University of California Personal Insight Question 5:
Your Chance to Get Real and Personal
If You Have Faced Hardships, Share Them!
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?
If you are a high school student who has had to deal with some tough issues in your life or background, you should seriously consider writing about at least one of them in UC Essay Prompt 5 (also known as Personal Insight Question 5)
This is not whining or complaining.
In fact, students who have had to overcome or deal with obstacles in their life and managed to succeed in school despite those issues are highly desirable to almost all college and universities. And the UCs are no exception.
The beauty of having to write four shorter essays for the UC application is that you can share an intense personal issue in one of them (This one!), and still have three other essays where you can write about other more uplifting parts of your life, including your academic goals, your passions and other experiences.
Do not be ashamed if your family is poor, or is from a different culture, or has endured personal challenges, such as death, illness or disability.
There’s a strong chance that these very issues have helped shape and define who you are—in a positive way.
Sharing one of these personal challenges in this UC Essay Prompt 5 is your opportunity to showcase how you handled or managed it, and how it shaped or changed you somehow.
When you describe the challenge you faced, it might feel like a downer.
But don’t hold back. We need to understand what it was like for you to face that challenge, and feel what you felt even at your lowest point.
The key to writing about an intense, personal challenge is to describe it at the start of your essay, and then quickly shift into the steps you took to deal with it, how you felt, what you thought about it, and what your learned in the process—about yourself and life in general.
For those of you who come from relatively “average” or even privileged socio economic backgrounds, I know that you also can have faced intense, personal issues in as well.
Money often doesn’t shield us from challenges at home, at school, with friends or family. Sometimes, it can even make things worse.
You could have a mom addicted to painkillers, or a sibling who was autistic, or a stepfather who was abusive.
These can all be very real challenges in your life, and you could write about any of them for UC essay prompt 5.
I believe it’s important to share these stories with colleges and universities when possible so they can understand what you have been up against to get to where you are now: A young student with lots of real-life experience and grit (raw determination.)
Writing about a challenge from your background or family life also allows you to open up and share some of your feelings.
I believe this type of personal expression is one of the most powerful ways to connect with your reader, and in this case, those making the admissions decisions at the UC.
Since these UC essays are relatively short—under 350 words each—it’s critical to leave room for the positive side of whatever challenge you write about.
Note that this prompt asks for two things: to describe the challenge AND to explain how it “affected you academic achievement.”
Your challenge may have hurt your academic achievement at first, but there’s a good chance you used what you learned by dealing with that issue actually ended up helping your academic achievement somehow. If this is the case, include that!
Here’s a Sample Outline for UC Essay Prompt 5
- Describe the challenge. Ideally, start with a specific example of that issue so the reader can get a glimpse of what it’s like to be you. Give background on the challenge—briefly explain how it started, what it was, how you felt about it. (One to two paragraphs)
- Explain the steps you took to deal with it, and include how you thought about it. Share what you learned about yourself and the world in dealing with this challenge. Describe how this challenge affected your schoolwork and academic performance and goals. End with how you plan to use what you learned about yourself—a personal quality or core value—to help you in your future goals. (One to two paragraphs)
Red Flag for UC Essay Prompt 5: When you start describing the challenge, it’s easy to get caught up in describing everything about it and use all your space on that story. Make sure that at least half of your essay is about what you learned about that story! Otherwise, it’s just a story with no meaning.
When you are brainstorming your past to see what challenges you have faced, here are some other words for a challenge.
It doesn’t always have to be dramatic, tragic or sensational to be interesting enough to write about.
Types of challenges for UC Essay Prompt 5:
An obstacle: Something got in the way of something you wanted or a goal. It could an outside issue or influence, or something within you, such as a hang-up, flaw, disorder, disability, phobia, etc.
A life change: Something changed in your life, whether it was physical, such as a move from another country, or a change in your family life or structure, or an internal shift or change within yourself.
A hardship: Something in your background that made it difficult to feel “normal,” such as financial hardship, or physical or psychological security. A dad loses a job, a sibling has mental illness, or you experienced something that tried to hold you back.
To me, a challenge is anything that tried to make it harder for you to do what you wanted or needed.
Remember, you don’t need to have solved it or overcome it completely to write about.
It’s all about what you did to handle it.
And how you grew up a little in the process.
Here are some additional suggestions that the UC shared along with this UC Essay Prompt 5:
A challenge could be personal, or something you have faced in your community or school. Why was the challenge significant to you? This is a good opportunity to talk about any obstacles you’ve faced and what you’ve learned from the experience. Did you have support from someone else or did you handle it alone?
If you’re currently working your way through a challenge, what are you doing now, and does that affect different aspects of your life? For example, ask yourself, “How has my life changed at home, at my school, with my friends, or with my family?
The UC admissions office also shared this advice to help students brainstorm for UC Essay Prompt 5 in its Personal Insight Questions Guide for Freshman Applicants:
Have you had a difficult experience in your life? How did you get through it? What did you learn going through this experience? If you’re currently working your way through a challenge, what are you doing now and does that affect different aspects of your life? For example, ask yourself, “How has my life changed at home, at my school, with my friends, or with my family?
