3 Tips to Nail Your UC Statements
By Quetzal Mama • September 7, 2017
Copyright Roxanne
Ocampo 2017
This
week I attended the annual counselor conference hosted by the University of
California. All nine Directors of
Admission shared the latest trends, data, and of course, the blunders they
observed by students during last year’s admission cycle. I skipped the tail end of the lunch period to
get a front row seat during the Personal Insight presentation.
One
of the blunders highlighted during the Personal Insight Prompts discussion was
the distinction between the statement versus
the essay. The Director of Admissions from UC Santa Cruz
(Michael McCawley) and the Associate Director of Admissions from UC Santa
Barbara (Cuca Acosta), presented their perspectives to help counselors coach
prospective students. McCawley said, “We don’t do interviews,” explaining that
students should think of the Insight statements as pseudo answers to interview
questions: quick and to the point.
Acosta said these statements should provide, “. . . clarity, depth, and context.”
No philosophizing or flowery and verbose language. Both McCawley and Acosta stressed the
distinction between a formal essay (or expository writing) and the UC
statement. To help illustrate the
differences, I’ve created this rubric:
Essay Versus UC Statement
|
|
Traditional Essay
Formal
Lengthy (500+ words)
Highly Structured
Distinct Components
(Intro, Supportive P’s, Conclusion)
|
The UC Statement
Less Formal
Short & Concise (Max 350 words)
1 or 2 paragraphs
Components blended / not necessarily
distinct
First person
|
If the UC Statement is not necessarily
formal, the components tend to flow together, and word count is really small, how
can you write a powerful statement?
Writing 4 mini statements can be a lot trickier than writing 1 or 2 more
formal essays. Here’s what Quetzal Mama
wants you to know to nail your UC statements:
#1 Frame Your
Intro
– No more clever introductions, slowly setting
the stage for your argument. You just
don’t have the space to set your scene.
Instead, your introduction is your frame. It establishes the structure of your
statement, giving it context. How can
you do this? Here are 3 examples, with
intros of 50 words or less. You can see
that each intro paragraph frames the statement, and how it naturally leads to
the thesis.
Prompt #3: Becoming First Chair Cellist took a long
time. I would say this is my greatest
talent because it was also my most challenging accomplishment. I developed this
talent over an 8 year period, beginning with . . . [38 words]
Prompt #4: Being a first generation college going student, there
were many things I didn’t know about the college application process. However, I took advantage of a significant
educational opportunity by joining AVID. [31
words]
Prompt #5: Does shyness affect your chances of going to college? I
knew my shyness could affect my grades, leadership opportunities, and obtaining
letters of recommendation. Knowing the
relationship between shyness and college outcomes, I decided to pursue one of
the most significant challenges in my lifetime:
developing my speaking skills. [49 words]
#2 Quantify & Qualify – You need to
show impact. To do that, you need to
quantify and qualify the information you share.
For example, instead of saying, “I
fundraised for a non-profit,” you can say, “Leading a team of 6, we hosted donation drives each quarter, yielding
$8,000 in one school year.” This
highlights your leadership role, organizational skills, and the impact you’ve
made in your community. Providing
quantifiable and qualifying details will help you get to the point quickly, but
also share important details that speak to your talents, traits, and
perspective.
#3 Make it Relatable – I also call this
the “So What?” response. For example, you
can say, “I love purple.” So what?
Who cares if you love purple?
What does that have to do with your personality, skills, or candidacy as
a future UC undergraduate? You need to
relate the topic to something essential.
Do you like purple because it symbolizes something important to you? Did you found a service organization, and the
color purple represents something related to your mission? Is the color purple a political statement to
you? Does the color purple inspire
you? In other words, relate your topic
to a broader theme. By relating your
topic to something that represents, describes, defines, or inspires you, helps
the reader gain more insight into your unique personality, ideals, or qualities.
I
hope these 3 tips will help you get started – the hardest part! Good luck with your 4 prompts, and I hope you
nail it! — Dr. Quetzal Mama