This is a great PIQ essay example for a creative essay.
Here we will cover how to write a good college personal statement by looking at some common college admission essay mistakes to avoid and discuss ways to improve your college application essays.
At Wordvice, we know college admissions essays. Every year, we receive tens of millions of words to edit from students applying to college. Therefore, we know what good college essays, bad college essays, and great college essays look like–and what students should do in their essays to get the attention of admissions officers.
Prompt: 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?
How to write an essay for UC Prompt 1:
Although the personal statement is a unique story for every student, many students write about personal struggles, challenges they face, and situations they overcame. And while there is no set list of topics to avoid, it is important to note that students should share how much they are comfortable with. After all, a stranger will be reading this essay.
Before looking at some essay mistakes to avoid (or “bad college essays” to be a bit more blunt), let’s discuss what a good admissions essay does. Effective college personal statements give broad, comprehensive insights into your personal and academic background, provide college admissions counselors with an overview of your goals, and answer the college prompt directly and clearly.
Who are you? photo by , who wishes to remind you that PIQs are questions is search of answers, not prompts in search of essays. â
We are all the same, even if some of us cannot afford food. That is just an external thing, and it doesn’t mean anything about how much value someone has. Homeless people are people, too, and if my family had been as unlucky as some of them, we could be homeless too. That is why it’s so important that we try to provide services for people in need, whether it’s food or clothing or shelter.
How to write an essay for UC Prompt 2:
The University of California (UC) school system is the most prestigious state university system in the United States. It comprises nine undergraduate universities: UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis, UC Riverside, UC Merced, and UC Irvine.
UC Prompt 2 example essay: Drumming
This question is all about contribution. The key to success here is focusing on the actions you took, rather than wasting too much space describing the problem you faced or how your school/community works.Â
How to write an essay for UC Prompt 3:
College essays work the same way. They’re stories, and stories need a beginning, not an introduction; instead of writing a general introduction to warm the reader up to a particular topic, starting with a clear opening that ties to the story are the best way to pique an admissions officer's interest in what they might learn from reading the essay further.
How to write an essay for UC Prompt 4:
8. Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?
How to write an essay for UC Prompt 5:
College essays need to start strong. They’re competing for an admissions officer’s attention, and you don’t want to lose your reader before your story ever really gets going. Here are five opening college essay examples to avoid, in other words, what's more likely to lose a reader’s interest.
I’ll do as much as I can from now on. Not because I have to.
But if you feel strongly about one course of study or another, you might consider making that a topic or a mention in one of your essay responses. The admissions committee is looking for a clear story across your four essays, so if you’re interested in biology and medicine but write two essays about your high school English class, you might also want to balance that with an answer that explains your interest in medicine, or even how your love of reading dovetails with your interest in biology and medicine.