uc santa barbara application essay prompts

First-year requirements

• Subject requirement (A-G)
• GPA requirement
• Admission by exception
• English language proficiency
• UC graduation requirements

Additional information for

• California residents
• Out-of-state students
• Home-schooled students

Transfer requirements

• Understanding UC transfer
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Applying as a first year

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Personal insight questions

• How applications are reviewed
• After you apply

Applying as a transfer

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• Santa Barbara
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• Apply for aid
• You will have 8 questions to choose from. You must respond to only 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. However, you should select questions that are most relevant to your experience and that best reflect your individual circumstances.

Keep in mind

• All questions are equal. All are given equal consideration in the application review process, which means there is no advantage or disadvantage to choosing certain questions over others.
• There is no right or wrong way to answer these questions. It’s about getting to know your personality, background, interests and achievements in your own unique voice.  
• Use the additional comments field if there are issues you'd like to address that you didn't have the opportunity to discuss elsewhere on the application. This shouldn't be an essay, but rather a place to note unusual circumstances or anything that might be unclear in other parts of the application. 

Questions & guidance

Remember, the personal insight questions are just that—personal. Which means you should use our guidance for each question just as a suggestion in case you need help. The important thing is expressing who you are, what matters to you and what you want to share with UC. 

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. Things to consider: A leadership role can mean more than just a title. It can mean being a mentor to others, acting as the person in charge of a specific task, or taking the lead role in organizing an event or project. Think about what you accomplished and what you learned from the experience. What were your responsibilities?

Did you lead a team? How did your experience change your perspective on leading others? Did you help to resolve an important dispute at your school, church, in your community or an organization? And your leadership role doesn't necessarily have to be limited to school activities. For example, do you help out or take care of your family? 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. Things to consider: What does creativity mean to you? Do you have a creative skill that is important to you? What have you been able to do with that skill? If you used creativity to solve a problem, what was your solution? What are the steps you took to solve the problem?

How does your creativity influence your decisions inside or outside the classroom? Does your creativity relate to your major or a future career? 3. What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time? Things to consider: If there is a talent or skill that you're proud of, this is the time to share it.You don't necessarily have to be recognized or have received awards for your talent (although if you did and you want to talk about it, feel free to do so). Why is this talent or skill meaningful to you?

Does the talent come naturally or have you worked hard to develop this skill or talent? Does your talent or skill allow you opportunities in or outside the classroom? If so, what are they and how do they fit into your schedule? 4. Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced. Things to consider: An educational opportunity can be anything that has added value to your educational experience and better prepared you for college. For example, participation in an honors or academic enrichment program, or enrollment in an academy that's geared toward an occupation or a major, or taking advanced courses that interest you; just to name a few.

If you choose to write about educational barriers you've faced, how did you overcome or strive to overcome them? What personal characteristics or skills did you call on to overcome this challenge? How did overcoming this barrier help shape who you are today? 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? Things to consider: A challenge could be personal, or something you have faced in your community or school. Why was the challenge significant to you? This is a good opportunity to talk about any obstacles you've faced and what you've learned from the experience. Did you have support from someone else or did you handle it alone?

If you're currently working your way through a challenge, what are you doing now, and does that affect different aspects of your life? For example, ask yourself, How has my life changed at home, at my school, with my friends or with my family? 6. Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom. Things to consider:  Many students have a passion for one specific academic subject area, something that they just can't get enough of. If that applies to you, what have you done to further that interest? Discuss how your interest in the subject developed and describe any experience you have had inside and outside the classroom such as volunteer work, internships, employment, summer programs, participation in student organizations and/or clubs and what you have gained from your involvement.

Has your interest in the subject influenced you in choosing a major and/or future career? Have you been able to pursue coursework at a higher level in this subject (honors, AP, IB, college or university work)? Are you inspired to pursue this subject further at UC, and how might you do that?

7. What have you done to make your school or your community a better place? Things to consider: Think of community as a term that can encompass a group, team or a place like your high school, hometown or home. You can define community as you see fit, just make sure you talk about your role in that community. Was there a problem that you wanted to fix in your community?

Why were you inspired to act? What did you learn from your effort? How did your actions benefit others, the wider community or both? Did you work alone or with others to initiate change in your community? 8. Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California? Things to consider:  If there's anything you want us to know about you but didn't find a question or place in the application to tell us, now's your chance. What have you not shared with us that will highlight a skill, talent, challenge or opportunity that you think will help us know you better?

From your point of view, what do you feel makes you an excellent choice for UC? Don't be afraid to brag a little.

Writing tips

Start early..

Give yourself plenty of time for preparation, careful composition and revisions.

Write persuasively.

