Hundreds of thousands of students apply to the University of California every year, and the Personal Insight Questions are the only essays the UC application asks for. They work differently from the Common App essay, and many students underestimate them. Our tutors went through college applications recently, and they help students with these questions every fall.
Eight questions, four answers
Each applicant answers four of the eight questions, in up to 350 words each, and the same four answers go to every UC campus you apply to. UC says all eight questions are weighed equally, so there’s no advantage in choosing one over another. The prompts cover leadership, creativity, a talent or skill, an educational opportunity or barrier, a significant challenge, an academic subject that inspires you, making your school or community better, and what else makes you a strong candidate. UC publishes the exact wording and its own tips on its Personal Insight Questions page.
What parents say
“Our tutor was a senior at Stanford who tutored my son in English, and also SAT preparation. My son received great marks on the SAT exam and also improved his grade in AP English from B to A.”
Janet Y., Menlo Park
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Start with your stories, not the prompts
Make a list of the experiences, activities and parts of your life you most want UC to know about, then find the questions that fit them. The best set of four covers different ground, so readers see several sides of you: something you do, something you care about, something you’ve overcome and something you love to learn about.
Plain and specific beats clever
The PIQs are closer to short-answer responses than to a personal essay. UC readers move through a lot of applications, and they want to know what you did, why it mattered and what it says about you. Clever openings and elaborate metaphors usually eat up words without adding much. Get to the point in the first couple of sentences, then spend the rest on specific details and on what you learned or how you changed.
It also helps to answer every part of the question. Many prompts ask two things at once, such as describing a challenge and explaining how it affected your academics, and readers notice when half of the question is missing.
Three common mistakes
The first is repeating the activities list in paragraph form. Your activities are already in the application, so use the PIQs to explain what those activities meant to you. The second is choosing a question because it sounds impressive rather than because you have a strong story for it. The third is running out of time. The filing period runs from October 1 to November 30, and November fills up fast for seniors with other applications due.
Our tutors help students choose their four questions, brainstorm stories, and revise drafts until each answer is clear, specific and in their own voice. We never write essays for students. We also help with the Common App essay and other supplements, including the Stanford supplemental essays, and you can read more about our college application help.
Sessions can be online or, near Stanford, in person. If your senior is starting on the PIQs, click below and we’ll match them with a tutor.