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Sample UC Essays
Take a look at the following two UC essay samples. Do they answer the prompt? Do they provide sufficient personal examples? Is the tone authentic?
Provided by the UC Admission Staff for the UC Counselors Conference
Sept 12, 2025
We just want to talk:
Approaching the PIQ conversation with purpose
Sample PIQs
Sample 1: Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you’ve taken to
overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?
As you scan this essay, look for:
● A significant/personal challenge
● Concrete details describing how the student overcame the challenge
"I love being a kid with no worries or problems. I was in my little world, having the best time, but
that's when my alarm clock hit; I was back to reality; rubbing my eyes, I looked across my room
and noticed my older sister wasn't in her bed; strange, I said to myself I didn't see her get home
last night either. Walking towards the bathroom, I turn to my right, my parents' door wide open,
bed neat. When doing school at home, I realized problems as I hadn't seen them before. Our
money problems were worse than I thought: opening the fridge and not seeing any food, the
inability to find a house, no necessities. My older sister could not balance work and college
while doing college during the day and work at night, while my dad worked the whole day and
rarely saw him. My mom could not cook for us as there was no food in the fridge, and I slept on
an empty stomach, seeing my older sisters crying from the stress. Watching this made me feel
useless. I would be overthinking what to do, and I couldn't focus on academics. Everything
around me distracted me. I couldn't help finding a job as my parents didn't want that. In these
moments, the best way to help was to have my grades up. Looking at my older sister and Dad's physiques, I saw their red eyes, eyebrows, and weak bodies. My eyes watered, and my mom and I stared at each other, seeing our loved ones were overworked. But something was missing in our tiny home. The atmosphere was dull and dark,
needing a spark of optimism. I wanted to be a positive family member, so that is what I became.
I started helping around the house more with my mom and little sister, giving out messages of
positive advice. I learned that life hits in the wrong places, but we don't let it get inside our
heads. No matter what strikes my family and me, we will be okay."
Answer in the Chat
Sample #1
True or false: Are there missed opportunities here?
Provided by the UC Admission Staff for the UC Counselors Conference
Sept 12, 2025
We just want to talk:
Approaching the PIQ conversation with purpose
Sample PIQs
Sample 2: Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you’ve taken to
overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?
As you scan this essay, look for:
● A significant/personal challenge
● Concrete details describing how the student overcame the challenge
“During my childhood, I was forced to grow up very rapidly. At the age of 6 years old, I was
working at the local grocery helping my mom. The difficulty of obtaining money, paying bills, and
buying food always filled my mom with stress. Although I was only six years old, I understood
the economic difficulties that my mom and I were facing. The challenge of always having to think
if we had enough food while seeing other kids with fewer struggles made me wonder about how
I was going to overcome this. This economic hardship affected my learning and academic
opportunities where I had moments when I couldn't do my homework because I had to help my
mom prepare food. I wasn't able to access school supplies or resources because I would spend
the majority of my time helping my mom rather than focusing on my education. I didn't have
access to brand-new uniforms at the beginning of each school year, so I had to sew my uniform
and my shoes so they could last a few more months.
Our life changed when my mom was able to obtain a sustainable job at a hospital as a
receptionist and with financial help from my dad. I was able to return to school not having to
worry about if there was going to be food to eat if the bills were going to be paid on time, or if my
home was going to be lost. As a first-generation student, this affected my academic
achievements throughout high school as well, the acknowledgment of the hardships my parents
had to overcome motivated me to strive for academic validation and take advantage of the
academic opportunities. The hardships I had to face at a young age have always marked my life
and been an ineffaceable experience that will be my biggest motivation to achieve my career
goals and reward my parents for all the sacrifices.”
Answer in the Chat
Sample #2
True or false: Are there missed opportunities here?
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