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2023 Ultimate Guide: 20 UC Essay Examples

by Winning Ivy Prep Team | Mar 8, 2023 | UC Admissions , UC Personal Insight Essay Examples

Additional UC essay resources:

• Official UC Personal Insight Question prompts are here.
• Read our UC Essay / UC Personal Insight Essay Tips

Table of Contents

UC Personal Insight #1 Examples

The Incredible Power of a Cohesive College Application

How to Write a College Essay (Exercises + Examples)

20 College Essay Examples (Graded by Former Admissions Officers)

How A Selective Admissions Office Reads 50k Applications In A Season

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Irena Smith, Former Stanford Admissions Officer

We built the best admissions chancer in the world . How is it the best? It draws from our experience in top-10 admissions offices to show you how selective admissions actually works.

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, how to write a perfect uc essay for every prompt.

College Essays

If you're applying to any University of California (UC) campus as an incoming first-year student , then you have a special challenge ahead of you. Applicants need to answer four UC personal insight questions, chosen from a pool of eight unique prompts different from those on the Common App. But not to worry! This article is here to help.

In this article, I'll dissect the eight UC essay prompts in detail. What are they asking you for? What do they want to know about you? What do UC admissions officers really care about? How do you avoid boring or repulsing them with your essay?

I'll break down all of these important questions for each prompt and discuss how to pick the four prompts that are perfect for you. I'll also give you examples of how to make sure your essay fully answers the question. Finally, I'll offer step-by-step instructions on how to come up with the best ideas for your UC personal statements.

What Are the UC Personal Insight Questions?

If you think about it, your college application is mostly made up of numbers: your GPA, your SAT scores, the number of AP classes you took, how many years you spent playing volleyball. But these numbers reveal only so much. The job of admissions officers is to put together a class of interesting, compelling individuals—but a cut-and-dried achievement list makes it very hard to assess whether someone is interesting or compelling. This is where the personal insight questions come in.

The UC application essays are your way to give admissions staff a sense of your personality, your perspective on the world, and some of the experiences that have made you into who you are. The idea is to share the kinds of things that don't end up on your transcript. It's helpful to remember that you are not writing this for you. You're writing for an audience of people who do not know you but are interested to learn about you. The essay is meant to be a revealing look inside your thoughts and feelings.

These short essays—each with a 350-word limit—are different from the essays you write in school, which tend to focus on analyzing someone else's work. Really, the application essays are much closer to a short story. They rely heavily on narratives of events from your life and on your descriptions of people, places, and feelings.

If you'd like more background on college essays, check out our explainer for a very detailed breakdown of exactly how personal statements work in an application .

Now, let's dive into the eight University of California essay questions. First, I'll compare and contrast these prompts. Then I'll dig deep into each UC personal statement question individually, exploring what it's really trying to find out and how you can give the admissions officers what they're looking for.

Think of each personal insight essay as a brief story that reveals something about your personal values, interests, motivations, and goals.

Comparing the UC Essay Prompts

Before we can pull these prompts apart, let's first compare and contrast them with each other . Clearly, UC wants you to write four different essays, and they're asking you eight different questions. But what are the differences? And are there any similarities?

The 8 UC Essay Prompts

#1: Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time.

#2: Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.

#3: What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?

#4: Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.

#5: Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?

#6: Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.

#7: What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?

#8: Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?

How to Tell the UC Essay Prompts Apart

• Topics 1 and 7 are about your engagement with the people, things, and ideas around you. Consider the impact of the outside world on you and how you handled that impact.
• Topics 2 and 6 are about your inner self, what defines you, and what makes you the person that you are. Consider your interior makeup—the characteristics of the inner you.
• Topics 3, 4, 5, and 8 are about your achievements. Consider what you've accomplished in life and what you are proud of doing.

These very broad categories will help when you're brainstorming ideas and life experiences to write about for your essay. Of course, it's true that many of the stories you think of can be shaped to fit each of these prompts. Still, think about what the experience most reveals about you .

If it's an experience that shows how you have handled the people and places around you, it'll work better for questions in the first group. If it's a description of how you express yourself, it's a good match for questions in group two. If it's an experience that tells how you acted or what you did, it's probably a better fit for questions in group three.

For more help, check out our article on coming up with great ideas for your essay topic .

Reflect carefully on the eight UC prompts to decide which four questions you'll respond to.

How Is This Guide Organized?

We analyze all eight UC prompts in this guide, and for each one, we give the following information:

• The prompt itself and any accompanying instructions
• What each part of the prompt is asking for
• Why UC is using this prompt and what they hope to learn from you
• All the key points you should cover in your response so you answer the complete prompt and give UC insight into who you are

Dissecting Personal Insight Question 1

The prompt and its instructions.

Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time.

Things to consider: A leadership role can mean more than just a title. It can mean being a mentor to others, acting as the person in charge of a specific task, or taking a lead role in organizing an event or project. Think about your accomplishments and what you learned from the experience. What were your responsibilities?

Did you lead a team? How did your experience change your perspective on leading others? Did you help to resolve an important dispute at your school, church in your community or an organization? And your leadership role doesn't necessarily have to be limited to school activities. For example, do you help out or take care of your family?

What's the Question Asking?

The prompt wants you to describe how you handled a specific kind of relationship with a group of people—a time when you took the reigns and the initiative. Your answer to this prompt will consist of two parts.

Part 1: Explain the Dilemma

Before you can tell your story of leading, brokering peace, or having a lasting impact on other people, you have to give your reader a frame of reference and a context for your actions .

First, describe the group of people you interacted with. Who were and what was their relationship to you? How long were you in each others' lives?

Second, explain the issue you eventually solved. What was going on before you stepped in? What was the immediate problem? Were there potential long-term repercussions?

Leadership isn't limited to officer roles in student organizations. Think about experiences in which you've taken charge, resolved conflicts, or taken care of loved ones.

Part 2: Describe Your Solution

This is where your essay will have to explicitly talk about your own actions .

Discuss what thought process led you to your course of action. Was it a last-ditch effort or a long-planned strategy? Did you think about what might happen if you didn't step in? Did you have to choose between several courses of action?

Explain how you took the bull by the horns. Did you step into the lead role willingly, or were you pushed despite some doubts? Did you replace or supersede a more obvious leader?

Describe your solution to the problem or your contribution to resolving the ongoing issue. What did you do? How did you do it? Did your plan succeed immediately or did it take some time?

Consider how this experience has shaped the person you have now become. Do you think back on this time fondly as being the origin of some personal quality or skill? Did it make you more likely to lead in other situations?

What's UC Hoping to Learn about You?

College will be an environment unlike any of the ones you've found yourself in up to now. Sure, you will have a framework for your curriculum, and you will have advisers available to help. But for the most part, you will be on your own to deal with the situations that will inevitably arise when you mix with your diverse peers . UC wants to make sure that

• you have the maturity to deal with groups of people,
• you can solve problems with your own ingenuity and resourcefulness, and
• you don't lose your head and panic at problems.

Demonstrating your problem-solving abilities in your UC college essay will make you a stronger candidate for admission.

How Can You Give Them What They Want?

So how can you make sure those qualities come through in your essay?

Pick Your Group

The prompt very specifically wants you to talk about an interaction with a group of people. Let's say a group has to be at least three people.

Raise the Stakes

Think of the way movies ratchet up the tension of the impending catastrophe before the hero swoops in and saves the day. Keeping an audience on tenterhooks is important—and distinguishes the hero for the job well done. Similarly, when reading your essay, the admissions staff has to fundamentally understand exactly what you and the group you ended up leading were facing. Why was this an important problem to solve?

Balance You versus Them

Personal statements need to showcase you above all things . Because this essay will necessarily have to spend some time on other people, you need to find a good proportion of them-time and me-time. In general, the first (setup) section of the essay should be shorter because it will not be focused on what you were doing. The second section should take the rest of the space. So, in a 350-word essay, maybe 100–125 words go to setup whereas 225–250 words should be devoted to your leadership and solution.

Find Your Arc

Not only do you need to show how your leadership helped you meet the challenge you faced, but you also have to show how the experience changed you . In other words, the outcome was double-sided: you affected the world, and the world affected you right back.

Give your response to question 1 a compelling arc that demonstrates your personal growth.

Dissecting Personal Insight Question 2

Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.

Things to consider: What does creativity mean to you? Do you have a creative skill that is important to you? What have you been able to do with that skill? If you used creativity to solve a problem, what was your solution? What are the steps you took to solve the problem?

How does your creativity influence your decisions inside or outside the classroom? Does your creativity relate to your major or a future career?

This question is trying to probe the way you express yourself. Its broad description of "creativity" gives you the opportunity to make almost anything you create that didn't exist before fit the topic. What this essay question is really asking you to do is to examine the role your brand of creativity plays in your sense of yourself . The essay will have three parts.

Part 1: Define Your Creativity

What exactly do you produce, make, craft, create, or generate? Of course, the most obvious answer would be visual art, performance art, or music. But in reality, there is creativity in all fields. Any time you come up with an idea, thought, concept, or theory that didn't exist before, you are being creative. So your job is to explain what you spend time creating.

Part 2: Connect Your Creative Drive to Your Overall Self

Why do you do what you do? Are you doing it for external reasons—to perform for others, to demonstrate your skill, to fulfill some need in the world? Or is your creativity private and for your own use—to unwind, to distract yourself from other parts of your life, to have personal satisfaction in learning a skill? Are you good at your creative endeavor, or do you struggle with it? If you struggle, why is it important to you to keep pursuing it?

Part 3: Connect Your Creative Drive With Your Future

The most basic way to do this is by envisioning yourself actually pursuing your creative endeavor professionally. But this doesn't have to be the only way you draw this link. What have you learned from what you've made? How has it changed how you interact with other objects or with people? Does it change your appreciation for the work of others or motivate you to improve upon it?

Connecting your current creative pursuits with your chosen major or career will help UC admissions staff understand your motivations and intentions.

Nothing characterizes higher education like the need for creative thinking, unorthodox ideas in response to old topics, and the ability to synthesize something new . That is what you are going to college to learn how to do better. UC's second personal insight essay wants to know whether this mindset of out-of-the-box-ness is something you are already comfortable with. They want to see that

• you have actually created something in your life or academic career,
• you consider this an important quality within yourself,
• you have cultivated your skills, and
• you can see and have considered the impact of your creativity on yourself or on the world around you.

College admissions counselors, professors, and employers all value the skill of thinking outside the box, so being able to demonstrate that skill is crucial.

How can you really show that you are committed to being a creative person?

Be Specific and Descriptive

It's not enough to vaguely gesture at your creative field. Instead, give a detailed and lively description of a specific thing or idea that you have created . For example, I could describe a Turner painting as "a seascape," or I could call it "an attempt to capture the breathtaking power and violence of an ocean storm as it overwhelms a ship." Which painting would you rather look at?

Give a Sense of History

The question wants a little narrative of your relationship to your creative outlet . How long have you been doing it? Did someone teach you or mentor you? Have you taught it to others? Where and when do you create?

Hit a Snag; Find the Success

Anything worth doing is worth doing despite setbacks, this question argues—and it wants you to narrate one such setback. So first, figure out something that interfered with your creative expression .  Was it a lack of skill, time, or resources? Too much or not enough ambition in a project? Then, make sure this story has a happy ending that shows you off as the solver of your own problems: What did you do to fix the situation? How did you do it?

Show Insight

Your essay should include some thoughtful consideration of how this creative pursuit has shaped you , your thoughts, your opinions, your relationships with others, your understanding of creativity in general, or your dreams about your future. (Notice I said "or," not "and"—350 words is not enough to cover all of those things!)

Dissecting Personal Insight Question 3

What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?

Things to consider: If there's a talent or skill that you're proud of, this is the time to share it. You don't necessarily have to be recognized or have received awards for your talent (although if you did and you want to talk about, feel free to do so). Why is this talent or skill meaningful to you?

Does the talent come naturally or have you worked hard to develop this skill or talent? Does your talent or skill allow you opportunities in or outside the classroom? If so, what are they and how do they fit into your schedule?

Basically, what's being asked for here is a beaming rave. Whatever you write about, picture yourself talking about it with a glowing smile on your face.

Part 1: Narrative

The first part of the question really comes down to this: Tell us a story about what's amazing about you. Have you done an outstanding thing? Do you have a mind-blowing ability? Describe a place, a time, or a situation in which you were a star.

A close reading of this first case of the prompt reveals that you don't need to stress if you don't have an obvious answer. Sure, if you're playing first chair violin in the symphony orchestra, that qualifies as both a "talent" and an "accomplishment." But the word "quality" really gives you the option of writing about any one of your most meaningful traits. And the words "contribution" and "experience" open up the range of possibilities that you could write about even further. A contribution could be anything from physically helping put something together to providing moral or emotional support at a critical moment.

But the key to the first part is the phrase "important to you." Once again, what you write about is not as important as how you write about it. Being able to demonstrate the importance of the event that you're describing reveals much more about you than the specific talent or characteristic ever could.

Part 2: Insight and Personal Development

The second part of the last essay asked you to look to the future. The second part of this essay wants you to look at the present instead. The general task is similar, however. Once again, you're being asked to make connections:  How do you fit this quality you have or this achievement you accomplished into the story of who you are?

A close reading of the second part of this prompt lands on the word "proud." This is a big clue that the revelation this essay is looking for should be a very positive one. In other words, this is probably not the time to write about getting arrested for vandalism. Instead, focus on a skill that you've carefully honed, and clarify how that practice and any achievements connected with your talent have earned you concrete opportunities or, more abstractly, personal growth.

Remember to connect the talent or skill you choose to write about with your sense of personal identity and development.

What's UC Hoping to Learn About You?

Admissions officers have a very straightforward interest in learning about your accomplishments. By the end of high school, many of the experiences that you are most proud of don't tend to be the kind of things that end up on your résumé .

They want to know what makes you proud of yourself. Is it something that relates to performance, to overcoming a difficult obstacle, to keeping a cool head in a crisis, to your ability to help others in need?

At the same time, they are looking for a sense of maturity. In order to be proud of an accomplishment, it's important to be able to understand your own values and ideals. This is your chance to show that you truly understand the qualities and experiences that make you a responsible and grown-up person, someone who will thrive in the independence of college life. In other words, although you might really be proud that you managed to tag 10 highway overpasses with graffiti, that's probably not the achievement to brag about here.

Unless you were hired by the city to paint the overpasses, in which case definitely brag about it.

The trick with this prompt is how to show a lot about yourself without listing accomplishments or devolving into cliche platitudes. Let's take it step by step.

Step #1: Explain Your Field

Make sure that somewhere in your narrative (preferably closer to the beginning), you let the reader know what makes your achievement an achievement . Not all interests are mainstream, so it helps your reader to understand what you're facing if you give a quick sketch of, for example, why it's challenging to build a battle bot that can defeat another fighting robot or how the difficulties of extemporaneous debate compare with debating about a prepared topic.

Keep in mind that for some things, the explanation might be obvious. For example, do you really need to explain why finishing a marathon is a hard task?

Step #2: Zoom in on a Specific Experience

Think about your talent, quality, or accomplishment in terms of experiences that showcase it. Conversely, think about your experiences in terms of the talent, quality, or accomplishment they demonstrate. Because you're once again going to be limited to 350 words, you won't be able to fit all the ways in which you exhibit your exemplary skill into this essay. This means that you'll need to figure out how to best demonstrate your ability through one event in which you displayed it . Or if you're writing about an experience you had or a contribution you made, you'll need to also point out what personality trait or characteristic it reveals.

Step #3: Find a Conflict or a Transition

The first question asked for a description, but this one wants a story—a narrative of how you pursue your special talent or how you accomplished the skill you were so great at. The main thing about stories is that they have to have the following:

• A beginning: This is the setup, when you weren't yet the star you are now.
• An obstacle or a transition: Sometimes, a story has a conflict that needs to be resolved: something that stood in your way, a challenge that you had to figure out a way around, a block that you powered through. Other times, a story is about a change or a transformation: you used to believe, think, or be one thing, and now you are different or better.
• A resolution: When your full power, self-knowledge, ability, or future goal is revealed.

If, for example, you taught yourself to become a gifted coder, how did you first learn this skill? What challenges did you overcome in your learning? What does this ability say about your character, motivations, or goals?

Dissecting Personal Insight Question 4

Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.

Things to consider: An educational opportunity can be anything that has added value to your educational experience and better prepared you for college. For example, participation in an honors or academic enrichment program, or enrollment in an academy that's geared toward an occupation or a major, or taking advanced courses that interest you—just to name a few.

If you choose to write about educational barriers you've faced, how did you overcome or strive to overcome them? What personal characteristics or skills did you call on to overcome this challenge? How did overcoming this barrier help shape who are you today?

Cue the swelling music because this essay is going to be all about your inspirational journey. You will either tell your story of overcoming adversity against all (or some) odds or of pursuing the chance of a lifetime.

If you write about triumphing over adversity, your essay will include the following:

A description of the setback that befell you: The prompt wants to know what you consider a challenge in your school life. And definitely note that this challenge should have in some significant way impacted your academics rather than your life overall.

The challenge can be a wide-reaching problem in your educational environment or something that happened specifically to you. The word "barrier" also shows that the challenge should be something that stood in your way: If only that thing weren't there, then you'd be sure to succeed.

An explanation of your success: Here, you'll talk about what you did when faced with this challenge. Notice that the prompt asks you to describe the "work" you put in to overcome the problem. So this piece of the essay should focus on your actions, thoughts, ideas, and strategies.

Although the essay doesn't specify it, this section should also at some point turn reflexive. How are you defined by this thing that happened? You could discuss the emotional fallout of having dramatically succeeded or how your maturity level, concrete skills, or understanding of the situation has increased now that you have dealt with it personally. Or you could talk about any beliefs or personal philosophy that you have had to reevaluate as a result of either the challenge itself or of the way that you had to go about solving it.

If you write about an educational opportunity, your essay will include the following:

A short, clear description of exactly what you got the chance to do: In your own words, explain what the opportunity was and why it's special.

Also, explain why you specifically got the chance to do it. Was it the culmination of years of study? An academic contest prize? An unexpected encounter that led to you seizing an unlooked-for opportunity?

How you made the best of it: It's one thing to get the opportunity to do something amazing, but it's another to really maximize what you get out of this chance for greatness. This is where you show just how much you understand the value of what you did and how you've changed and grown as a result of it.

Were you very challenged by this opportunity? Did your skills develop? Did you unearth talents you didn't know you had?

How does this impact your future academic ambitions or interests? Will you study this area further? Does this help you find your academic focus?

If writing about an educational obstacle you overcame, make sure to describe not just the challenge itself but also how you overcame it and how breaking down that barrier changed you for the better.

Of course, whatever you write about in this essay is probably already reflected on your résumé or in your transcript in some small way. But UC wants to go deeper, to find out how seriously you take your academic career, and to assess  how thoughtfully you've approached either its ups or its downs.

In college, there will be many amazing opportunities, but they aren't simply there for the taking. Instead, you will be responsible for seizing whatever chances will further your studies, interests, or skills.

Conversely, college will necessarily be more challenging, harder, and potentially much more full of academic obstacles than your academic experiences so far. UC wants to see that you are up to handling whatever setbacks may come your way with aplomb rather than panic.

Define the Problem or Opportunity

Not every challenge is automatically obvious. Sure, everyone can understand the drawbacks of having to miss a significant amount of school because of illness, but what if the obstacle you tackled is something a little more obscure? Likewise, winning the chance to travel to Italy to paint landscapes with a master is clearly rare and amazing, but some opportunities are more specialized and less obviously impressive. Make sure your essay explains everything the reader will need to know to understand what you were facing.

Watch Your Tone

An essay describing problems can easily slip into finger-pointing and self-pity. Make sure to avoid this by speaking positively or at least neutrally about what was wrong and what you faced . This goes double if you decide to explain who or what was at fault for creating this problem.

Likewise, an essay describing amazing opportunities can quickly become an exercise in unpleasant bragging and self-centeredness. Make sure you stay grounded: Rather than dwelling at length on your accomplishments, describe the specifics of what you learned and how.

Elaborating on how you conducted microbiology research during the summer before your senior year would make an appropriate topic for question 4.

Dissecting Personal Insight Question 5

Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?

Things to consider: A challenge could be personal, or something you have faced in your community or school. Why was the challenge significant to you? This is a good opportunity to talk about any obstacles you've faced and what you've learned from the experience. Did you have support from someone else or did you handle it alone?

If you're currently working your way through a challenge, what are you doing now, and does that affect different aspects of your life? For example, ask yourself, "How has my life changed at home, at my school, with my friends, or with my family?"

It's time to draw back the curtains and expand our field of vision because this is going to be a two-part story of overcoming adversity against all (or some) odds.

Part 1: Facing a Challenge

The first part of this essay is about problem-solving. The prompt asks you to relate something that could have derailed you if not for your strength and skill. Not only will you describe the challenge itself, but you'll also talk about what you did when faced with it.

Part 2: Looking in the Mirror

The second part of question 5 asks you to consider how this challenge has echoed through your life—and, more specifically, how what happened to you affected your education.

In life, dealing with setbacks, defeats, barriers, and conflicts is not a bug—it's a feature. And colleges want to make sure that you can handle these upsetting events without losing your overall sense of self, without being totally demoralized, and without getting completely overwhelmed. In other words, they are looking for someone who is mature enough to do well on a college campus, where disappointing results and hard challenges will be par for the course.

They are also looking for your creativity and problem-solving skills. Are you good at tackling something that needs to be fixed? Can you keep a cool head in a crisis? Do you look for solutions outside the box? These are all markers of a successful student, so it's not surprising that admissions staff want you to demonstrate these qualities.

The challenge you write about for question 5 need not be an educational barrier, which is better suited for question 4. Think broadly about the obstacles you've overcome and how they've shaped your perspective and self-confidence.

Let's explore the best ways to show off your problem-solving side.

Show Your Work

It's one thing to be able to say what's wrong, but it's another thing entirely to demonstrate how you figured out how to fix it. Even more than knowing that you were able to fix the problem, colleges want to see how you approached the situation . This is why your essay needs to explain your problem-solving methodology. Basically, they need to see you in action. What did you think would work? What did you think would not work? Did you compare this to other problems you have faced and pass? Did you do research? Describe your process.

Make Sure That You Are the Hero

This essay is supposed to demonstrate your resourcefulness and creativity . And make sure that you had to be the person responsible for overcoming the obstacle, not someone else. Your story must clarify that without you and your special brand of XYZ , people would still be lamenting the issue today. Don't worry if the resource you used to bring about a solution was the knowledge and know-how that somebody else brought to the table. Just focus on explaining what made you think of this person as the one to go to, how you convinced them to participate, and how you explained to them how they would be helpful. This will shift the attention of the story back to you and your efforts.

Find the Suspenseful Moment

The most exciting part of this essay should be watching you struggle to find a solution just in the nick of time. Think every movie cliché ever about someone defusing a bomb: Even if you know 100% that the hero is going to save the day, the movie still ratchets up the tension to make it seem like, Well, maybe... You want to do the same thing here. Bring excitement and a feeling of uncertainty to your description of your process to really pull the reader in and make them root for you to succeed.

You're the superhero!

Dissecting Personal Insight Question 6

Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.

Things to consider: Many students have a passion for one specific academic subject area, something that they just can't get enough of. If that applies to you, what have you done to further that interest? Discuss how your interest in the subject developed and describe any experience you have had inside and outside the classroom — such as volunteer work, internships, employment, summer programs, participation in student organizations and/or clubs — and what you have gained from your involvement.

Has your interest in the subject influenced you in choosing a major and/or career? Have you been able to pursue coursework at a higher level in this subject (honors, AP, IB, college or university work)? Are you inspired to pursue this subject further at UC, and how might you do that?

This question is really asking for a glimpse of your imagined possibilities .

For some students, this will be an extremely straightforward question. For example, say you've always loved science to the point that you've spent every summer taking biology and chemistry classes. Pick a few of the most gripping moments from these experiences and discuss the overall trajectory of your interests, and your essay will be a winner.

But what if you have many academic interests? Or what if you discovered your academic passion only at the very end of high school? Let's break down what the question is really asking into two parts.

Part 1: Picking a Favorite

At first glance, it sounds as if what you should write about is the class in which you have gotten the best grades or the subject that easily fits into what you see as your future college major or maybe even your eventual career goal. There is nothing wrong with this kind of pick—especially if you really are someone who tends to excel in those classes that are right up your interest alley.

But if we look closer, we see that there is nothing in the prompt that specifically demands that you write either about a particular class or an area of study in which you perform well.

Instead, you could take the phrase "academic subject" to mean a wide field of study and explore your fascination with the different types of learning to be found there. For example, if your chosen topic is the field of literature, you could discuss your experiences with different genres or with foreign writers.

You could also write about a course or area of study that has significantly challenged you and in which you have not been as stellar a student as you want. This could be a way to focus on your personal growth as a result of struggling through a difficult class or to represent how you've learned to handle or overcome your limitations.

Part 2: Relevance

The second part of this prompt , like the first, can also be taken in a literal and direct way . There is absolutely nothing wrong with explaining that because you love engineering and want to be an engineer, you have pursued all your school's STEM courses, are also involved in a robotics club, and have taught yourself to code in order to develop apps.

However, you could focus on the more abstract, values-driven goals we just talked about instead. Then, your explanation of how your academics will help you can be rooted not in the content of what you studied but in the life lessons you drew from it.

In other words, for example, your theater class may not have stimulated your ambition to be an actor, but working on plays with your peers may have shown you how highly you value collaboration, or perhaps the experience of designing sets was an exercise in problem-solving and ingenuity. These lessons would be useful in any field you pursue and could easily be said to help you achieve your lifetime goals.

If you are on a direct path to a specific field of study or career pursuit, admissions officers definitely want to know that. Having driven, goal-oriented, and passionate students is a huge plus for a university. So if this is you, be sure that your essay conveys not just your interest but also your deep and abiding love of the subject. Maybe even include any related clubs, activities, and hobbies that you've done during high school.

