University of California Merced

Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are? “The only reason I want to come here is because of you.” I heard Jennifer’s words as I looked down … Read more The Art of Teaching

Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are? My journey with the animal liberation movement began almost a decade ago, at the tender age of nine or ten. … Read more Veganism: A Journey Through the Ages

Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn? As I strode into that all-too familiar gym, the memory of last year’s defeat was still fresh in my mind. The court loomed ahead, lying smugly as if it were already aware of the game’s … Read more Success

Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations. The sweltering heat of the Middle Eastern sun would wrap its parched tongue around my heavily shrouded body. The afternoon could have been cooked on an open flame, … Read more Oppression

Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are? Homework was the catch to summer break. In middle school, it was all too common. We had two school-free months … Read more 100 pages

Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations. When I was in grade school I wanted to be an engineer because my dad was an engineer. When I was in middle school I wanted to be … Read more Role Model

Open-Ended This question seeks to give students the opportunity to share important aspects of their schooling or their lives – such as their personal circumstances, family experiences and opportunities that were or were not available at their school or college – that may not have been sufficiently addressed elsewhere in the application. Open-Ended This question … Read more The Perfect Role Model

Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are? What started as a simple chemistry project turned into a huge part of my life for two and a half … Read more The World of Science

What have you done to make your school or your community a better place? At 16, I was on a train to San Diego and deep in my biology notes when alarms began to sound and we were evacuated. Armed police urged us to run; as a fellow passenger told me, there was a gunman … Read more A Generation of Activists

Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you? This is the balcony that extends into infinite dimensions. Inside: paintings and the smell of dusk. Lined against the tiled walls are canvases both void and filled. A soft light overhead. … Read more The Balcony