21 Tips for UC Personal Insight Questions and Essays
Pick the 4 Best UC Personal Insight Questions for YOU!
If you’re applying to any of the University of California schools, you need to write four short essays.
To start, read through all eight of the Personal Insight Questions you have to choose from.
(Find specific ideas and strategies for each of the 8 new Personal Insight Questions at the bottom of this post!)
The goal is to write four short essays that as a whole will provide the UC admissions deciders with a picture of what makes you unique and special—and help set you apart from the competition. read more…
UC Essay Prompt 8: How Do You Stand Out?
University of California Essay Prompts for Fall 2017
(Ideas for Answering Personal Insight Question No. 8)
UC Essay Prompt 8: Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?
Out of the eight new University of California essay prompts for Fall 2017, I think that most students should consider writing about Prompt 8 as one of their four required mini-essays.
More than any of the other questions, this prompt targets most directly what makes you YOU, and asks to understand something about your most fundamental qualities, characteristics or values.
It is also the most open-ended of the bunch. read more…
NEW University of California Essay Prompts for Fall 2017!
First New University of California Essay Prompts
for their College Application in 10 Years!
The University of California just listed brand new college application essay prompts—for the first time in a decade!
In the past, incoming freshman wrote two core essays answering two prompts.
The two essays had to be a total of no more than 1,000 words.
The UC is now calling its new essay prompts, “Personal insight questions,” and students must choose four out of eight to answer.
And they are each supposed to be under 350 words. (So, total under 1,400 words.)
That’s a huge shift. (more…)
Watch How Personal College Application Essays Affect the Admissions Game
When I give writing workshops to students on college application essays and what makes them effective, I love to show this short video on YouTube.
It’s just over two minutes long, but in that brief time, I believe many students quickly get a sense of what they need to do to craft essays that will be engaging and memorable.
Take a couple minutes to watch this video, which brings you around a table of college admissions officers at Amherst College, a liberal arts college in Massachusetts, as they sort through applications. read more…
Sample College Application Essays to Inspire You!
This is the time of year when my former students drop me emails letting me know where they have been accepted for the fall.
I love hearing from them, and am emboldened by how many land in their dream schools.
And I usually ask if I can share their essays with future students.
In my opinion, there’s no better way to learn how to write your own than by reading sample college application essays. read more…
How to Write a College Application Essay: In 3 Easy Steps
After working with thousands of students from all over the world on writing the dreaded college application essay for the last eight years, I’ve finally been able to boil down the process to three simple steps.
Yes, just three steps.
If you follow these steps, I believe you will be able to craft a college application essay that will give you an edge in the admissions game.
How?
Each step makes sure that you share information about yourself that will make your essay effective and help you stand out from the competition. read more…
Warning: 5 Ways to Blow Your College Application Essay
How to Avoid College Application Essay
Booby Traps
No matter where you are with writing your college application essay, you should double check that you are on the right track.
It’s way too easy to inadvertently torpedo your chances of writing an essay that gives you an edge in the admissions game. read more…
College Application Essays and the Admissions Puzzle
College Application Essays:
One Piece
Of the Admissions Puzzle
This is the time of year many high school juniors start to get serious about their college admissions strategy–including their college application essays.
Some have been all over the admissions game for years. Most are just now shifting into high gear. And a few need to start tuning in.
My focus is on helping students learn to write effective college application essays. But these dreaded essays are only a part of the process. read more…
Common Application Essay Prompts and Strategies for 2016-17
Stand Out in Your
Common Application Essay
So you are ready to start writing your Common Application Essay?
Congratulations! You have found the best source of specific tips and strategies on exactly how to brainstorm topics for each of the 5 prompts–and learn to craft a powerful college application essay using a narrative (story-telling) style.
Start by reading through the 5 prompts, which I shared below.
(The folks from the Common Application just officially announced their essay writing prompts for this coming college admissions season of 2016-17, and it’s anticlimactic news, but they will be the same as last year. The idea is you know the prompts well before they start accepting applications in August, so you can get a head start on your essays.)
You just need to write a personal statement essay that addresses one of these prompts. The prompts are mainly to inspire you to write a personal essay about yourself that helps you stand out from the crowd. read more…
10 Insider Tips for Your University of Texas Essays
IMPORTANT: The UT has NEW prompts for 2017-18, so much of the information in this post is now outdated.
Here’s the link to the update-to-date information on UT prompts: New Essay Requirements for UT.
Former Admissions Counselor
at University of Texas-Austin
Shares Insider Advice
Are you planning on applying to any of the 14 University of Texas institutions, including the most popular in Austin, Texas?
(Or Texas A&M, and even some private Texas colleges, such as SMU, TCU, Baylor and Trinity College.)
I’m excited to share some tips from a former college admissions officer at UT-Austin with you. His name is Kevin Martin, founder of TexAdmissions, and he focused these tips on the one of the 3 required essays he believes is by far the most important, based on his experience.
Kevin Martin of TexAdmissions
The University of Texas essay is called Topic C, and the prompts asks:
“Considering your lifetime goals, discuss how your current and future academic and extra-curricular activities might help you achieve your goals.” read more…
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