Of course, college is the place to find yourself and the things that you become passionate about. So if you're not already committed to a specific course of study, don't worry. Instead, you have to realize that in this essay, like in all the other essays, the how matters much more than the what. No matter where your eventual academic, career, or other pursuits may lie, every class that you have taken up to now has taught you something. You learned about things like work ethic, mastering a skill, practice, learning from a teacher, interacting with peers, dealing with setbacks, understanding your own learning style, and perseverance.

In other words, the admissions office wants to make sure that no matter what you study, you will draw meaningful conclusions from your experiences, whether those conclusions are about the content of what you learn or about a deeper understanding of yourself and others. They want to see that you're not simply floating through life on the surface  but that you are absorbing the qualities, skills, and know-how you will need to succeed in the world—no matter what that success looks like.

Focus on a telling detail. Because personal statements are short, you simply won't have time to explain everything you have loved about a particular subject in enough detail to make it count. Instead, pick one event that crystallized your passion for a subject   or one telling moment that revealed what your working style will be , and go deep into a discussion of what it meant to you in the past and how it will affect your future.

Don't overreach. It's fine to say that you have loved your German classes so much that you have begun exploring both modern and classic German-language writers, for example, but it's a little too self-aggrandizing to claim that your four years of German have made you basically bilingual and ready to teach the language to others. Make sure that whatever class achievements you describe don't come off as unnecessary bragging rather than simple pride .

Similarly, don't underreach. Make sure that you have actual accomplishments to describe in whatever subject you pick to write about. If your favorite class turned out to be the one you mostly skipped to hang out in the gym instead, this may not be the place to share that lifetime goal. After all, you always have to remember your audience. In this case, it's college admissions officers who want to find students who are eager to learn and be exposed to new thoughts and ideas.

Dissecting Personal Insight Question 7

What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?

Things to consider: Think of community as a term that can encompass a group, team or a place— like your high school, hometown or home. You can define community as you see fit, just make sure you talk about your role in that community. Was there a problem that you wanted to fix in your community?

Why were you inspired to act? What did you learn from your effort? How did your actions benefit others, the wider community or both? Did you work alone or with others to initiate change in your community?

This topic is trying to get at how you engage with your environment. It's looking for several things:

#1: Your Sense of Place and Connection

Because the term "community" is so broad and ambiguous, this is a good essay for explaining where you feel a sense of belonging and rootedness. What or who constitutes your community? Is your connection to a place, to a group of people, or to an organization? What makes you identify as part of this community—cultural background, a sense of shared purpose, or some other quality?

#2: Your Empathy and Ability to Look at the Big Picture

Before you can solve a problem, you have to realize that the problem exists. Before you can make your community a better place, you have to find the things that can be ameliorated. No matter what your contribution ended up being, you first have to show how you saw where your skills, talent, intelligence, or hard work could do the most good. Did you put yourself in the shoes of the other people in your community? Understand some fundamental inner working of a system you could fix? Knowingly put yourself in the right place at the right time?

#3: Your Problem-Solving Skills

How did you make the difference in your community? If you resolved a tangible issue, how did you come up with your solution? Did you examine several options or act from the gut? If you made your community better in a less direct way, how did you know where to apply yourself and how to have the most impact possible?

Clarify not just what the problem and solution was but also your process of getting involved and contributing specific skills, ideas, or efforts that made a positive difference.

Community is a very important thing to colleges. You'll be involved with and encounter lots of different communities in college, including the broader student body, your extracurriculars, your classes, and the community outside the university. UC wants to make sure that you can engage with the communities around you in a positive, meaningful way .

Make it personal. Before you can explain what you did in your community, you have to define and describe this community itself—and you can only do that by focusing on what it means to you. Don't speak in generalities; instead, show the bonds between you and the group you are a part of through colorful, idiosyncratic language. Sure, they might be "my water polo team," but maybe they are more specifically "the 12 people who have seen me at my most exhausted and my most exhilarated."

Feel all the feelings. This is a chance to move your readers. As you delve deep into what makes your community one of your emotional centers, and then as you describe how you were able to improve it in a meaningful and lasting way, you should keep the roller coaster of feelings front and center. Own how you felt at each step of the process: when you found your community, when you saw that you could make a difference, and when you realized that your actions resulted in a change for the better. Did you feel unprepared for the task you undertook? Nervous to potentially let down those around you? Thrilled to get a chance to display a hidden or underused talent?

To flesh out your essay, depict the emotions you felt while making your community contribution, from frustration or disappointment to joy and fulfillment. 

Dissecting Personal Insight Question 8

Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?

Things to consider: If there's anything you want us to know about you, but didn't find a question or place in the application to tell us, now's your chance. What have you not shared with us that will highlight a skill, talent, challenge or opportunity that you think will help us know you better?

From your point of view, what do you feel makes you an excellent choice for UC? Don't be afraid to brag a little.

If your particular experience doesn't quite fit under the rubrics of the other essay topics , or if there is something the admissions officers need to understand about your background in order to consider your application in the right context, then this is the essay for you.

Now, I'm going to say something a little counterintuitive here. The prompt for this essay clarifies that even if you don't have a "unique" story to tell, you should still feel free to pick this topic. But, honestly, I think you should  choose this topic only if you have an exceptional experience to share . Remember that E veryday challenges or successes of regular life could easily fit one of the other insight questions instead.

What this means is that evaluating whether your experiences qualify for this essay is a matter of degrees. For example, did you manage to thrive academically despite being raised by a hard-working single parent? That's a hardship that could easily be written about for Questions 1 or 5, depending on how you choose to frame what happened. Did you manage to earn a 3.7 GPA despite living in a succession of foster families only to age out of the system in the middle of your senior year of high school? That's a narrative of overcoming hardship that easily belongs to Question 8.

On the flip side, did you win a state-wide robotics competition? Well done, and feel free to tell your story under Question 4. Were you the youngest person to single-handedly win a season of BattleBots? Then feel free to write about it for Question 8.

This is pretty straightforward. They are trying to identify students that have unique and amazing stories to tell about who they are and where they come from. If you're a student like this, then the admissions people want to know the following:

• What happened to you?
• When and where did it happen?
• How did you participate, or how were you involved in the situation?
• How did it affect you as a person?
• How did it affect your schoolwork?
• How will the experience be reflected in the point of view you bring to campus?

The university wants this information because of the following:

• It gives context to applications that otherwise might seem mediocre or even subpar.
• It can help explain places in a transcript where grades significantly drop.
• It gives them the opportunity to build a lot of diversity into the incoming class.
• It's a way of finding unique talents and abilities that otherwise wouldn't show up on other application materials.

Let's run through a few tricks for making sure your essay makes the most of your particular distinctiveness.

Double-Check Your Uniqueness

Many experiences in our lives that make us feel elated, accomplished, and extremely competent are also near universal. This essay isn't trying to take the validity of your strong feelings away from you, but it would be best served by stories that are on a different scale . Wondering whether what you went through counts? This might be a good time to run your idea by a parent, school counselor, or trusted teacher. Do they think your experience is widespread? Or do they agree that you truly lived a life less ordinary?

Connect Outward

The vast majority of your answer to the prompt should be telling your story and its impact on you and your life. But the essay should also point toward how your particular experiences set you apart from your peers. One of the reasons that the admissions office wants to find out which of the applicants has been through something unlike most other people is that they are hoping to increase the number of points of view in the student body. Think about—and include in your essay—how you will impact campus life. This can be very literal: If you are a jazz singer who has released several songs on social media, then maybe you will perform on campus. Or it can be much more oblique: If you have a disability, then you will be able to offer a perspective that differs from the able-bodied majority.

Be Direct, Specific, and Honest

Nothing will make your voice sound more appealing than writing without embellishment or verbal flourishes. This is the one case in which  how you're telling the story is just as—if not more—important than what you're telling . So the best strategy is to be as straightforward in your writing as possible. This means using description to situate your reader in a place, time, or experience that they would never get to see firsthand. You can do this by picking a specific moment during your accomplishment to narrate as a small short story and not shying away from explaining your emotions throughout the experience. Your goal is to make the extraordinary into something at least somewhat relatable, and the way you do that is by bringing your writing down to earth.

Your essays should feature relatable thoughts and emotions as well as insights into how you will contribute to the campus community.

Writing Advice for Making Your UC Personal Statements Shine

No matter what personal insight questions you end up choosing to write about, here are two tips for making your writing sparkle:

#1: Be Detailed and Descriptive

Have you ever heard the expression "show; don't tell"? It's usually given as creative writing advice, and it will be your best friend when you're writing college essays. It means that any time you want to describe a person or thing as having a particular quality, it's better to illustrate with an example than to just use vague adjectives . If you stick to giving examples that paint a picture, your focus will also become narrower and more specific. You'll end up concentrating on details and concrete events rather than not-particularly-telling generalizations.

Let's say, for instance, Adnan is writing about the house that he's been helping his dad fix up. Which of these do you think gives the reader a better sense of place?

My family bought an old house that was kind of run-down. My dad likes fixing it up on the weekends, and I like helping him. Now the house is much nicer than when we bought it, and I can see all our hard work when I look at it.

My dad grinned when he saw my shocked face. Our "new" house looked like a completely run-down shed: peeling paint, rust-covered railings, shutters that looked like the crooked teeth of a jack-o-lantern. I was still staring at the spider-web crack in one broken window when my dad handed me a pair of brand-new work gloves and a paint scraper. "Today, let's just do what we can with the front wall," he said. And then I smiled too, knowing that many of my weekends would be spent here with him, working side by side.

Both versions of this story focus on the house being dilapidated and how Adnan enjoyed helping his dad do repairs. But the second does this by:

painting a picture of what the house actually looked like by adding visual details ("peeling paint," "rust-covered railings," and "broken window") and through comparisons ("shutters like a jack-o-lantern" and "spider-web crack");

showing emotions by describing facial expressions ("my dad grinned," "my shocked face," and "I smiled"); and

using specific and descriptive action verbs ("grinned," "shocked," "staring," and "handed").

The essay would probably go on to describe one day of working with his dad or a time when a repair went horribly awry. Adnan would make sure to keep adding sensory details (what things looked, sounded, smelled, tasted, and felt like), using active verbs, and illustrating feelings with dialogue and facial expressions.

If you're having trouble checking whether your description is detailed enough, read your work to someone else . Then, ask that person to describe the scene back to you. Are they able to conjure up a picture from your words? If not, you need to beef up your details.

It's a bit of a fixer-upper, but it'll make a great college essay!

#2: Show Your Feelings

All good personal essays deal with emotions. And what marks great personal essays is the author's willingness to really dig into negative feelings as well as positive ones . As you write your UC application essays, keep asking yourself questions and probing your memory. How did you feel before it happened? How did you expect to feel after, and how did you actually feel after? How did the world that you are describing feel about what happened? How do you know how your world felt?

Then write about your feelings using mostly emotion words ("I was thrilled/disappointed/proud/scared"), some comparisons ("I felt like I'd never run again/like I'd just bitten into a sour apple/like the world's greatest explorer"), and a few bits of direct speech ("'How are we going to get away with this?' my brother asked").

What's Next?

This should give you a great starting point to address the UC essay prompts and consider how you'll write your own effective UC personal statements. The hard part starts here: work hard, brainstorm broadly, and use all my suggestions above to craft a great UC application essay.

Making your way through college applications? We have advice on how to find the right college for you , how to write about your extracurricular activities , and how to ask teachers for recommendations .

Interested in taking the SAT one more time? Check out our highly detailed explainer on studying for the SAT to learn how to prepare best.

Worried about how to pay for college after you get in? Read our description of how much college really costs , our comparison of subsidized and unsubsidized loans , and our lists of the top scholarships for high school seniors and juniors .

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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How to Write the UC Essays: Analysis, Examples, and Tips

Reviewed by:

Rohan Jotwani

Former Admissions Committee Member, Columbia University

Reviewed: 12/21/23

Stuck on your UC personal insight questions? Read on to learn how to write the UC essays!

Whether you’re an amazing essayist or dread writing them, it’s essential you put careful thought into your UC personal insight questions. After all, these essays are your opportunity to express yourself, share your most meaningful experiences and abilities, and impress the admissions committee!

Considering how important this application requirement is, you may be wondering how to write the UC supplemental essays in a compelling and memorable way. Look no further; this guide has you covered! We’ll review how to write the UC application essays , how to pick the right prompts, and provide you with sample answers to inspire you!

UC Personal Insight Questions (PIQ)

Before getting into the specifics of how to answer the UC personal insight questions (PIQ), let’s review the eight prompts you’ll choose from:

“1. Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time. 

2. Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side. 

3. What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time? 

4. Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.

5. Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?

6. Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom. 

7. What have you done to make your school or your community a better place? 

8. Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?”

Students are required to answer four UC personal insight questions. The UC system has no preference over the prompts students choose. Be sure that your essays stay under the University of California PIQ word count of 350 words. 

Students hoping to transfer to a UC school will also have to answer some of the prompts. Here is a guide to help applicants complete their UC transfer personal statements. 

Many of these prompts are similar to the UC Common App questions, so you can even use your answers to the UC prompts to inspire your Common App essays or vice versa! 

Understanding UC Essay Prompts

The first step to writing the UC school essays is picking four prompts to respond to. These eight prompts for UC schools may seem intimidating at first glance, but your careful thought can help you choose those that will elevate your application. Selecting prompts at random isn’t the best strategy here.

If you find you’re struggling to come up with at least a 300-word response to any prompt, it could be a sign to choose another. If you choose the right UC college essay prompts, it should be hard for you to stop writing!

To aid you in the process, we’ll discuss each of the UC essay prompts in detail, providing you with tips on how to answer them.

Students often misunderstand this prompt because they believe leadership is a particular role or position, such as an executive member of a club, job supervisor, or head of a volunteer organization. 

Unless you genuinely fit in one of these categories, you should consider other ways you’ve shown leadership. Define the word in your own terms! If you led people in any way, you could write about the experience and what you accomplished. As you brainstorm ideas, ensure you write about the following:

• The skills you developed and used as a leader
• Why you assumed the role 
• The actions you took as a leader
• The impact you had through your actions

Ensure you only choose one event to describe. Don’t list all your leadership experiences, as this goes against the premise of this prompt. Part of the difficulty is choosing just one experience to share. However, the committee does this to learn what is most meaningful to you and to see if you can follow guidelines!

For this prompt, students shouldn’t limit themselves by viewing creativity as an artistic skill. You don’t necessarily have to be artistically inclined to be creative; all you have to do is demonstrate your ability to think outside the box or use your skills in an original way. 

Think about your passions, what you do in your free time, and how your creativity has influenced you.

Prompt Three

Students tend to struggle with prompt three. When learning how to write UC essays, some students struggle to choose the perfect experience. For this prompt, students can typically list several talents or skills but struggle to pinpoint just one to expand upon. They wonder which talent is best or most impressive. 

Begin by listing your top talents and skills. Choose talents you have put effort and time into developing. If you’re a natural singer and have done little to develop your falsetto except sing in the shower, choose another skill that required more intense practice to perfect.

Be honest, and don’t be afraid to brag a little! If you’re having trouble choosing a talent, ask your friends and family for assistance. 

Prompt Four

Prompt four may not apply to you, making choosing which questions to respond to easier! This prompt may be worth answering if you participated in a program, course, club, or workshop that helped you prepare for college and supplement your learning. 

Regarding educational barriers, reflect on academic roadblocks. Was there anything that made it difficult for you to attend school, do well in a course, or study effectively? For instance, not liking the teachers that taught the AP classes at your school doesn’t count as an educational barrier, but financial struggles could. 

Prompt Five

Prompt five is somewhat similar to four. This challenge can doesn’t have to be related to your education. But you should still share how it affected your academics and any barriers it created in your education. Don’t repeat the same challenge you described in prompt four.

Your response should give the admissions committee more insight into your background, experiences, life circumstances, and personality. The most important trait to demonstrate with your response is resilience. The committee wants to know you can overcome the challenges life throws at you. 

Everyone has a favorite subject, which is what prompt six focuses on. This response is popular among students because they often know exactly which subject to discuss! There’s usually an academic subject that students excel in and just can’t seem to get enough of, whether it’s science, music, or something else.

You likely have a topic in mind as you read this! Use that topic and demonstrate how you’ve developed your interest through additional courses, programs, extracurriculars, internships, or jobs. Talk about what you learned from participating in these activities and how this subject has influenced your college path.

Prompt Seven

Prompt seven is fairly straightforward, but you do have some leeway. There are several communities you’re a part of, so don’t feel obligated to focus only on your school or local community. Choose one that you’ve made the largest impact on; perhaps it’s a school club, your work community, or your family. 

Define community as you see fit and explain your role in it. Focus on one or two major ways you’ve contributed to this community and its impact. 

Prompt Eight

The final UC personal insight question gives you a chance to share anything about yourself that’s missing from your application or didn’t fit into the other essay prompts.

If, after reading through all the prompts, none of them allow you to share more about a trait, experience, or talent you feel makes you a strong UC candidate, use this response to share it. Don’t be afraid to brag a little here! You have free reign to discuss whatever you want to share with the admissions committee. 

UC Essay Prompts With Examples 

It’s often helpful to look at examples of personal statements to get your ideas flowing. Below are sample UC supplemental essays for each prompt to help inspire your writing. These essays can also be used as examples of UC transfer student essays, as they respond to the same prompts. 

Please note that these essays have been anonymized to protect the privacy of the authors.

Prompt One Example

Here’s one example showcasing a student’s experiences with responsibilities as they answer, “Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time.” 

“While I’ve participated in several clubs where I have been given leadership titles, the one I am most proud of, and has allowed me to accomplish the most, is the role I play within my family.

From an early age, it was clear I would have to take on more responsibilities than was expected of me. After my father passed away when I was twelve years old, relatives constantly reminded me I was now the head of the house and responsible for my family. 

While I do not think they expected me to take their words to heart completely, I did. I became a leader within my own family and was more than just a big brother to my younger sibling. I knew that my sibling would look up to me for guidance and that I had to be the best role model for him. 

I took the initiative to work part-time at an Arby’s nearby to help my mother with bills, and took on various other roles to ensure my sibling grew up with the same guidance and support I did. 

I was a caretaker, a teacher, a protector, a counselor, and sometimes even a chauffeur. I got my driver’s license as soon as I turned sixteen so I could take Johnathan to all of his soccer games and play recitals.

I cannot say it was easy; sometimes, it felt impossible to take on so many roles, but I persevered. I remained dedicated to my family, perfected my time management, learned how to multitask, and remained driven because I knew my hard work would result in great rewards - the success of my family. 

Jonathan is now on track to finish at the top of his freshman year. He graduated the eighth grade as valedictorian and hopes to become a pediatric nurse in the future. 

While I cannot say I am grateful for the circumstances that led me to this role, I can say I am proud of the impact I have had on my family because of it.” 

Tips on How to Write This Essay

Here are some effective tips to help you answer this prompt:

• Choose a relevant example : Choose a leadership experience that is both relevant to the prompt and significant in demonstrating your abilities. 
• Provide context : Begin by setting the stage. Offer a brief but clear introduction to the situation, including the context, the group involved, and the challenges or goals that the team faced. Help the reader understand the importance of the leadership experience.
• Highlight positive outcomes : Emphasize the positive outcomes or changes achieved through your leadership. This could include improved team dynamics, successful resolution of disputes, or the accomplishment of group goals. 

Why This Works

This essay works because it’s unique and highly personal. It explains the role this student plays within a community that has the most meaning to them. It offers valuable insight into how this role helped them grow and develop important, transferable traits such as perseverance, selflessness, dedication, time management, and multitasking.

Understanding what UC schools are looking for can also help you craft masterful essays. Learn more about what the UC system seeks in applicants here! 

Prompt Two Example

Prompt two is, “Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.” Use this example for the second UC prompt to guide you:

“My friends have always responded to my love for debate with confused looks and eye rolls. In their minds, debate involves pressure, critical thinking, and conversation about uninteresting topics. But, for me, debate club has always been my greatest talent and favorite way to express my creativity.

I consider it to be a craft to take a seemingly dry topic, such as tariff imposition in developing nations, and become enthusiastic about it. During debate, we are only given half an hour to come up with our primary argument. Within this half hour, I must convince others of my opinion and examine the topic from every angle.

Once both sides have presented, it is my responsibility to then think of compelling counter-arguments on the spot. Debate is where I shine. I recognize that humans only use 10% of their brains, but it truly feels like I use 11% during these debates.

I have to carefully choose the language I use to sway the judges, disprove equally crafted opposing views, and out-think my intelligent and driven peers. Contrary to my friends’ beliefs, there is truly never a dull moment in debate—there is simply no time for one. 

It is a battle of wits in which both teams can only use their words as their weapons. If I do not think my arguments through, it can be like bringing a sword to a gunfight. 

I have participated in debate competitions throughout high school and have even helped my school’s team advance to the top rounds at national debate competitions. Through this experience, I have not only developed excellent critical thinking skills but have become a more confident and articulate speaker.

My love for debate has also influenced me to pursue a career in criminal law, where my creativity and skill can be used to uphold justice and ensure the safety of society—which even my most skeptic friends won’t call boring!” 

Here is how can you answer this prompt:

• Narrate a story : Frame your response as a narrative to make it engaging and memorable. Take the reader through a journey that illustrates how your creative side has manifested in different situations. Use descriptive language to paint a vivid picture of your creative expression.
• Reflect on the impact : Discuss the impact of your creative expression. This could involve positive outcomes, solutions to challenges, or the reception of your artistic work. Reflecting on the consequences of your creativity adds substance to your response.
• Be concise : Given the word limit, be concise and focused in your response. Avoid unnecessary details and stay on topic. Make every sentence count to effectively communicate the essence of your creative side.

This is a great example of the UC creativity prompt because this student explains their creativity in a way that doesn’t relate to artistic talent. They appropriately describe how they use their creativity to excel in their passion and use examples to make their story more genuine. They also share the success they’ve had because of their creativity, which further proves their skill and ability.

Prompt Three Example

The next prompt is, “What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?” Consider this example for inspiration:

“She lacked luster. She was plain-looking, with dull hair and unsymmetrical features. Her right eye seemed to droop lower than her left, giving her the appearance of a slight lazy eye. There was no sparkle in her eye, no life in her gaze. She barely seemed alive. 

She almost looked like a Tim Burton character gone wrong, although even that description was too considerate and failed to capture her true mediocrity. 

That’s how I would describe the first-ever portrait I made in middle school. While I always enjoyed sketching, it did not come naturally to me. That was until I enrolled in a summer art program offered by the City Art Lab.

During this program, I learned how to modify the pressure on my pencil to produce different textures. I learned how to add highlights and create shadows to give my sketches depth. But most importantly, I learned the importance of practice. 

I practiced my art skills that entire summer, and the transformation was unbelievable. I went from creating wonky, left-behind Tim Burton characters to realistic, detailed portraits that began to resemble black-and-white photos. 

I have taken visual arts classes throughout high school and even won an art competition held among all sophomore students. Through all of my practice, I have learned to take risks, trust my abilities, and be open to new techniques to improve my work. 

I have begun using different mediums, such as charcoal, oil, and even acrylic. While I haven’t perfected my skills in these mediums, I am confident I will be able to with enough practice and commitment. 

Having the right mentors is important too, which is why I plan on continuing to develop my art skills at UC Irvine through their robust visual arts program taught by talented and accomplished faculty.” 

Here are some tips to help you write this essay:

• Self-reflection : Begin by reflecting on your strengths and skills. Identify the talent you believe is your greatest and think about how you’ve developed and demonstrated that talent over time.
• Choose a specific talent : Select a talent or skill that is not only significant but also relevant to the program you’re applying to. Whether it's a technical skill, leadership ability, communication proficiency, or something else, be specific in your choice.
• Share examples : Illustrate your talent with concrete examples from your experiences. Discuss situations where you have demonstrated this skill, showcasing its impact and relevance. 

This response opens with a hook that catches the reader’s attention, influencing them to keep reading. Readers will likely be surprised to learn this student is just describing a sketch and not a real person.

They share their complete experience with art, show vulnerability by stating they struggled with their sketches, and ultimately show their dedication by explaining how they improved. They also end their essay well by explaining how they plan on continuing to develop their skills at UC Irvine. 

Learn more about writing college essays from a Brown graduate here! 

Prompt Four Examples

Prompt four asks you to “Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.” We’ll include two UC essay examples to help guide your writing: 

“It is the perfect course for any students that hope to become doctors—is what my junior year AP Biology teacher Mr. Wilson told me about an eight-week introductory biology course that was being offered to high school students at our local community college.

Mr. Wilson always told us about the best opportunities to pursue if we wanted to join the medical field. It was a dream of his as well, but he always said “life got in the way” and he never took it as seriously as he should have. He warned me not to make the same mistake. If I was serious about becoming a physician, I had to prove it.

So, I enrolled in the course and was ready for a summer full of 8 am laboratories, 20-page readings, and late-night study sessions instead of sleeping in, reading mystery novels on the beach, and staying up late with my friends playing video games. But, I was willing to make that sacrifice to better prepare myself for college.

It was clear from my first class that I was in over my head. I struggled to retain the readings and had a hard time keeping up during lectures. I felt ashamed and downright defeated. I questioned if I deserved to even be a physician and wondered why it seemed to come so easily to my peers. 

But, wondering and wallowing would do me no good. So, I picked myself up and strategized. I spoke to my professor to ask for some tips. He assured me most students struggle to adjust in the beginning, but his biggest tip was to review the readings the night before our lectures, make notes during, and review those notes again after class. 

While his suggestions were time-consuming, they helped me increase my grades and I actually began to enjoy the course! I graduated with an A and learned more than just cell biology and evolutionary ecology. I learned how to manage my time better, stay organized, persevere through challenges, and to ask for help when needed!” 

Use these tips to help you write an impactful essay: 

• Choose a relevant experience : Select a specific educational opportunity or barrier that is not only significant but also relevant to your personal and academic journey. This could include a challenging course, a unique learning experience, or overcoming obstacles to pursue education.
• Provide context : Begin by providing context for the educational opportunity or barrier. Explain the circumstances that made it significant or challenging, including any personal or external factors that influenced your experience.
• Highlight the significance : Clearly explain why the educational opportunity or barrier is significant in your academic journey. Discuss the impact it had on your learning, personal growth, or overall development.