Making a list of accomplishments, activities, awards or work will lessen the impact of your words. Expand on a topic by using specific, concrete examples to support the points you want to make.

Use “I” statements.

Talk about yourself so that we can get to know your personality, talents, accomplishments and potential for success on a UC campus. Use “I” and “my” statements in your responses.

Proofread and edit.

Although you will not be evaluated on grammar, spelling or sentence structure, you should proofread your work and make sure your writing is clear. Grammatical and spelling errors can be distracting to the reader and get in the way of what you’re trying to communicate.

Solicit feedback.

Your answers should reflect your own ideas and be written by you alone, but others — family, teachers and friends can offer valuable suggestions. Ask advice of whomever you like, but do not plagiarize from sources in print or online and do not use anyone's words, published or unpublished, but your own.

Copy and paste.

Once you are satisfied with your answers, save them in plain text (ASCII) and paste them into the space provided in the application. Proofread once more to make sure no odd characters or line breaks have appeared.

This is one of many pieces of information we consider in reviewing your application. Your responses can only add value to the application. An admission decision will not be based on this section alone.

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Download our worksheets:

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University of California, Santa Barbara | UCSB

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• Applying to College

Writing the Essay

General advice.

• Finish the rest of the application first. Listing all of the activities, classes, and awards will remind you of things that might be good to write about.
• Brainstorm on several topics.
• Choose a topic you can say something meaningful about (not the one you think will impress admissions readers). Admissions officers read thousands of essays and can spot when someone is writing about an AP course they took just because they think it will make them sound smart.
• Ask parents, teachers, and friends for ideas about your good qualities or accomplishments. Sometimes it is difficult for us to see the things about ourselves that are obvious to others.

Once You Begin Writing

• Stick to one or two important “stories.” Any more and you’ll dilute things to the point where they have little impact.
• Grab the reader’s interest from the start.
• Show, don’t tell—give concrete examples of something instead of just saying it.
• Make sure you answer the question instead of going on a tangent.
• Show who you are, not who you think the admissions officers want to see.
• Don’t just list information that is already in your application—you are missing the opportunity to tell the reader something new.
• Include the “So What?” Why did you tell this story? How did it impact your life? What does it show about you? How is it important to the question?

After You Write

• Write more than one draft. You probably haven’t written something like this before and it will take more than one attempt to get it right.
• Don’t be afraid to scrap your first draft and start from scratch.
• Ask others for feedback, but have useful questions for them. You know your friend will say “It’s good” before you even ask. So ask things like “Did it grab your interest from the start?” “What did you think I was trying to say?” and “Did you think it was funny/sad/passionate/(whatever tone you were going for)?”
• Proofread, and read it over carefully even after you spellcheck! Sometimes it tries to fix your mistakes by replacing them with the wrong word.

Common Application

Essay(250-500 words).

• There are several topics, as well as the option to choose your own topic. All the questions are just basically saying “Tell us about yourself.” The specific questions are just trying to make it easier for you to talk about your values and other aspects of yourself.
• Each question is just as valid as the other ones. There are no questions that “get you more points” if you pick that one.
• Some of the questions ask you to talk about an issue, historical figure, etc. Do NOT turn your answer into a report on this. Each one asks you to relate the topic to yourself—how has it influenced you? Why is it important to you? You are only using that topic as a way to get at your life and values.

UC ​Personal Insight Questions

(8 questions, you select 4; to answer, 350 words maximum each).

• You will have 8 questions to choose from. You must respond to only 4 of the 8 questions. Which questions you choose to answer is entirely up to you.
• Each response is limited to a maximum of 350 words.

To look at the personal insight questions and for helpful tips on how to respond to each one, learn more:  https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/how-to-apply/applying-as-a-freshman/personal-insight-questions.html

For additional guidance EAOP has come up with 5 general topics to help you answer the personal insight questions. As you write your UC personal essays think about the most relevant and significant experiences that best reflect your individual circumstances for the topics below. You can use one of the topics to answer more than one of the insight questions. (ex. Leadership experience could fit with questions 1 and 7, an obstacle experience could fit questions 4,5 and 7)

Overcoming obstacles/challenges

• Diversity of perspective
• Goals for the future.

 Not just offices and titles. Think about things YOU made happen that wouldn’t have happened without you. Think about your accomplishments and what you learned from the experience. What are your responsibilities? And your leadership role doesn’t necessarily have to be limited to school activities.  For example, do you help out or take care of your family?

This is a good opportunity to talk about any obstacles you’ve faced and what you’ve learned from the experience. A challenge could be personal, or something you have faced in your community or school. Why was the challenge significant to you? Did responsibilities and chores limit your activities and studies? Did a disability make things more difficult academically or socially?

