<p>Writing is one of my strengths, but when I picked up the personal statement worksheet during my visit to UCSB I was stumped. Honestly, I have nothing amazing to write about for these prompts. For Prompt #1, well I come from a rich, suburban, football-crazed town in Texas. Everyone is white (or at least 96%), and everyone is a Methodist. I feel that it is such a unique, messed up environment that I will have something to say… but nothing inspirational or nice haha. There’ll be no “I had to raise my family of 7 and overcome adversity so that I could be the first person in my tri-lingual family to attend college” in my essay. I don’t know how to give my reality a nice college-essay-approved spin that will get me into UCSB. </p>
<p>And don’t even get me started on Prompt #2… this is going to take a lot of BSing.</p>
<p>just write about what influenced you in your academic career
i can’t specifically remember the prompts but that should tie into pretty much everything.</p>
<p>write about how your favorite hobby taught you something you intend to carry into college
write about an adult from your town that pushed/inspired/believed in you
write about how your town isn’t diverse at all and how you want to get out and experience the world and all the different people in it :-]]</p>
<p>hope that gave you some ideas:-]
writing’s my forte as well
i think my kickass essays got me into this amazing school haha
but yeah, don’t BS they can tell</p>
<p>write about something humbling that changed your outlook on life… the UCs love hearing about overcoming challenges and dont be afraid to mix in some humor and sarcasm just dont be cliche about it</p>
<p>Don’t bs. Write about something you’re passionate about. You don’t need the typical “I had to raise my family of 7 and overcome adversity so that I could be the first person in my tri-lingual family to attend college” like you said. In fact, most people don’t even write something like that. I know a girl who comes from an affluent family who wrote about being on her father’s boat, haha, but it was a really great essay because she was passionate about it and it showed her personality. So trust me, DON’T BS. Write about something you care about! You must have some sort of passion or strong belief in your life. :)</p>
<p>Oh, and also, you don’t have to do everything right NOW. You have until November, don’t worry! A lot of your teachers will probably make time to help you with college essay writing or even make it an assignment. Plus, I’m one of those people who needs a little pressure to get my creative juices going… there’s nothing like working on a short deadline. :P</p>
<p>I’m out of state and I think my two essays got me into UCSB. I wrote about my passion for the Spanish language (non native speaker) and how I want to study abroad, and for the second I wrote about the presidential election and how voting was a civic responsibility that comes easy to me.</p>