<p>I’ve been struggling with what to write for the UC transfer essay prompt. It says to discuss how I became interested in the field (easy enough) but then says to mention experience in the field. I don’t have any experience (volunteer, work, student orgs, nada) in my field (Linguistics). </p>
<p>I want to study Linguistics because I find it fascinating - I love looking at semantics and the origins of words and I’m very interested in voice/speech technology - and I see a lot of options down the road that would open up with a Linguistics degree, but aside from two classes on language origins in a cultural geography course and playing with Siri I don’t really have experience. I’m sure I could stretch the section on my interest in Linguistics but is that what they want?</p>
<p>The prompt says to “describe any experience you have had in the field.” That does not mean you must have experience in the field to apply. They just want you to talk about any experience, if you have it. Just focus on the part where they ask how you became interested in your field of study. Talk about where you plan to go with linguistics.</p>
<p>Reading about the subject probably isn’t the “experience” they want…but it probably contributes to how you discovered your interest in the subject. I would still include that.</p>
<p>I’m not an authority on the matter but they do say activities as well. My guess is that either the admissions office should realize that not all students have had an opportunity to gain relevant experience or this is their way of narrowing the pool. Assuming that they do realize that not all have had experience, I would say that this is where you get creative and dig deep if possible. They also mention activities that you may have participated in. I don’t know much about linguistics but think to yourself about any activity you may have done even if it was something you decided to do completely on your own. Then you could say in your essay that you have not yet had formal experience but you have taken the time to apply knowledge you have gained to conduct your own experiments which has helped you to gain a better understanding of your field, or something like that. I think they would be impressed to see someone that self motivated as well.</p>