<p>I’ll be applying to UC Berkeley, UCSD, UC Davis, and a couple other UC’s. </p>
<p>For the “describe the world you come from” prompt, I have nothing obvious. I’m a white middle class girl who lives 40 minutes away from the only UC I’d really want to attend. I’m planning to write about how learning about nature and growing food even though I live in a city (I can identify >50 native plant/animal species/rocks/etc.) has motivated me to study biology. I have the essay half written, since I used it to get into a research program I did last summer.</p>
<p>For the other prompt (describe an experience that has affected you in some way or something blah blah…) I want to talk about the time I spent 24 hours alone in the wilderness with 5 matches, a knife, an empty coffee can, a Bible, and a notebook. I haven’t done anything else nearly as epic. While it seems like a lot of people write about backpacking trips and such, what other 14 year old has actually spent a day and night alone with so little gear? </p>
<p>I’m worried about the combined effect of the topics. They could be a bit repetitive, even if there’s no direct overlap, and I don’t want to sound too hippie-ish, since Berkeley seems to have problems with people protesting every single tree they cut down. Should I use both essays or make up a new topic?</p>