so that was actually amazing lol.
Second idea is about my drivers test. I failed the 1st 2 times but finally got it on the 3rd try lol. First time we didn’t even leave the parking lot, there was a stop sign 10 fr from where I start, 2nd time, I hit the curb right after I passed the stop sign lol.
Also I’m not sure which of these would be an educational opportunity/barrier bc their kinda both. Is the driving one even educational in the first place?
- Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?
This ones a personal topic for me. This one would be about my mom passing away my freshman year of high school. I took on a lot of responsibilities at home but it was hard to keep up with my Honors/AP classes. I decided to listen to my school counselor and she had me do separate counseling sessions with a different person. I’m not sure about this though bc even with those sessions my grades were pretty bad. Counseling was beneficial but not as much as I wanted it to be. It was nice to talk about it though because I never had a space to share my emotions. How would I write this so it won’t be so pessimistic?
Required question: Please describe how you have prepared for your intended major, including your readiness to succeed in your upper-division courses once you enroll at the university.
This one is kinda hard bc how else would you prepare for your major besides taking more classes? On the UC site it talks about considering why you chose your major in the first place. For me it’s bc I took AP psych in hs and loved it bc I learned a lot about myself after losing my mom, also those counseling sessions I had got me thinking I can make a difference in people’s lives. I also guess for this one I would write about how what I learned in the classroom can be applied to a lot of things, literally bc my major is psychology. My ultimate goal is to be a school counselor. I was thinking about writing about being an AVID Tutor and while working with kids positive reinforcement/ rewards can be applied to them. I also took a developmental psych class, so I could see some stuff I learned there and see it in my students. I feel like talking about being a tutor in this prompt too is redundant though.
I don’t know how to keep this one focused, or if I should just include everything i said here.
Are any of these topics cliché/do I need to write about something else? If anyone could give me their input on this I’d really appreciate it! UC apps are due by the end of November and I need to start them lol
Thank you in advance 