If you are planning on applying to a school in the University of California system, you probably already know that they do things their own way. They have strict eligibility requirements that include (but are not limited to) course distributions and minimum GPA, but there are ways to bypass some requirements that are worth exploring if you are a California resident. The acceptance rates for UC colleges vary widely from under 10% for the most competitive, like UC Berkeley and UCLA, to over 90% — albeit for in-state applicants. The acceptance rates for out-of-state students are typically significantly lower, whereas over 77% of in-state applicants were offered a spot at a UC school for the fall of 2025. There is also one deadline for all UC schools: December 1.
When it comes to standardized tests, the UC application offers some options and opportunities. They do not take ACT or SAT scores into consideration when considering an application, but they can be used to fulfill minimum eligibility requirements or place you into more advanced coursework after enrolling.
In this post, we’re going to break down the Personal Insight Questions, which serve as both the college essay and the supplements for the UC application.
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The UC application has eight (8) options for Personal Insight Questions, and you are required to pick four (4) to respond to in 350 words or less. There are no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ questions. They don’t hide questions in there to trick you. There are, however, prompts that are better for you and ones that will not work as well. We’ll break each one down to help you make your best choices for your strongest applications.
Option 1: Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time.
We’re interested in how this prompt is framed not suggesting that you focus on a singular leadership role, but on experience in leadership more broadly. While we understand that this framing is likely to encourage responses from students who haven’t had flashy leadership roles (like being a team captain or club head), we also find that it leads to answers that are less impactful than they could be with more focus and direction.
Were they to pick this prompt, we advise our students to select one leadership role, within one activity, to use as the primary frame for the response. You may end up mentioning another experience or two, but this primary leadership role should be the source of the driving story, and the central message, of the supplement.
The key here is story. This can’t be a summary of the ways you’ve led and learned. There needs to be a beginning, middle, and an end — in other words, a narrative arc. Don’t try to make yourself the end-all-be-all of leaders, either. Allow for fallibility and uncertainty, although you should always end in a good place.
Option 2: Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.
Do not pick this prompt if you are applying to major in the arts. Yes, that is counter intuitive. “But this prompt is perfect for artsy people,” you may be saying. The problem with people who identify as artists — and who want to pursue the arts in college — answering this prompt is that your creativity will be showing up in so many other areas of your application simply because that is who you are an what you do.
Instead, this prompt is perfect for the student who is absolutely creative, but who many not otherwise get to spotlight that. Whether it’s weekends painting in watercolor with your grandma, designing posters for school rallies, sewing your dog a Halloween costume, or adding design flourishes to a robotics project, celebrate your unique creative weird here. And remember, it doesn’t need to be objectively impressive as a creative project to be impactful for the reader.
Option 3: What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?
Okay, so this is a place where you could focus on something super relevant to your prospective major — but hear us out. Why write about something dry and boring, like note taking, when you could write about your study group planning skills? Planning a great group study session takes coordination, communication, execution, and snacks. The results, if done well, show on all of your transcripts, not only on yours. This is one example, of course, of the way that you can build a fun and playful story that actually highlights a group of skills and talents, not just one. On the other hand, you can pick something completely unrelated to academia! Perhaps your biggest skill is cleaning the kitchen in under 20 minutes or bringing the perfect dessert to any function. In any case, the goal is to show the reader how you think.
This prompt can be a ton of fun if you let it be, but if you are thinking of playing it safe, we recommend picking a different prompt.
Option 4: Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.
This prompt can be difficult, as there is always an applicant who has faced something harder than you. You really don’t want your small challenge held up against a real whopper and pale in comparison. This prompt can work well, though, for students who have switched schools mid-high school to access something they wouldn’t have been able to pursue otherwise. Maybe you didn’t switch schools, but you had to change up how you were doing things. The key is that you took action to change your circumstances. You were an active player in this situation in your life, not simply swept along. Show the reader that, and make them feel your initiative alongside you.
As you write, be sure to include facts. Don’t write in broad over-arching statements, write specifics. Being precise is critical to a successful response to this prompt.
Option 5: Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?
Similar to Option Four, you really only want to pick this prompt if you have faced something big personally, in your family, or in your community or school. Students who pick this prompt tend to fall into one of two camps. Either they are warriors who are astonishingly resilient and even may have to be convinced that this prompt applies to them, or they are looking for something to write about and end up making a mountain out of a mole hill.
If you fall into the second group, skip this. It isn’t the prompt for you. If you fall into the first group, this prompt is a really important tool that can highlight for application readers what makes you so awesome, while also maybe excusing a little a dip in your grades during a hard spot, a gap in attendance due to a medical issue, or a lack of extracurriculars one year as you had to take on additional responsibilities at home.
The key to a successful response here is tying your perseverance through the challenge to something positive, ultimately, as a result. This could be getting back on your feet, or it could be succeeding at an even higher level before.
Option Six: This about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.
Every applicant should pick this prompt as one of the four they respond to. We really mean that. You are applying to college. The point of going to college is, primarily, to learn things. Most of the UC application prompts don’t actually require you to write about academics. Here, you’re required to do that — and we love it because you can approach it through the angle of inspiration and excitement.
Aim to make the reader as excited about the academic subject you love as much as you are. Do this by telling a story that highlights why you love what you love, and how you are already pursuing it at the highest level that you have access to. Most importantly, lead with enthusiasm. Follow the path of passion. And do it in a way that is fun!
Option Seven: What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?
This prompt is alluring, but it isn’t as easy as it looks. On its face, you just have to describe something you’ve done that serves others. It’s hard, though, to pull it off without sounding like you think a lot of yourself. If you come off as self-obsessed, that is really bad. So, let’s not do that.
To avoid putting yourself at the center of the solar system, highlight the role you play within a larger community. Put yourself in the room with more powerful leaders and community members, playing an important role in supporting a larger mission. For example, if you did a big fundraiser for a philanthropic cause that you care about, don’t focus on the amount that you raised. Instead, spotlight the ways that you worked with and learned from other leaders, improving your own skills, and positioning you for future community endeavors. By positioning yourself as part of a community of people who help others, you are doing two things. First, you show the readers how you are giving back. Even more importantly, though, you illustrate the bigger ways in which you are developing as a human who truly cares about others.
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?
This question is hard because you’re supposed to write one answer for however many UC schools you are applying to. For this reason, we don’t really recommend it as a prompt unless you are only applying to one UC, or a small number all for a program that is extremely UC specific…which probably also means that you are an out-of-state student. Being an applicant from out-of-state means that you need to make a strong case for yourself as a candidate for the specific program you want to be part of. As the UC personal statement questions don’t really give you space for that, this is the spot where you can carve it out for yourself.
Be as specific as you can be about what you would bring to the programs you are interested in, and how you would contribute to making the programs even stronger as an academic and also as a good human.
The UC questions offer a lot of options and opportunities. It’s all about making the most of them, and finding what fits best for you amplifying your profile as an applicant. Give yourself time to make the most of this opportunity. Drafting and editing isn’t something that benefits from being rushed. Remember, too, to have fun with it. UC likes students who are light-hearted and self-aware, so don’t be afraid to show your fun side.
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