Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½

Your responses to the Personal Insight Questions, or PIQs, are an important component of your first-year or transfer application. Your responses allow us to get to know you through your experiences and accomplishments.

First-year Personal Insight Questions

First-year applicants must respond to four short-answer prompts chosen from . There is no advantage or disadvantage to choosing certain prompts over others. Each response is limited to a maximum of 350 words.

Transfer Personal Insight Questions 

Transfer applicants must respond to four short-answer prompts — one mandatory prompt and their choice of three from the other . There is no advantage or disadvantage to choosing certain prompts over others. Each response is limited to a maximum of 350 words.

Writing a successful response 

• Describe what you learned or how an experience influenced your outlook, activities, commitments or goals.
• Provide specific examples of experiences, accomplishments, etc. that occurred during or after high school that weren’t captured in your application.
• Keep your responses focused and convey your strengths and positive qualities.
• Write a first draft, leave it for a day or two and return to make revisions.
• Read your drafts aloud to catch misspellings, awkward or inappropriate wording.
• Review your responses as if you were making the final decision. 
• Check your responses with a teacher, counselor or other advisor for feedback.

Common response pitfalls 

• You write about events that are long past.
• You reiterate information listed elsewhere in the application.
• You list accomplishments without explanation or detail.
• You ramble or present unfocused thoughts.
• You come across overly humorous, self-deprecating or glorifying.

Instructions for scholarship applicants

Some scholarship committees review your responses to the PIQs while other scholarships, such as the , may require separate applications and essays. Visit our scholarships page to learn more about scholarships available at UC Davis.