This response works because it demonstrates how the student took advantage of an educational opportunity and their real experience. They show their drive, determination, and perseverance through their story of overcoming difficulties during the program. 

They also mentioned their reason for taking this course was to better prepare themself for college, which also allowed them to develop study habits to aid them. Both these points can convince the UC admissions committee of this student’s academic potential. 

Here’s another example: 

“After the first few tests in my geometry course my freshman year, my teacher, [NAME #1], noticed my passion for and proficiency with math. At the same time, my physics teacher, [NAME #2], noticed how I enjoyed challenging extra credit problems. I would visit him during the advisory period to review the problems so I could understand the concepts. Both of these teachers recognized my curiosity and desire to challenge myself beyond existing coursework. By the end of the first quarter, I had decided I wanted to take calculus as a sophomore, but I needed to complete Algebra 2 and precalculus first.

One day, I noticed [NAME #2] AP Calculus book on his desk and asked him if I could borrow it, even though the topic was well beyond what I had been studying. I worked with [NAME #1] and asked how I could accelerate my math courses so I could take calculus the following year. The largest obstacle standing in my way was time. I still needed to take a year’s worth of Algebra 2 and a year’s worth of precalculus before I could enroll in AP Calculus AB. 

Despite this barrier, I was determined to progress. I would ask [NAME #1] to give me practice material from Algebra 2, which I would study in addition to my freshman workload. [NAME #1] agreed that if I passed both Algebra 2 semester finals, she would give me credit for the class. My studying paid off. I passed and was able to take an accelerated precalculus course over the summer before my sophomore year. 

My initiative and my teachers’ recognition of my skills and abilities allowed me to advance in mathematics faster than what the school would normally allow. As a result, I am now taking Advanced Topics in Calculus as a senior, and I will be able to jumpstart my lower-division coursework as an Applied Mathematics major. I learned that good teachers nurture potential and that if I take initiative, I can accomplish anything. I have confidence that I can handle a heavy workload and look forward to new challenges.” 

This essay demonstrates the student’s ability to take the initiative and take charge of their education despite originally not being on track to take their desired courses. The author’s essay shares their passion for math, their ability to solve problems, and how they worked around an educational barrier to advance their learning. 

Ready to elevate your UC essays? Check out our video on writing perfect college essays here! 

Prompt Five Example

Prompt five asks you to “Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?”

Gain a better understanding of how to write the UC essays from this sample response: 

“I grew up in Mumbai, where the air was always warm and welcoming and carried the scent of flowers and cardamom. Everywhere I went, I heard my beautiful language being spoken by people in my village that knew my name and always greeted me with smiles as warm as the sun that was constantly out. 

Then, I moved to America. My father received a job opportunity that would provide us with more economic stability and a chance for a better life for me and my soon-to-be younger brother who was due to be born in a few months. America was not like Mumbai. 

We traded our small, tight-knit village for the bustling, large city Denver where no one knew my name, and I rarely heard my beautiful language. Instead, I heard a foreign language that always seemed too quick to catch. I struggled to string along even the most simple sentences. I missed the warmth of the sun and the smell of the air. 

When I started school in the sixth grade, I was an easy target for bullies. I had a thick accent and mismatched clothes. I was still learning how Westerners dressed, and I stuck out like a sore thumb—an expression that always confused me as a child.

But, I took ESL classes throughout middle school. I read in my free time and joined ESL summer programs every year. Soon, I was able to string along sentences with ease and Denver started to feel more like home. I started hearing a different beautiful language that I understood more and more every day. 

By high school, English became my favorite subject. I understood even the most complex Shakespeare plays and wrote compelling essays on them. My accent still lingers on certain words, but it only reminds me of the idyllic place that I come from. 

I am no longer ashamed of my roots, in fact, I smile when I hear the remnants of my accent. I also smile when I learn new English words, and am happy to say I am now the master of two beautiful languages.” 

Here are some helpful tips on how to write this essay:

• Choose a genuine challenge : Pick a challenge that is genuinely significant in your life and has had a tangible impact on your academic journey. This could be a personal, academic, or professional challenge that has shaped your experiences and perspectives.
• Detail the steps taken : Outline the specific steps you took to overcome the challenge. Discuss any strategies, actions, or decisions you made to address the obstacles. Highlight your problem-solving skills, resilience, and determination.
• Reflect on the experience : Reflect on what you learned from overcoming the challenge. Discuss how the experience has shaped your character, influenced your approach to challenges, and contributed to your personal and academic growth.

This response shares a story that is clearly meaningful to the student. It revolves around their upbringing, a major event in their life, and the challenges they faced because of this change. They show persistence and resilience and provide concrete examples of how they overcame the odds and perfected their English.

Prompt Six Examples

Prompt six asks you to “Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.” 

The best way to grasp how to write the UC essays is to learn by example! Here are two UC essay examples to help you get inspired: 

“Logophile. 

It doesn’t sound like a pleasant word. In fact, most people ask me to repeat myself when I describe myself as one. But, it is the only word that captures how important writing and reading is to me. Every definition of the word states logophiles are lovers of words, which is exactly what I am, no more and no less. 

English was always my favorite subject. My mother constantly reminds me of how I would pretend to write even when I couldn’t. It was only ever just scribbles, but she was convinced those scribbles held meaning to me. 

I would scribble on lined paper for hours until I began learning the alphabet and how to make those scribbles mean something to someone other than myself.

Throughout middle school, I spent all of my free time reading. You would never see me without a book, and I would read an average of three novels each week. 

I loved how words came together to create wonderful stories that I could immerse myself into. I marveled at the amazing gift authors had to be able to give life to words that had such little meaning on their own. I knew, someday, I would also be able to create worlds out of words. 

I took all of the English courses offered at my school and supplemented these classes with writing camps and workshops led by real authors during my summers. By my sophomore year, it was a notebook that I always carried around with me. I found inspiration in everything. 

I looked at the tan line where my biology teacher’s wedding ring must have been and wrote a story about their doomed love. I submitted it for a nation-wide junior writing competition and won second place.” 

This summer, I will be participating in a writing internship offered by a local news station. While I will mainly be writing investigative work, I hope to expand my writing skills and learn new techniques through it.

I plan on developing my skills even further at UC Merced through their Karen Merritt Writing Program.” 

Consider these tips when answering the above prompt:

• Choose a genuine academic interest : Select an academic subject that genuinely inspires and excites you. Your enthusiasm for the subject should be apparent in your writing, and the chosen topic should align with your academic interests.
• Connect to future goals : Tie your passion for the academic subject to your future academic and professional goals. Explain how this interest aligns with your aspirations and how it will contribute to your success in the program and beyond.
• Be concise : While expressing enthusiasm, ensure that your essay remains focused and concise. Avoid unnecessary details and tangents, and prioritize conveying a clear and impactful story about your passion for the academic subject.

This student not only describes why they love English and writing but also provides background information to demonstrate how long they’ve been honing their writing and reading skills. They explain how they’ve already developed their skills and how they plan on further enhancing them at UC Merced. 

Here’s another example answering this prompt: 

“Throughout literature, I see time. Thousands of works hundreds of years old have been lost, and yet some manage to survive longer than the authors who brought them to life. I read a Greek piece of writing and see in the sentiments expressed in the text that besides some trivial differences attributable to history, we’re still essentially the same. We’re all human, navigating the world and finding comfort in words.

Words have given humans the ability to communicate at extraordinary levels, which has only exponentiated in the digital age of technology and the Internet of Things (IoT). In an increasingly impersonal digital world, language makes experiences tangible - real - and enables us to break barriers of individuality and possibly even loneliness. Literature provides a sense of unity and perpetuity, allowing me to understand our history more personally when I read timeless works written by another author’s hand.

It wasn’t until reading and comparing multitudinous genres (ranging from fiction and [LANGUAGE] to Shakespearean sonnets) in sophomore English that I realized, although we come from different times, we still laugh at the same jokes, suffer similar tragedies, and have a collective sense of duty to maintain what was - and still is - deemed beautiful.

Thus, from sophomore year onward, I started pleasure reading, a hobby I’d long neglected. The first year, I managed to read 6 books, all simple digestible fiction works. The year after: 30 books, with a medley of genres from fantasy and classics to non-fiction. The next year: 50 books, with so many genres and topics that I began listening to debates and commentaries about books I’d finished, reading essays written on them and writing my own, and watching my favorite videos of Brandon Sanderson on writing.

Of all my hobbies, I must say reading affords me the most invaluable understanding of literature. Vicariously experiencing other authors’ thoughts and beliefs, I’m immersed in their minds, and whenever I finish their book, I’m back on my own timeline in history, unable to contain the inspiration that often strikes to use my words and languages to weave works of literature.” 

Why This Worked 

This student’s love of literature fuelled their narrative while demonstrating how they pursued their passions outside the classroom. 

The tangible numbers they provide on how many books they’ve read and their descriptions of how they’d engaged with the content shows their commitment to learning and exploring history and writing – their conclusion about unity and perpetuity is especially compelling. 

Prompt Seven Example

Prompt seven asks, “What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?” Here’s a sample answer: 

“We have a fourteen-day adoption policy. Animals that are not adopted within two weeks of entering the shelter are likely to be euthanized. We simply do not have the room or resources to keep them longer. Considering she’s a black cat, it’s highly likely she will not be adopted. 

That’s what I was told when I surrendered an injured black cat to my local animal shelter. I found Midnight cowering under my car during a hail storm. It was clear she once belonged to someone, she had a tattered collar, but she must have been abandoned recently. 

Her nails were beginning to grow out, and her fur was matted and unbrushed. After hearing about her chances of adoption, I researched the phenomena of black pet deaths.

Out of all of the other pets, black dogs and cats were not only the least likely to be adopted but were euthanized at the highest rates. By day thirteen, no one had adopted Midnight, so I did. 

But I knew just saving one cat wasn’t enough. So, I brought up the issue to the other members of our Animal Activist club at school. I was an executive member of the club, and my peers agreed we had to do more for the black pets in our community. So, we set up two bake sales and three fundraisers throughout my junior year of high school.

We raised over $20,000 that we donated to our local animal shelter for what has coined the “Black Pet Initiative”. With this money, all of the black pets at the shelter were groomed, professionally photographed, and given the best chances of being adopted. 

Any leftover funds were used to provide the shelter with more resources to keep their animals for longer before they were euthanized. 

Our initiative has had great success so far. Mandy, the adoption coordinator, told us there was a 50% increase in black pet adoptions so far and that she only expects it to grow as they receive more donations through the social media presence we created for them on TikTok and Instagram.”

Here are tips to help you write this essay:

• Choose specific examples : Pick specific examples of initiatives or projects that you have been involved in to improve your school or community. Choose instances that showcase your leadership, commitment, and impact.
• Provide context : Begin by providing context for the school or community environment. Briefly describe the challenges or opportunities that motivated your involvement. Clearly explain why you felt compelled to contribute.
• Reflect on challenges : If you faced challenges during your efforts, discuss how you overcame them. Reflect on what you learned from the experience and how it contributed to your personal and leadership development.

Above all else, there’s clear passion in this answer. Readers can feel how important the issue is to this student, and the personal anecdote of Midnight adds to this. The student also explains the role they played in their community, how they contributed to it, and the extent of their contributions!

These essay prompts present a fantastic opportunity to strategically position yourself as the ultimate UC applicant. 

Prompt Eight Example

The final UC prompt is, “Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?” 

Here’s an example to help you brainstorm:

“A year ago, I decided to work at my neighbor’s new restaurant that they were struggling to keep afloat. I saw it as an opportunity to help my parents pay bills and save up for a car, which I felt I desperately needed at the time. 

I only planned to work there during the summer, but my neighbors said I was an asset to their team and could continue working reduced hours during the school year if I wanted. The money was good, and I knew I would be helping out neighbors I’ve known my whole life.

So, I continued working throughout my junior year, and still work there now in my senior year. It has been a demanding job, especially as business picked up last year. I made numerous mistakes in the beginning, like punching in take-out orders as dine-in orders, dropping plates, and overbooking our waitlist.

There were days I considered quitting, but I pushed through. Over time, I learned the ins and outs of the diner. I’ve become one of the restaurant's star waitresses and have even won employee of the month five months in a row. 

Working in this industry has made me feel like a bigger part of society. I have the ability to make a person’s day better and always offer kind conversation to people who often need it most. It has made me a better listener, communicator, and harder worker.

It has been a personally fulfilling experience--there’s just something about being part of people’s celebrations and sharing moments with strangers that’s indescribable. These special moments are what inspired me to continue working in this industry, but not as a waitress. 

I hope to become a co-manager at my neighbor’s restaurant to have an even bigger impact on my community. I know getting a degree is the next step in this aspiration.” 

• Identify unique strengths : Identify unique strengths or qualities about yourself that have not been extensively covered in your application. Consider personal characteristics, experiences, or skills that set you apart and contribute to your candidacy.
• Focus on diversity : Emphasize aspects of your background, experiences, or perspectives that contribute to the diversity and richness of the university community. Showcase how your unique qualities will enhance the overall student body.
• Connect to university values : Connect your strengths with the values and mission of the University of California. Demonstrate how your goals and values align with the university's commitment to academic excellence, diversity, and community engagement.

This student shares more about their work experience and what led them to pursue a degree at a UC school. It offers more insight into the type of person they are, what they value, and how important community is to them. 

We hope these UC personal insight questions examples help you understand what UC schools look for. 

UC Essay Examples

Here are some UC essay examples to give you a better idea of what a successful essay looks like.

“Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.”

My grandfather delights in scenic diversions while traveling, and I am his willing companion on road trips. Our journeys have taken us to trails and prime fishing spots as memorable as our final destination. Information processing in my brain resembles these scenic journeys. I have dyslexia, and one of the greatest challenges I have overcome has been to find the beauty and advantage in the way my neural pathways function–never a direct route and usually a lengthy journey. 

Learning to read was an arduous undertaking for me. While my siblings learned to read with ease, I toiled along and avoided tasks that involved reading. After I was diagnosed with dyslexia, I drudged through hours of remediation and studied twice as hard as my neurotypical peers. I had difficulty attributing my success to natural ability because I worked so hard to attain it. It wasn’t until my freshman year that my mindset shifted. A guest speaker visited my school to talk about the gifts of neurodiversity. As I listened, I began to think about my own neural pathways as roadways for information. I realized that my destination is the same as someone with an ordinary brain, but information in my brain takes the scenic route. I then started uncovering the benefits of neurodiversity. Dyslexia has helped me excel in forming creative solutions to problems, and as my classes become more advanced, the processing differences become less apparent. What’s more, I’ve spent my life working hard to spot and rectify errors, reading and re-reading passages, and intensely persevering to meet my own high expectations. This has culminated in a work ethic for which I will always have muscle memory. Above all, I now confidently own my success.

As I reflect on expeditions with my grandfather, it is clear my experience on the road could never be the same as my siblings, who rode with my parents in the “fast car”. I would never trade the memories made for the time spent. As for my neural pathways, I am content knowing that my brain will always take me where the fish are biting.

“What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?”

The test covered L’Hopital’s Rule and Related Rates–a topic I felt I had mastered but would need extra time to complete. But there I was. Waiting patiently with everyone else for [NAME] to hand out the test. As a student with a learning difference, I had a written contract for accommodations: extended time in a distraction free setting, but he didn’t care. It wasn’t the first time this happened, and I knew how this story would unfold. He placed the test on my desk. I frantically solved as many problems as I could. I flew through the first half of the test, but just as I began solving related rates, I heard a disappointing “5 Minutes Left”. I frantically jotted down anything that came to mind on the remaining portion of the test, but it didn’t matter. Time was up.

I sat quietly in class the next day, enraged. Every question I completed was correct, but it didn’t make up for the unattempted problems. “79%” engraved in dark red ink. What’s worse, he wrote, “Why didn’t you try these problems?” across the page of unanswered questions. Nearly every problem I attempted on any quiz or test in his class was mathematically correct, but I ran out of time on almost every assessment. It didn’t matter how good I truly was at Precalculus.

Until then, I had a hard time advocating for myself. That day something ignited in me and I knew I carried the responsibility to advocate for not only myself but for other students with learning differences. I wrote a letter to the school which reviewed the rights of students with learning differences set forth by the ADA. The following semester, my teacher was obligated to allow accommodations in his class, and as a result, those of use with differences were allowed “equal playing time.” The grade I received that semester did not reflect my mastery of Honors Precalculus, but it was a very impactful experience. I now understand the mental burden true discrimination can have on a person, and I carry the motivation to fight it.

“Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time.”

It was her fourth honor council. I sat on the committee for her third that granted her one last chance. It was mid-April–just weeks before graduation, and she would walk across the stage with her diploma. The third honor council debated for hours about the best course of action. No student had ever been given 4 chances without separation from the school. One attendee argued for her future in retaining her college admission, while another suggested her negative impacts on the school community. After hours of debate, the honor council was split. It was left up to just a few of her peers to decide her fate. We reviewed her previous violation, and then it appeared: “Any future violations of school rules WILL result in separation from the school”. I believe strongly in seeking first to understand a person’s circumstances before drawing judgment, and I think there is great value in the second chance. Unfortunately, this student was unable to take responsibility after failing on multiple counts, and we eventually decided it would be best for the community if she separated from the school. She was given the opportunity to receive her diploma with successful completion of online classes.

Hard decisions like these have been a driving factor in shaping my character and values caring for the greater good of the community. I faced discrimination as a person with learning differences, which prompted me to solve issues of inequity through leadership positions. I give back to the community by leading school discussions about acts of hate and aggression that happen on and off campus, and I strive to create diversity and inclusion by attracting new people to [CITY]. I attempt to create a well-rounded incoming class of freshmen that will better the FVS community and help to solve issues of discrimination and a lack of diversity on campus. Together, my roles have heavily aligned with my values of creating diversity and solving a wide range of issues on campus.

What Are the UC Schools Looking For In Your Essays? 

When it comes to the essay, UC schools look for specific aspects, these include:

• Personality : The essay is a great way for UC admission to get to know their applicants. They look for an applicant's voice and want to get to know more about them. 
• Diversity of experiences :  UC schools value diversity, not only in terms of ethnicity and background but also in experiences, perspectives, and talents. They are interested in students who can bring unique viewpoints and contribute to a diverse and vibrant campus community.
• Impact and initiative : The essays should highlight instances where you took initiative or made a positive impact in your community, school, or personal life. Admissions officers are interested in applicants who demonstrate leadership, problem-solving skills, and a commitment to making a difference.
• Interest in the schools : Demonstrate a genuine interest in the UC schools you are applying to. Mention specific programs, faculty, or opportunities that attract you to each campus, showing that you've done your research.

Make sure you keep the above in mind when writing your essays. You never know, it might help you get accepted! 

Tips For Writing the UC Application Essays

Reviewing sample answers and getting inspired by them is an excellent first step when learning how to write the UC personal insight questions. Once you’ve made it past the brainstorming phase, consider these tips for your UC supplemental essays:

Use “I” Statements

Throughout your personal insight questions, you should use “I” statements. Make yourself the protagonist of all your stories, and don’t use third-person narration. This can make your answers confusing, less personal, and academic-sounding. 

Your personal insight questions give the admissions committee a glimpse into who you are outside the classroom. While your stats give them a sense of your academic potential, your essays provide a sense of who you are and what you can contribute to the school community.

Be sincere in your answers. Show your enthusiasm about the topics you’re writing about, and be honest. You don’t need to have jaw-dropping, tragic, or life-changing stories to write compelling UC essays. 

Your feelings towards these experiences, what you learned from them, and the impact they had on others make your responses unique and interesting!

Get Feedback

Your friends, family, and other members of your community who know you best can offer feedback on your essays. If they feel you’re selling yourself short or your answers don’t reflect your personal story, you can revise them to be more accurate.

At the same time, however, you do not want to lose your unique voice by accepting all of the suggestions of your peers and family members. You are still the best narrator of your own story, and it may have been a long while since they applied to college.

If you’re unsure how to write the UC supplemental essays or want expert guidance and feedback, consider scheduling a consultation with an admissions counselor to ensure your narratives stand out! 

Edit, Edit, Edit

Grammar and spelling errors can distract your readers and reduce the efficacy of your words. Ensure you proofread your work several times before you submit it so your answers are clear and powerful!

For any remaining questions about the UC application insight questions, read on!

1. How Do You Write a Good UC Essay?

Writing a good University of California insight questions involves several steps:

• Choose prompts that truly resonate with you
• Brainstorm ideas before you write your answers
• Limit your options to the experiences you feel most connected to so you can portray your best traits
• Be sincere and honest 
• Use real-life anecdotes to propel your story
• Proofread your work several times
• Ask for input from people close to you, but ensure your voice still shines through

A good UC essay is crafted with care and effort! Ensure you start early, and don’t be afraid to write multiple drafts until you’re happy with your answers.

2. Can UC Essays Be Over 350 Words?

No, your UC essays should be 350 words or fewer.

3. Do UC Essays Have to Be 250 Words?

There’s no minimum word count for the UC essays. However, you should aim for your answers to be at least 250 words so you can adequately answer the prompt. 

4. How Many UC Essays Are There?

You’ll be given the choice between eight essay prompts, of which you must answer four. 

5. What Should I Not Do When Writing UC Essays? 

When writing UC essays, you shouldn’t mention the school’s name if you’re applying to more than one in the system. Additionally, you don’t want to fudge any details, randomly select essays to write, repeat anything from your personal statement, or exceed the word limit. 

6. What Do UC Admissions Look for in Essays? 

UC schools are looking for applicants who demonstrate their personality and strong character through anecdotes and experiences. Ensure your responses show your passions, interests, values, and what makes you unique. 

Final Thoughts

After reviewing how to write the UC essays in depth, you should be able to craft compelling responses. Ensure you choose the right prompts, pick experiences that portray your most favorable traits, and prove you’ll make an excellent addition to the UC community!

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How to write the UC essays

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Learn how to write an awesome University of California essay for every single prompt.

Robert will provide an in-depth breakdown of each of the UC essay prompts, discussing how to write a great essay in response to each one.

He'll also share his take on the essays and topics you shouldn't write about for each prompt.

Finally, he'll open up the floor for a Q&A session, where he'll answer any and all questions about the UC essays and talk about how to set yourself apart with your essay.

Undergrad College: Yale University '21

Major: Ethics, Politics & Economics; Classics (Intensive)

Work Experience: As a recent graduate of Yale University, I am excited to begin my first year with CollegeVine! In many ways, CV was a natural fit for me -- at Yale, I worked for over two years in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, beginning as a Senior Interviewer in the summer of 2019, during which I interviewed over 200 first-year applicants for the 2019-2020 college admissions cycle. After the summer ended, I became Lead Recruitment Coordinator, a full-time position responsible for executing and overseeing Yale’s numerous post-admissions decision yield initiatives, as well as serving as a spokesman for the university both in person and online. Over the past two years, I have had the privilege of interacting with hundreds of students and their families at all stages of the college application process.

My Admissions Story: Having always been interested in studying a variety of subjects within the Humanities and Social Sciences, I applied to a smattering of liberal arts colleges and universities (mostly on the East Coast) with strong departments in these areas, large and diverse student bodies, and varied extracurricular opportunities. When my college admissions decisions rolled in, I immediately accepted an offer from my dream school, Yale University, which I had always felt best embodied the opportunities and goals that I desired from my college experience -- and since that day, I’ve never looked back.

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UC Essay Examples for the Personal Insight Questions

Sample essays with explanations of their strengths and weaknesses

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• Ph.D., English, University of Pennsylvania
• M.A., English, University of Pennsylvania
• B.S., Materials Science & Engineering and Literature, MIT

Every applicant to one of the University of California campuses must write four short essays in response to the UC application's Personal Insight questions. The UC essay examples below reveal how two different students approached the prompts. Both essays are accompanied by an analysis of their strengths and weaknesses.

Features of a Winning UC Personal Insight Essay

The strongest UC essays present information that isn't available elsewhere in the application, and they paint the portrait of someone who will play a positive role in the campus community. Let your kindness, humor, talent, and creativity shine, but also make sure each of your four essays is substantive.

As you figure out your strategy for responding to the UC Personal Insight questions , keep in mind that it's not just the individual essays that matter, but also the full portrait of yourself that you create through the combination of all four essays. Ideally, each essay should present a different dimension of your personality, interests, and talents so that the admissions folks get to know you as a three-dimensional individual who has a lot to contribute to the campus community.

UC Sample Essay, Question #2

For one of her Personal Insight essays, Angie responded to question #2: Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.

Here is her essay:

I’m not great at drawing. Even after taking the required art classes in elementary and middle school, I don’t really see myself becoming a famous artist anytime soon. I’m most comfortable creating stick figures and notebook doodles. However, my lack of innate talent hasn’t kept me from using drawing communicate or entertain through cartoons.

Now, like I said, the artwork itself isn’t going to win any awards, but that’s only part of my creative process. I draw cartoons to make my friends laugh, to make my siblings feel better if they’re having a bad day, to poke fun at myself. I don’t make cartoons to show off my artistic ability; I make them because I think they’re fun to create, and (so far) other people enjoy them.

When I was about seven or eight, my sister got dumped by her boyfriend unexpectedly. She was feeling really down about it, and I was trying to think of something I could do that would cheer her up. So I drew a (pretty bad) likeness of her ex, made better by some rather unflattering details. It made my sister laugh, and I like to think I helped her through her break-up, even if only a little bit. Since then, I’ve drawn caricatures of my teachers, friends, and celebrities, ventured a little into political cartooning, and started a series about my interactions with my idiotic cat, Gingerale.

Cartooning is a way for me to be creative and express myself. Not only am I being artistic (and I use that term loosely), but I’m using my imagination to create scenarios and figure out how how to represent people and things. I’ve learned what people find funny, and what is not funny. I’ve come to realize that my drawing skills are not the important part of my cartooning. What is important is that I’m expressing myself, making others happy, and doing something small and silly, but also worthwhile.

