The UC system is one of the largest in the nation, and that comes with many opportunities for students, but also many pitfalls. Today, we will discuss how to maximize the benefits of a huge university and avoid the common traps first-year students often fall into. Align with Your Needs & Goals Going to a massive university can be overwhelming, so getting clear on your goals and what you need to accomplish is essential. First, work out any classes or credit-bearing programs yo

Our first PIQ article has done really well, so we're here to give the people what they want! Today, we'll be talking about more detailed advice for writing Personal Insight Questions. Without further ado, here are some more problems we see in student PIQs. All Accomplishment, No Narrative A common mistake that we see is students trying to cram their resume and their awards list into a narrative form that ends up sounding more like a laundry list of “why I’m awesome”! While yo

Image Courtesy of Highland Park High School The UC activities list is particularly generous, with a 350 character description for each activity, and 6 categories with up to 20 total activities. Today, we'll learn how to maximize this space on your application to give you the best shot at your dream UC. Categories The UC extracurricular and activities list includes several drop-down options to specify what kind of activity you did. These include: coursework other than A-G , ed

The UCs are rather transparent about the type of students they look for, laid out in the system website. However, some of these criteria are somewhat vague or seem subjective. Today, we'll find out what they criteria really mean and how you can meet them in your application. Here's the full list of the criteria: Academic grade point average in all completed A-G courses, including additional points for completed UC-certified honors courses. Number of, content of and performanc

Image courtesy of Unsplash The best UC for engineering really does depend on your engineering specialty and this is actually great news! It means there's a UC out there that's a perfect fit for whatever you want to study. Whether you already know exactly which branch of engineering you want to pursue, or you're still figuring it out, the UC system has something for everyone. Here's a breakdown of where specific campuses shines so you can find your best match. UC Berkeley: The

Image Courtesy of UCLA The University of California system has some interesting supplemental essays: with only 350 words to express who you are in one area of life, you answer four self-selected questions from a set assortment of 8. This year's questions are in alignment with the general trend of personal and education related questions. Let's take a look at each and how you can stand out in your answers! From the UC Admissions Website, here are the questions and directions f