One of the first questions people ask me after learning my name is “What race are you?” Faced with this question, I usually reply in a humble tone “Guess”. Most of these guesses are incorrect, or only half correct. In reality, I straddle the line between two races. My mother is a first generation Chinese immigrant and my father is an Irish and Italian American. I’m a mix between European and Asian. Being a child of two diverse worlds,...

This summer [between junior and senior year], I was enrolled in the Academic Talent Development Program at UC Berkeley, studying AP Biology. I was in a class, among some of the best students in the Bay Area. At first, I wasn’t sure if I belonged to the class. As a student, I’ve had a history of carelessness, even failure, in academics. In eighth grade, I failed Algebra 1; in sophomore year, I received my first D in high school,...

My first personal statement described me as a person, with my heritage and beliefs. My second personal statement discussed my academic history, my failures, and my experience and attempts to improve academically.

UCSB can be a party school, but the students here play hard and work...

The University of California system works in a way that being a star student in a lower ranked school is...

For me, the college admissions process was almost completely on prestige and admissions rates. Universities with lower admission rates were ...

UC Santa Barbara is a literal paradise. It's housed in a small town, but it's not in the middle of nowhere. You...

Don't waste your summer. That's it. Do something productive over the...