by Marie Todd
University of California System: Tips for 2025-2026 Personal Insight Questions
The University of California (UC) system consists of nine campuses that all use the same application. They are UC Berkeley (Cal), UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis, UC Merced, UC Santa Barbara, UC Los Angeles (UCLA), UC Irvine, UC Riverside, and UC San Diego. If you are applying to one or more of these campuses, you will use the same essay responses for all. Take a look at what each campus has to offer – including academic programs, clubs, activities, location, internships, intramural options, career services, research opportunities, and professors – and consider how you might showcase your fit.
UC admissions asks you to write several short essays to provide insight into who you are on a more personal level and how you might contribute to the school to which you are applying. As an applicant, you must respond to four of the school’s eight essay prompts. Each of your four responses is limited to 350 words. None of the prompts are the “right” or “wrong” ones to answer. Read through the options, and select four that align well with your personal background, thereby giving you the best opportunity to discuss your unique experiences. Some of the questions overlap a bit with respect to the topics you might discuss, so choose a combination of prompts that will allow you to communicate different aspects of your identity, character, and values. Also, make sure you address all parts of the questions and the additional implied question: What kind of a leader might you be in the UC community?
UC Personal Insight Question #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.
This can be an intimidating question if you approach it too broadly. Instead, think about a specific example of your leadership in action. Consider instances when you can trace a clear positive outcome back to a particular conflict resolution, action, decision, negotiation, or collaboration on your part. This effort could have been within your family, school, community, job, peer group, religious organization, athletic/academic team, or anything along these lines. What were your responsibilities? What did you learn about leadership from this experience? What did you learn about yourself as a leader? How did this experience change your perspective and the way you interact with others?
UC Personal Insight Question #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.
This prompt provides an opportunity to demonstrate your creative passion and your thought process. Think about what creativity means to you. Do you have a particularly creative skill? Do you think about issues/solutions in inventive ways? Was there a situation or problem you approached in a unique or novel manner? Remember that your story can be something school related or otherwise. Select a strong example, and express your enthusiasm. What was the outcome? How did your creativity, problem solving, innovative thinking, or artistic ability affect others? How does your creativity factor into the way you learn, how you interact with others, your lifestyle, or your intended area of study and/or career? How does the example you’re offering the adcom reflect something significant about you? And why is that important? How might you embrace your creativity while you are studying at a UC school?
UC Personal Insight Question #3
What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?
This prompt allows you to detail something you have engaged in for an extended time and through which you can demonstrate growth and deeper understanding. It can be something that came naturally to you or something you worked hard to develop over time. Be careful not to let your response to this prompt overlap with what you discussed for Question #2 regarding creativity – you want to tell the adcom something that presents a different facet of your abilities. This could be anything from playing an instrument to playing a sport or participating in any other activity that demonstrates development through an extensive process. What initially sparked your interest in this activity? Why is this meaningful to you? How did you explore and develop this talent or skill? Did you have to sacrifice anything to pursue it? What have been the challenges and rewards you’ve encountered along the way? What have you learned about yourself in the process? How might you continue to nurture/apply this talent or skill in the future, possibly even on campus?
UC Personal Insight Question #4
Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.
In broad strokes, this prompt addresses how you make things happen regardless of the cards you are dealt. It also speaks to your resilience and ability to adapt. Your response to this prompt should reveal how you use what you have to succeed. Whether you have been fortunate enough to have had many educational opportunities or have had to work to overcome great challenges, what have you achieved and learned about yourself in the process? If you embraced an opportunity to experience something new (e.g., culture, activity, volunteer experience, academic enrichment opportunity), how did the experience change the way you look at the world? How did it influence how you think about yourself? If you overcame significant obstacles (e.g., learning disability, difficult family situation/relationship, financial challenges, particular hardship), what motivated you to do more? What steps did you take to improve the situation? How did overcoming this barrier make you stronger? How did it change your perspective or attitude? And how has it inspired you for the future?
UC Personal Insight Question #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?
