Ucla personal statement!!

[mikemac]

<p>The UC essay is not like the essay at private schools. According to admission books, a sparkling essay that catches the eye of an adcom can push you ahead of other applicants with similar stats. I remember in one book an adcom discussing an essay about 3 seasons sitting on the bench on the HS baseball team, and the lessons the kid took from it. This is the kind of essay that really makes an applicant come alive and perhaps get admitted; it is also exactly the wrong approach at a UC school.</p>

<p>What readers are looking for is a way to see what points you get in terms of the holistic process. As UCLA says at [Freshman</a> Selection - UCLA Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_fr/frsel.htm]Freshman”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_fr/frsel.htm)

Personal qualities of the applicant, including leadership ability, character, motivation, tenacity, initiative, originality, creativity, intellectual independence, responsibility, insight, maturity, and demonstrated concern for others and for the community. These qualities may not be reflected in traditional measures of academic achievement. They may be found elsewhere in the application and judged by the reader as positive indicators of the student’s ability to succeed at UCLA and beyond.</p>

<p>Other evidence of achievement. This criterion will recognize exemplary, sustained achievement in any field of intellectual or creative endeavor; accomplishments in the performing arts and athletics; employment; leadership in school or community organizations or activities; and community service.</p>

<p>Challenges. For an applicant who has faced any hardships or unusual circumstances, readers consider the maturity, determination, and insight with which he or she has responded to and/or overcome them. Readers also consider other contextual factors that bear directly on the applicant’s achievement, including linguistic background, parental education level, and other indicators of support available in the home.

You can do some more research on the web and find out how much these factors can help you. But your essays are a big part of what they examine to determine what credit you get. As they say on that same page **In applying the criteria above, readers carefully consider evidence provided in the personal statement… **</p>

<p>So my advice is don’t write these as a ordinary essays. First, get a piece of paper and list all the factors that may help you – economic background, family challenges, etc. Then work each and every one of these into your essays.</p>