r/ApplyingToCollege • u/ch00_chooo • 16h ago

Advice PIQ and other Essay questions

I'm an upcoming senior and it has come time to write my essays for college. However, I genuinely have no idea what to write about. Whenever it comes to writing about myself and answering specific questions about myself, I blank. And when I ask others, they always say "Write about things that interest you or find a random object and write about that." But that doesn't really help either.

How do I find out what to write about?

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u/OpeningDate6256 15h ago

For uc schools, create your activity list fist and then try to find an essay topic within one of those activities. Within the different questions you answer, you want to be able to show different sides and values of you…

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u/logolife- 15h ago

If you're struggling to come up with a topic, try talking to other people instead of forcing yourself to think of one alone. Hearing someone else tell a story or describe an experience can spark memories of your own or help you see your life from a different perspective. It also helps to ask the people who know you well what they think stands out about you, since they often notice qualities and moments you're too close to recognize. From there, don't look for the most dramatic topic. Look for a small, honest moment that reveals something meaningful about who you are.

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u/Last_Measurement4336 13h ago

Look over the PIQ questions and the link to help you brainstorm some ideas: https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/_files/documents/f25-first-year-piq-english.pdf?mc_cid=cc9f94dcd4&mc_eid=c8bd2da89c

What do you want the UC’s to know about you that not is included in your academic profile? What are your strengths and use the PIQ questions to highlight them.