COMMENTS

  1. Dates & deadlines

    March. 2. Deadline for applicants to submit FAFSA, California Dream Act Application and GPA Verification Form. May. 1. Deadline for all fall 2025 admitted first-year students to submit their SIR. July. 1. Final, official transcripts must be postmarked or electronically submitted to campus admissions offices for students intending to enroll for ...

  2. Personal insight questions

    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. 1. Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have ...

  3. Dates & deadlines

    May. 1. Deadline for admitted transfer students to submit Statement of Intent to Register (SIR). May. 1-31. Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) application for winter/spring 2026 term. July. 1. For students admitted for fall 2025: Final, official transcripts must be sent to the campus admissions office.

  4. How to Write Great UC Essays (Examples of All Personal Insight

    Why do UC essays matter? How much do they matter? Over the past decade, as the University of California received more applications—206,893 freshman applications for the 2024 entering class—the admissions committees found themselves unable to make difficult calls on students based solely on test scores and GPAs. That's why, in 2017, the UC ...

  5. How to Write a Perfect UC Essay for Every Prompt · PrepScholar

    How to Tell the UC Essay Prompts Apart. Topics 1 and 7 are about your engagement with the people, things, and ideas around you. Consider the impact of the outside world on you and how you handled that impact. Topics 2 and 6 are about your inner self, what defines you, and what makes you the person that you are.

  6. UC Essay Prompts 2024-25

    The UC Personal Insight Questions (PIQs) have become a critical part of your application, in part due to recent changes in UC's standardized test policy. In May 2020, as the pandemic wreaked havoc on the U.S. educational system (not to mention the rest of the country/world), the UC Board of Regents voted to make all of their universities test ...

  7. Personal Insight Questions

    What Leadership Looks Like. Personal Insight Questions. The personal insight questions are about getting to know you better — your life experience, interests, ambitions and inspirations. Think of it as your interview with the Admissions office. Be open. Be reflective. Find your individual voice and express it.

  8. UC Essay Prompts

    UC Essay Prompts 2023-2024. Students applying to UC schools must be prepared to answer the UC prompts as part of the application process. Each year, the University of California receives over 200,000 undergraduate freshmen applications. An important part of these applications are the UC Personal Insight Questions, also known as UC PIQs.

  9. How to Write the UC Application Essays: Step-by-Step Guide

    Step 2: Complete one BEABIES chart per topic you're considering. Get this: If done correctly (in other words, if you spend at least 15-20 min. per activity and really think about the questions listed at the link above), the BEABIES exercise will basically write your essay for you. Do it and see.

  10. The 5 UC Application Tips You Need to Get Into University ...

    The most important UC application deadline to be aware of is November 30th (or December 1st if you started your application by November 30th). This is the last day you can submit your application. ... Working on your UC essays? Check out our guide on how to answer every UC essay prompt to get great writing ideas.

  11. How to Write the UC Essay Prompts 2023/2024 (+ Examples)

    Quick tips for each of the UC PIQ prompts. 6 tips for assessing if these are the "right" topics for you. A mini-step-by-step guide to writing each response. How to write each PIQ (with examples) Prompt #1: Leadership. Prompt #2: Creative. Prompt #3: Greatest Talent or Skill. Prompt #4: Significant Educational Opportunity/Barrier.

  12. How to Write the UC Essays 2024-2025

    General Tips. There are eight UC essay prompts, known as the Personal Insight Questions (PIQs).Although each question requires a response of 250-350 words, you don't need to answer every question. In fact, you're required to select four prompts to answer.The UC admissions officers understand that some prompts will resonate with some students more than others, and they consider each prompt ...

  13. 20 UC Essay Examples

    Welcome! The University of California school system covers 10 universities across the state. The UC system does things its own way—they have a separate application and (you guessed it) a separate list of essays to write. For example, outside of the PIQs, the UC system asks you to write an activities list and provides space for additional information, both of which we can help you with too.

  14. UC Essay Examples

    When applying to any of the University of California schools, you'll face a series of supplemental essays in which you are asked to quickly and, with sufficient detail, provide personal insight into who you are as a person.These essays can be confusing to students, who might be used to writing the Common App essay, which asks for a well-written story in 650 words.

  15. University of California (UC) 2024-25 Essay Prompt Guide

    The Requirements: 4 out of 8 essays, 350 words each. Supplemental Essay Type (s): Oddball, Community, Activity. The UC application sounds like a riddle. Every student must write four essays, but choose from eight prompts. The rules may be unfamiliar, but the game is the same: tell admissions something they don't know - and then do it three ...

  16. How to Write the "Strong Candidate" UC Essay

    UC PIQ prompt #8 is a broad and open-ended question, allowing you to write about a topic of your choice that relates to why you are a strong candidate for admission. This prompt is similar to Common App Prompt #7, "Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or ...

  17. 9 Outstanding UC Essay Examples (Graded by Former Admissions Officers)

    Every UC essay you write should correspond with a specific strength. That might be wisdom, artistry, good judgement, entrepreneurship, leadership—you get the idea. Let's say you want one of your essays to demonstrate leadership. The idea isn't that you come out and say, "This shows that I am a leader.".

  18. Filling out the application

    Confirmation. Once you've submitted your application, you'll see a confirmation page with important reminders and your UC Application ID Number which is used to access the various campus student portals and, in many cases, to access your admission decisions. You can choose to print a receipt of your application fees or view and print the ...

  19. University of California Personal Insight Questions

    UC Personal Insight Questions — Essay 1. Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time. (350 words maximum) This guide will walk you through responding to all of the UC PIQs.

  20. Apply now

    Apply now. All UC campuses are now open for the fall 2025 application. You're at the start of an incredible journey. Let's get going. Choosing to study at UC is a major decision. But we're confident you're making the right one. Each campus offers an incredible range of experiences and academic programs. Whether you want to be in a big ...

  21. The Ideal College Application Timeline (2024-2025)

    (Note: While these dates rarely change from year to year and we update them annually, we always recommend that you double-check application deadlines on the websites of all colleges that interest you). UC Application deadlines & dates 2024-2025. UC Application opens: August 1. UC Application submission: October 1 - November 30

  22. 2023 Ultimate Guide: 20 UC Essay Examples

    UC Essay Example 1: Leader of school choir. It's a convoluted masterpiece: 64-pages plastered with musical symbols and Latin. Though Rutter's "Requiem" sounds rather grotesque (and shrieky) when I'm straining to hit an A5, our debut at Carnegie Hall was a hit! I've been in the _______ girl's choir since age-11, devoting my ...

  23. Personal insight questions

    Directions. There is one required question you must answer. You must also answer 3 out of 7 additional questions. Each response is limited to a maximum of 350 words. Which three questions you choose to answer are up to you. However, you should select questions that are most relevant to your experience and that best reflect your individual ...

  24. M.D./Ph.D. Application Process

    Applicants will need to complete the M.D./Ph.D specific essays as part of their AMCAS application. Students are required to have at least one reference letter written by a mentor of their research experience. The deadline to submit the AMCAS application to the UC Davis M.D./Ph.D. program is October 1st.

  25. 'I feel like I love everyone here': Notting Hill carnival continues to

    The photographer Ollie Tikare showcases how the event unites diverse communities and embodies the resilience of multicultural Britain