Diversity of Perspective

Highlight your cultural background and experiences. Learning a second language, moving from a different country, had to balance your parents’ culture against American culture ect. What things have made you see the world differently? How have they impacted your life?

Think about your accomplishments and what you learned from the experience. Do you have a passion for music, theater, visual art, dance, etc.? What have you gained from it that has affected other parts of your life? What kinds of things have you worked hard to achieve? In what ways did you show your determination and commitment to accomplish those things? How does your commitment/creativity influence your decisions inside or outside the classroom?

Goals for the future

Goals can be general things like helping others, having your own business, helping your family, or being a good role model for your siblings. What do you want for your future? Where do you see yourself ten years from now?

• UC Santa Barbara Career Services
• Explore Grad School

Write Your Draft

Tell Your Story So Far  

Graduate schools ask you to submit admissions essays in an effort to get to know you better and understand your motivations for pursuing their program. Nearly every graduate program you encounter requires at least one essay, as it is an effective tool for them to gain key insights.

Fortunately, writing essays is something that should feel familiar to you by this point in your education, however, there can be more than what meets the eye in the various formats and prompts that are provided for application essays.

Use this page to compose a powerful draft for a Statement of Purpose, Personal Statement, Research Statement, and other statements for graduate admission.

Three-Pronged Outline

To begin drafting your document, it can help to begin with an outline that covers the three fundamental topics of most admissions essays:

• Motivations: Why do you want to go to graduate school in your chosen field or discipline? Why do you want to attend the particular program to which you are applying?
• Qualifications: Why are you qualified to attend the graduate program? How do your academic performance, experiences, and extracurricular achievements demonstrate your suitability for that graduate program?
• Direction: Where do you see yourself heading professionally, and how will the graduate program help you accomplish this goal?

An Introduction That Captivates

Consider creating a storyline with an opening that is personal to you. Here are some strategies for creating a memorable opening to your essay:

• Place the reader into your story at a key moment in time
• Draw inspiration from a significant character in your story by beginning with something they once told you
• Provide a narrative, account, or observation about a current event that pertains to your story

Avoid an opening that states that you have wanted to pursue the field since a young age, as this is the most common way that applicants begin their admissions essays. You can certainly open this way, but know that it is frequently used, and your readers appreciate variety just like anyone else.

Writing Tips  

There are a few key considerations when writing, refining, and editing the body of your essay. Here are some essential tips.

Consider Your Audience

What will your audience want to learn about in order to better understand why you would be a great match for their program? If you are using significant space to tell a story that is not bolstering this point, you may want to edit it out. Keep your writing focused and concise.

Keep a Positive Tone

One of the biggest red flags that graduate programs see is an applicant who puts others down (i.e., another institution, organization, or individual) in an attempt to build themselves up. Your essay should not be judgmental in any way. This is unbecoming on a personal level and unprofessional.

Avoid Complimenting a Program’s Prestige

This is not an appropriate medium for you to make broad compliments about a program or explain why the program to which you are applying is better than your undergraduate college or university. Instead, focus on concrete aspects of the program that would add value to your career.

Condense Your Prose

Take any paragraph in your essay and calculate its word count. Now try to get the same message across in half as many words. You may not be able to do it, but the effort will show you where you can and cannot trim.

Proofread for Typos

Mistakes with grammar and spelling look unprofesional and undermine your credibbilty as a schollar. Don’t you aggree? :)

Get a Fresh Perspective

Enlist a friend you trust to read your essay. When they are done, go back to each paragraph and ask them to paraphrase what you wrote. Is what they remember the thing you wanted to get across? If not, rewrite so that it is.

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How to Get Into UCSB: Admissions Stats + Tips

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What’s Covered:

How hard is it to get into ucsb, average academic profile of accepted ucsb students, what is ucsb looking for, how to improve your chances of getting into ucsb.

Currently ranked #5 in U.S. News & World Report ’s Top Public Schools, the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) is a public university in Isla Vista, California. It was founded in 1891 and became part of the University of California system in 1944, joining just two other members at the time, UC Berkeley and UCLA.

Undergraduates at UCSB study at one of three colleges:

• College of Letters & Science
• College of Creative Studies
• College of Engineering

Like several other schools in the UC system, UCSB is selective. So, what does it take to get in?

For the 2020–2021 admissions cycle, 89,752 students applied, and 32,842 were admitted, for an acceptance rate of 36.6% .

UCSB’s acceptance rate is low, but your chances of admission will vary by your profile. To find out your personal odds of acceptance, check out CollegeVine’s free admissions calculator . Using your grades, test scores, extracurriculars, and more, we’ll predict your chances of acceptance and give you tips on improving your profile!

The average high school GPA for the freshman class was 4.17 weighted.

