UCLA Supplemental Questionnaire
Sounds like UCLA started sending out supplemental questionnaires. Read on for general advice and how to get more help.
Get the guidance you need on how to best complete your supplemental questionnaire by signing up for my LOR/Questionnaire Service. I will review your UC Application, provide an analysis of the potential triggers, and counsel you on the best strategy for answering the questionnaire.
The campus appears to be using the same questionnaire as last year and the questions are broad in scope (one about talent and/or achievement and one about special circumstances and/or educational preparation program). You will need to go back and review your UC Application to determine what aspects of your background prompted the questionnaire to be issued. Make sure you take the time to carefully think through and respond to the questions. This is likely the final piece of information UCLA needs to make the admission decision.
UCLA Supplemental Questionnaire Guideline
For the talent and/or achievement question, you want to stress your accomplishments and give as much background information as possible – this is particularly important if your talent and/or achievement is rare and/or requires some explanation to those unfamiliar with it. Be sure to provide contextual information (for example, explain what the “region” is for a regional award you received and spell out city names and/or any acronyms). If the pursuit of your talent and/or achievement has impeded your academic/school performance, you will want to address that as well.
For the special circumstances part of the second question, you want to address any obstacles that have prevented you from achieving your full academic potential. Identify issues that may concern UCLA, such as discrepancies between grades and AP exam scores, or fluctuation in grades, and address them.
For the educational preparation program part of the second question, you want to provide details about the program(s) in which you have participated, such as the selectivity of the program or if there was an extensive application process, what you learned in the program (academic/non-academic skills, soft/people skills, etc.), and how the program prepared you to succeed at UCLA.
If you have not received your fall grades, you should still fill out the grade report form but enter the grades as IP (in-progress).
You may also want to review the May 2022 Annual Report on Undergraduate Admissions Requirements and Comprehensive Review, where UCLA explained how the “Augmented Review” process is utilized and provided admission stats of students who received such requests.
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14 Comments
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Thank you for this! Very informative!
How would you suggest is the best way to approach these questions? Should we be answering them in a purely informative, straight-forward manner or should it follow a short-essay style with some sort of overarching gain/reflection at the end like the UC PIQs?
The UC PIQ should be straightforward and informative (because they are interview questions on paper, not essay questions). The UCs are essentially the DMV/IRS of colleges, so write the response accordingly.
Can you guide UC Berkeley Haas-supplemental essays? I’m assisting one of my students; any information will be appreciated.
Are you talking about the supplemental essay that transfer applicants have to submit? That was due January 31, 2023. The Haas application for current Cal students will open on March 1, 2023 (later than usual because of the program change that’s going to happen for Fall 2024). I have a separate service ($1,800) for that.
Do the UCs send the supplemental questionaries to transfer students as well?
No, but transfer applicants will often receive document/information requests. The most frequent two that transfer applicants receive are unofficial transcript request (typically go out to applicants who have complicated education history) and explanation request for educational gap (applicants who have interruptions in their education history).
When will uc berkeley regents come out? Is there any approximate date?
According the counselor email that went out earlier this week, it should be soon (usually on a Friday).
Thank you Ms. Sun.
I’m happy to help.
I just received the Fall 2023 Freshman Applicant Supplemental Questionnaire from UCLA. If I did not originally write a UC essay addressing “Special Circumstances” in the initial application, should I not address the “Special Circumstances” supplemental essay in the Fall 2023 Freshman Applicant Supplemental Questionnaire? Or alternatively, should I take this as an opportunity to address something I didn’t write about originally? Said another way, is it a negative strike if I don’t address both the “Special Talent/Skill/Academic Achievement” supplemental essay and the “Special Circumstances” supplemental essay?
I assumed you mentioned “Special Circumstances” somewhere in your UC Application, which would have contributed to UCLA issuing the supplemental questionnaire. In that case, you should definitely elaborate on the “Special Circumstances.”
If you did not mention any “Special Circumstances” but feel like adding that information would “assist [UCLA’s] readers in fully understanding your academic preparation, personal accomplishments or obstacles, or commitment to achieving a university education” (actual instructions that come with the questionnaire), then you should add that information and explain why you previously omitted the information.
Thank you for your response Ms. Sun. Very much appreciated. In my initial UC application I did not write on the “Special Circumstances” essay, but it is one of the two questions asked on the 2023 Freshman Applicant Supplemental Questionnaire. It states in the questionnaire, “After reviewing your application we would like to provide you the opportunity to elaborate on information about yourself which you feel might be helpful in reviewing your application for UCLA” and goes on to say “You may want to expand upon and provide more detailed information than was previously provided on your UC application.” As I did not write regarding Special Circumstances, I can’t really expand upon that particular topic. Yet I am concerned that if I don’t address the “Special Circumstances” essay I am either missing an opportunity to provide additional information about myself to the reader and/or appearing as though I don’t have “any special circumstances that you would like us to consider that may have affected your ability to achieve academically.”
The questions are standard (more like incredibly vague) and every student who gets the questionnaire receive the same questions. It’s up to you whether you want to disclose the “Special Circumstances” you have (if you do, I recommend explaining why you didn’t previously disclose it). The semantics you are agonizing over is not something UCLA is concerned about.