Eva Glasrud completed her B.A. and M.A. at Stanford. She is now a college counselor and life coach for gifted youth.
by j9robinson | Mar 29, 2016
Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time. .
UC Essay Prompt 1 is the first of eight essay prompts for the University of California application that you can choose to answer if you are an incoming freshman.
Of the eight Personal Insight Questions , you only need to answer four.
If you consider leadership one of your defining qualities, or have had an interesting experience as a leader in some capacity, you might want to consider this essay.
Overall, leadership is a terrific quality to showcase to the UC.
And you don’t need to have held a specific “leadership” role, such as Student Body President or scoutmaster, to write about this skill.
Just make sure you share “an example” of a time you used your leadership skills in a way that is specific, interesting and unique to you.
The UC admissions department has provided helpful brainstorming questions both with this prompt and in a worksheet guide they offer on their web site.
You should definitely check out both before you start—since there’s no better way to learn exactly what they want to hear from you.
It can be a lot to take in. (Don’t sweat these short essays! Just read up on them and then crank them out!)
The upshot of their suggestions, in my opinion, is that they want to make sure that you don’t write a generic answer about how you are a skilled leader unless you support your point with specific examples .
To write an effective UC Prompt 1 essay, especially since it’s relatively short (no more than 350 words), it’s critical to have a sharp focus.
That means you narrow down what you want to say about your leadership abilities.
Instead of listing all the places and experiences you have been a leader, it’s more effective to think of ONE TIME you had that role.
Another way to focus your UC Essay Prompt 1 would be to narrow down what type of leader you are, and try to define your leadership style.
Do you lead by example and use your sense of humor?
Do you lead because you are confident, disciplined and have an air of authority?
Do you lead by building a consensus and getting everyone on board with your group goals?
Once you decide what specific type of leader you are, try to think of A TIME that illustrated that style.
It doesn’t have to be an impressive time; just a moment or experience where you demonstrated your leadership ability.
You don’t have to have been an Eagle Scout, president of the chemistry club or band major to be a leader. It’s more about finding “a time” you played the role of leader, and why that mattered.
If “something happened” during that time, all the better. That will make your essay more interesting.
(Hint: To find something that happened, think about “a time” you were in a group and faced some type of problem.)
If you include a problem (obstacle/challenge/mistake/accident/mix-up/set-back…), it will be easy to go on to explain how you dealt with it—using your leadership qualities or abilities.
(Write a couple sentences about each number and you will have a rough draft!)
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 a taking lead role in organizing an event or project. Think about your accomplishments 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?
From the brainstorm Worksheet provided by UC admissions to further help with UC Essay Prompt 1:
How do you define “leader”? List three words that you think describe what a leader is:
Do any of these words apply to you? How? Is there a time in your life when you displayed any of these traits?
Back to my advice:
So remember these main points regarding UC Essay Prompt 1:
If you decide to write about UC Essay Prompt 1 as one of your four required for the UC application, write it up and see if you like it.
If not, consider one of the other prompts.
You might want to learn How to Answer UC Essay Prompt 8 as well and write about what sets you apart from other students.
RELATED: Check out my 21 Tips for UC Personal Insight Questions to get more ideas on how to select what four prompts to write about, and avoid common pitfalls.
If you need more help with these, I offer tutoring and editing services. Learn more on my SERVICES page.
I’m considering writing about my role as a foreign language teacher for young children and was wondering whether this would count as a valid leadership position/allow for me to write a unique essay that separates me from other candidates.
Hi Manjot, This sounds like a leadership experience to me. The way to make your essay stand out depends on what you have to say about your role, especially what you learned. Look for something challenging that happened and share that, and then you can explain how you thought about it and what you learned. Good luck! Janine Robinson
How could I use this format to show how helping my younger brother with his homework helped me realize I am a leader?
Hi! I wish to write about my role as the school stage lighting technician and how I prepared a junior with this skill once I graduate from school
Hi! I was considering writing about my position as a the editor of a magazine. Could this be a unique experience and how can I make myself stand out?
Hi there, Since I have already mentioned that I co-founded the Animal Volunteer Club when I answered the question about making the school a better place, I am wondering whether it will be overlap if I mentioned it again for the question of leadership? though the contents are not exactly the same. I am confused now:/ thank you
This was so helpful! I had been struggling with answering this question for a while. When I was going through your tips I got a sudden idea and I answered all the questions you provided. Now, I know what to write and how to write it.