SAT and ACT scores are no longer considered in the UCSB admissions process.

With 78.69% of the freshman class submitting class rank, 100% were in the top 10% of their graduating class. 

Like many other public universities, UCSB does have minimum requirements for admission. Bear in mind, however, that meeting them does not guarantee admission.

Requirements include completing approved courses in A-G subject areas with at least a grade of C. (Letter grade requirements are suspended between winter 2020–summer 2021. Passing or credit suffices.)

A-G subjects are:

A: History/Social Science

C: Mathematics

E: Language other than English

F: Visual & Performing Arts

G: College-Preparatory Elective

California residents must earn at least a 3.0 GPA, and non-residents must earn a minimum GPA of 3.4. The university also wants to see you challenging yourself by taking the most rigorous curriculum available to you.

But UCSB considers more than your academic achievements. “We look at your extracurricular activities and accomplishments in light of the opportunities available to you,” the university says. “As we consider each individual application—and rest assured, we do consider each one—we look beyond grades.”

The goal is to assess how you might contribute to the UCSB community. They also want to see specialization—outstanding performance in a particular subject area.

NB: Although the schools within the UC system use the same application, each campus evaluates applications independently of one another and does not consider or know the status of your application at another campus.

How UCSB Evaluates Applications

According to UCSB’s 2020–2021 Common Data Set, the following factors are “ very important ”:

• Academic GPA
• Application Essay

This factor is “ important ”:

• Rigor of secondary school record

These are “ considered ”:

• Extracurricular activities
• Talent/ability
• Character/personal qualities
• First generation
• Geographical residence
• State residency
• Volunteer work
• Work experience

These factors are “ not considered ”:

• Standardized test scores
• Recommendation(s)
• Alumni/ae relation
• Religious affiliation/commitment
• Racial/ethnic status
• Level of applicant’s interest

Discover your chances at hundreds of schools

Our free chancing engine takes into account your history, background, test scores, and extracurricular activities to show you your real chances of admission—and how to improve them.

1. Achieve at least a 4.17 (weighted) while taking the most challenging classes available

Remember that UCSB has a minimum GPA requirement of 3.0 for California residents and a 3.4 for out-of-staters. But in order to be a competitive candidate, you should strive for a weighted GPA of 4.17, the average at the university.

If your GPA is lower, and you’re earlier on in your high school career, check out our tips for increasing your GPA . If you’re a junior or senior, it will be harder to increase your GPA, so the easiest way to increase your Academic Index is to get a higher test score.

2. Cultivate at least one or two Tier 1-2 extracurriculars (find your “spike”)

UCSB values “special talents, achievements and awards in a particular field,” along with unique skills and interests. You can demonstrate these talents and qualities through extracurricular pursuits.

There are typically 4 Tiers of Extracurriculars that are considered. Tier 1 encompasses the most impressive and unique activities, those that adcoms rarely see, such as award-winning research or earning national recognition for a creative project. Meanwhile, Tier 4 represents the most commonly-seen activities, such as club participation. While all tiers have their value, you should aim to have at least a couple Tier 1-2 activities. (Here are more examples of impressive ECs for college .)

We advise students to develop a “ spike ” — specialization in one or two interests — around which your activities should be grouped. 

3. Write engaging essays

UCSB does not accept the Common Application. Instead, the UC system has its own application, which includes essay prompts. However, you can use the same essays and full application for all schools in the system.

You are required to address four out of eight personal insight questions on the application. This is an opportunity to express your personal qualities and help the adcom get to know you. For specific guidance on responding to the UC prompts, check out our 2021–2022 UC essay guide .

4. Apply in-state

The admissions rate at all UC schools is considerably higher for in-state students than it is for out-of-state students. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t bother applying if you’re outside California, but you should be aware that you’ll have to clear higher standards, as evidenced by the higher minimum GPA requirement. Last year, only 9% of USCB’s freshman class consisted of out-of-staters.

5. Explain special circumstances

UCSB seeks to represent myriad cultures, perspectives, and backgrounds. They review your academic accomplishments “in light of your life experiences and special circumstances, including but not limited to: disabilities, low family income, first generation to attend college, need to work, disadvantaged social or educational environment, difficult personal and family situations or circumstances, refugee status, or veteran status.”

Make sure you describe these qualities on your application if you have them.

How to Apply to UCSB

Applications may be submitted between November 1–November 30.

Application Requirements

• UC application
• Supplemental application (select colleges and majors only)

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UCSB offers globally recognized academic programs in a collaborative, dynamic atmosphere. UCSB is more than a place to obtain a degree — it's a top 10 public university in one of the most beautiful places on Earth where you can carve your own path towards an impactful future. 

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