The SummaEssay Blog
What we have learned from reading thousands of application essays - what admissions officers respond to, and what quietly costs students a place.
- Engineering/STEM ApplicationsHow to Talk About a Technical Project in Your Engineering Application EssayA senior design build or research project can read as jargon to an outside reader. How to describe technical work so a non-specialist follows it without losing the substance.·SummaEssay
- Law School ApplicationsHow to Write a Law School Personal Statement That Stands OutMost law school personal statements open the same way: a debate tournament, a family legal problem. How to avoid disappearing into the pile.·SummaEssay
- UC ApplicationsThinking About Transferring From One UC to Another? Watch This FirstUC-to-UC transfers get almost no attention compared to community college transfers. What to know before you start, from someone who's done it.·SummaEssay
- UC ApplicationsNew UC Davis Student? Here's What to Know Before Move-InThe acceptance letter does not prepare you for move-in week. One incoming Aggie's own video on what actually surprised her first.·SummaEssay
- UC Applications9 Real UC Personal Insight Question Example Essays (And What Makes Each One Work)Nine real UC Personal Insight Question responses, one for each prompt category, each broken down for what actually makes it work.·SummaEssay
- UC Applications8 Tips for Writing a UC Personal Insight Question That Sounds Like YouGeneric college essay advice doesn't fit the UC's 350-word, choose-four-of-eight format. Eight tips built specifically around it.·SummaEssay
- UC ApplicationsUC Personal Insight Question Essay Ideas: What to Write About for Each PromptBlanking on all eight UC prompts doesn't mean you have nothing to write about. A working list of idea starters for each Personal Insight Question category.·SummaEssay
- UC ApplicationsTransfer Academic Preparation: How to Get Into a UC From a Community CollegeUC transfer requirements aren't a checklist to memorize, they're a system built on ASSIST.org and unit caps. How to actually use it.·SummaEssay
- UC Applications21 Tips for Choosing and Writing Your Four UC Personal Insight QuestionsUC's four Personal Insight Questions get read together as a set, not in isolation. 21 tips for building a portfolio that actually shows range.·SummaEssay
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