Okay, so I was considering writing about certain physical insecuritie(s) I have and how they negatively influenced me for a while. However, they didn’t affect my schoolwork, but evolving from my insecurity helped me see the world in a new light and change my perspective on people. Would this be an alright topic for this prompt? I feel as though my challenge didn’t affect me that much/may be TOO mundane of a topic.
Hi Manar,
It sounds like you are on the right track to me. Just be specific about sharing whatever your insecurities were so we understand what it was like to be in your shoes, and then quickly shift into how you dealt with them, and what you learned in the process. It’s not too mundane at all! Good luck. Janine
Hi,
I have been thinking about writing an essay for this essay question, and I was wondering what were some risky topics that I shouldn’t talk about, if there are any? I want to write about my anxiety and how it has prevented me from going out there and taking more challenging classes and joining more clubs, but I’m not sure if this is something I should write about.
Hi Lauren, That’s the great question! I believe the most risky topics are those that are generic and dull. If you write about something that isn’t necessarily glowing or positive (about you), you can share that issue, but you MUST quickly and thoroughly also include how you handle it and the positive lessons you have learned from dealing with it. You don’t necessarily need to have completely gotten over your anxiety, but schools will want assurance that you have not let it stop you from being a productive, balanced student. Hope that helps! JR
Hi
I was interested in this essay prompt as well . One way I wanted to express a challenge I faced was the overall expectations of my sister and other family members to be like her and yet took it as far as calling me stupid with some of the decisions I wanted to accomplish. I felt I could express this since my sister has now grown to become rather then a person who I felt once to be in their shadow and I mattered less to her if I didn’t succeed , to now understanding my true passions and desires on what I want to do with my life . I felt this was a good idea but I was wondering if I could get some feed back
I was interested in this essay prompt as well . One way I wanted to express a challenge I faced was the overall expectations of my sister and other family members to be like her and yet took it as far as calling me stupid with some of the decisions I wanted to accomplish. I felt I could express this since my sister has now grown to become rather then a person who I felt once to be in their shadow and I mattered less to her if I didn’t succeed , to now understanding my true passions and desires on what I want to do with my life . I felt this was a good idea but I was wondering if I could get some feed back
Hi, so for this prompt, I was thinking about either writing about the loss of my grandmother, who was always very supportive and and caring of me, has opened my eyes to see how you can lose someone so close to you in just a day and how you might have take advantage of them before, or about how getting my first job (Starbucks barista) has made me a much more outgoing and less shy of a person- it has a changed me in a way I couldn’t have imagined, I am more confident in myself and my communication skills have improved.
Hi Kurtis,
I believe you could write something awesome about either topic. However, I will say that over the years I have seen many students write about losing grandparents, so it’s a topic that’s a bit overdone. However, it all depends on what you have to say about it. Also, I’m bias toward writing about summer jobs or other employment. I think those make the best topics since they are everyday, yet say a lot about you simply that you WORK in the real world. If you write about Starbucks, think of a time you faced some type of “problem,” and you will have a little interesting story and then can go on to share how you dealt with it and what you learned. Good luck! I’ll take a tall latte with almond milk to go. haha. JR
Hi JR, thanks a lot for your reply. I have written my draft and I would love if you could take a look at it and share your thoughts. I zeroed in on the topic of Starbucks. I would greatly appreciate it!
Hi,
I want to go for this prompt, but i don’t want to write something complicated. Rather I want to write about this period of time. How I got stressed of all the works I had to do to apply for college, distracted from things that matters, and how my family got me out of it. Is it too simple for this prompt? I feel like everyone in the world had gone through this, but it did changed my attitude and get me focus on the goal.
I was planning on choosing this question and writing about how I have experienced depression on my own terms and also through my mother and how it has led me to have failing grades in 2 courses (D’s and F’s) but then explaining how it has helped me grow and become a better student. Is this too much information or should I just include this in the additional comments section? Thanks so much!
Hi,
What are your thoughts on writing about anxiety and fear of failure?
Hi,
I am struggling with this insight question because I would like to write about my challenge recovering from sexual abuse and assault but I don’t know if it would be considered too personal.
Hi Leslie,
If you believe you can write about this topic and turn it into an essay mainly about how you dealt with this issue and what you learned from it, I would say to go for it! I think personal essays are the most effective. Make sure to share what happened (the challenge), but quickly move into explaining how you dealt with it and what you learned. Good luck! JR
Hi, I wanted to go for this prompt but I’ve a lot of major problems that influenced me and have shown equal significance to helping me grow as a person. It’s hard for me to decide on the most significant one, can i write about more than 1?
Hi Sara,
My suggestion would be to start your essay featuring the main challenge you want to write about; the main one that will help you showcase how you handled it and what you learned. Then you can weave in any other related challenges, as long as they somehow support the main point you are making about yourself and what you learned.