This question is similar to the second part of Question #4. This is the place to reveal why your extracurricular involvement, test scores, or grades might not be as competitive as those of other applicants – just make sure you don’t sound like you’re making excuses. Your most significant challenge could relate to a personal loss, a disability, conflicts within your community or family, or coming to terms with an unconventional identity. You might also still be working to overcome this challenge. The important thing is to identify the challenge, discuss what you have done to address it, and then explain its impact on your academic achievement. If you choose to respond to this prompt, your story is likely to be very personal. You don’t have to shy away from this one, but you will need to give it a great deal of thought so you can convey its significance. It is also important to consider how the lessons you learned through this process have prepared you for academic success in college.
UC Personal Insight Question #6
Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.
This prompt asks you to convey your passion and enthusiasm for a specific academic subject. Your response should reveal both the topic you find interesting and how you explore your interests and engage with learning on various levels. Think about what you have done to dive deeper into the subject, such as engaging in volunteer activities, internships, research, clubs, and/or advanced classes. What makes the subject so exciting for you? How has the knowledge you have acquired influenced your perception of the world? What have you learned about yourself in your pursuit of the subject? This is also a great opportunity to discuss your potential major or other areas you are interested in studying in college. If it applies, you could also link your interest to your future career. As the adcom reads your response, they will be thinking about how you might explore this and other topics at their school.
UC Personal Insight Question #7
What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?
This question is pretty straightforward. It addresses how you, as an individual, have made a positive impact on those around you. Identify something you have done to help or support others. Many applicants use a volunteer experience as an example, while others discuss their participation on a team or in a group. Identify your role within the school, group, or community. What was the issue, problem, deficiency, or need that you addressed? How did you help to do so? Why was this important to you? How do you know you had a positive effect? What was your motivation to help? Did you work with others or alone? What did you learn about yourself in the process? Is this something you might continue while in college?
UC Personal Insight Question #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?
This is a wide-open question! Before you decide how you want to respond to this prompt, make a list of the characteristics you feel make you an outstanding fit with the UC system. Then, look over your application and the other questions you have chosen to respond to and see whether any important information or story is missing. This is your opportunity to tell the adcom anything you feel is significant about yourself and your candidacy that you were not able to discuss elsewhere in your application. Although UC admissions advises you to not “be afraid to brag a little,” this prompt is not the only place in the school’s application where you can highlight your greatest strengths. So, you could skip writing this essay and still represent yourself and your talents effectively by choosing other prompts.
If you didn’t opt to answer Question #3 and want to close on a strong note, this essay could be useful in allowing you to highlight something singular about yourself. If possible, drawing a link between what you discuss in this essay and the UC system in some way would be good. Maybe you have already been involved in a pre-college program at a particular UC campus, such as a creative writing program for high school students, and formed meaningful connections with faculty members in the process. Mentioning details like this can help demonstrate that you want to be part of the social fabric of a UC campus and are more likely to attend a UC school if accepted, which can certainly help sway the adcom.
Competition for admission to the UC system is fierce and continues to increase each year. This is especially true if you are an out-of-state candidate. The UC system does not allow you to submit standardized test scores or letters of recommendation, and the adcom will have only your GPA, coursework transcript, activities, and honors. Therefore, it is essential that you use your essays to provide context for your experiences (both inside and outside of the classroom) that have prepared you to be a successful UC student and to share more about what makes you unique. Consider your motivations, inspirations, values, learning style, character, personal history, and goals for the future. You must work to set yourself apart from other applicants. As you address the essay prompts, keep the 350-word limit for each response in mind, and do not repeat information you have discussed in other essays. Strive to use each response to tell the adcom something that demonstrates a different aspect of who you are. Plan out your responses, and make sure you allow yourself adequate time to revise your essays.
Marie Todd has been involved in college admissions for more than 20 years. Marie has both counseled applicants to top colleges and evaluated more than 5,000 applications for the University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts; College of Engineering; School of Kinesiology; School of Nursing; and Taubman College of Architecture. Want Marie to help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch.
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