Discussion of UC Sample Essay by Angie

Angie's essay comes in at 322 words, a little below the 350-word limit. 350 words is already a small space in which to tell a meaningful story, so don't be afraid to submit an essay that's close to the word limit (as long as your essay isn't wordy, repetitive, or lacking substance).

The essay does a good job showing the reader a dimension of Angie that probably isn't apparent anywhere else in her application. Her love of creating cartoons wouldn't appear in her academic record or list of extracurricular activities . Thus, it's a good choice for one of her Personal Insight essays (after all, it's providing new insight into her person). We learn that Angie isn't just a good student who is involved in some school activities. She also has a hobby she is passionate about. Crucially, Angie explains why cartooning is important to her.

The tone of Angie's essay is also a plus. She has not written a typical "look how great I am" essay. Instead, Angie clearly tells us that her artistic skills are rather weak. Her honesty is refreshing, and at the same time, the essay does convey much to admire about Angie: she is funny, self-deprecating, and caring. This latter point, in fact, is the true strength of the essay. By explaining that she enjoys this hobby because of the happiness it brings other people, Angie comes across as someone who is genuine, considerate, and kind.

Overall, the essay is quite strong. It is clearly written, uses an engaging style , and is free of any major grammatical errors . It presents a dimension of Angie's character that should appeal to the admissions staff who read her essay. If there is one weakness, it would be that the third paragraph focuses on Angie's early childhood. Colleges are much more interested in what you have done in recent years than your activities as a child. That said, the childhood information connects to Angie's current interests in clear, relevant ways, so it does not detract too much from the overall essay.

UC Sample Essay, Question #6

For one of his University of California Personal Insight essays, Terrance responded to option #6: Describe your favorite academic subject and explain how it has influenced you .

Here is his essay:

One of my strongest memories in elementary school is rehearsing for the annual “Learning on the Move” show. The fourth graders put on this show every year, each one focusing on something different. Our show was about food and making healthy choices. We could pick which group to be in: dancing, stage design, writing, or music. I chose music, not because I was interested in it the most, but because my best friend had picked it.

I remember the music director showing us a long row of various percussion instruments, and asking us what we thought different foods would sound like. This was not my first experience in playing an instrument, but I was a novice when it came to creating music, deciding what the music meant, and what its intent and meaning was. Granted, choosing a güiro to represent scrambled eggs was not Beethoven writing his Ninth Symphony, but it was a start.

In middle school, I joined the orchestra, taking up the cello. Freshmen year of high school, I auditioned for, and was accepted into, the regional youth symphony. More importantly, though, I took two semesters of Music Theory my sophomore year. I love playing music, but I’ve learned that I love writing it even more. Since my high school only offers Music Theory I and II, I attended a summer music camp with a program in theory and composition. I learned so much, and I’m looking forward to pursuing a major in Music Composition.

I find writing music is a way for me to express emotions and tell stories that are beyond language. Music is such a unifying force; it’s a way to communicate across languages and borders. Music has been such a large part of my life—from fourth grade and on—and studying music and music composition is a way for me to create something beautiful and share it with others.

Discussion of UC Sample Essay by Terrance

Like Angie's essay, Terrance's essay comes in at a little over 300 words. This length is perfectly appropriate assuming all of the words add substance to the narrative. When it comes to the features of a good application essay , Terrance does well and avoids common pitfalls.

For Terrance, the choice of question #6 makes sense—he fell in love with composing music, and he is entering college knowing what his major will be. If you are like many college applicants and have a wide range of interests and possible college majors, you may want to steer clear of this question.

Terrance's essay does a good job balancing humor with substance. The opening paragraph presents an entertaining vignette in which he chooses to study music based on nothing more than peer pressure. By paragraph three, we learn how that rather serendipitous introduction to music has led to something very meaningful. The final paragraph also establishes a pleasing tone with its emphasis on music as a "unifying force" and something that Terrance wants to share with others. He comes across as a passionate and generous person who will contribute to the campus community in a meaningful way.

A Final Word on Personal Insight Essays

Unlike the California State University system , the University of California schools have a holistic admissions process. The admissions officers are evaluating you as a whole person, not just as numerical data related to test scores and grades (although both are important). The Personal Insight questions are one of the primary ways the admissions officers get to know you, your personality, and your interests.

Think of each essay as an independent entity, as well as one piece of a four-essay application. Each essay should present an engaging narrative that reveals an important aspect of your life as well as explain why the topic you've chosen is important to you. When you consider all four essays in combination, they should work together to reveal the true breadth and depth of your character and interests.

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UC College-Conservatory of Music » Areas of Study » Academic Units » Composition, Musicology and Theory » Music Theory

Music Theory

CCM's music theory programs focus on various musical elements and how they work together to create unique compositions.

Our world-renowned faculty — who come from diverse backgrounds and specialize in every era and style from Antiquity to the present — combine rigorous academic training with opportunities for specialization in a variety of areas, helping students learn through hands-on approaches, one-on-one advising, guest lectures and semesterly seminars/colloquium that encourage intelligent discussions between peers.

At the same time, the flexibility of the curriculum and the required cognate (for doctoral students) allow them the opportunity to explore particular fields of interest — whether they be in performance, musicology or composition — to broaden their horizons and gain greater knowledge of the music they are studying. CCM Theory's position within one of the United States' top music programs also means access to acclaimed instrumental/vocal teachers and students, guaranteeing high quality feedback and interaction.

David Carson Berry , 

Professor of music theory.

513-556-9503

[email protected]

Steven Joel Cahn , 

513-556-7820

[email protected]

C. Catherine Losada , 

513-556-9567

[email protected]

Samuel Y. Ng , 

Associate professor of music theory.

513-556-9502

[email protected]

Miguel A. Roig-Francoli , 

Distinguished teaching professor of music theory and composition.

513-556-1821

[email protected]

Christopher Segall , 

Interim division head of composition, musicology, and theory; associate professor of music theory.

513-556-6251

[email protected]

Composition, Musicology and Theory Division Head and Staff

Darlene y. miller , , executive staff assistant.

513-556-6046

[email protected]

The master's program is designed to provide a comprehensive course of study in music theory and analysis as well as related subject areas. A candidate is expected to acquire a broad knowledge of music theory and will be introduced to the issues, concepts, and methods pertinent to the field of study. Determination of a candidate's specific responsibilities will be made by an academic adviser and the director of graduate studies. The MM in music theory helps students acquire competence in the broad range of endeavors characteristic of music theory including:

• Conference paper presentations
• Writing and Publishing a Master's Thesis

To accomplish these goals, students will also need to develop the requisite skills in musicianship, languages, etc. Determination of a student's specific responsibilities will be made by a principal adviser, cognate adviser and director of graduate studies.

The PhD program in music theory is designed to provide a comprehensive course of study in the theory, literature, and philosophy of music and related subject areas. As opposed to the MM program, the coursework for the PhD program is made up of rotating specialized seminars that offer in-depth coverage of specific areas of interest. Students are expected to acquire competence in the broad range of endeavors characteristic of music theory, including:

• Writing and Publishing a Doctoral Dissertation
• Teaching ability to demonstrate intellectual breadth through the completion of a significant program of study in a secondary field (cognate).

To accomplish these goals, students will also need to develop the requisite skills in musicianship, languages, etc. Determination of a student's specific responsibilities will be made by a principal adviser, cognate adviser, and director of graduate studies.

CCM's graduate admissions process begins on September 1 for entrance in the following year's fall semester. All application materials must be submitted on or before December 1 to be considered for specific scholarship awards. Visit the  CCM Admissions website for additional application instructions .

Music Theory - MM, PHD

Pre-screening.

Applicants must submit the required pre-screening materials via  getacceptd.com/ccm  on or before December 3 in order to be considered for admissions and invited for an audition.

All pieces should be performed from memory except for duo sonatas or the music composed after 1960.

Pre-screening Requirements

• Submit two papers on music theory and/or music analysis
• Statement essay about motivation for undertaking a graduate degree program in music theory.  This essay should be different than the essay uploaded during the UC graduate application process.

Additional Information

• Prospective students who hold master’s degrees in other areas of music should apply for the MM in theory
• The prerequisite for the PhD in music (music theory emphasis) is a master’s degree in music theory
• Applicants should demonstrate keyboard facility, good musicianship skills and commitment to the discipline
• For more information about the Music Theory program, contact Professor  Chris Segall

After the application review process, applicants will be notified if they’re invited for an interview. The two day interview and exams will take place on campus and virtually online.

Theory Graduate Assistantship Requirements (open to any CCM graduate program)

New Graduate Assistants teach theory and musicianship courses in the core undergraduate program.

• Written diagnostic test: the 40-minute written diagnostic test covers undergraduate level concepts and skills in tonal harmony and voice leading. If deemed qualified by this test, applicants will be scheduled for the skills assessment and teaching demonstration. This will most likely be available online for applicants to take during a specified time frame prior to the audition.
• If deemed qualified by this test, during one of the CCM Audition Weekends you will be scheduled for a musicianship interview as a well as a practice teaching demonstration with the theory faculty.
• Musicianship skills assessment: the 15-minute musicianship skills assessment will test sight-singing, rhythm and keyboard skills
• A teaching demonstration: the 10-minute teaching demonstration, applicants will deliver a mock lesson introducing the Neapolitan sixth as if to a sophomore “student” audience (a faculty interviewer). Applicants are responsible for preparing all aspects of their teaching demonstration (lecture, illustrations, musical examples) in advance.
• Applicants are urged to consult Miguel A. Roig-Francoli’s Harmony in Context , 3rd ed., in preparation for the teaching demonstration.
• Applicants who apply for a Theory Teaching Assistantship will be considered for admission and other types of financial assistance even if they do not yet meet the requirements for a TA.

For additional information, contact Professor Steven Cahn .

Students enrolled in a doctoral program at CCM are expected to demonstrate intellectual breadth through the completion of a significant program of study in a secondary field (cognate). 

Cognate in Musicology/Music History

The music history cognate will consist of three graduate-level MUHS topics courses or seminars (at least 9 semester hours at the 6000, 8000, or 9000 level). The student should consult with a musicology faculty member whose specialty is in an area of the student’s interest. If the faculty member agrees, they will become the student’s cognate advisor and will help the student draw up a suitable plan of study according to the following guidelines:

• At least one of the courses must be an 8000- or 9000-level course.
• Courses in ethnomusicology may be included if appropriate to the area of specialization
• Any courses being used to fulfill the student’s degree requirement in music history
• Any courses being used as substitution for a DMA document.

The cognate advisor will participate on the committee for the student's final oral examination. 

Cognate in Music Theory

The music theory cognate (12 credit hours) consists of three required courses (9 credit hours) and one graduate-level elective (3 credit hours). The cognate aims to provide students with a solid grounding in advanced tonal and post-tonal analysis, theory pedagogy and another practical/theoretical area depending on the student’s interest. Applicants will be interviewed by the cognate advisor (a member of the music theory faculty) to discuss their experience and interest in music theory. Approval will be granted to students with sufficient background and proficiency in analytical and/or theoretical studies in music at the bachelor’s and master’s levels.

Required Music Theory Cognate Courses (9 credit hours)

• Pedagogy of Theory (THRY 7015) 3
• Studies in Post-Tonal Analysis (THRY 8042) 3
• Studies in Tonal Analysis (THRY 8041) 3

Cognate electives (3 credit hours)

Students may choose any one course from the following list of graduate-level courses:

• Advanced Musicianship (THRY 6015)
• 16th-Century Counterpoint (THRY 6001)
• 18th-Century Counterpoint (THRY 6005)
• Special Topics (THRY 6060)
• Tonal Theory (THRY 7020)
• Readings in Music Theory (THRY 7050)
• Advanced Topics in Analysis (THRY 8001)
• Set Theory 2 (THRY 8012)   
• Schenkerian Analysis 2 (THRY 8016)
• Introduction to Aesthetics (THRY 9001)
• History of Theory 1: Antiquity to 1600 (THRY 9011)
• History of Theory 2: 1600 to present (THRY 9012)
• Rhythm and Meter (THRY 9050)
• Seminar in Analysis (THRY 9082)
• Seminar in Music Theory (THRY 9081)

Cognate in Ethnomusicology

Requirements (9-15 credits)*:

• 3 credits: Theory and Historiography in Ethnomusicology (required)
• 1-3 credits: World Music Lab(s)
• 3-6 credits: Electives in ethnomusicology or related discipline(s) in consultation with Professor Stefan Fiol and Professor Scott Linford.

* The following courses may  not  be used for cognate credits:

• Any courses being used as substitution for a DMA thesis
• Ethnomusicology Program
• Music Theory and Musicology Society
• Early Music Lab
• Alexander Zemlinksy Prize for Composition
• Center for Computer Music
• Visiting Composer Series
• Music Research Forum
• Thinking About Music Lecture Series

News and Events

New ccm apparel available for purchase online.

February 14, 2024

Show your school spirit this spring with official CCM apparel! New UC College-Conservatory of Music apparel is available for purchase online. CCM's Spring 2024 t-shirt and hoodie designs can be ordered online now through March 18, 2024.

CCM student wins first place in American Prize

January 30, 2024

The UC College-Conservatory of Music is thrilled to congratulate DMA composition students Kevin Li, who was recently named the winner of the 2023 American Prize in Composition university division, and Wenbin Lyu, who was awarded 3rd place in the same competition.

CCM professor wins Outstanding Publication Award from Society of...

November 20, 2023

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music congratulates Steven Cahn, Professor of Music Theory, on his receipt of the prestigious 2023 Outstanding Publication Award. Representing the highest honor awarded by the Society for Music Theory, this distinction was given to Cahn’s recent article “Schoenberg, Al-Kindī, and the Unbound Braid: A Rendezvous in Barcelona a Thousand Years in the Making” (Musical Quarterly, vol. 104, nos. 3–4, 2021).

University of California 2023-24 Essay Prompt Guide

Regular Decision: 

Regular Decision Deadline: Nov 30

You Have: 

University of California  2023-24 Application Essay Question Explanations

The Requirements: 4 out of 8 essays, 350 words each.

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Oddball , Community , Activity

The UC application sounds like a riddle. Every student must write four essays, but choose from eight prompts. The rules may be unfamiliar, but the game is the same: tell admissions something they don’t know – and then do it three more times! The instructions counsel you to “select questions that are most relevant to your experience and that best reflect your individual circumstances,” and frankly, we couldn’t agree more. A strategic applicant will choose a constellation of prompts that highlight vastly different aspects of their lives and personalities, leaving an admissions officer with a deep and complete picture of who they are. Don’t get hung up on trying to divine the questions admissions wants you to answer. In the end, they just want to get to know the real you, plus the application swears that “there is no advantage or disadvantage to choosing certain questions over others.” So follow your heart (!) and don’t let the fatigue get to you. Avoid robotically starting every answer by restating the question and be as anecdotal as possible. With each essay, your goal isn’t just to answer the question, but to tell a very short story about yourself!

1. Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time.  

Things to consider: a leadership role can mean more than just a title. it can mean being a mentor to others, acting as the person in charge of a specific task, or taking the lead role in organizing an event or project. think about what you accomplished and what you learned from the experience. what were your responsibilities, did you lead a team how did your experience change your perspective on leading others did you help to resolve an important dispute at your school, church, in your community or an organization and your leadership role doesn’t necessarily have to be limited to school activities. for example, do you help out or take care of your family.

When answering this question, avoid the siren song of your resume. This question isn’t asking you for a list! Remember: it’s your job, as an applicant, to use every essay as an opportunity to reveal something new about yourself. Think of a moment when you were in a position where you worked really hard to help a group of people. Maybe you are always the one helping your younger siblings with their homework, and you struggled to find ways to engage your dyslexic younger brother with math. Maybe, as a camp counselor or church volunteer, you were in charge of choreographing and instructing a number for a group of seven-year-old hip hop dancers to perform. Perhaps, on a Habitat for Humanity school trip, you became the head cook, whipping up everything from pancakes to chicken fajitas while galvanizing a team of sous chefs to pitch in.  

The point is, try to isolate a single leadership moment, and bring it to life with vivid details. Describe where you were, what was happening around you, and what you were feeling. Discuss what challenges you faced, and what you ultimately learned from the experience. Don’t shy away from challenges or even failures, since these are exactly the sorts of character-building experiences that can demonstrate resilience and quick thinking.

2. Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.

Things to consider: what does creativity mean to you do you have a creative skill that is important to you what have you been able to do with that skill if you used creativity to solve a problem, what was your solution what are the steps you took to solve the problem, how does your creativity influence your decisions inside or outside the classroom does your creativity relate to your major or a future career.

You may think that this question was geared towards the artistically inclined, but take a closer look. The wording offers many potential definitions that veer away from traditional conceptions of creativity (and actually, it asks you for your personal definition!). Creativity lies in your outlook: seeing the opportunity to use one of your skills in a novel situation; looking at a problem from a new angle to find the solution that no one else could see. This question is, in reality, ideal for the more scientifically oriented to create a more well-rounded profile. Creative types, on the other hand, might want to proceed with caution since, really, every question is an opportunity to show off your talents and describe your artistic endeavors.

No matter who you are, though, remember this classic writing advice: show don’t tell. So, you claim that gardening, or Calculus, or painting is how you show your creative side. Okay. So, then immerse the reader in this activity with you . If you enjoy gardening, describe the plants, their qualities, and how you make your horticultural choices; are you drawn to the aesthetics or are you botanically inquisitive? Similarly, if your subject is Calculus, show the reader how you sat in your dad’s office for six hours straight trying to calculate Pi on a three dozen sheets of paper using red crayon.  If you love to paint, show the reader where you paint, what you paint, and why you paint, describing the colors, textures, materials—the essential process behind your art. Write descriptively so that the reader can feel as if he or she were experiencing your creative passion with you.

3. What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?  

Things to consider: if there’s a talent or skill that you’re proud of, this is the time to share it. you don’t necessarily have to be recognized or have received awards for your talent (although if you did and you want to talk about it, feel free to do so). why is this talent or skill meaningful to you, does the talent come naturally or have you worked hard to develop this skill or talent does your talent or skill allow you opportunities in or outside the classroom if so, what are they and how do they fit into your schedule.

If question 3 reminds you of question 2, you’re not alone. Often, when we talk about a talent or skill that we have honed over the course of a lifetime, we’re inclined to describe it as an art — a creative extension of who we are. So if you choose to respond to both of these questions, make sure to highlight distinct skills in each. 

The good news is: finding your subject should be easy! You just need to answer this question: what makes you proud? Think about the stories that your friends and family like to share about you. Think about moments when your hard work paid off. When you can zero in on an experience that makes your heart swell, you’ll be able to pinpoint your essential subject. If the memory of your first swim meet victory still makes you smile, draw us into your rigorous training schedule; describe the aspects of the sport that motivate you to wake up early and push yourself. What were your challenges? What has this experience taught you? This narrative should have a clear timeline that traces your growth from the past to the present and into the future. How do you plan to further develop your talent in college and/or after college? Show not only that you have grown, but that you will continue to grow as you take your first steps into adulthood.

4. Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.

Things to consider: an educational opportunity can be anything that has added value to your educational experience and better prepared you for college. for example, participation in an honors or academic enrichment program, or enrollment in an academy that’s geared toward an occupation or a major, or taking advanced courses that interest you — just to name a few. , if you choose to write about educational barriers you’ve faced, how did you overcome or strive to overcome them what personal characteristics or skills did you call on to overcome this challenge how did overcoming this barrier help shape who are you today.

This question is tricky because it has two parts. So first break the question down: You can write about either A.) How you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity OR B.) How you have worked to overcome an educational barrier. The “or” is key. You are not being asked to write about both parts of this question. Just write about one.

If you have participated in an afterschool program, internship, honors program, or a special class that was meaningful or inspiring to you, you will want to think about choosing option A.  Maybe it was an afterschool program for young, aspiring lawyers, or an advanced history class that you took at your local community college. This is an opportunity for you to showcase your ambition and highlight the kinds of challenges that engage and excite you. Beyond underscoring an academic interest, reflect on the personal qualities required for you to succeed. And remember to show, not tell! It will save you from accidentally humble-bragging your way through this assignment. 

Now, for option B. If you have worked to overcome a disability, struggled in school because you have a different background than your peers, suffered financial hardship, or something along those lines, you can choose to write about option B. To nail this tricky task, you will need to highlight not only the ways you struggled, but also the qualities that helped you succeed. How would you define yourself? Resilient? Hardworking? Brave? Zero in on a quality that resonates with you, and write targeted descriptions that bring it to life. (No one is going to believe you if you just write, “I am resilient,” and leave it at that.) Lastly, reflect on how this barrier shaped who you are today, and what skills you gained through facing this educational barrier.

5. Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?

Things to consider: a challenge could be personal, or something you have faced in your community or school. why was the challenge significant to you this is a good opportunity to talk about any obstacles you’ve faced and what you’ve learned from the experience. did you have support from someone else or did you handle it alone, if you’re currently working your way through a challenge, what are you doing now, and does that affect different aspects of your life for example, ask yourself, “how has my life changed at home, at my school, with my friends or with my family”.

If you skipped question 4 or chose to write about option A, this question is a gift: a second chance to showcase your resilience in the face of obstacles. On the other hand, if you chose to write about option B in question 4, this might feel redundant. You are free to write about both, but again, proceed with caution and be sure to select a totally different challenge.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: questions that ask you to describe a struggle or failure are really probing for stories about success. What pro-active steps did you take to address the problem at hand? Even if your solution didn’t work out perfectly, what did you learn? In facing this challenge, did you discover a courageous, creative, or hard-working side of yourself? Did you learn something valuable about yourself or others? Highlight the upside. How did this challenge shape who you are today? And how will the skills that you gained dealing with this challenge will help you in college and beyond?

6. Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom. 

Things to consider: many students have a passion for one specific academic subject area, something that they just can’t get enough of. if that applies to you, what have you done to further that interest discuss how your interest in the subject developed and describe any experience you have had inside and outside the classroom — such as volunteer work, internships, employment, summer programs, participation in student organizations and/or clubs — and what you have gained from your involvement., has your interest in the subject influenced you in choosing a major and/or future career have you been able to pursue coursework at a higher level in this subject (honors, ap, ib, college or university work) are you inspired to pursue this subject further at uc, and how might you do that.

If you’ve ever referred to yourself as a “nerd” or “geek”, this question is probably for you. To nail down a topic for this bad boy, you can work in two directions: (1) think about how your favorite academic subject has impacted your extracurricular pursuits, or (2) trace one of your favorite hobbies back to its origins in the classroom. Maybe your love of languages led you to take a job at a coffee shop frequented by multilingual tourists. Or perhaps your now-extensive coin collection was resurrected when you did a research project on ancient Roman currency. Whichever way you go about it, building a bridge between the scholarly and the personal lies at the heart of answering this prompt.

7. What have you done to make your school or your community a better place? 

Things to consider: think of community as a term that can encompass a group, team or a place —like your high school, hometown or home. you can define community as you see fit, just make sure you talk about your role in that community. was there a problem that you wanted to fix in your community, why were you inspired to act what did you learn from your effort how did your actions benefit others, the wider community or both did you work alone or with others to initiate change in your community.

Some backwards advice: When writing about community service, you should always start with yourself. Community service essays are cliché minefields. To avoid drifting into platitudes, you need to ground your writing in the specificity of your life. Don’t start with the action and end with what you learned. Instead, dig into your motivations. If you spent weeks petitioning your school community to raise the hourly wage for custodial staff, what prompted you to act? What assumptions did you have about income inequality and what did you learn about your community in the process? Or, maybe you weren’t too enthused about your community service. Maybe you participated in a soccer-team-mandated day of coaching a pee-wee team. What caused your skepticism? How did you turn the experience around?

Also, don’t just choose a topic that sounds impressive. “This year I acted as the co-chair of the Honors Society, presiding over twenty different cases.” If you didn’t, in fact, really enjoy Honors Society, write about a topic that means something to you instead. Think of a moment where you felt like you made a change in your local community. It can be something small; it does not have to be monumental, but it should mean a great deal to you. Describe the moment, using detail to bring it to life, and then reflect on what that experience taught you, and how you hope to continue these activities in the future.

8. Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?

Things to consider: if there’s anything you want us to know about you, but didn’t find a question or place in the application to tell us, now’s your change. what have you not shared with us that will highlight a skill, talent, challenge or opportunity that you think will help us know you better, from your point of view, what do you feel makes you an excellent choice for uc don’t be afraid to brag a little..

This question is really just what it says it is—an open-ended, choose-your-own-adventure question.  Is there something that you really, really want to tell the UC admissions team that you feel makes you a strong and unique candidate that is not showcased in the other three personal insight questions? As with the other questions, whatever topic you choose, please use detail and description to bring this topic to life for the reader, and include thoughtful reflection on why this topic matters to you. Also, be sure to explain why your chosen topic makes you stand out as a strong candidate for the UC schools, since the question specifically asks you to do that!

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Reflecting on My Thirty Years of Research on Black Music

By Guthrie Ramsey, author of Who Hears Here? On Black Music Pasts and Present

Who Hears Here? is part of the UC Press Phono: Black Music and the Global Imagination series

I wrote the essays in my new book Who Hears Here? On Black Music Pasts and Present over twenty-five years. These writings show, among other things, my participation in the ongoing institutionalization of Black music research over the past thirty years. I began this journey at a moment when the American Musicological Society was forced—by the initiatives of an interracial group of scholars—to confront its exclusionary practices.  As scholar Carol Oja has written, when the AMS’s Committee on Cultural Diversity was formed and began its work to counter sexism and racism in the early 1990s, “[w]omen, people of color, and other minoritized members were mostly absent from the organization’s power structure, including both its elected leaders and awardees of prizes and fellowships.”

On the one hand, one could say that my career and other indicators demonstrate that inroads have been made regarding musicology’s problematic racial history.  On the other hand, urgent ongoing calls for equity and fair practices in the field have been instigated by social media hashtags like #AMSSoWhite and highlight the need for further action. Similarly, other music disciplines have exploded with similar awkward moments in their racial reckonings. This book’s content was written in the pre-social media days up to the present era activism: Black Lives Matter, #metoo, #sayhername, and recent efforts to decolonize the music curriculum.