In general, always best to pick one topic to give your essay topic. Best of luck! JR
Thank you for such a great article! This website has been such great help
AJ, you are so welcome! Janine
Hi! I wanted to discuss my sexuality. I was the subject of many rumors in high school and other taunts concerning my sexuality and i wanted to discuss how i didn’t come to school for a while but then had a realization that others dont matter and i am who i am. Would this be okay, or is it too much of a sensitive topic
Hi Sana, it sounds as if your sexuality and dealing with bullying over it was defining for you. Anything you had to deal with usually will shape your values and who you are. I believe this could be a very effective topic to write about for this prompt. I would spend most of the space writing about how you handled the issue, what you learned in the process (about yourself, others and the world) and how it changed you in anyway. Sounds like you have already done a lot of thinking on this and most likely have a lot of interesting and meaningful things to say about it. Great question and good luck to you! Janine
Hello!
I’m currently an incoming senior and really stressed about UC apps opening soon! I am torn between two topics for this prompt at the moment. The first topic is dealing with anxiety and the challenges that come with it, and how I was able to avoid it under certain circumstances and what I learned from the disability. The second topic is about my Filipino background and how growing up a different race in America has affected me and labeled me as “different.” I was wondering which of the two is the best choice. From other forums online, the anxiety topic is apparently too risky, while the race/culture topic is way too common. Any help appreciated! Thanks!
Hi Chelsea,
I would need to know what other topics you are including in your other 2 UC prompts. I think you need to consider what each essay is saying about yourself, and how they balance out. You could write meaningful essays about your anxiety and/or your Filipino background. One is not inherently better than the other. It’s all what you say about them. Sorry if that doesn’t help you. You also could write about both and see which one feels more meaningful and adds something to your entire application. Good luck! Janine
Hi!
For this question, I was thinking about writing that I ran for ASB and lost at the end. I want to talk about how it was an opportunity for me to face my fear of public speaking, but I wouldn’t be able to talk about how this affected my academics since the election didn’t really affect them (except I went through a period of intense stress so schoolwork was a bit tough on those days). Is it necessary to be able to answer that part of the question? I would appreciate your insight! Thanks!
Is a heartbreak or breakup considered a challenge?
Not recommended as a topic.
Can I write about finding your self identity?
Hi, I have a question. I wanted to try and answer this prompt by talking about my body issues and eating disorder, but I’m still currently struggling with that and I’m not sure how I would find the positive side of that. It’s a topic that’s really personal to me, and I want to talk about it but I’m not sure how to go about it.
Amazing series! Just want to drop by and say thank you for now:)
I wanted to write about how I had to deal with an alcoholic parent. My biggest issue is writing to much about my parent rather than I how I handled it. She is now 6 years sober I want to write that in there, but I keep struggling on shifting back to me.
Hello! Is witnessing a death of a child during my volunteer shift at a hospital considered a challenge? I wanted to write about how witnessing that bolstered determination to pursue medicine in school. My biggest issue is that it was more of an internal realization and not something that academically changed me.
Hi JR,
Great advice! One question though: So basically I’m going to write about the time my ankle was dislocated, and how I have a yoga competition in 2 months. I would describe how I could have just walked away, but I tried, and I didn’t win though. The lesson I learned would be resilience, how anything is achievable through hard work, etc.
What I’m worried about is:
The essay didn’t answer the question of how it affects my academic achievement.
What happened is true, but the reader might not believe it since it’s too stereotypical.
What should I do? Can you please help me? Thanks so much.
Hi JR,
Great advice! One question though: So basically I’m going to write about the time my ankle was dislocated, and how I have a yoga competition in 2 months. I would describe how I could have just walked away, but I tried, and I didn’t win though. The lesson I learned would be resilience, how anything is achievable through hard work, etc.
What I’m worried about is:
The essay didn’t answer the question of how it affects my academic achievement.
What happened is true, but the reader might not believe it since it’s too stereotypical.
What should I do? Can you please help me? Thank you so much.
hi. thanks for this article, but i have a topic that’s considered kind of risky.
should i write about having a learning disability if i have no accomodations? the UCs might ask about that and I really dont want to have to give them a copy of my terminated iep, but having an LD has been a really big part of my life and it feels dishonest not to disclose. what should i do?
Hi I want to use this question and I was thinking about writing my experience as a foster kid and how I got through it would that be a good topic?
Yes! I believe that must have been a very defining experience that shaped who you are–your core values. It’s a broad topic, so I would try to give it sharper focus by choosing one quality it helped you develop, and then think of smaller, everyday moments or experiences that you can share to make it personal. Good luck! Janine
Sorry that im late to the party, but I want to write about how I was affected by my high-functioning autism during my early childhood, but it didn’t affect my academics. What should I do?
Sorry, I am late but I feel that if I talk about being sexually assaulted at school it may get me in some trouble, or give off too much information.It affected my academics but I don’t know if I should risk it
I would imagine that this assault affected you deeply and that in dealing with it, the experience shaped you in a fundamental way. Yes, this topic could be very difficult to write about, but I think if you didn’t go into a lot of details (and just explain generally what happened and avoid names or other details) about the actual incident, and focused on how you handled it, how it affected you and how you have worked through it as best as possible, it could be a very impactful and meaningful essay. The key is to focus on what you learned from this experience and how it changed you or how you think about the world. I’m so sory this happened to you! JR