Like the other eight undergraduate institutions in the system, UCLA uses the UC Application (UC App) as its sole avenue of entry. The UC App opens on August 1st each year (as does the Common App), and has an application deadline of November 30th, with no opportunity for Early Action or Early Decision applications. What distinguishes the UC App from its cousin, the Common Application, is that the UC App gives students considerably more space to enter information about their activities (20 activities in the UC App vs 10 for the Common App, with descriptions of 350 characters vs only 150 characters in the Common App). The UC Application also features an entirely different essay structure. Where the Common App uses a 650-word Personal Statement complemented by Supplemental essays that are specific to each school, the UC Application asks students to write four responses (each 350 words) to their Personal Insight Questions. There are a total of eight questions to choose from, and students must respond to half of these.
Common App 911/UC App 911
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NAVIGATING THE UCLA APPLICATION
- Get to the point with your PIQs! Unlike the Common App Personal Statement, you don’t have room for lavish storytelling in the UC essays. Instead, you must provide a quick summary of the story you are trying to tell: focus on key plot beats so you can spend the bulk of your limited space in reflection, helping your reader understand why this story is important and what impact it made on you, your community, etc.
- Write PIQ responses that show different sides of who you are. Your readers should not be reading about the same activities, or the same personal values, across responses; in fact, you should aim for them to be as varied as possible, so that the reader gets a full picture of the person you are
- Make the most of your activities section – the extra room provided in the UC app versus the Common App is so valuable! Ask yourself what you can include in the activity section/descriptions that will then provide you with more room for reflection in your PIQ responses – spend time telling us about the organizations you worked with, your specific role, and critically, the measurable impact or outcome you produced.
- Be purposeful when picking those campuses! Don’t just press all the buttons when you get to the campus selection screen. When it comes to UC San Diego for example, take your time to understand how the eight colleges are different from each other and rank them with purpose!
- Spend time on the scholarships section of the app. The UC system has many merit- and need-based scholarships, and you can indicate your interest and eligibility for these scholarships in the application itself. Take your time when selecting your options, as it could result in a nice financial windfall for you and your family.
Essay Guidance
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DISCOVER UCLA
Most of all, when applying to UCLA, make sure that you are committed to your proposed area of study. As I mentioned in “Discover UCLA,” there won’t be a lot of flexibility to switch majors once you reach campus, so the choice you make when applying will likely set the tone for your four years at UCLA.
But ah, what a wonderful four years they will be. For a student who is ready for a high level of academic rigor, who doesn’t mind being a fish (of any size) in an undeniably big pond, and who has a desire to develop their passions while exploring and embracing new interests, UCLA is the ideal college. It is a place where students with a high degree of autonomy and self-advocacy skills will flourish and students without those things will quickly learn them. It is a school where you will be exposed to everything under the sun, where you will have every opportunity to find your people and chart the course of your future. It is a place I remember with love, and I hope that each student reading this will have the chance to do the same.
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