How to Respond to the UC Essay Prompts

We’ve already given a lot of advice on this blog on how to approach the UC personal insight questions. The short version is: the UC essays are different from other college essay prompts. You don’t have time to dazzle the reader with long anecdotes from your past. Instead, you should respond to the question directly, get to the point quickly, and provide specific detail for any points you make. 

But we also advise students to go through the prompts carefully and determine which ones are most applicable to them, so this week, we decided to provide some tips on the prompts themselves. Here are our thoughts on the UC PIQs, one by one.

Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time.

The University of California points out that leadership can be broadly defined, and we agree. But we’d make an even simpler point about this prompt: it asks for an example of your leadership experience. That means you should focus on a single episode, not a long list of achievements. Have you demonstrated leadership in any specific area throughout your high school career? If so, this PIQ is for you! Provide a no-nonsense account of your experience, and if possible, reflect briefly on how this has shaped your understanding of “leadership” as a concept.

Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.

This is the most challenging of the PIQs, but if you get it right, you can really impress the reader. The question isn’t “Are you a creative person?”; it’s “How do you express your creative side?” So you don’t need to be an artist, writer, or musician to do well on this prompt! The important thing is to identify an activity that allows you to reflect on how the creative process works for you. Sometimes the best responses to this prompt involve activities that are not traditionally considered creative at all.

What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?

Again, note that the UCs aren’t asking for multiple talents or skills; they’re just asking for one. If something obvious occurs to you, great! But don’t brag about your talent. Instead, you need to show how your talent has changed over time. So begin with an early episode (perhaps the moment you first demonstrated this talent), and over the course of a paragraph or two, show how you have used your talent in different ways. You only have 350 words, but to do well on this prompt, you need to end somewhere different from where you began.

Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.

Unlike the previous three PIQs, this one specifically relates to your academic experience. It doesn’t matter if you pick an educational opportunity or an educational barrier; both are equally legitimate. The important thing (yet again) is to pick one specific episode and reflect on it in detail. If you pick an opportunity, make sure once again not to brag, because you’ll be wasting words (you have plenty of opportunity to highlight your achievements in other sections of your application).

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 resembles the second prompt of the Common App, but because it’s a PIQ, you only have 350 words to respond. So if a specific challenge comes to mind, you won’t have space to go into great detail. We suggest you answer all three parts of the question directly, devoting around 100 words to each. Note that if your challenge is personal (as opposed to educational), you’ll still need to explain how it has impacted your academic achievement.

Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.

This is the least personal of the UC PIQs, and as such, it’s usually easier for students to answer. The subject doesn’t have to be your major, but it should at least relate to your proposed area of study. If you can discuss how you’ve pursued this subject both inside and outside the classroom, that’s great, but you can do perfectly well on this PIQ by discussing only one or the other. As usual, try not to brag; instead communicate your genuine passion for the subject in your response.

What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?

If you’ve engaged in community service, this is a great prompt for you, because the prompt simply asks you to outline what you’ve done. Nevertheless, you should also try to reflect on your motivations in improving your school or community, as well as the impact of your actions. Also note that unlike the other PIQs, this prompt doesn’t restrict you to a single example; you can give multiple examples of community service in your response.

Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?

As we’ve said before on this blog, we’re not fans of prompts that allow you to write whatever you want. The previous seven prompts provide direction on what the UCs are looking for; this one doesn’t, so it’s easy for students to mess up. If you’re able to pick four prompts to respond to from the seven above, we suggest you do that. If not — and if you genuinely have something to add that doesn’t connect to any of the other prompts — then respond to this one, but make sure you don’t deviate from the structure of your other PIQs.

Good luck, and if you need further help with the UC PIQs, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!