These essays carry resonances of the conversations I’ve had in bars and hotel rooms during professional conferences, in the deliberations published in the pages of journals and blogs, and in the firestorms that occur on Twitter feeds.  At the same time, this work documents my engagement with the joys that music making and listening inspires—along with my insistence on the undeniable place Black music holds in global cultures.  At a moment when more voices are becoming “unleashed” and adding their songs and stories to the shape of music history, I’m pleased to offer my various takes on the musicians, styles, and topics that have held me spellbound for more than three decades.  I hope you find something of value in  Who Hears Here , the work of an accidental musicologist who wanted to know, among other things, who was doing the hearing, the making, and the explaining.

Save 40% on this title with promo code AMS2022. Click here to browse more American Musicological Society featured titles. 

TAGS: #AMS2022 , #AMS2023 , 9780520281844 , American Musicological Society , Black Music , Guthrie Ramsey , Phono Series , Who Hears Here

CATEGORIES: American Studies , From Our Authors , Music

About the Author

Guthrie Ramsey

A Guggenheim Fellow and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,  Guthrie P. Ramsey, Jr.  is a prize-winning music historian, pianist, composer. He is Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Articles & other writings: home, where to look for articles....

Articles published in music periodicals and essay collections in music can be found using UC Library Search  or specific music literature indexes. The Library at Berkeley offers three major online indexes devoted to current music literature as well as two retrospective indexes. These indexes differ significantly, from the number and types of sources covered to the way they describe and present citations. Although each index, listed below, has an area of relative strength—Music Index, for example, is strongest in the field of music education, IIMP in performance topics, and RILM in musicology—thorough research involves checking more than one when looking for article citations and other literature on music.

Music Literature Indexes

Project Muse .

In addition to the full-text articles from subscription sources listed above, a number of academic journals are freely available online. These e-journals usually have no print equivalent. Relatively few of such e-journal titles, however, have their contents included in the music article citation indexes discussed above—though the number is increasing. Articles in music e-journals are thus difficult to access in comparison to those in traditional print sources or even print sources with electronic, full-text delivery.

eJournal titles of interest in the fields of ethnomusicology, historical musicology and composition—distributed via the Web, with back issues also available online (i.e., 'zines and commercially oriented publications are excluded), and all or substantial portions of the journal content of each is freely accessible (i.e., sites do not simply represent advertising for a print edition of the journal)—may be found by browsing DOAJ, the Directory of Open Access Journals , featuring free, full text, quality controlled scientific and scholarly journals, covering all subjects and many languages.

Historical archives of certain publications may also be available at individual websites, such as music industry sources  Music Trade Review  (1880 - 1933, 1940-1954) and Presto: The American Music Trade Weekly  ( 1920 - 1941) at The International Arcade Museum Library. 

• Last Updated: Jun 23, 2023 10:18 AM
• URL: https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/articles_on_music

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Berkeley Berkeley Academic Guide: Academic Guide 2023-24

Music (music), music r1b reading and writing about music 4 units.

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 This course aims to help students improve their writing skills, taking a particular type of music as its central material. The goal of the course is to help students prepare for academic writing, develop analytical skills appropriate to the subject matter, and receive an introduction to college-level research papers. Depending on the topic the course may include a section of one to two hours for further listening to musical examples in a group setting. Reading and Writing about Music: Read More [+]

Rules & Requirements

Prerequisites: UC Entry Level Writing Requirement and 1A or equivalent

Requirements this course satisfies: Satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition requirement

Hours & Format

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture per week.

Additional Details

Subject/Course Level: Music/Undergraduate

Grading/Final exam status: Alternate method of final assessment during regularly scheduled final exam group (e.g., presentation, final project, etc.).

Reading and Writing about Music: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 14 Vocal Technique 1 Unit

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 A course in basic vocal techniques, only for students in the University Choruses, covering techniques of breathing, pronunciation, and articulation. Vocal Technique: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Restricted to music majors or those enrolled in the University Choruses and consent of instructor

Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1 hour of studio per week

Additional Format: One hour of Studio per week for 15 weeks.

Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.

Formerly known as: Music 410

Vocal Technique: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 20 Introduction to Musicianship 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Summer 2024 8 Week Session, Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session Fundamentals of musicianship, including musical time and pitch space. Conducting, singing, listening, and beginning linear analysis. Introduction to Musicianship: Read More [+]

Summer: 3 weeks - 15 hours of lecture per week 6 weeks - 8 hours of lecture per week 8 weeks - 6 hours of lecture per week

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture per week. Six hours of lecture per week for 8 weeks. Eight hours of lecture per week for 6 weeks. Fifteen hours of lecture per week for three weeks.

Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.

Formerly known as: Music 20A

Introduction to Musicianship: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 24 Freshman Seminar 1 Unit

Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Fall 2014 The Freshman Seminar Program has been designed to provide new students with the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member in a small-seminar setting. Freshman seminars are offered in all campus departments, and topics vary from department to department and semester to semester. Enrollment is limited to 15 freshmen. Freshman Seminar: Read More [+]

Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1 hour of seminar per week

Additional Format: One hour of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.

Grading/Final exam status: The grading option will be decided by the instructor when the class is offered. Final Exam To be decided by the instructor when the class is offered.

Freshman Seminar: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 25 Introduction to Music Theory, Analysis, and Notation 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Summer 2024 3 Week Session, Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session This course introduces students with little or no previous musical experience to the fundamentals of Western music theory, analysis, and notation. After an introduction to basic terminology and how notes, rhythm, meter, tempo, and other expressions are notated, the course covers the fundamentals of music theory and specialized notation for common instruments of the symphony orchestra. The second half of the semester focuses on notational analyses of medieval and renaissance music, jazz, popular music, and twentieth century graphic and electronic music. Introduction to Music Theory, Analysis, and Notation: Read More [+]

Formerly known as: Music 25A

Introduction to Music Theory, Analysis, and Notation: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 26AC Music in American Culture 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session, Fall 2023 Two perspectives are developed: 1) diverse music of groups in America, and 2) American music as a unique phenomenon. Groups considered are African, Asian, European, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American. Lectures and musical examples are organized by topics such as music of socio-economic subgroups within large groups, survival of culture, pan-ethnicity, religious and concert music, and the folk-popular music continuum. Music in American Culture: Read More [+]

Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for MUSIC 26AC after completing MUSIC S26X, or MUSIC W26AC. A deficient grade in MUSIC 26AC may be removed by taking MUSIC W26AC.

Requirements this course satisfies: Satisfies the American Cultures requirement

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 6 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week 8 weeks - 6 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week

Additional Format: Two hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Six hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week for 8 weeks. Six hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week for 6 weeks.

Music in American Culture: Read Less [-]

MUSIC N26AC Music in American Cultures 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2020 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2020 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2019 Second 6 Week Session Two perspectives are developed: 1) diverse music of groups in America, and 2) American music as a unique phenomenon. Groups considered are African, Asian, European, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American. Lectures and musical examples are religious and concert music, and the folk-popular music continuum. Music in American Cultures: Read More [+]

Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for Music N26AC after completing Music 26AC. A deficient grade in Music 26AC may be removed by taking Music N26AC.

Summer: 6 weeks - 8 hours of lecture per week

Additional Format: Eight hours of Lecture per week for 6 weeks.

Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.

Music in American Cultures: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 27 Introduction to Western Music 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2022, Spring 2022 Devoted to the development of listening skills, and a survey of major forms and types of Western art music. Introduction to Western Music: Read More [+]

Summer: 8 weeks - 6 hours of lecture per week

Additional Format: Two hours of Lecture and One hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks. Six hours of Lecture per week for 8 weeks.

Introduction to Western Music: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 28 Listening to Many Musics 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2000, Summer 1996 10 Week Session Opening ears and minds to musical sounds and the people who make them, imparting basic concepts and ways of listening in order to deepen students' experience of music from a variety of cultures, including Western, Middle Eastern, and Southeast Asian traditions (specific traditions may vary depending on instructor). While the emphasis is on listening, students will become physically involved through hands-on workshops. Listening to Many Musics: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of laboratory per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 8 hours of lecture and 2 hours of laboratory per week 8 weeks - 5.5 hours of lecture and 1.5 hours of laboratory per week

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture and one hour of laboratory per week. Five and one-half hours of lecture and one and one-half hours of laboratory per week for 8 weeks. Eight hours of lecture and two hours of laboratory per week for 6 weeks.

Listening to Many Musics: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 29 Music Now 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2024 First 6 Week Session, Spring 2024, Summer 2023 First 6 Week Session This course explores the basic materials and models that set the boundaries for various present-day musical experiences. Students are exposed to terminology and modes of engagement with the aim of inspiring new paradigms of listening (e.g., listening to silence, noise, space, and timbre). Composers and musicians of today continue to explore new ways of defining and organizing sounds into music. The course focuses on the most adventurous music of our time, but the concepts learned can be applied to any style of music. The course is designed to enrich and deepen the students' musical abilities through direct involvement with musical materials. Direct engagement through listening and participatory learning is accomplished in part with software created at the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies. The course does not require students to be able to read music nor to own a personal computer. Music Now: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture and 1 hour of laboratory per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 5.5 hours of lecture and 2.5 hours of laboratory per week

Additional Format: Two hours of Lecture and One hour of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks. Five and one-half hours of Lecture and Two and one-half hours of Laboratory per week for 6 weeks.

Instructors: Campion, Ueno

Music Now: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 30 Computational Creativity for Music and the Arts 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2023, Spring 2022 The advancements in machine learning, especially the recent breakthrough of artificial neural networks, promoted novel art practices in which computers play a fundamental role and fostered research in the field of computational creativity. Music 30 (Computational creativity for music and the arts) aims at exploring the potential that computers have to support, enhance and challenge music creation. The course is divided into three modules. The first module introduces the essential mathematical and machine learning tools and gives a general introduction to sound. The second module shows real applications of creative computing for music. The third module focuses on the connection between the society and computational creativity at large. Computational Creativity for Music and the Arts: Read More [+]

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture and one hour of laboratory per week.

Instructor: Cella

Computational Creativity for Music and the Arts: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 31 Radical Listening 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2022, Spring 2022 Radical Listening (MUS 31) considers music through the lenses of extra-musical epistemologies - aesthetics and philosophies related to culture, memory, identity, gender, etc. Listening to music with such considerations can foster and illuminate personal emotional stakes. Cultivating personal stakes in listening has the benefit of moving us towards a greater capacity for empathy - what we do in our most personal aesthetic spaces can project outwards into how we engage with others, publicly, as caring citizens. Tactically, we will rehearse applying “radical listening” concepts on some of the most ubiquitous and influential music in Western culture in tandem with important, though esoteric, exponents of experimental music (e.g. Vocaloids). Radical Listening: Read More [+]

Additional Format: Two hours of lecture and one hour of laboratory per week.

Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required, with common exam group.

Instructor: Ueno

Radical Listening: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 39M Freshman/Sophomore Seminar 2 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2020, Fall 2013, Fall 2012 Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester. Freshman/Sophomore Seminar: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Priority given to freshmen and sophomores

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2-4 hours of seminar per week

Additional Format: Two to four hours of seminar per week.

Grading/Final exam status: The grading option will be decided by the instructor when the class is offered. Final exam required.

Freshman/Sophomore Seminar: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 40 Group Carillon Lessons for Beginning Students 1 Unit

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 A course designed for students who wish to attain a beginner's level of proficiency on the carillon. Prospective students must have a working knowledge of the keyboard, read treble and bass clefs fluently, be secure in key signatures through three sharps and flats, and be comfortable with common duple and triple meters. Group Carillon Lessons for Beginning Students: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1 hour of laboratory per week

Additional Format: One hour of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.

Instructor: Davis

Group Carillon Lessons for Beginning Students: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 41A Private Carillon Lessons for Beginning Students 1 Unit

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Private carillon lessons to develop a personal repertory. In this course, students will begin to learn different practice techniques. Private Carillon Lessons for Beginning Students: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 40 or consent of instructor

Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit up to a total of 6 units.

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - .5 hours of laboratory per week

Additional Format: One half-hour lesson every week, plus participation in the student recital.

Private Carillon Lessons for Beginning Students: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 41B Private Carillon Lessons for Intermediate Students 1 Unit

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Private carillon lessons stressing musical questions and de-emphasizing technical and repertory issues. Composition and arranging may be included. Personal musicianship is examined and musical horizons are extended. Private Carillon Lessons for Intermediate Students: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 41A or consent of instructor

Additional Format: One-half hour lesson per week, one 10-minute concert each week, plus participation in the student recital.

Instructor: Jeff Davis

Private Carillon Lessons for Intermediate Students: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 41C Private Carillon Lessons for Advanced Students 2 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2014, Spring 2013 This course is designed for students to reach an advanced level of proficiency. Students are required to play one ten-minute concert per week plus participate in the student recital. Private Carillon Lessons for Advanced Students: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 41A, 41B, and/or consent of instructor

Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit up to a total of 12 units.

Additional Format: One hour of laboratory per week.

Formerly known as: 42

Private Carillon Lessons for Advanced Students: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 42 Carillon Lessons for Advanced Students 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 This course is a requirement for those students who are studying for examination by the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America. Carillon Lessons for Advanced Students: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 41A, 41B, or consent of instructor

Carillon Lessons for Advanced Students: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 44 Voice Class 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2024 Students will learn the fundaments of healthy singing. The classical style will be learned and applied to other styles of singing. Students will receive group instruction and individual feedback throughout the semester. Singers will perform two solos: one in English and one in a foreign language. The course is open to all undergraduates. Students involved in campus vocal ensembles are encouraged to enroll. No prior music experience required. Voice Class: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Students must undergo an initial vocal assessment in the first class session before being admitted into the class

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of studio per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 5 hours of studio per week

Additional Format: Two hours of Studio per week for 15 weeks. Five hours of Studio per week for 6 weeks.

Instructor: Johnson

Voice Class: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 45 Beginning Piano Class 1 for Non-Music Majors 1 Unit

Terms offered: Summer 2024 10 Week Session, Summer 2023 10 Week Session, Summer 2022 10 Week Session Piano instruction includes music theory (musical notation, triads, scales and primary chords) at the keyboard. Repertoire draws from simple classical pieces and melodies accompanied with chords. Mastery of the material will be demonstrated at the keyboard and through three written assignments. Weekly class attendance and daily practice (5 hours weekly) are expected. Beginning Piano Class 1 for Non-Music Majors: Read More [+]

Summer: 8 weeks - 2 hours of studio per week 10 weeks - 1.5 hours of studio per week

Additional Format: One and one-half hours of studio per week for 10 weeks. Two hours of studio per week for 8 weeks.

Instructor: Chew

Beginning Piano Class 1 for Non-Music Majors: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 45A Advanced Beginning Piano Class for Non-Music Majors 1 Unit

Terms offered: Summer 2018 10 Week Session, Summer 2017 10 Week Session, Summer 2016 10 Week Session Continuing from MUSIC 45 , pianists will build on their musical skills through understanding music theory. Course covers minor scales (relative/parallel keys; three forms of the minor scale; primary chords in minor scales), chord inversions, chord progressions, and dominant seventh chords. Repertoire will include classical works and music suggested by students. Weekly class attendance and daily practice (five hours weekly) are expected. Advanced Beginning Piano Class for Non-Music Majors: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: MUSIC 45 or instructor approval

Advanced Beginning Piano Class for Non-Music Majors: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 45M Elementary Piano 1 Unit

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Two semesters are strongly recommended for music majors who lack the basic keyboard skills needed for musicianship and harmony classes. Elementary Piano: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Restricted to music majors by audition

Grading/Final exam status: Offered for pass/not pass grade only. Alternative to final exam.

Formerly known as: Music 405

Elementary Piano: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 46 Fundamentals of Guitar Performance 2 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2024 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2023 Second 6 Week Session Fundamentals of guitar performance, including tuning, basic pitch and rhythm reading, melody and chord playing. Fundamentals of Guitar Performance: Read More [+]

Summer: 6 weeks - 5 hours of lecture per week

Additional Format: Five hours of lecture per week for 6 weeks.

Instructor: Hough

Fundamentals of Guitar Performance: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 48 Introduction to Music Therapy 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 This course is designed to introduce students to the field of music therapy with an overview of: what music therapy is, bases for uses of music in therapy, key theoretical models of music therapy, and clinical applications of music therapy with various populations. Through didactic and experiential assignments and classroom discussions, we will create a collaborative and process-oriented learning environment. Pre-requisites: Open to all interested students. Introduction to Music Therapy: Read More [+]

Objectives & Outcomes

Course Objectives: •Students will learn definitions of music therapy and be able to define music therapy in their own words. •Students will understand the rationale for the use of music in therapy. •Students will gain a foundational understanding of various music therapy treatment models and approaches. •Students will gain an understanding of the application of music therapy with various populations.

Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternate method of final assessment during regularly scheduled final exam group (e.g., presentation, final project, etc.).

Introduction to Music Therapy: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 52A Musicianship I 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021 Diatonic sight singing, ear training, and keyboard harmony. Musicianship I: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Music Placement Examination

Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for Music 52A after completing Music 52B. Students cannot receive credit for 52A after having completed 49B.

Musicianship I: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 52B Musicianship II 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021 Continuation of diatonic sight singing and ear training, introduction to chromatic sight singing, ear training, keyboard harmony, and score reading. Musicianship II: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Advanced placement in Music Placement Exam or successful completion of Music 52A

Credit Restrictions: Students cannot receive credit for 52B after having completed 50.

Musicianship II: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 57 Introduction to Electronic Music Composition 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Summer 2024 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session This course provides a gateway to the more advanced music and technology curriculum including the Music 158 series and is open to non-majors and majors alike. Basic concepts and techniques of electronic music composition and sonic art are presented. Compositional etudes are accomplished using models and techniques drawn from the history of electronic music including present day digital music practices. Formal problems and aesthetics related to sound design and the shaping of electronic sound are studied. Core topics in audio and digital signal processing are covered with a focus on hands-on experience using delays, echos, filters and equalization, samples, noise, and related sound materials. Introduction to Electronic Music Composition: Read More [+]

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture per week. Eight hours of lecture per week for 6 weeks.

Introduction to Electronic Music Composition: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 70 History of Music 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Introduction to the study of music history; required for music majors. This writing-intensive course offers an in-depth study of musical genres and styles in relation to conditions of production and reception. Through listening, reading musical scores, and studying historical documents, students will draw connections between specific features of music and the ways in which listening, performance, and the function of music have changed over t ime. History of Music: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Must have taken and passed the Musicianship Placement Exam; be fluent in reading music notation; or have consent of instructor

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week.

History of Music: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 80 Studies of Musics of the World 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Spring 2023 Studies of selected traditional and popular musical practices from an ethnomusicological perspective. Taking into account local, regional, and transnational connections among the selected practices, this will include approaches to music making and listening, relevant music theory, issues of identity and power, connections to ritual, dance, and theater, and social, economic, and aesthetic values. Topic and geocultural area will vary. Music majors should take this course in the first two years of the bachelor degree program if at all possible, but no later than their junior year. Transfer students must take the course in their junior year. Studies of Musics of the World: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Music majors and intended music majors only

Summer: 6 weeks - 8 hours of lecture and 2 hours of discussion per week

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Eight hours of lecture and two hours of discussion per week for 6 weeks.

Studies of Musics of the World: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 90 Making Music 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Introduction to creative music research, theory and practice. Making Music: Read More [+]

Making Music: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 97 Field Studies 1 - 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016 Department organized and supervised field programs involving experiences in tutoring and related activities. Students taking the course for the first time will be provided with training suitable to the subject matter being tutored. Field Studies: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Music major

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-3 hours of fieldwork per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 2.5-7.5 hours of fieldwork per week 8 weeks - 1.5-5.5 hours of fieldwork per week 10 weeks - 1.5-4.5 hours of fieldwork per week

Additional Format: One to three hours of fieldwork per week. One and one-half to four and one-half hours of fieldwork per week for 10 weeks. One and one-half to five and one-half hours of fieldwork per week for 8 weeks. Two and one-half to seven and one-half hours of fieldwork per week for 6 weeks.

Grading/Final exam status: Offered for pass/not pass grade only. Final exam not required.

Field Studies: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 98 Directed Group Study for Freshmen and Sophomores 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015 Group study in a field that may not coincide with that of any regular course. See the Introduction to Courses and Curricula section of the General Catalog for enrollment restrictions. Directed Group Study for Freshmen and Sophomores: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Lower division standing and consent of instructor

Credit Restrictions: Enrollment is restricted; see the section on Academic Policies-Course Number Guide in the Berkeley Guide.

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-4 hours of directed group study per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 2.5-10 hours of directed group study per week 8 weeks - 2-7.5 hours of directed group study per week

Additional Format: One to four hours of directed group study per week. Two to seven and one-half hours of directed group study per week for 8 weeks. Two and one-half to ten hours of directed group study per week for 6 weeks.

Directed Group Study for Freshmen and Sophomores: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 98BC Berkeley Connect 1 Unit

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Berkeley Connect is a mentoring program, offered through various academic departments, that helps students build intellectual community. Over the course of a semester, enrolled students participate in regular small-group discussions facilitated by a graduate student mentor (following a faculty-directed curriculum), meet with their graduate student mentor for one-on-one academic advising, attend lectures and panel discussions featuring department faculty and alumni, and go on field trips to campus resources. Students are not required to be declared majors in order to participate. Berkeley Connect: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1 hour of lecture per week

Additional Format: One hour of lecture per week.

Berkeley Connect: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 99 Independent Study for Freshmen and Sophomores 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2022, Fall 2018, Spring 2016 Directed individual study in a field that may not coincide with that of any regular course. See the Introduction to Courses and Curricula section of the General Catalog for enrollment restrictions. Independent Study for Freshmen and Sophomores: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-4 hours of independent study per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 2.5-10 hours of independent study per week 8 weeks - 2-7.5 hours of independent study per week

Additional Format: One to four hours of independent study per week. Two to seven and one-half hours of independent study per week for 8 weeks. Two and one-half to ten hours of independent study per week for 6 weeks.

Independent Study for Freshmen and Sophomores: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 105 Introduction to Music Production using Ableton Live 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2024 This course will cover the fundamentals of music production, including (but not limited to): the science of sound, signal flow and recording chain, intro to various Digital Audio Workstations (Logic, Reaper, Pro Tools, Garage Band and the differences between them), with a focus on music production using Ableton Live, effects processing, and mixing and mastering. If time and interest allow, basics of Max for Live. This course is best suited for those with little to no experience with DAWs or Ableton. Introduction to Music Production using Ableton Live: Read More [+]

Course Objectives: Provide a strong conceptual foundation and technical skill set when using Ableton Live and comfort using common Digital Audio Workstation interfaces, with emphasis on producing original music using a variety of setups, troubleshooting, and listening to/discussing other students’ tracks using musical vocabulary.

Student Learning Outcomes: Create at least 4 dynamic and thoughtful tracks in Ableton from start to finish using any combination of recorded audio and MIDI clips. These tracks will demonstrate progressively advanced production techniques within the style(s) of music that students are interested in. Demonstrate an increased awareness and use of musical terminology when discussing their own and other students’ tracks, based on an overview of relevant music theory concepts (writing chord progressions, rhythm and syncopation exercises). Select a microphone (from a given list) to use in various recording contexts (which are based on the student setups in the class). If no fellow student setups allow, common recording studio contexts (i.e. 5 piece band, acoustic duo). Set up and check from start to finish an Ableton Live session using their personal setup (could include analog/MIDI devices, microphones, acoustic instruments) or if none of the above, a setup with built in microphone and laptop MIDI keyboard. This includes recording and editing MIDI and Audio clips in both Session and Arrangement view while understanding the differences between them. Understand and apply basic mixing and mastering techniques and plugins available in Ableton, including but not limited to: compression, EQ, delay, and reverb and the use of return tracks.

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2-2 hours of lecture and 2-2 hours of laboratory per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 5-5 hours of lecture and 5-5 hours of laboratory per week

Additional Format: Two hours of lecture and two hours of laboratory per week. Five hours of lecture and five hours of laboratory per week for 6 weeks.

Formerly known as: Music 160

Introduction to Music Production using Ableton Live: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 106 Electronic Music Production & History 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2024 First 6 Week Session, Spring 2024, Summer 2023 Second 6 Week Session Students will explore the fundamentals of music production using Ableton Live 11 and participate in group discussions about genres, electronic music history, bay area hip hop, remixing, sound design concepts, and audio career options. This course is recommended for students who desire to learn about the creative process within Ableton Live 11 and have beginning experience with other digital audio workstations or hardware. Electronic Music Production & History: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture and 2 hours of laboratory per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 5 hours of lecture and 5 hours of laboratory per week

Electronic Music Production & History: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 107 Independent Projects in Computer Music 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2020 Students will develop, in consultation with the instructor, a semester length project that focuses on creating a piece of music, and/or researching and building new software tools for music. Independent Projects in Computer Music: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Completion of Music 158A with letter grade of A or A+ and consent of instructor

Instructor: Campion

Independent Projects in Computer Music: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 108 Music Perception and Cognition 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 A review of the sensory, perceptual, and cognitive foundations of listening, performing, and composing. Topics include relations among various acoustical and perceptual characterizations of sound; perceptions of pitch, time, temporal relations, timbre, stability conditions, and auditory space; auditory scene analysis and perceptual grouping mechanisms; perceptual principles for melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic organization; orchestration as spectral composition. A course research project is required. Music Perception and Cognition: Read More [+]

Music Perception and Cognition: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 108M Music Perception and Cognition 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021 A review of the sensory, perceptual, and cognitive foundations of listening, performing, and composing. Topics include relations among various acoustical and perceptual characterizations of sound; perceptions of pitch, time, temporal relations, timbre, stability conditions, and auditory space; auditory scene analysis and perceptual grouping mechanisms; perceptual principles for melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic organization; orchestration as spectral composition. This course is restricted to declared Music Majors. These students will hold an individual meeting with the instructor to insure that their final projects are aligned closely with their musical skills and other coursework in the major. A course research project is required. Music Perception and Cognition: Read More [+]

MUSIC 109 Music Cognition: The Mind Behind the Musical Ear 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018 The goal of this class is to interrogate and make explicit the powerful musical intuitions that are at work as you make sense of the music all around you. What is the nature of the knowledge that is guiding these intuitions? How does this knowledge develop in ordinary and extraordinary ways? To approach these questions, small composition-like projects aided by a specially designed computer music environment will function as a workplace. You will explore, experiment, question, and reflect on how and what you know how to do as you generate the musical coherence that you seem simply to find. Music Cognition: The Mind Behind the Musical Ear: Read More [+]

Instructor: Bamberger

Music Cognition: The Mind Behind the Musical Ear: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 109M Music Cognition: The Mind Behind the Musical Ear 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018 The goal of this class is to interrogate and make explicit the powerful musical intuitions that are at work as you make sense of the music all around you. What is the nature of the knowledge that is guiding these intuitions? How does this knowledge develop in ordinary and extraordinary ways? To approach these questions, small composition-like projects aided by a specially designed computer music environment will function as a workplace. Music Cognition: The Mind Behind the Musical Ear: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Music majors only

Additional Format: Three hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.

