UC Berkeley's Supplemental "Personal Statement"

[skeletor]

Yikes, I should've seen this coming

"Please discuss how your personal background informs your decision to pursue a graduate degree. Include any educational, familial, cultural, economic, or social experiences, challenges, or opportunities relevant to your academic journey, and why the optometry program at UC Berkeley would be a good fit for you."
(4500 character limit)


So I need to write a different statement than the one I've already written for the OptomCas.

I have read the sticky in this forum about Berk, and I feel like I adequately addressed the above prompt in the OptomCas statement.

So what does Berk specifically look for that sets it apart ? Advice ?

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[mathcod]

what's the regular optcas prompt?

When I applied, I wrote how I wanted higher education because I liked the natural sciences and wanted to challenge myself intellectually. I wrote about how I valued my education, and the source of my motivation: I slacked on my first year, found tutoring workshops at the campus learning center, really valued their services and was shocked to see others not utilizing them or even being aware of their existence, my managment project where I tried to promote the workshops to freshmen, yada yada yada. and then i stuck on some stuff about Berkeley.

sorry i didn't answer your question but that's what i did.

 

[skeletor]

The original OptomCas prompt:

“Please describe what inspires your decision for becoming an optometrist, including your preparation for training in this profession, your aptitude and motivation, the basis for your interest in optometry, and your future career goals.”


Since I've been working in research (med pharmacology and physiology) for the passed two years, would that be something to drive off from ? Since the school has some research components in their curriculum ?

 

[mathcod]

Optomcas asks you why optometry and your reason why you would be a good optometrist.

Berkeley asks about your academic experience. Explain why you are the student you are today, why you are the student who got those grades (good or bad), why you did the research you conducted, and what you learned from it.

"I had a death in my family, and i was depressed the first two quarters of my freshmen year. My grades suffered. But I knew my grandfather wanted me to succeed, because he worked so hard to immigrate to America so we could get a be educated and live a better life. This motivated me to study as hard as I could."

"The economy took its toll on our family. I had to work a second job just to help support my dog's huge appetite."

"I was really interested in pharmacology because it was fun. When I first encountered it in pre-school, I knew pharmacology was for me. It was like 'boom bang blast'. I wanted to test the waters in research to learn more about making urine cakes, to challenge myself intellectually, and to network with other peeps who have the same interests."

Something along those lines, I'm guessing. If not, I dunno. If it matters, I got an interview to Cal with my personal statement that followed this understanding of the prompt.