University of California-Los Angeles supplemental essays

• Prompt 1Required350 words max

  Major Preparation

  Please describe how you have prepared for your intended major, including your readiness to succeed in your upper-division courses once you enroll at the university.

  How to approach it

  An academic-interest prompt wants the origin story and the evidence, not the resume. Pick the moment the interest became yours, show one or two things you did about it on your own, and let the school see how you think when nobody assigns the work.

• Prompt 2Required350 words max

  Your biggest challenge

  Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?

  How to approach it

  For a challenge prompt, the challenge is the setup, not the essay. Spend most of the words on what you did and how you changed. Readers are wary of trauma used as currency; growth is the currency.

• Prompt 3Required350 words max

  Your leadership experience

  Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time.

  How to approach it

  Goals prompts fail when they stay noble and vague. Pick one concrete problem you care about, connect it to something you have already touched in real life, and let the ambition be specific enough that a reader could disagree with it. Specific beats impressive.

• Prompt 4Required350 words max

  How you express creativity

  Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.

• Prompt 5Required350 words max

  Your greatest talent

  What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?

• Prompt 6Required350 words max

  Opportunity or barrier

  Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.

• Prompt 7Required350 words max

  A subject that inspires

  Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.

• Prompt 8Required350 words max

  Making your community better

  What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?

  How to approach it

  Community and identity prompts reward specificity over significance. A small, true community described from the inside beats a broad label described from the outside. End on what you carry from it into a campus, not on a moral.

• Prompt 9Required350 words max

  Your additional strength

  Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?

Program-specific prompts

These apply only if you are applying to the named program or school.

• Theater BARequired

  Theater Experience

  Theater Experience Statement: Describe your theater experience and background.

  How to approach it

  Community and identity prompts reward specificity over significance. A small, true community described from the inside beats a broad label described from the outside. End on what you carry from it into a campus, not on a moral.

• Film and Television BARequired

  Life Challenge

  Life Challenge Essay: Describe a significant challenge you have faced and how you overcame or are overcoming it.

  How to approach it

  For a challenge prompt, the challenge is the setup, not the essay. Spend most of the words on what you did and how you changed. Readers are wary of trauma used as currency; growth is the currency.

• Film and Television BARequired

  Personal Essay

  Personal Essay: Describe your personal background, identity, interests, and experiences relevant to applying to UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television.

  How to approach it

  Community and identity prompts reward specificity over significance. A small, true community described from the inside beats a broad label described from the outside. End on what you carry from it into a campus, not on a moral.

• Film and Television BARequired

  Critical Analysis

  Critical Essay: Analyze a film or television program you have watched. Assume the reader has seen the work; do not include a plot summary. Analyze any aspect(s): design, composition, color, lighting, sound, etc.

  How to approach it

  Program-fit prompts are the most literal question on the application: why this training, for your goals. Answer in that order. Name the goal, point to the two or three specific pieces of the program that serve it, and show one thing you have already done that proves the goal is real.

• Film and Television BARequired

  Creative Writing

  Creative Writing Sample: Submit original creative writing of your choice (fiction, screenwriting, poetry, etc.).

• Theater BARequired

  Other Arts

  Other Arts Experience Statement: Describe any other arts experiences beyond theater.