Hello, I determined my topic for the leadership prompt to be about my experience as an older sibling. Is it a strong way to express how I left a positive impact on others (younger brother)?
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Prestigious scholarships often ask for a leadership essay, but what does such an essay entail? NCA has recorded a webinar full of tips to help you craft a compelling leadership narrative for your application. Please watch our 30-minute Leadership Essay webinar. The webinar script is also available.
Example responses to the new uc leadership essay.
In my last email, I introduced and gave a few writing tips for the leadership personal insight question for the University of California application . At the end of the email, I promised some examples of actual responses.
Recap of the essay prompt:
(Note: The following writing is completely my original writing based on composites of the hundreds of application essays I’ve read in the past decades.)
In tenth grade, I was president of the Latino Culture Club. There were about 20 members in the club, but most of them didn’t come very often. We met to discuss the unique aspects of our culture in the United States, and my job was to get more members and figure out ways to show our culture to others.
In the first week of the club, I was overwhelmed by what to do. It seemed like I had so much responsibility, but not much time. But I decided that the best way to get ahead and reach our goals was to use: teamwork.
As a team, we were not only stronger, but we had more ideas. Suddenly, people who kept to themselves spoke up. They seemed more excited about coming to meetings. And we also had many more suggestions about what to do. After this, one of the best suggestions came up, we should put on a talent show to show the different kinds of culture we had amongst ourselves. We decided to include singing, dancing, music, and traditional costumes that each performer could pick.
The talent show was a great success, and it could never have happened without harnessing the power of the team. It’s like a bundle of sticks—alone, each one is breakable. But together, they are unstoppable.
In ninth grade, I set a goal for myself: I wanted to increase the presence of the Latino Culture Club at my school—I wanted it to be one of the clubs people talked about and actually wanted to join because they enjoyed it, not because they felt like they were required to.
I initially joined the club because I wanted to share the beauty of Latino culture with others, and hopefully, even improve race relations at [my school]. We have a fairly balanced mix of races at my school, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that our opinions of each other are as fairly balanced. I believe that to some extent we all represent others who look like us and come from similar backgrounds, and if we can create favorable impressions of our cultures with others, we can help reduce the racial tension that plagues some areas of the US.
Running for president, I gave some short speeches and presentations, and my fellow club members seemed impressed. And then I launched my big plan: Pull off an event that the whole school would talk about.
We had dozens of suggestions, from a talent show to a “Cultural Awareness Day” to a flash mob-style performance in the cafeteria of a fusion of hiphop and Latino music. But in the end, we decided on a food festival with music; after all, if there’s anything that brings people together, it’s delicious food.
For several months, we planned and marketed. To create excitement for the event, we announced that we’d be giving out prizes for students who arrived early and for those who visited every table at the festival. I believe that any good leader is also in the trenches, so in addition to overseeing preparations, I was also planning for my table, which would showcase the Brazilian snack “kibe” (a Middle East-inspired mixture of beef and bulgur wheat that is fried and served with hot sauce). I decided to play “baile funk,” a style of dance music popular in clubs in Rio de Janeiro.
We encountered a number of obstacles and disagreements along the way, but nothing that logical discussion and decision-making couldn’t overcome. In the end, I couldn’t have been happier with the result—for the four hours of the event, I heard the laughter of the attendees amid the various types of music being played. While I cannot state with 100% certainty that our club succeeded in creating a positive image of Latino culture at our school, I can say without any hesitation that everybody who attended had a good time and left with tummy full of delicious food, all homemade and provided by us.
See the difference between the two examples? Although nearly the same events happen in both essays, the student in the second essay sounds much more impressive. Many students believe that they must encounter some completely unique hardship or invent the cure for some disease in order to "have something interesting to write about," but really, the events themselves are only half of the puzzle. As these essay examples have shown, the other half of an interesting essay lies in how well the essay is written . Good writing can make a conventionally boring event come alive, just as bad writing can make a dramatically gripping event seem dull.
