University of California - Riverside Undergraduate College Application Essays

Date of birth: eleven seven eighty eight. Sex: male. Grade: eleven. Social security number: 606261790... "No, that's not right," I mumbled to myself. How could I forget my social security number? "I'm just nervous for the SAT," was my first...

When we were young, we were all asked what we wanted to be in the future. Some of us said a firefighter, some said an engineer or a lawyer, and the some even said school janitor. However, I only had one goal for my future. For me, all those hours...

What started as a simple chemistry project turned into a huge part of my life for two and a half months. Amanjeet, my partner, and I spent at least two hours each day in our school laboratory measuring acids and bases, calculating pH levels, and...

Open-Ended This question seeks to give students the opportunity to share important aspects of their schooling or their lives - such as their personal circumstances, family experiences and opportunities that were or were not available at their...

Describe the world you come from - for example, your family, community or school - and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

I am a 'them'. In the 'us vs. them' mentality, I have been the 'them' to most people throughout my...

Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?

I stood at the edge of the small...

The sweltering heat of the Middle Eastern sun would wrap its parched tongue around my heavily shrouded body. The afternoon could have been cooked on an open flame, leaving behind charred individuals busily going about their business. Despite such...

As I strode into that all-too familiar gym, the memory of last year's defeat was still fresh in my mind. The court loomed ahead, lying smugly as if it were already aware of the game's outcome. The CIF Volleyball Championship poster smirked at us...

My journey with the animal liberation movement began almost a decade ago, at the tender age of nine or ten. I had not yet been exposed to what animal cruelty really is, but I somehow knew that something wasn't right in the way we fed ourselves. My...

I was invincible until I found myself in a dimly lit, white-walled hospital room in the endocrinology department of Children's Hospital Los Angeles. February 19, 2013 will be engraved in the deepest part of my brain forever; I underwent a...

The animated clip flashes by and for a few seconds she rises, facing a creature several times her size that she has no chance of defeating. But still she stands. Something about her position tells the viewer that, despite her fear, she will win....

“The only reason I want to come here is because of you.” I heard Jennifer's words as I looked down into her dark brown eyes; what she had said sounded almost like a confession. Seven years old, Jennifer came to Fei Xiang Bilingual School for the...

This is the balcony that extends into infinite dimensions. Inside: paintings and the smell of dusk. Lined against the tiled walls are canvases both void and filled. A soft light overhead. There is something extremely calming about occupying this...

My knees and shins are coated with a layer of damp sand as I roll out of the pit. Standing up, I can feel my heart banging in my chest, the blood pulsating loudly in my head. Gingerly, I put pressure on my right foot and feel the familiar shock of...

It's a summery Monday morning, but instead of sleeping in, I'm outside of a museum, doing a hearty jig in a banana costume. I throw my hands in the air; I sing along to the music; I kick my feet in what I think is a shuffle. Strangers pass by and...

This was it, the moment of truth. All that was going through my head was, “Please don’t forget your lines, please don’t sing a wrong note, please don’t mess up; so many people are watching you.” I felt like my heart was going to pop out of my...

At 16, I was on a train to San Diego and deep in my biology notes when alarms began to sound and we were evacuated. Armed police urged us to run; as a fellow passenger told me, there was a gunman on the train who was threatening to shoot. Within...

Up down, up down - my left leg bounced vertically in anticipation. My heartbeat accelerated. All I could hear was the announcement of the top teams in the state, who would then qualify to represent CA DECA at the International level competition. “...

Last summer, one of the service events that I helped to organize was a Special Olympics showcase. I was paired up with a fifty-six year old lady named Anne, who has autism and a leg injury. In basketball, Anne kept missing the hoop. Every time she...

Growing up, I was always surrounded by the classical Indian music that my parents sang but I could never understand because it was in Hindi. They often encouraged my sister and me to sing along with them but we were more interested in Taylor Swift...

In a strong, confident voice, I began: “I would like everyone to close their eyes and imagine the stress and frustration you have experienced with fake news.” This was the opening of my team’s presentation to a group of venture capitalists judging...

“10-64. CODE 10-43! Suspect Heading Northeast!” she said while running in her heels, dodging cars and people. Suspect five feet away. Jumps the fence, gets cuts on her palm from the shattered glass on the floor. Suspect takes out a gun, but she is...

My final task was to finish coloring Spider-Man’s leg, and as I laid on the floor discomfort enveloped the room so intensely you could hear a pin drop. This situation came about because I was one of the three people chosen to be apart of the...

I always find myself sitting cross legged on my bedroom floor, body hunched over a canvas, with the aroma of paint surrounding me. I follow the bleeding of one shade of brown into another and decide on using oil instead of acrylic to magnify the...