MUSIC 116 Improvisation in the Jazz Tradition 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Theory and practical experience in the art of musical improvisation, through study and internalization of the Black American music known as jazz. This is a class for acquiring knowledge and skills necessary for improvising in the jazz tradition, with the goal of creating a personal and ensemble language. Areas of study include transcription, harmonic analysis, melodic research, and composition. We will study the work of practitioners from across the history of jazz, such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Mary Lou Williams, Thelonious Monk, Sun Ra, and Steve Lacy. Open to both music majors and non-majors by audition at the start of term. Improvisation in the Jazz Tradition: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: This class is open to both music majors and non-majors by audition at the beginning of the term. Prospective students should be able to demonstrate proficiency on their instrument, have taken one year of university-level music theory or the equivalent, and possess a keen interest in jazz and improvised music

Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit up to a total of 2 times.

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of studio per week

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture and one hour of studio per week.

Instructor: Goldberg

Improvisation in the Jazz Tradition: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 128 Topics in the History of Music 3 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2024 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2024 For majors and non-majors. A study of issues in the history of music and sound. Topic will vary from class to class. Topics in the History of Music: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Music 27, Music 70 or consent of instructor

Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes. Students may enroll in multiple sections of this course within the same semester.

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-3 hours of lecture and 0-1 hours of discussion per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 8-8 hours of lecture and 0-2 hours of discussion per week 8 weeks - 6-6 hours of lecture and 0-2 hours of discussion per week

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture and zero to one hours of discussion per week. Six hours of lecture and zero to two hours of discussion per week for 8 weeks. Eight hours of lecture and zero to two hours of discussion per week for 6 weeks.

Topics in the History of Music: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 128A Opera 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2016 A study of musical and dramatic aspects of opera. Lectures on selected operas will be supplemented by assigned recordings and films or videotapes of notable performances. Opera: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 27 or consent of instructor

Opera: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 128AM Opera 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2020, Fall 2016, Fall 2015 A study of musical and dramatic aspects of opera. Lectures on selected operas will be supplemented by assigned recordings and films or videotapes of notable performances. Analytical studies and a term paper required. Opera: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 61B, and 75 or 76. Restricted to music majors

Credit Restrictions: Students will not receive credit for 128AM after taking 128A.

MUSIC 128B Beethoven 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2015, Spring 2013 This course is an introduction to Beethoven's music and its historical contexts. While closely analyzing individual works, this course also examines how Beethoven and his music have been represented and interpreted until our own day, exploring the values--musical and cultural--that have ensured Beethoven's towering position in Western music. Beethoven: Read More [+]

Beethoven: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 128BM Beethoven 3 Units

Prerequisites: Restricted to music majors

Instructor: Mathew

MUSIC 128D J. S. Bach 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2012, Summer 2011 8 Week Session, Spring 2009 An introduction to the music of J. S. Bach (1685-1750), a central figure in the history of Western Art Music. The course includes discussion of his organ music, harpsichord works, cantatas, Passion settings, and instrumental chamber music, discusses the relationship between Bach's biography and his compositions, and places study of the man and his music in its cultural and historical context. Required work will include one short paper and one longer paper. There will also be weekly reading and listening assignments. J. S. Bach: Read More [+]

Summer: 6 weeks - 8 hours of lecture per week 8 weeks - 6 hours of lecture per week

Additional Format: Three hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks. Six hours of Lecture per week for 8 weeks. Eight hours of Lecture per week for 6 weeks.

J. S. Bach: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 128DM J. S. Bach 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2012, Summer 2011 8 Week Session, Spring 2009 An introduction to the music of J. S. Bach (1685-1750), a central figure in the history of Western Art Music. The course includes discussion of his organ music, harpsichord works, cantatas, Passion settings, and instrumental chamber music, discusses the relationship between Bach's biography and his compositions, and places study of the man and his music in its cultural and historical context. Required work will include one medium-length paper, one longer research paper, and one analytical study. There will also be weekly reading and listening assignments. J. S. Bach: Read More [+]

MUSIC 128E Mozart and Haydn 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2011, Spring 1998, Fall 1995 Mozart and Haydn: Read More [+]

Mozart and Haydn: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 128Q The European/American Art Song 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2008, Spring 2005, Spring 2001 A study of song and the interaction of poetry and music, from late 18th through the 20th century, with texts in English, German, French, and Russian in translation. Music by composers ranging from Mozart and Schubert to Gershwin and Bernstein will be included, with occasional live performances by local artists. The European/American Art Song: Read More [+]

The European/American Art Song: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 128R History of Jazz in America 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2023 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2021 Second 6 Week Session A survey of jazz music from the 1920's through the 1980's covering the major stylistic periods, including the New Orleans and Chicago styles of the 1920's, big band jazz, bebop, hardbop, free jazz, fusion, and neo-classicism. Major innovators to be studies in depth include Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman. History of Jazz in America: Read More [+]

Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5 hours of lecture per week

Additional Format: Three hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks. Seven and one-half hours of Lecture per week for 6 weeks.

History of Jazz in America: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 128RM History of Jazz in America 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2021 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2020 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2019 Second 6 Week Session A survey of jazz music from the 1920's through the 1980's covering the major stylistic periods, including the New Orleans and Chicago styles of the 1920's, big band jazz, bebop, hardbop, free jazz, fusion, and neo-classicism. Major innovators to be studies in depth include Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman. Satisfies music major elective requirement. History of Jazz in America: Read More [+]

MUSIC 128S Topics in Contemporary Improvised Music 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2010, Fall 2008, Spring 2007 Topic(s) in contemporary improvised music will be selected from among the following: innovations in jazz in the 1960s; further innovations in jazz in the 1970s; women in improvised music; improvisation, intermedia, and new technologies; the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM); the phenomenon of the composer/performer/improviser in today's music; a global look at improvisation: fusion and hybrid forms. Please contact instructor for information on current topic(s). Topics in Contemporary Improvised Music: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Jazz history recommended, though not required

Instructor: Melford

Topics in Contemporary Improvised Music: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 128SM Topics in Contemporary Improvised Music 3 Units

Music 128t the american musical 3 units.

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Summer 2017 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2016 Second 6 Week Session A study of the American musical in the 20th century, beginning with its roots in operetta, vaudeville, and Gilbert and Sullivan, and focusing on its connections to politics, technology, film, opera, and a variety of musical styles, including Tin Pan Alley, jazz, and rock. We will consider a selection of shows through a series of theme units, including American mythologies (and counter-mythologies) , race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, issues of fandom and performance of personal identity. For non-majors. The American Musical: Read More [+]

Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5 hours of lecture per week 8 weeks - 5.5-6 hours of lecture per week

Additional Format: Three hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks. Five and one-half to Six hours of Lecture per week for 8 weeks. Seven and one-half hours of Lecture per week for 6 weeks.

Instructor: Replogle-Wong

The American Musical: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 128TM The American Musical 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Summer 2017 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2016 Second 6 Week Session A study of the American musical in the 20th century, beginning with its roots in operetta, vaudeville, and Gilbert and Sullivan, and focusing on its connections to politics, technology, film, opera, and a variety of musical styles, including Tin Pan Alley, jazz, and rock. We will consider a selection of shows through a series of theme units, including American mythologies (and countermythologies), race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, issues of fandom, and performance of personal identity. For music majors. The American Musical: Read More [+]

MUSIC 128V Songs and Song-writing 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017 Songs can mark occasions, convey emotions, and create communities. We’ll explore the ways songs produce the different effects and impact that they do. We’ll analyze the qualities and moods created by melody and rhythm, the singing voice, phrasing and form. The aim is to develop a critical understanding and vocabulary about song—an awareness that will be applicable to the papers you write and the music you create. By the end of the term students will have written and recorded original songs and learned how to listen closely to and write about music. Assignments and discussion will emphasize keen listening, the challenge of describing musical experiences in writing, and developing creativity through engagement with song-writing. Songs and Song-writing: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar and 1 hour of discussion per week

Additional Format: Three hours of seminar and one hour of discussion per week.

Instructor: Smart

Songs and Song-writing: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 128VM Songs and Song-writing 4 Units

Music 128x topics in the history of european and american music 4 units.

Terms offered: Fall 2019 This course is intended, above all else, to create the circumstances in which we will each independently develop as intimate a relationship as we can with Beethoven’s music. With an open mind and a bit of application, we ought to become well-acquainted with several of his compositions, extremely friendly with others, and perhaps even head over heals in love with a couple of them. We’ll be seeking to understand this music through attentive listening and close technical description, but also by looking at the historical environments in which it was composed, performed, and heard. For that reason, we’re going to take a roughly chronological route through Beethoven’s life and works. Topics in the History of European and American Music: Read More [+]

Topics in the History of European and American Music: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 128Z The Shape of Jazz to Come: Innovations in Jazz from 1959-1969 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016 The decade from 1959-1969 was tremendously exciting in the evolution of Jazz. The experimentation with freedom principles and hybrid forms, the influences of African and Indian musical traditions, the larger socio-cultural revolution, and the rise of the Black Nationalist Movement all contributed to the making of a very potent and creative body of work which continues to influence many contemporary music and art scenes throughout the world today. Through lecture, guided listening, discussion, short papers and research projects, we’ll examine the acknowledged conventions in jazz pre-1960, how those conventions were transformed in various ways throughout the 60s, and how the new practices continue to influence artists today. The Shape of Jazz to Come: Innovations in Jazz from 1959-1969: Read More [+]

The Shape of Jazz to Come: Innovations in Jazz from 1959-1969: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 128ZM The Shape of Jazz to Come: Innovations in Jazz from 1959-1969 3 Units

Prerequisites: Restricted to Music majors. Jazz history recommended, though not required

Credit Restrictions: Students will not receive credit for 128ZM after taking 128Z.

MUSIC 130B African American Music 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2009, Spring 2009, Spring 2006 Historical and analytical study of African-American music in the 20th-century. Emphasis on the evolution of jazz and various forms of popular and religious music. African American Music: Read More [+]

Additional Format: Three hours of Lecture and One hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.

Instructor: Roberts

African American Music: Read Less [-]

MUSIC N130B African American Music 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2014 First 6 Week Session Historical and analytical study of African-American music in the 20th-century. Emphasis on the evolution of jazz and various forms of popular and religious music. African American Music: Read More [+]

Additional Format: Eight hours of lecture per week for 6 weeks.

MUSIC 131 Musics of Latin America 4 Units

Terms offered: Not yet offered This course considers select musical practices stemming from Latin America and its diasporic communities. Focusing on the 20th and 21st centuries, but tracing longer historical threads, we will study musics that go from the “folkloric” to the “popular,” the local to the transnational, and from south to north of the American continent. We will address these practices at the intersection of the “musical” and “cultural.” We will delve into historical and site-specific issues of race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, migration, media capitalism, and power. We will query the role music has played in processes of identity formation and un/belonging in the context of Latin America and the communities this loaded signifier includes/excludes. Musics of Latin America: Read More [+]

Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for MUSIC 131 after completing MUSIC 131 . A deficient grade in MUSIC 131 may be removed by taking MUSIC 131 .

Instructor: Rubio Restrepo

Musics of Latin America: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 131B Cumbia: Music, Difference, and Circulation in the Americas 4 Units

Terms offered: Not yet offered Cumbia is a music found throughout the American continent. Though particular types of cumbia are found in most countries, they differ musically and contextually. This class focuses on local cumbia practices in and outside the Americas. Tracing its musical similarities and differences, as well as the circulation networks through which it has spread, the class disentangles cumbia’s convoluted genealogy and considers its many manifestations within their geopolitical backdrop. Along the way, it also offers an overview of relevant sociopolitical issues in 20th and 21st century Latin America. Cumbia: Music, Difference, and Circulation in the Americas: Read More [+]

Cumbia: Music, Difference, and Circulation in the Americas: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 131C Musics in the US-Mexico Borderlands 4 Units

Terms offered: Not yet offered This course considers a wide variety of musical practices emanating/taking place in Mexico and the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. An interdisciplinary course, it critically engages with issues of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, media, migration, and trans/nationalism by focusing on specific music practices and artists. We will cross the border often and cover musics that go from the “folkloric” to the “popular,” the nationalistic and the “regional,” and the local to the transnational. We will emphasize developing critical reading and writing skills via readings and writing assignments. Musics in the US-Mexico Borderlands: Read More [+]

Musics in the US-Mexico Borderlands: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 132 Music of the Middle East 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2009, Spring 2007 Music of the Middle East, including folk, art, popular, and religious music of the Pan-Islamic and Israeli traditions. Music of the Middle East: Read More [+]

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture and one hour of laboratory (devoted to playing Arabic music) per week.

Instructor: Brinner

Music of the Middle East: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 133C Music and Theater in Southeast Asia 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2022, Fall 2014, Fall 2012 Surveys musical traditions of Indonesia and mainland Southeast Asia with special emphasis on Java and Bali and the central role of music in theater and dance in these countries. Music and Theater in Southeast Asia: Read More [+]

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture and one hour of laboratory (devoted to playing Balinese and Javanese Gamelan) per week.

Instructor: Gold

Formerly known as: 133A

Music and Theater in Southeast Asia: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 133D Music of Central Java 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2009, Fall 2005, Spring 2001 In-depth study of the Central Javanese gamelan tradition including performance contexts, repertoire, vocal and instrumental idioms, modal practice and improvisation in current practice and in historical perspective. Music of Central Java: Read More [+]

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture and one hour of laboratory (devoted to playing the Javanese Gamelan) per week.

Music of Central Java: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 134C Popular Musics in Transnational Asia 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 1997 This course explores the complex webs and flows of historical and contemporary transnational musical exchanges of Asian/Asian American popular music in the 20th and 21st centuries. For each musical practice, we will give attention to the histories of violence, im/migration, contested claims about national identity, and technological development that have produced the conditions in which the particular music was created. Resisting a monolithic imagination or understanding of “Asia,” this course will show how popular musical practices enable us to “hear” a dynamic production of Asia through hidden histories, memories, distant places, social differences, struggles, and innovations that go far beyond geographic national borders. Popular Musics in Transnational Asia: Read More [+]

Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for MUSIC 134C after completing MUSIC 134C , or MUSIC 134C . A deficient grade in MUSIC 134C may be removed by taking MUSIC 134C , or MUSIC 134C .

Instructor: Abe

Popular Musics in Transnational Asia: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 134D Music and Social Protest 4 Units

Terms offered: Not yet offered The course explores the intersection of music, politics, and social transformation through a survey of ethnographic accounts of musical protest from the US to Egypt, South Africa, Chile, Japan, and beyond. Examples will include songs that critique gender, class, and racial inequalities, violence, environmental damage, greed, complacency, and the notion of “protest music” itself. Students will examine what the function, potential, and limits of musical protest have been in transforming civic life; the role of musical sounds in mediating and contesting oppressive regimes, structural inequalities, and social injustice; and how music might offer creative rethinking of the relationship between critical attention, compassion, and commitment. Music and Social Protest: Read More [+]

Music and Social Protest: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 135 Listening to Musics of the World 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2001, Fall 1999, Spring 1996 This course offers an introductory survey of musical practices in four selected regions of the world. Students will cultivate critical listening skills and open-minded/eared sensibilities to appreciate diverse approaches to music making. Performing artists will be invited to give an interactive, hands-on workshop on music/dance for each area, providing an opportunity for students to gain embodied insights into the musical practice under discussion. Students will also be introduced to basic musical concepts and terminologies, and acquire listening skills that will enable them to better encounter and understand music in this course and beyond. Final project will take the form of a mini local ethnography or a research paper. Listening to Musics of the World: Read More [+]

Listening to Musics of the World: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 135A Musics of the Caribbean 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2014, Spring 2012, Spring 2010 Focus on the history, musical structure, and socio-political, economic, and cultural roles of selected traditional and popular music genres of the Caribbean. Musics of the Caribbean: Read More [+]

Instructor: Guilbault

Musics of the Caribbean: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 138 Sound, Music, and Ecology 4 Units

Terms offered: Not yet offered How might critical attention to sound and music yield a new insight into the interactions among societies and their environment? This course will examine how the ecological relationships between humans and their surroundings are expressed, sustained, and sometimes challenged through musical sounds. From bird songs in the rain forest to songs of the indigenous land rights movement in Australia, students will investigate how sonic/musical creativities have intersected with the production, preservation, or destruction of ecologies—natural, social, cultural, or otherwise. We will focus on the social and political issues around environmental resources, and the role of the arts (especially music) in relation to conflicts and power relations. Sound, Music, and Ecology: Read More [+]

Sound, Music, and Ecology: Read Less [-]

MUSIC C138 Art and Activism 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019 This course explores the intersections between aesthetic practice and social change. Students will investigate—in both theory and practice—the capacity of art making to cultivate transformation of themselves, their relationships, their practices, their institutions, and the larger economic and socio-political structures in which they function, locally and globally. Focusing on historical and contemporary artists and political issues, we ask: 1) How is art impacted by social change? 2) How has art been used toward social change? and 3) How can we, as course participants, use art to bring about social change? Art and Activism: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week

Additional Format: Three hours of seminar per week.

Instructors: Lucas, Roberts

Also listed as: L & S C138

Art and Activism: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 139 Topics in Musics of the World 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2024 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2024 Surveys the music and music making of different world cultures outside the United States, with a focus on current issues in the arts, culture, and society. Such issues can include the impact of government polices on the arts, transnational circulation, intellectual property rights, as well as the current movements in the arts ranging from popular styles to cutting-edge contemporary experimentation. The particular culture to be studied will vary. Topics in Musics of the World: Read More [+]

Summer: 6 weeks - 8 hours of lecture and 2 hours of laboratory per week

Additional Format: Three hours of Lecture and One hour of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks. Eight hours of Lecture and Two hours of Laboratory per week for 6 weeks.

Topics in Musics of the World: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 140 Javanese Gamelan 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Summer 2024 First 6 Week Session, Spring 2024 A performing course for the study and practice of Indonesian music and instruments. Javanese Gamelan: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of studio per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5 hours of studio per week

Additional Format: Seven and one half hours of large ensemble per week for six weeks. Three hours of large ensemble per week.

Javanese Gamelan: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 141 University Symphony Orchestra 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 May be taken for credit or audited. University Symphony Orchestra: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Audition

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4 hours of studio per week

Summer: 8 weeks - 5 hours of studio per week

Additional Format: Four hours of rehearsal per week.

Instructor: Milnes

University Symphony Orchestra: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 142 University Wind Ensemble 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 A performing course for the study and practice of traditional and contemporary wind band repertoire. University Wind Ensemble: Read More [+]

Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction. Students may enroll in multiple sections of this course within the same semester.

University Wind Ensemble: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 143 Gospel Chorus 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 A course that will focus on the performance of choral music of the African American gospel music tradition with a particular emphasis on contemporary performance techniques. The Gospel Chorus, as is the case with other formal University music performance ensembles, will prepare music to be presented to the public in at least two concerts each semester. Students will be selected for the chorus on the basis of individual auditions. Gospel Chorus: Read More [+]

Additional Format: Three hours of studio per week. Seven and one-half hours of studio per week for 6 weeks.

Instructor: Wilson

Gospel Chorus: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 144 University Chorus 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 The University Chorus performs music primarily from the 17th to the 20th centuries including works for chorus and orchestra. University Chorus: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of studio and 1 hour of discussion per week

Additional Format: Three hours of rehearsal and one hour of sectional rehearsal per week.

Instructor: Kuzma

University Chorus: Read Less [-]

MUSIC N144 Chorus Summer Workshop 1 Unit

Terms offered: Prior to 2007 This is a three-week intensive choral workshop where singers will learn a program set and give a concert performance at the end of the term. This workshop will be in conjunction with the Summer Conducting Workshop, where multiple active conductors and the master teacher will be working closely with the chorus during the last two weeks of the three-week term. Chorus Summer Workshop: Read More [+]

Course Objectives: Objectives: ● To develop sight-reading skills within choral context. ● To develop oral communication skills through tone quality, phrasing, expression, diction, dynamics and active listening. ● To develop the skill of singing independently and cooperatively in a group. ● To develop students’ flexibility to work with different conductors.

Prerequisites: Audition required

Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with instructor consent.

Summer: 3 weeks - 10 hours of studio per week

Additional Format: Ten hours of studio per week for three weeks.

Instructor: Chang

Chorus Summer Workshop: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 145 University Chamber Chorus 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023 A smaller mixed chorus that aims at a professional standard of ensemble singing and explores the lesser-known choral repertory. University Chamber Chorus: Read More [+]

University Chamber Chorus: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 146B Balinese Gamelan 2 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Fall 2022 Learn to perform music suited to Balinese gamelan Semar Pagulingan, Pelegongan, Baleganjur, or Gender Wayang (emphasis may change from one semester to the next). Classes will consist of instruction on playing technique and memorization of pieces taught by ear, in the traditional Balinese manner. The course will culminate with a public performance. Balinese Gamelan: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: by audition

Additional Format: Three hours of Studio per week for 15 weeks. Seven and one-half hours of Studio per week for 6 weeks.

Balinese Gamelan: Read Less [-]

MUSIC N146B Balinese Gamelan 2 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2018 First 6 Week Session A performing course for the study and practice of Indonesian music and instruments. Balinese Gamelan: Read More [+]

Summer: 6 weeks - 6 hours of studio per week

Additional Format: Six hours of large ensemble per week for six weeks.

MUSIC 148 African Music Ensemble 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2024 Performance of West African music with particular emphasis on the music of Ghana. Practical instruction in traditional instrumental and vocal techniques. African Music Ensemble: Read More [+]

Instructor: Ladzekpo

African Music Ensemble: Read Less [-]

MUSIC N148 African Music Ensemble 2 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2021 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2020 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2019 Second 6 Week Session Performance of West African music with particular emphasis on the music of Ghana. Practical instruction in traditional instrumental and vocal techniques. African Music Ensemble: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: An audition may be required

MUSIC 149 University Baroque Ensemble 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Performance of Renaissance and Baroque music for voices and instruments. University Baroque Ensemble: Read More [+]

Instructor: Moroney

University Baroque Ensemble: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 150 Sightsinging and Score Reading 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 This course will help students develop musical skills through sightsinging, score reading, and piano harmony, acquiring confidence with music that has chromaticism, modulations, meter changes, and contemporary influences. Sightsinging and Score Reading: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Music 52A, Music 90, or consent of instructor

Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for MUSIC 150 after completing MUSIC 150 , or MUSIC 150 . A deficient grade in MUSIC 150 may be removed by taking MUSIC 150 , or MUSIC 150 .

Additional Format: Three hours of studio per week.

Sightsinging and Score Reading: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 150B Vocal Performance 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015 By audition for experienced vocalists. A comprehensive program of vocal studies including participation in University Choruses, vocal technique training, and ensemble work with other instrumentalists or vocalists. The student's program will be worked out in consultation with the faculty in charge of the course. Each student's studies will lead to some kind of public performance. Vocal Performance: Read More [+]

Credit Restrictions: Must be taken for a letter grade.

Additional Format: Four hours of Studio per week for 15 weeks.

Vocal Performance: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 150C Keyboard Performance 2 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015 The program will focus on the study of solo repertoire. The student's program will be worked out in consultation with the faculty in charge of the course. Each student's studies will lead to some kind of public performance. Keyboard Performance: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Music majors only. By audition, for experienced performers of keyboard or related instruments

Keyboard Performance: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 151A Harmony I 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Diatonic harmony, chorale harmonization, and analytical studies. Emphasis on written exercises. Harmony I: Read More [+]

Formerly known as: Music 53A

Harmony I: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 151B Harmony II 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Introduction to chromatic harmony and analytical studies. Emphasis on written exercises. Harmony II: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Advanced placement in Harmony Placement Exam or successful completion of Music 53A

Formerly known as: Music 53B

Harmony II: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 151C Advanced Tonal Harmony 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 Advanced chromatic harmony, advanced modulation, altered chords, linear chromatic harmony, and analytical studies. Emphasis on written exercises. Advanced Tonal Harmony: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Advanced placement in Harmony Placement Examination or successful completion of Music 53B

Formerly known as: Music 153A

Advanced Tonal Harmony: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 151D Twentieth-Century Harmony 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023 Materials and techniques of 20th-century music. Analytical studies. Emphasis on written exercises. Twentieth-Century Harmony: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Advanced placement in Harmony Placement Examination or successful completion of Music 153A

Formerly known as: Music 153B

Twentieth-Century Harmony: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 152A Advanced Musicianship I 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021 Sight singing, ear training, keyboard harmony, and score reading involving increasing chromaticism. Advanced Musicianship I: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Advanced placement in Music Placement Examination or successful completion of Music 52B

Credit Restrictions: Students cannot receive credit for 152A after having completed 51.

