5 Tips for Tackling the UC Essays

The UC application requires four 350-word essays and provides 8 prompts for you to choose from. While these might seem like a lot of work, you have a great opportunity here to explain why you are a great candidate from 4 different angles. You’ll want to answer the prompts you choose just as if you were responding to a question from an interviewer in the admissions office.


Here are 5 tips to help you tackle the UC essays:


1. Be specific. Just as you would in an interview, it’s important that for whichever prompts you choose, you provide specific examples to demonstrate the qualities and values you share in your essays. So pick the 4 prompts that will give you a lot to talk about.


2. Show fit to major. If you’re applying to an impacted major (such as engineering, business, computer science, nursing, biology, psychology, data science, etc.), you’ll want to choose the academic interests essay (#6) as one of your choices to demonstrate your fit to the major you’re choosing. 


3. Recycle where applicable. If you’ve already written a Common App essay, you can condense it to 350 words to fit one of the prompts. If it doesn’t fit the first 7 prompts, choose Prompt 8: “Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?” If you’ve written an essay about leadership, you could choose prompt #1 and tweak it as necessary to best fit the question. The same goes for other types of essays. See what writing you already have and plan out where you might use completed essays for any of the UC prompts.


4. Brainstorm before you draft. For the four prompts you choose, spend time brainstorming the meaningful stories, examples, and anecdotes from your life you’ll include to ensure that you won’t have any repetition in the essays. Then create an outline mapping out the main story and details you want to include for each essay. The essays taken together should showcase your interests, strengths, and accomplishments.


5. Be direct. Write in a straightforward manner rather than using a creative approach. Just focus on answering the question by sharing meaningful stories and examples from your life.


Once your drafts are completed, set them aside for a day. Then read each essay out loud. Tighten up wordy sections, check for typos, and make sure each response is focused and conveys something specific about you. If possible, have your counselor read over the essays and provide feedback.