1. Describe an example of your leadership experience in which
you have positively inuenced others, helped resolve disputes, or
contributed to group eorts over time.
How do you dene “leader”? List three words that you think describe
what a leader is:
1.
2.
3.
Do any of these words apply to you? How? Is there a time in your life
when you displayed any of these traits?
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.
Can you think of a time your viewpoint was unique compared to
others? What was the issue or problem from your perspective? Now
think of the same situation from the perspective of another person
who was there with you. How was your approach dierent from that
other person’s?
Was there ever a problem where your imagination and intuition
guided you to the solution?
Do you have a passion for music, theater, visual art, dance, etc.? What
have you gained from it that has aected other parts of your life?
3. What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have
you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?
List three of your talents or skills:
1.
2.
3.
Were these talents or skills the same a few years ago? What changed?
What improved?
Which one of the three talents or skills you listed is the most
meaningful or important to you and why? Does the talent come
naturally or have you worked hard to develop this skill or talent?
Getting started
This worksheet is designed to help freshman applicants start the writing process for the personal insight questions in the undergraduate
admissions application. Additional hints and suggestions can be found on UC’s admissions website at ucal.us/personalquestions.
What are the personal insight questions?
These questions are about getting to know you better — your life
experience, interests, ambitions and inspirations. Think of it as your
interview with the admissions oce. Be open. Be reective. Find your
individual voice and express it.
While this section of the application is just one part we consider when
making our admission decision, it helps provide context for the rest of
your application.
The basics
• You will have 8 questions to choose from. You must respond to any
4 of the 8 questions.
• Each response is limited to a maximum of 350 words.
• Which questions you choose to answer is entirely up to you: But
you should select questions that are most relevant to your
experience and that best reect your individual circumstances.
• All questions are equal: All questions are given equal consideration in
the application review process, which means there is no advantage or
disadvantage to choosing certain questions over others.
Freshman questions & brainstorm exercise
The following exercises are suggestions to help you get started.
Remember, you don’t have to answer all eight questions – you only
need to answer four. So if some questions aren’t the right t for
you, that’s OK. The important thing is expressing who are you, what
matters to you and what you want to share with UC.
personal insight questions:
guide for freshman applicants