Advanced Musicianship I: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 152B Advanced Musicianship II 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2019, Spring 2017 Continuation of the skills acquired in prerequisite courses, with an emphasis on score reading skills (including use of the voice) and the realization of Baroque figured bass lines, harmonization, transcription, rhythm,study of several 20th-century and contemporary practices, and further work on ensemble singing. Advanced Musicianship II: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Successful completion of Music 152A

Advanced Musicianship II: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 154A Counterpoint 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 A study of species counterpoint. Regular exercises in two and three voices required. Group discussion and analysis. Counterpoint: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 50 and 60

Counterpoint: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 154B Counterpoint 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022 A study of 18th-century counterpoint. Regular exercises required. Analysis of chorale preludes, two- and three-part inventions, canons, and fugue expositions. Counterpoint: Read More [+]

MUSIC 155 Music Composition 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023 A study of formal problems using contemporary composition techniques. Music Composition: Read More [+]

Music Composition: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 156 Studies in Musical Analysis 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2021, Fall 2019 The study of various analytical techniques and their application to important works of music. Studies in Musical Analysis: Read More [+]

Studies in Musical Analysis: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 157A Orchestration 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2022, Fall 2020 A study of instrumentation--the construction capabilities and idiomatic qualities of all of the individual instruments which comprise the contemporary symphony orchestra followed by a study of the 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century orchestrational technique. Analysis of scores and assignments in scoring of selected instrumental combinations. Orchestration: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 50 and 60. 61; 151 recommended

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture plus considerable out of class work including some special workshop sections.

Formerly known as: 157

Orchestration: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 157B Orchestration 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2021, Spring 2019 A study of instrumentation--the construction capabilities and idiomatic qualities of all of the individual instruments which comprise the contemporary symphony orchestra followed by a study of the 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century orchestrational technique. Analysis of scores and assignments in scoring of selected instrumental combinations. Orchestration: Read More [+]

MUSIC 158A Sound and Music Computing with CNMAT Technologies 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Summer 2024 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session Explores the intersection of music and computers using a combination of scientific, technological, and artistic methodologies. Musical concerns within a computational frame are addressed through the acquisition of basic programming skills for the creation and control of digital sound. Will learn core concepts and techniques of computerbased music composition using the Cycling74/MaxMSP programming environment in combination with associated software tools and programming approaches created by the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies. Included will be exposure to the essentials of digital audio signal processing, musical acoustics and psychoacoustics, sound analysis and synthesis. The course is hands-on and taught from the computer lab. Sound and Music Computing with CNMAT Technologies: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Consent of the instructor, or a single music course drawn from the following list: Music 20A/B, Music 25A, Music 29, or any single advanced musicianship or harmony course

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture per week. Seven and one-half hours of lecture per week for 6 weeks.

Sound and Music Computing with CNMAT Technologies: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 158B Situated Instrument Design for Musical Expression 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022 The practice and theory of contextual instrument design for use in musical expression is explored. Students create new instruments and performance environments using a variety of physical interaction paradigms, programming practices, and musical processes emerging from the UC Berkeley Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT). Building on the methodologies established in Music 158A, the course develops aesthetic, analytic and technical skills through discussion, empirical study, and collaborative engagement. With a balance of artistic and technical concerns, participants deepen understanding of the creative process, demonstrating the results through class installation and public performance. Situated Instrument Design for Musical Expression: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Music 158A or consent of the instructor

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 3 hours of laboratory per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5 hours of lecture and 7.5 hours of laboratory per week

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory per week. Seven and one-half hours of lecture and seven and one-half hours of laboratory per week for 6 weeks.

Situated Instrument Design for Musical Expression: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 159 Computer Programming for Music Applications 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2021, Spring 2020 Software engineering for musical applications covering programming concepts for live-performance real-time systems as well as cloud-based music information retrieval applications. Topics include the software representation of sound and music, real-time scheduling, analysis of gestures from systems of sensors, common design patterns, analysis and controlled synthesis, and machine learning applications for music understanding and creation. Behavior driven design and test driven development are core ideas that permeate the course. Computer Programming for Music Applications: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Music 158 or permission of instructor

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 4 hours of laboratory per week

Computer Programming for Music Applications: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 161A Instrumental Conducting 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2022, Fall 2021 A study of the basic elements of conducting: physical gesture, score reading, and score analysis. Development of skills with emphasis on conducting and rehearsal techniques applicable to orchestral literature in various languages and musical styles. Preparation of selected works for rehearsal and performance in class. Should be taken in a two-semester sequence. Instrumental Conducting: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Music 51 and 61; 152 and 156 recommended

Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit up to a total of 1 time.

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4 hours of lecture per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 10 hours of lecture per week

Additional Format: Ten hours of class per week for six weeks. Four hours of class per week.

Formerly known as: 160

Instrumental Conducting: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 161B Instrumental Conducting 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019 A study of the basic elements of conducting: physical gesture, score reading, and score analysis. Development of skills with emphasis on conducting and rehearsal techniques applicable to orchestral literature in various languages and musical styles. Preparation of selected works for rehearsal and performance in class. Should be taken in a two-semester sequence. Instrumental Conducting: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 51 and 61; 152 and 156 recommended

Additional Format: Four hours of class per week.

Formerly known as: 161

MUSIC 162 Choral Conducting 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2013, Fall 2009 Continued development of skills introduced in 160 with emphasis on conducting and rehearsal techniques applicable to choral literature in various languages and musical styles. Preparation of selected works for rehearsal and performance in class. Choral Conducting: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 160 or consent of instructor; 152 and 156 recommended

Additional Format: Four hours of lecture per week.

Choral Conducting: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 163 Workshop in Conducting 2 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2015 10 Week Session, Summer 2015 3 Week Session, Summer 2007 3 Week Session This class is an intensive two-week conducting workshop that is designed in two parts. We will cover conducting techniques in the morning session and have rehearsals in the afternoon. The goal of this class is to help establish a solid foundation in conducting with an eye toward being a better future conductor or performer. The course will focus on working with proper physical gesture vocabulary and related abilities. Conducting technique classes will be taught at an intermediate/advanced level. See prerequisites. Workshop in Conducting: Read More [+]

Course Objectives: By the end of the semester, students should be able to: 1. Express clear musical ideas through physical gestures. This includes the ability to master the basic conducting patterns; rhythmic, dynamic, and articulation functions; and basic cueing techniques. 2. Provide aural analysis and error identification. 3. Understand basic score analysis for choral performance. 4. Understand basic rehearsal procedures. 5. Develop aural skills to communicate musical ideas with efficiency.

Prerequisites: Music 161A or Music 161B, or consent of instructor. Prior conducting experience is expected

Summer: 2 weeks - 30 hours of session per week

Workshop in Conducting: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 164 Creative Jazz and Improvised Music Performance Workshop 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2019, Fall 2017, Fall 2016 Creative Jazz and Improvised Music Performance Workshop is an intermediate-level performance course in which we’ll explore many approaches to making improvisational music including, jazz, blues, and experimental practices, along with a study of the music of innovative improvising musicians/composers from around the world. Class projects and activities include: deepening our ability to “listen,” developing a lexicon of musical materials and strategies for improvising in small and large ensembles, studying graphic scores and alternative notation, playing game pieces, and improvising film scores. Students with technical instrumental facility and some knowledge of music theory, from diverse musical backgrounds, are welcome to audition. Creative Jazz and Improvised Music Performance Workshop: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Participation is by audition. Suggested prerequisites: Music 116 and prior jazz, classical, or other musical ensemble experience. Students are expected to read western notation and learn by ear. Music 164 is a prerequisite for Music 165, The Berkeley Nu Jazz Collective

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of session per week

Additional Format: Three hours of Session per week for 15 weeks.

Creative Jazz and Improvised Music Performance Workshop: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 165 Berkeley Nu Jazz Collective 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 This advanced small ensemble of improvisers (The Berkeley Nu Jazz Collective) will explore a range of repertoire including music by innovative jazz composers of the 1960s and 70s, as well as contemporary works and original student compositions and arrangements. Students will be expected to practice, compose, and arrange music for the bi-weekly rehearsals outside of class time, and will be given individual guidance on composing and arranging by appointment. Berkeley Nu Jazz Collective: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Music 116A, 116B, or 164 suggested, though admission is by invitation or audition

Additional Format: Two hours of rehearsal per week.

Berkeley Nu Jazz Collective: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 166A Aurality and Creative Interaction 1 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2023 A study of problems in creative music, with emphasis on listening, collaboration and the development of original work. Aurality and Creative Interaction 1: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Music 52A, Music 52B, Music 90, or consent of the instructor

Aurality and Creative Interaction 1: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 166B Aurality and Creative Interaction 2 3 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007 Further studies in active listening, collaboration and creation, with emphasis on experimental and global practices of the last 100 years. Includes projects in composition and collaborative performance. Aurality and Creative Interaction 2: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Music 166A, or consent of the instructor

Aurality and Creative Interaction 2: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 167A Orchestral Instrument Instruction 1 Unit

Terms offered: Prior to 2007 Private instruction of 6 hours of lessons for non-music majors throughout the semester for performers of the orchestral instruments. Lessons are focused on the study and performance of etudes and repertoire on the organ with a member of the private instructor faculty. Orchestral Instrument Instruction: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 1. Audition for, and be accepted into, private lessons. 2. Commitment to: a. study a broad variety of styles and periods of notated orchestral instruments literature as developmentally appropriate; b. participate in planning of varied repertoire with the private instructor and supervising faculty; c. prepare for each lesson received as directed by their instructor

Fall and/or spring: 12 weeks - 0.5 hours of studio per week

Additional Format: Audition, placement, and preparation occur during Weeks 1-2. The final performance occurs during Weeks 10-15.

Orchestral Instrument Instruction: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 167B Vocal Performance Instruction 1 Unit

Terms offered: Prior to 2007 Private instruction of approximately 6 hours of lessons throughout the semester for singers who participate in the University Chorus (Music 144) or University Chamber Chorus (Music 145). Lessons are focused on the study and performance of vocalises and repertoire for voice with a member of the private instructor faculty. Vocal Performance Instruction: Read More [+]

Vocal Performance Instruction: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 167C Intermediate Piano/Fortepiano Instruction 1 Unit

Terms offered: Prior to 2007 By audition, for intermediate performers of the notated keyboard repertoire, offering private instruction in 6 hours of lessons throughout the semester, typically given as twelve 30-minute lessons, focused on study and performance of keyboard repertoire with a member of the piano faculty. Placement is determined by audition of 2 contrasting pieces from the standard keyboard repertoire. Intermediate Piano/Fortepiano Instruction: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 1. Audition 2. Satisfactory performance in musicianship placement test and intent to major in music; or have already declared major in music. 3. Commitment to: a. study a broad variety of styles and periods of notated keyboard literature, spanning pre-Baroque era through 21st century; b. participate in planning of varied repertoire with private instructor and supervising faculty;

Additional Format: The audition, placement, and preparation occur during Weeks 1-2. Final performance occurs during Weeks 10-15.

Intermediate Piano/Fortepiano Instruction: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 167H Early Music Performance Instruction 1 Unit

Terms offered: Prior to 2007 Private instruction of 6 hours of lessons and additional small group coaching throughout the semester for instrumentalists and singers who participate in the University Baroque Ensemble (Music 149). Lessons are focused on the study and performance of exercises and repertoire for Baroque instruments or voice with a member of the private instructor faculty. Early Music Performance Instruction: Read More [+]

Early Music Performance Instruction: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 167I Organ Instruction 1 Unit

Terms offered: Prior to 2007 Private instruction of 6 hours of lessons for non-music majors throughout the semester for performers of the organ. Lessons are focused on the study and performance of etudes and repertoire on the organ with a member of the private instructor faculty. Organ Instruction: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 1) Audition for, and be accepted into, private lessons. 2) Commitment to: a. study a broad variety of styles and periods of notated organ literature as developmentally appropriate; b. participate in planning of varied repertoire with the private instructor and supervising faculty; c. prepare for each lesson received as directed by their instructor

Organ Instruction: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 168A Instrumental Performance 3 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007 By audition, for experienced performers of orchestral instruments. A directed program of study including participation in the University Symphony or other department-sponsored ensembles, in workshops, and in special projects. Will include instruction and/or coaching, individually or in groups. The student's program will be worked out in consultation with the faculty in charge of the course. Each student's studies will lead to some kind of public performance. Instrumental Performance: Read More [+]

Formerly known as: Music 150A

Instrumental Performance: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 168B Vocal Performance 3 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007 Music 168B is a vocal performance course for music majors and intending majors who perform in the University Chorus or the University Chamber Chorus. Placement is determined by audition and is made at the discretion of the coordinator and supervisor. In addition to enrollment in one of those choruses, the class is a combined applied studies and performance technique course designed to develop fundamental vocal technique, stage technique, and musical and dramatic interpretation. Vocal Performance: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 1) Audition and acceptance into the program based on that audition 2) Satisfactory performance in musicianship placement test and signed intent to major in music form; or have already declared major in music

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 5 hours of studio per week

Additional Format: Five hours of studio per week.

MUSIC 168C Piano/Fortepiano Performance 2 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007 By audition, for experienced performers of notated keyboard repertoire from Baroque (or pre-Baroque) eras through the twenty-first century. The course will consist of two parts: 1) Private Instruction in 12 hours of lessons focused on study and performance of keyboard repertoire each semester with a member of the piano faculty. 2) In repeating the course the students must enroll in a separate Studio component consisting of: A. a one-semester Performance Studio (168CS) B. a one-semester Ensemble Studio (168CE) The student’s program will be planned in consultation with the faculty in charge of the course. Each student’s studies will lead to public performance prior to graduation. Piano/Fortepiano Performance: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 1) Audition that demonstrates close-to-performance level accomplishment or better, with two or more contrasting, well-prepared pieces(s) selected from standard keyboard repertoire. 2) Satisfactory performance in musicianship placement test and intent to major in music; or have already declared major in music

Fall and/or spring: 12 weeks - 1 hour of studio per week

Piano/Fortepiano Performance: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 168CE Piano/Fortepiano Ensemble Studio 1 Unit

Terms offered: Prior to 2007 By audition, for pianists enrolled in 168C, offering ensemble work including individual practice with fellow performers. Ensembles may include working with vocalists or instrumentalists. Focused on the study and performance of the ensemble repertoire, including two sessions of coaching by the instructors involved. May be repeated, with or without credit. Piano/Fortepiano Ensemble Studio: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Concurrent enrollment in 168C or permission of the instructor

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1.5 hours of studio per week

Additional Format: One and one-half hours of studio per week.

Piano/Fortepiano Ensemble Studio: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 168CS Piano/Fortepiano Performance Studio 1 Unit

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023 By audition, for pianists enrolled in 168C, offering instruction in performance and performance practice before a studio class. The course will be a conservatory-style performance option for 168C pianists, providing expanded opportunities and incentives for performance. To achieve credit, students will be required to prepare and play work(s) from the keyboard repertoire during the studio. In addition, the instructor will provide an introduction to the department’s early keyboards instruments in Room 120 Morrison Hall, and may organize lectures on the use of printed editions from the Hargrove Library, comparisons of early recordings, instruction in historically-informed performance, improvisation, decided at the discretion of the instructor. Piano/Fortepiano Performance Studio: Read More [+]

Additional Format: One hour of studio per week.

Piano/Fortepiano Performance Studio: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 168D Various Musical Practices Performance 3 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007 By audition. Intermediate or advanced instruction in musical practices not encompassed in 168A-168B-168C, within the context of a directed academic program of studies. Students must have experience on the instrument or have studied it in the 130 series. The student's program will be worked out in consultation with the faculty in charge of the course. Each student's studies will lead to some kind of public performance. Various Musical Practices Performance: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Music major only

Formerly known as: Music 150D

Various Musical Practices Performance: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 168E Jazz Performance 1 - 3 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007 Intermediate or advanced instruction in the performance of jazz and improvisation. A directed program of study including participation in department-sponsored or UC Jazz ensembles, workshops, and special projects where applicable. Will include instruction and/or coaching, individually or in groups. Each student's studies will lead to some kind of public performance. The student's program will be worked out in consultation with the faculty in charge of the course. Units range from 1 to 3, depending on number of lessons and ensemble participation. Jazz Performance: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Open to music majors by audition only

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-3 hours of studio per week

Additional Format: One to three hours of studio per week.

Formerly known as: Music 150E

Jazz Performance: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 168G Guitar Performance 2 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007 The program will include ensemble work in addition to the study of solo repertoire. The student's program will be worked out in consultation with the faculty in charge of the course. Each student's studies will lead to some kind of public performance. Guitar Performance: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Music majors only. By audition, for experienced guitar performers

Additional Format: Minimum of two hours of studio per week.

Formerly known as: Music 150G

Guitar Performance: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 168H Early Music Performance 1 - 3 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007 The program will include ensemble work in addition to the study of solo repertoire. The student's program will be worked out in consultation with the faculty in charge of the course. Each student's studies will lead to some kind of public performance. Early Music Performance: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Music majors only. By audition, for performers on early music instruments

Formerly known as: Music 150H

Early Music Performance: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 168I Organ Performance 2 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007 By audition, for experienced performers of organ repertoire from Baroque (or pre-Baroque) eras through the twenty-first century. The course will consist of 12 hours of private instruction, with an organ instructor on the Music Department faculty, focused on the study and performance of organ repertoire. Music 168I is for music majors and intending music majors only. Placement is determined by audition and is made at the discretion of the instructor and sup ervisor. Organ Performance: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 1) Audition that demonstrates close-to-performance level accomplishment of organ repertoire. 2) Satisfactory performance in musicianship placement test and intent to major in music; or have already declared major in music

Organ Performance: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 170 Topics in History, Culture, and Analysis 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023 A seminar for upper division music majors. Topics will change each semester but will always represent a fairly narrow focus on a single issue in the history, interpretation, or social meaning of music. The course provides students with an opportunity to go deeply into one subject, to discuss their ideas in a seminar setting, and to carry out a substantial independent research project. Topics in History, Culture, and Analysis: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Successful completion of Music 53B and 70 or consent of instructor

Topics in History, Culture, and Analysis: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 170A Topics in Research and Performance 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 A seminar for upper division music majors. The primary purpose of this course is to create an environment in which students can combine the research and analysis of music with live performance. The specific topic covered will change each semester. Class time will be divided equally among (1) historical and analytical readings; (2) discussion and analysis of recorded and live performances; (3) in-class performance. The final project will combine scholarly work and performance in the form of a lecture-recital or collaborative creative project. Topics in Research and Performance: Read More [+]

Topics in Research and Performance: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 172 Popular Music Theory 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2022, Fall 2021 Materials and techniques of popular music across historical and global styles including new and current practices. Popular Music Theory: Read More [+]

Course Objectives: Provide students with a set of analytical and compositional frameworks for the study and creation of popular music.

Student Learning Outcomes: Apply selected analytical techniques to a work of popular music. Compose, perform, record and/or share publicly an original work of popular music Present in the form of a paper and/or lecture conclusions drawn from analysis

Prerequisites: Music 52B

Instructor: hough

Popular Music Theory: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 179 Topics in History, Culture, and Analysis 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015 A seminar for upper division music majors. Topics will change each semester but will always represent a fairly narrow focus on a single issue in the history, interpretation, or social meaning of music. The course provides students with an opportunity to go deeply into one subject, to discuss their ideas in a seminar setting, and to carry out a substantial independent research project. Topics in History, Culture, and Analysis: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 60 and 76 or consent of instructor

MUSIC 180 Seminar in Ethnomusicology: Selected Topics 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Fall 2020 A seminar for upper division music majors and other prepared students by permission of the instructor. Topics will change each semester but will always concentrate on a selected musical practice from an ethnomusicological perspective. The course provides students with an opportunity to go deeply into one subject, to discuss their ideas in a seminar setting, and to carry out a substantial independent research project. Seminar in Ethnomusicology: Selected Topics: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Successful completion of Music 80 or consent of instructor

Seminar in Ethnomusicology: Selected Topics: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 188 Inside Music Therapy 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024 For those students who have completed Music 48 (Introduction to Music Therapy), a more in-depth study of the music therapy profession.  From analysis of case studies and research studies to clinical improvisation techniques and a closer look at music therapy interventions, this course will dive deeper into the profession.  This course will also begin an exploration into the psychology of music, the neurological responses to music and the innate human propensity for musical response and musical communication from a Music Therapist’s perspective. Inside Music Therapy: Read More [+]

Course Objectives: Students will be able to engage in an informed discussion about what it means to be musical, the definition of music, the role of music within society, and different perspectives that seek to explain why music can be effective in communication. Students will be able to identify, define and demonstrate at least 5 different clinical Music Therapy interventions. Students will begin to understand through experiential music projects the efficacy of music therapy interventions as well as how they serve different populations. Students will gain a perspective of why music therapy is effective by engaging in individual and collaborative music-making opportunities.

Prerequisites: Music 48

Instructor: Acosta

Inside Music Therapy: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 195 Capstone Project in Music 1 Unit

Terms offered: Summer 2023 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2023, Fall 2022 Individual study, undertaken in conjunction with an academic course, leading to the completion of the capstone project for the Music major. Capstone Project in Music: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Restricted to declared Music majors

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 0-1 hours of independent study per week

Additional Format: Zero to one hours of independent study per week.

Capstone Project in Music: Read Less [-]

MUSIC H195 Special Study for Honors Candidates in Music 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021 Individual tutorials leading to the completion of a special honors project. Special Study for Honors Candidates in Music: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Restricted to seniors with a grade-point average of 3.3 overall and 3.5 in the major. Consent of instructor and Department Honors Committee

Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit up to a total of 8 units.

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 0 hours of independent study per week

Summer: 8 weeks - 5.5 hours of independent study per week

Additional Format: Independent study.

Special Study for Honors Candidates in Music: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 197 Field Studies 1 - 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2018 Department organized and supervised field programs involving experiences in tutoring and related activities. Students taking the course for the first time will be provided with training suitable to the subject matter being tutored. Field Studies: Read More [+]

Additional Format: One to Three hour of Fieldwork per week for 15 weeks. One and one-half to Four and one-half hours of Fieldwork per week for 10 weeks. One and one-half to Five and one-half hours of Fieldwork per week for 8 weeks. Two and one-half to Seven and one-half hours of Fieldwork per week for 6 weeks.

MUSIC 198 Group Special Study for Advanced Undergraduates 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023 Not to serve in lieu of regular courses of instruction. Group Special Study for Advanced Undergraduates: Read More [+]

Summer: 6 weeks - 2.5-10 hours of directed group study per week 8 weeks - 1.5-7.5 hours of directed group study per week

Additional Format: One to Four hour of Directed group study per week for 15 weeks. One and one-half to Seven and one-half hours of Directed group study per week for 8 weeks. Two and one-half to Ten hours of Directed group study per week for 6 weeks.

Group Special Study for Advanced Undergraduates: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 198BC Berkeley Connect 1 Unit

Music 199 supervised independent study and research 1 - 4 units.

Terms offered: Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022 Not to serve in lieu of regular courses of instruction. Enrollment restrictions apply; see the Introduction to Courses and Curricula section of this catalog. Supervised Independent Study and Research: Read More [+]

Summer: 6 weeks - 1-5 hours of independent study per week 8 weeks - 1-4 hours of independent study per week

Additional Format: Zero hours of Independent study per week for 15 weeks. One to Four hour of Independent study per week for 8 weeks. One to Five hour of Independent study per week for 6 weeks.

Supervised Independent Study and Research: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 200B Introduction to Music Scholarship II 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 Principles and methods of scholarly research in Western art music, especially history and criticism of music; use of documents, and design of projects. Presentation of results in written and oral forms. Introduction to Music Scholarship II: Read More [+]

Additional Format: Three hours of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.

Subject/Course Level: Music/Graduate

Grading: Letter grade.

Introduction to Music Scholarship II: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 200C Intellectual History of Ethnomusicology 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023 Broad overview of the methods, theories, topics, people, and historical forces that have informed ethnomusicology from both the humanities and social sciences perspectives. Students will learn to situate their own research in relation to the preceding scholarly debates, and to broaden and deepen their intellectual horizons. Intellectual History of Ethnomusicology: Read More [+]

Intellectual History of Ethnomusicology: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 201A Proseminar in Computer Music 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018 Overview of the field of computer music and its application to music composition. Practices, procedures, and aesthetics related to the application of newer technologies to music composition will be covered in tandem with contemporary research topics in computer music. Recent computer music repertoire with its related technologies will be examined. Students in this proseminar must have advanced musical training and knowledge of the history and repertoire of electro-acoustic music. Proseminar in Computer Music: Read More [+]

Additional Format: Three hours of Lecture and Four hours of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.

Proseminar in Computer Music: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 202 Seminar in Contemporary Music 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2019, Spring 2019 Studies in 20th-century music. Seminar in Contemporary Music: Read More [+]

Seminar in Contemporary Music: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 203 Seminar in Composition 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 A study of relevant problems and compositional techniques of contemporary music. Original compositions required of students. Group discussion and criticism. Seminar in Composition: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Limited to advanced students of composition

Seminar in Composition: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 204 Studies in Musical Analysis 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2020 The application of analytical principles to a group of compositions and the intensive study of at least one major work. Studies in Musical Analysis: Read More [+]

MUSIC 207 Advanced Projects in Computer Music 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Designed for graduate students in music composition, but open to graduate students in related disciplines who can demonstrate thorough knowledge of the history of electro-acoustic music as well as significant experience with computer music practice and research. All projects are subject to approval of the instructor. Advanced Projects in Computer Music: Read More [+]

Advanced Projects in Computer Music: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 208A Advanced Music Perception and Cognition 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 Experimental studies in Music Perception and Cognition. Research projects required. Advanced Music Perception and Cognition: Read More [+]

Advanced Music Perception and Cognition: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 209 Advanced Topics in Computer Music 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2013, Spring 2012, Spring 2011 Technical and musical issues in the design and development of computer-based music systems including digital signal processing for the analysis and synthesis of sound, scheduling of multiple musical control processes, perceptual and cognitive models, user-interface design, reactive real-time control, and the analysis and representation of musical structure. Advanced Topics in Computer Music: Read More [+]

Advanced Topics in Computer Music: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 210 Graduate Seminar: Composers and Improvisers Workshop 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2019, Spring 2017 This course will provide a weekly forum for the exploration of strategies for composing for improvisers and improvising for composers, culminating in the presentation of new work. A number of approaches including gaming strategies, graphic and alternative notation systems, conduction, and other topics of interest to the students will be explored through performance, listening, analysis, and discussion. Graduate Seminar: Composers and Improvisers Workshop: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Admission by instructor

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of workshop per week

Additional Format: Three hours of Workshop per week for 15 weeks.

