TIP #1: Provide a Complete Academic History
“Academic history” – for freshmen this means all coursework beginning with year 9 through completion of secondary education. For transfer students this means ALL post-secondary (college/university) course work.
TIP #2: Report All Course Work Attempted From Every Institution
– attended both within and outside the United States and any degrees/diplomas earned.
- Include complete institution name, credits/hours and grades exactly as they appear on the official transcript.
- Do not work from memory; misreporting your academic record or omitting course work is considered an academic integrity issue.
TIP #3: Gaps in Your Education Must be Explained in Detail
- GAP” – a GAP is any period of time after the completion of secondary school, when a student was not enrolled in school.
- Use the Gaps in Education section to explain what you were doing and include the beginning and end dates (month/year) for each explanation.
TIP #4: Do not Attempt to Convert Your Grades
We have experienced international admission evaluators who are knowledgeable about the different grading systems.
TIP #5: Selecting Your Grading System
If your school uses a grading method other than, A-B-C-D-F or 0-100, you will need to select OTHER from the dropdown menu so you will be able to enter the character, word, or symbol that represents your mark. Please see the below examples from the UC Application.
TIP #6: Application Help
- Having technical difficulties? Please contact the help desk: 800-207-1710 – toll free in the U.S. 661-336-5723 – outside the U.S. E-mail questions to: ucinfo@applyUCsupport.net.
- Do you have non-technical questions about the application process? Please contact the application processing service: 800-207-1710 – toll free in the U.S. 661-336-5723 – outside the U.S. E-mail questions to: ucinfo@applyUCsupport.net.
Tips from an editor on answering the UC personal insight questions
One of the most important (and, admittedly, challenging) parts of the University of California admission application is writing your responses to the personal insight questions. To help ease you through it, read through our writing tips from an editor.
Free download of easy-to-follow guide
Get a free download of our most requested, easy-to-follow guide for first year and transfer students applying to the University of California.guide: How to apply to the University of California.