The takeaway from all of this: If you think you have a "boring" story, don't worry! You'll do fine as long as you are descriptive and really show your passion. If you think you have a good story, that's great! But make sure you don't get complacent! A stellar writer with an everyday story easily outshines a mediocre writer with a "good" story.
Best of luck with your college admissions!
COMMENTS
The first of the University of California's essay prompts states: Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time. This prompt is all about conveying your leadership experience. However, keep in mind that your essay does not ...
Key Takeaway. UC essays, or the UC Personal Insight Questions, require a very particular style and tone. Here, we go through outstanding essay examples for each of the 8 UC essay prompts. To help you write your own, we've asked former admissions officers to annotate, comment on, and grade every single essay.
The UC essay Prompts. Here are the UC essay prompts 1 through 8 from the UC prompts website.. Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time.
Leadership UC essay example. Let's use Arman's essay as an example: I exclaimed, "You're too lazy for your own good!" In the moment, it seemed like a perfect way to motivate my best friend, Serj. I was trying to get him to the gym. He'd asked me to hold him accountable as his workout partner. But as soon as those words slipped out ...
UC Essay Examples - We offer example UC essays for each of the 8 Personal Insight Questions. Plus analysis of each essay. ... I would focus a bit less on the story and balance things out more with what happened as a result of my leadership revelation. UC Essay Prompt #2: Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways ...
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 ...
In general, the first (setup) section of the essay should be shorter because it will not be focused on what you were doing. The second section should take the rest of the space. So, in a 350-word essay, maybe 100-125 words go to setup whereas 225-250 words should be devoted to your leadership and solution.
Prompt #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. You CAN write a great essay. As I wrote in the opening entry to our UC Essay blog series, UC Application readers love a unique interpretation of the prompt, so reflect on ...
10 Top Tips for Your Best UC Personal Insight Question Responses. Guide to UC PIQ #2: Creativity. Guide to UC PIQ #3: Greatest Talent. Guide to UC PIQ #4: Greatest Educational Opportunity/Barrier. Guide to UC PIQ #5: Greatest Challenge. Guide to UC PIQ #6: Favorite Academic Subject. Guide to UC PIQ #7: Community Service.
This leadership essay is something many students struggle with. But if you can nail this topic, it can be a powerful UC Personal Insight essay. ... UC Essay Example 17: Volunteering through Debate Club . In [xth] grade, I was lucky enough to join the middle school debate team; it made me articulate, graceful, and deliberate with my thought ...
UC Essay Prompt #1: Leadership. The first of the eight UC essay prompts is about leadership. The question is as follows: UC Personal Insight Question #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.
UC Personal Insight Questions (PIQ) Before getting into the specifics of how to answer the UC personal insight questions (PIQ), let's review the eight prompts you'll choose from: "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.
For more insights check out how to answer the UC essays in this guide. UC Personal Insight Question Prompt 1: Leadership Experience Prompt: Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time. 1 UC Example Essay
UC Essay Prompt # 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. Leadership is an admirable quality, but it can manifest in many different forms. This essay is not only for those who captained a varsity team to a state title ...
Quick tips for each of the UC PIQ prompts. 6 tips for assessing if these are the "right" topics for you. A mini-step-by-step guide to writing each response. How to write each PIQ (with examples) Prompt #1: Leadership. Prompt #2: Creative. Prompt #3: Greatest Talent or Skill. Prompt #4: Significant Educational Opportunity/Barrier.
The first prompt on the UC application is: 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.
Here's a Short Sample Outlinefor UC Essay Prompt 1. Conclude with why your leadership style or ability will help you in future goals (personal and academic.) (Write a couple sentences about each number and you will have a rough draft!) (Notice how it's trying to get you to find "a time" and be specific, too.) 1.
Sample Responses - UC Essay Coach. 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. I'm not the valedictorian or the star of the soccer team. But I did ace all of my classes, especially English, and am a pretty good goalie.
Use the form to search UC's web site for pages, programs, directory profiles and more. Office of Nationally Competitive Awards NCA. About NCA ... Please watch our 30-minute Leadership Essay webinar. The webinar script is also available. Office of Nationally Competitive Awards 707A Swift Hall 513-556-1003 [email protected].
Recap of the essay prompt: Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time. Examples: (Note: The following writing is completely my original writing based on composites of the hundreds of application essays I've read in the ...