Graduate Seminar: Composers and Improvisers Workshop: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 220 Topics in Music History and Criticism 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 A specialized course in musical criticism. The topic will change each time the course is offered. Topics in Music History and Criticism: Read More [+]

Topics in Music History and Criticism: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 228 Professional Development Colloquium 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2019, Fall 2018 This course provides direction to graduate students in the latter phase of their PhD degrees. It is devised to provide productive structure to the dissertation writing process, and to help students write and learn skills important to their professional development. Students will have the opportunity to work through their dissertation ideas and present their work orally in a supportive academic environment. Professional Development Colloquium: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of colloquium per week

Additional Format: Three hours of colloquium per week.

Instructor: Davies

Professional Development Colloquium: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 231 Music and Violence 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 1995 Music can be a form of weapon or torture; a mediating force in conflict resolution; a force complicit with violence; storehouse of memory or process of healing for survivors of violence; a mode of resistance against a violent regime; and a creative process of alliance-building, among others. This seminar explores the various intersections of music and violence, and the emerging body of scholarship within ethnomusicology over the last decade dedicated to the subject. We will investigate the role of expressive culture in generating, mediating, contesting, or sustaining political and other social violence, and ask how music enables us to think creatively through the relationship between critical attention, compassion, and commitment. Music and Violence: Read More [+]

Music and Violence: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 232 Music and the Imagination 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 1996 This seminar explores the techniques of imaginative processes through which humans design alternative narratives, histories, futures, and subjectivities. Focusing on the musical and sonic, we examine how the musical imagination relates to other social and cultural processes by which we imagine culture into being. After a brief investigation of the anthropology of the imagination, we turn to the process of imagining the historical past; urban nostalgias and immigrant cultures; transnational and diasporic imaginaries; and the dystopian imagination in music. We consider how and why music participates in the social life of romanticism and fantasy, and how these roles inform conceptions of music’s importance to and place in society. Music and the Imagination: Read More [+]

Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for MUSIC 232 after completing MUSIC 232 . A deficient grade in MUSIC 232 may be removed by taking MUSIC 232 .

Music and the Imagination: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 233 Sound, Technology, and Power 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 1996 This seminar queries the relation between sound, technology, and power. Taking these three keywords/concepts as broad starting points, we will engage with theoretical approaches and case studies that span the emergence of recording technologies at the turn of the 19th century to algorithmic and robotic systems in the present. We will consider the avenues through which difference is represented, constructed, unsettled, and disturbed in music, films, archives, engineering , and software, among others. We will approach these matters from a variety of perspectives (e.g. Latin American, Chicanx, feminist, and Black radical intellectual genealogies) and academic disciplines (science, ethnic, media, cultural, border, and indigenous studies). Sound, Technology, and Power: Read More [+]

Sound, Technology, and Power: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 234 Ethnographies of Sound Studies 4 Units

Terms offered: Not yet offered This seminar will explore the trajectories and creative possibilities within sound studies through close reading of groundbreaking and recent ethnographic monographs. Each monograph is paired with theoretical texts from various fields that have informed the analytical and methodological approaches taken by the author. Students will consider the new possibilities and limitations that sound offers us, not only as a scholarly subject but also a medium of creative expression and social critique. Many authors will visit as guests—this will also provide an opportunity to inquire into the process of writing monographs; to learn how to generate generative and generous questions; and to ask how to participate in and create a scholarly community. Ethnographies of Sound Studies: Read More [+]

Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for MUSIC 234 after completing MUSIC 234 . A deficient grade in MUSIC 234 may be removed by taking MUSIC 234 .

Ethnographies of Sound Studies: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 244A Research Methods in Ethnomusicology 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2021, Fall 2018 Exploration of the conceptual and practical issues around research methods used in ethnomusicology, including onsite and digital fieldwork, transcription, interview techniques, recording, audio/visual documentary production, and ethnographic writing. Focus on skills to conduct original research in ethnomusicology through short-term local ethnographic projects during the semester. Research Methods in Ethnomusicology: Read More [+]

Research Methods in Ethnomusicology: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 244B Research Design and Praxis in Ethnomusicology 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Fall 2019 Instruction in designing a doctoral research project, writing a dissertation prospectus, and formulating a grant proposal. The course will also explore possibilities of mobilizing scholarship beyond traditional academic avenues. Students will normally take this course one semester prior to presenting the prospectus for their doctoral dissertation. Research Design and Praxis in Ethnomusicology: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 244A or consent of instructor

Research Design and Praxis in Ethnomusicology: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 245 Music, Sexuality, and Gender 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2020, Fall 2000, Fall 1997 This course introduces ethno/musicological approaches to the study of sexuality and gender. We will study scholarly works that consider how music informs and reflects cultural constructions of femininity, masculinity, and non-binary genders, and consider questions of sexuality within and apart from these frameworks. Taking wide-ranging examples that include popular music, folk and indigenous musics, and European art music, we will investigate how gendered and sexualized subjectivities are negotiated through musical practices such as composition, performance, audition, and consumption. Class readings will include ethnomusicological, musicological, anthropological, feminist, Marxist, and queer theory approaches. Music, Sexuality, and Gender: Read More [+]

Music, Sexuality, and Gender: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 246 Theory and Method in Popular Music Studies 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2016, Fall 2012 Critical survey of the major issues raised and methodologies used in the study of popular music. Selected readings from a wide range of disciplines, including sociology, anthropology, musicology, ethnomusicology, communication, history, political science, economics, and music journalism. Theory and Method in Popular Music Studies: Read More [+]

Theory and Method in Popular Music Studies: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 247 Topics in Ethnomusicology 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2022, Fall 2021 A highly specialized course in ethnomusicology. The topic will change each time the course is offered. Topics in Ethnomusicology: Read More [+]

Formerly known as: 232

Topics in Ethnomusicology: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 249 Current Critical Theories of Sound, Music, and Performance 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2022, Spring 2019, Fall 2013 Readings on interpretive theories dealing with current issues from the multiple disciplines informing the study of music. The selection of theoretical writings will change each time the course is offered. Course may be repeated for credit. Current Critical Theories of Sound, Music, and Performance: Read More [+]

Current Critical Theories of Sound, Music, and Performance: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 258A Sound and Music Computing with CNMAT Technologies 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2022, Fall 2021 Explores the intersection of music and computers using a combination of scientific, technological, and artistic methodologies. Musical concerns within a computational frame are addressed through the acquisition of basic programming skills for the creation and control of digital sound. Will learn core concepts and techniques of computer-based music composition using the Cycling74/MaxMSP programming environment in combination with associated software tools and programming approaches created by the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies. Included will be exposure to the essentials of digital audio signal processing, musical acoustics and psychoacoustics, sound analysis and synthesis. The course is hands-on & taught from the computer lab. Sound and Music Computing with CNMAT Technologies: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Limited to graduate students in Music

MUSIC 258B Situated Instrument Design for Musical Expression 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2019 The practice and theory of contextual instrument design for use in musical expression is explored. Students create new instruments and performance environments using a variety of physical interaction paradigms, programming practices, and musical processes emerging from the UC Berkeley Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT). Building on the methodologies established in Music 258A, the course develops aesthetic, analytic and technical skills through discussion, empirical study, and collaborative engagement. With a balance of artistic and technical concerns, participants deepen understanding of the creative process, demonstrating the results through class installation and public performance. Situated Instrument Design for Musical Expression: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Music 258A or consent of instructor; limited to graduate students in Music

MUSIC 290 Colloquium 1 Unit

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Meetings for the presentation of original work by faculty, visiting lecturers, and advanced graduate students. Assigned readings. In rotation members of the class will be appointed as respondents for the papers. Colloquium: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 0 hours of colloquium per week

Additional Format: Zero hour of colloquium per week.

Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.

Colloquium: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 296 Directed Dissertation Research - Music 1 - 12 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Fall 2015 Open to qualified students who have been advanced to candidacy for the Ph.D. and are directly engaged upon the doctoral dissertation. Directed Dissertation Research - Music: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-12 hours of independent study per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 2.5-20 hours of independent study per week 8 weeks - 1.5-15 hours of independent study per week

Additional Format: One to Twelve hour of Independent study per week for 15 weeks. One and one-half to Fifteen hours of Independent study per week for 8 weeks. Two and one-half to Twenty hours of Independent study per week for 6 weeks.

Directed Dissertation Research - Music: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 298 Group Special Studies 1 - 8 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022 Open to qualified students for research or creative work on a particular topic. Not to serve in lieu of regular courses of instruction. Group Special Studies: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-8 hours of independent study per week

Summer: 8 weeks - 1-8 hours of independent study per week

Additional Format: Meetings to be arranged according to units taken.

Group Special Studies: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 299 Special Study 1 - 12 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022 Open to properly qualified graduate students for research or creative work, including work on the doctoral dissertation. Such work shall not serve in lieu of regular courses of instruction. Special Study: Read More [+]

Summer: 8 weeks - 1.5-22.5 hours of independent study per week

Special Study: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 300 Professional Preparation for Teaching Assistants in Music 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 Special study under the direction of a staff member with emphasis on the teaching of undergraduate courses in music. Professional Preparation for Teaching Assistants in Music: Read More [+]

Additional Format: Zero hour of independent study per week.

Subject/Course Level: Music/Professional course for teachers or prospective teachers

Professional Preparation for Teaching Assistants in Music: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 601 Individual Study for Master's Students 1 - 8 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021 Preparation for the comprehensive or language requirements in consultation with the field adviser. Individual Study for Master's Students: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: For candidates for master's degree

Credit Restrictions: Course does not satisfy unit or residence requirements for master's degree.

Subject/Course Level: Music/Graduate examination preparation

Individual Study for Master's Students: Read Less [-]

MUSIC 602 Individual Study for Doctoral Students 1 - 8 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Fall 2022 Study in consultation with the major field adviser, intended to provide an opportunity for qualified students to prepare themselves for the various examinations required of candidates for the Ph.D. Individual Study for Doctoral Students: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: For candidates for doctoral degree

Credit Restrictions: Course does not satisfy unit or residence requirements for doctoral degree.

Individual Study for Doctoral Students: Read Less [-]

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Frequently Asked Questions About the UC Essays

This article was written based on the information and opinions presented by Vinay Bhaskara in a CollegeVine livestream. You can watch the full livestream for more info.

What’s Covered:

The brainstorming process, choosing essay topics, writing your response.

How do you recall experiences that are substantive enough to write about? 

The process of recalling experiences is different for each person, and you have to find the method that works best for you. Some people may find it helpful to do free-writing, brainstorming, and outlining exercises. Others may have discussions with a parent, friend, teacher, counselor, or college advisor to reflect on and pressure test possible responses to the different essay questions. 

Where is the line between being a good, unique response and being completely off topic from the original question? 

The line changes depending on the prompt you are responding to. The best thing you can do in cases where you are unsure of whether you have crossed the line is to gut-check your idea with a parent, friend, teacher, counselor, or college advisor. Ultimately, it is up to you to figure out where the line is and to push the boundary just a bit so that your unique personality and profile come to the fore. 

Is writing about my culture a compelling topic, or is it overused? 

Unless you come from a culture that is rare among applicants to the University of California (UC), then chances are high that many other applicants have already written the same or similar essays as you would. This does not mean that it is impossible to write a great essay about a frequently used topic. It just means that the barrier to entry is higher and you may find it more difficult to write an original essay about your culture. 

Is talking about mental health struggles in application essays considered a red flag to admissions officers?

If you write about a mental health challenge, then you need to do so in the context of how you have adapted to, managed, or even overcome such a challenge. By focusing on your perseverance or triumph against mental health challenges, you are shifting the narrative away from something that would raise a red flag and towards the profile of a resilient applicant. 

How do you deliver a clear and compelling message in 350 words?  

You should start by responding to the prompt as you naturally would without paying attention to the word count. Once you have responded to the question in its entirety and written between 400 and 600 words, then you can step away and take a break. When you return to what you have written, you can whittle away at redundant or superfluous words and phrases until you reach a tight 350-word essay. After you have gone through this process on your own, it can be helpful to show your essay to someone whose opinion you trust, like a parent, friend, teacher, counselor, or college advisor.

How might you incorporate elements of humor into your essays? 

Proceed carefully. In the case of humor, it’s important to recognize that everyone has a slightly different definition of humor and sometimes the written page does not lend itself to joke-telling because the reader cannot hear the author’s tone of voice. For instance, sarcasm can sometimes be misconstrued or perceived as overly self-deprecating, which may not be the appropriate tone for an essay. If you are committed to being humorous, “dad joke” type humor will be the least offensive. You can take chances with other types of humor, but doing so can be risky.

For more information on writing the application essays for admission to the University of California, review the article on How to Write the University of California Essays .

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• You will have 8 questions to choose from. You must respond to only 4 of the 8 questions.
• Each response is limited to a maximum of 350 words.
• Which questions you choose to answer is entirely up to you. However, you should select questions that are most relevant to your experience and that best reflect your individual circumstances.

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• All questions are equal. All are given equal consideration in the application review process, which means there is no advantage or disadvantage to choosing certain questions over others.
• There is no right or wrong way to answer these questions. It’s about getting to know your personality, background, interests and achievements in your own unique voice.  
• Use the additional comments field if there are issues you'd like to address that you didn't have the opportunity to discuss elsewhere on the application. This shouldn't be an essay, but rather a place to note unusual circumstances or anything that might be unclear in other parts of the application. You may use the additional comments field to note extraordinary circumstances related to COVID-19, if necessary. 

Questions & guidance

Remember, the personal insight questions are just that—personal. Which means you should use our guidance for each question just as a suggestion in case you need help. The important thing is expressing who you are, what matters to you and what you want to share with UC. 

1. Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time. Things to consider: A leadership role can mean more than just a title. It can mean being a mentor to others, acting as the person in charge of a specific task, or taking the lead role in organizing an event or project. Think about what you accomplished and what you learned from the experience. What were your responsibilities?

Did you lead a team? How did your experience change your perspective on leading others? Did you help to resolve an important dispute at your school, church, in your community or an organization? And your leadership role doesn't necessarily have to be limited to school activities. For example, do you help out or take care of your family? 2. Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side. Things to consider: What does creativity mean to you? Do you have a creative skill that is important to you? What have you been able to do with that skill? If you used creativity to solve a problem, what was your solution? What are the steps you took to solve the problem?

How does your creativity influence your decisions inside or outside the classroom? Does your creativity relate to your major or a future career? 3. What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time? Things to consider: If there is a talent or skill that you're proud of, this is the time to share it.You don't necessarily have to be recognized or have received awards for your talent (although if you did and you want to talk about it, feel free to do so). Why is this talent or skill meaningful to you?

Does the talent come naturally or have you worked hard to develop this skill or talent? Does your talent or skill allow you opportunities in or outside the classroom? If so, what are they and how do they fit into your schedule? 4. Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced. Things to consider: An educational opportunity can be anything that has added value to your educational experience and better prepared you for college. For example, participation in an honors or academic enrichment program, or enrollment in an academy that's geared toward an occupation or a major, or taking advanced courses that interest you; just to name a few.

If you choose to write about educational barriers you've faced, how did you overcome or strive to overcome them? What personal characteristics or skills did you call on to overcome this challenge? How did overcoming this barrier help shape who you are today? 5. Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement? Things to consider: A challenge could be personal, or something you have faced in your community or school. Why was the challenge significant to you? This is a good opportunity to talk about any obstacles you've faced and what you've learned from the experience. Did you have support from someone else or did you handle it alone?

If you're currently working your way through a challenge, what are you doing now, and does that affect different aspects of your life? For example, ask yourself, How has my life changed at home, at my school, with my friends or with my family? 6. Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom. Things to consider:  Many students have a passion for one specific academic subject area, something that they just can't get enough of. If that applies to you, what have you done to further that interest? Discuss how your interest in the subject developed and describe any experience you have had inside and outside the classroom such as volunteer work, internships, employment, summer programs, participation in student organizations and/or clubs and what you have gained from your involvement.

Has your interest in the subject influenced you in choosing a major and/or future career? Have you been able to pursue coursework at a higher level in this subject (honors, AP, IB, college or university work)? Are you inspired to pursue this subject further at UC, and how might you do that?

7. What have you done to make your school or your community a better place? Things to consider: Think of community as a term that can encompass a group, team or a place like your high school, hometown or home. You can define community as you see fit, just make sure you talk about your role in that community. Was there a problem that you wanted to fix in your community?

Why were you inspired to act? What did you learn from your effort? How did your actions benefit others, the wider community or both? Did you work alone or with others to initiate change in your community? 8. Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California? Things to consider:  If there's anything you want us to know about you but didn't find a question or place in the application to tell us, now's your chance. What have you not shared with us that will highlight a skill, talent, challenge or opportunity that you think will help us know you better?

From your point of view, what do you feel makes you an excellent choice for UC? Don't be afraid to brag a little.

Writing tips

Start early..

Give yourself plenty of time for preparation, careful composition and revisions.

Write persuasively.

Making a list of accomplishments, activities, awards or work will lessen the impact of your words. Expand on a topic by using specific, concrete examples to support the points you want to make.

Use “I” statements.

Talk about yourself so that we can get to know your personality, talents, accomplishments and potential for success on a UC campus. Use “I” and “my” statements in your responses.

Proofread and edit.

Although you will not be evaluated on grammar, spelling or sentence structure, you should proofread your work and make sure your writing is clear. Grammatical and spelling errors can be distracting to the reader and get in the way of what you’re trying to communicate.

Solicit feedback.

Your answers should reflect your own ideas and be written by you alone, but others — family, teachers and friends can offer valuable suggestions. Ask advice of whomever you like, but do not plagiarize from sources in print or online and do not use anyone's words, published or unpublished, but your own.

Copy and paste.

Once you are satisfied with your answers, save them in plain text (ASCII) and paste them into the space provided in the application. Proofread once more to make sure no odd characters or line breaks have appeared.

This is one of many pieces of information we consider in reviewing your application. Your responses can only add value to the application. An admission decision will not be based on this section alone.

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Acclaimed singer Renee Fleming probes the relationship of 'Music and Mind' in new book

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• Robin Young
• Emiko Tamagawa

Famed soprano Renée Fleming wants people to better understand the link between music and health.

Musical activities can help nonverbal children speak, aid in recovery after a stroke, and improve the stride of people with Parkinson's, according to research. To spread the word, Fleming edited the new book " Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness ," which features essays by researchers, music therapists and artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Ben Folds and Anna Deveare Smith.

The book’sroots run back to 2015, when Fleming helped launch a collaboration between the Kennedy Center and the National Institutes of Health to explore how the arts and health intersect.

When she first started at the Kennedy Center as an artistic advisor, Fleming attended a Washington, D.C. gathering attended by Supreme Court Justices Anthony Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsberg, as well as former NIH Director Francis Collins.

Despite some high tensions after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, Fleming and Collins brought the room together with song.

“Music has historically created social cohesion between people. It happened that night,” Fleming says. “I said, ‘Francis, why are scientists studying music and the brain?’ And he said, ‘well, we're interested in it because we have a new brain institute. And the key is technology because this ability to look at the brain enables scientists to see the exact impact music is having.’”

Two years later, Fleming sat on a panel among scientists, music therapists and fellow artists with the Kennedy Center, the NIH and the National Endowment for the Arts. Her work with the organizations inspired her to share with the public what she learned about how the arts affect people.

4 questions with Renée Fleming

How did scanning your brain show the impact of music?

“My brain scan at the NIH was an fMRI scan, functional MRI, which measures blood oxygen in the brain. And it had me singing, speaking and imagining singing. And interestingly, imagining singing, It was by far the most powerful for me. It impacted many more parts of my brain than the other two activities, which was a big surprise to the scientists.

“But they finally said, ‘Well, listen, you're a singer, so it makes sense that that's second nature to you.’ So that was a wonderful experience. It's an opportunity for me to see firsthand how this research is done.

“Imagining singing can also help Parkinson's patients who are having difficulty walking. If they just imagine a rhythmic song in their head, like ‘When the Saints Go Marching In,” they'll be able to cross the street without stopping. It's a simple benefit, but it's very powerful.”

Music psychotherapist Stacie Yeldell writes about a boy who found relief from the pain of sickle cell anemia in the viral song “ The Fox .” What’s the relationship between pain and music?

“Pain is what is very much impacted by music. And in fact, there's a huge focus on research in terms of pain and Joke Bradt's chapter, which is all about that. They don't really know exactly what mechanism is occurring now with that, but they do know music reduces pain.

“I have a friend who actually had a brain bleed and the only thing that alleviated her excruciating pain at first was the loudest possible music she could play.  So, it's possible that that's what was interrupting his pain as well.”

How can music serve as a “bridge” to people with dementia, as music therapy pioneer Concetta Tomaino writes in the book?

“Music and memory are so completely linked. We remember events in our lives: If we hear just a snippet of a song, we're back at our wedding. We're back at any number of events.

“With people with Alzheimer's disease, it is the last memory to stay because this memory area, as it pertains to music, is the last area of the brain that's impacted by the disease. So [Tomaino has] been trying to kind of prolong the sustainability of memory attached to music memories.

“Somebody came up to me after the Kennedy Center Honors and said, ‘I just want to say I heard one of your presentations and my dad was really becoming difficult and becoming a little bit violent. And we remembered suddenly because of what you said, that he was an opera lover and we put on opera. And he calmed down and he smiled, and we've been playing it ever since. It's made a huge difference in his mood and state.’ And so it can alleviate life for caregivers as well.”

Have these insights changed the way you sing?

“It doesn't change the way I sing, but for instance, I now tell the audience that our brain waves are aligning as we are in this space together, having a shared musical experience. That's why they've now shown that singing in a choir is more impactful than singing alone.

“How this work has changed me is that I am living my life now, being mindful of the fact that I need these artistic experiences, things that I thought were extra. ‘If I have time, I'll go to a concert.’ I now prioritize them in my life and I see a huge difference in my state of mind, less anxiety. I’m much happier, so I'm like a living example of how this works.”

Emiko Tamagawa  produced and edited this interview for broadcast with  Todd Mundt .  Allison Hagan  adapted it for the web.

Book excerpt: 'The Parting Glass' from 'Music and Mind'

By Richard Powers, edited by Renée Fleming

It’s morning, and dozens of thrushes, wrens, and warblers are singing their hearts out in the trees beneath the window of my house in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. Spring in Appalachia, and you know how that piece goes. Some of the singers live here year‑round. Others are passing through on long journeys. I listen as the dawn chorus reaches its wild peak. No one is conducting. The music exhilarates me, and clearly the singers are thrilling one another. If you ask a scientist why birds sing, the answer will deal in courtship and territory. But if you asked the bird, and if you could understand its reply, it would probably be something like, “Because I have to, and it feels so good.”

I put on some music of my own, adding a descant to the morning mayhem. Here’s a miracle that I hope I’ll never get used to: I can stream just about any song ever recorded, any time I want, in every season, from any room in my house in the woods. I call up a fine old Scottish‑Irish song that always goes right through me: “The Parting Glass.” The song is at least four hundred years old, and no one is sure who wrote the music or the words. Traditional, as they say. And I have dozens of covers to choose from. I play one by three Canadian women singing a cappella, in crystalline harmony, as if they’re already a step or two beyond the grave.

The song partakes of an old Celtic tradition. When a guest rose to leave the party and climbed up in the stirrups of his horse, he’d be given a stirrup cup or parting glass, one more drink to fortify him for the night’s trip back home. The song is in the voice of a guest taking such a leave:

So fill to me the parting glass And drink a health whate’er befall, And gently rise and softly call Good night and joy be to you all.

Words fill my house and spill out into the woods. It’s just a folk song— plaintive, playful, a little melancholy. The tune traces out the basic moves of tonal expectation, traveling from home and back again with open grace. The harmonies are steadfast and simple, with no great surprises. The lyrics, however, are a little cheeky, a nice mix of sass, stoicism, and self‑effacement, even though it’s easy to hear that this singer is setting out on a journey somewhat longer than a night’s ride:

Of all the money that e’er I spent, I spent it in good company. And all the harm that e’er I’ve done, Alas it was to none but me. And all I’ve done for want of wit To mem’ry now I can’t recall. So fill to me the parting glass: Good night and joy be with you all!

A summing up, then, with the singers taking stock before a last depar‑ ture. The words could be about nothing at all—they might be in a foreign language, and I would still hear the farewell. It’s there in the suspended harmonies, in the way the chords waver between major and minor. I’m off now, out of here: drink to me, drink to my disappearance. The Celts have always been good at emigration and goodbyes.

For reasons that science may never quite put its finger on, I get chills and my eyes start to water. It happens to me with music, far more than with any other art. Music has a startling ability to make a listener sad over noth‑ ing, simply by unfolding chords in a certain order and weaving them through with a tuneful filigree. It’s not clear what the adaptive advantage of this might be, but the right pitches in the right rhythm can overwhelm us with sorrow. And we love every minute of that harmonious grief.

I’m reassured by a quick online search that reveals at least twenty health benefits of crying. The sheer abundance of weeping’s benefits makes me laugh and laughing brings at least ten benefits more. I don’t know why I chose this song—an evening’s last farewell—to add to the birds’ exuberant morning chorus. I don’t understand why I would willingly choose sadness. But it feels so good. It’s a bracing dive into a cold spring, a glimpse of mid‑ night just before breakfast.

Countless clinical studies have now tied the secret of health to moving. There is also great health in being moved, something that produces similar physiology. Think about the old meanings buried in the etymology of “emotion.” To move and to feel are complements, and the emotion that a tune triggers is a tune‑up in how to move more deeply through the wider world. Music makes us go somewhere. It propels us into new states, new vantages, new emotional affordances. If you ask a scientist why music is healthy, the answer will come in units of cortisol and heart rate and blood‑ oxygen levels. But if you ask this listener, I’d say that music is an off‑line cognitive therapy. By making us sad in the absence of real tragedy, it leaves us more adept in sadness when life calls for the real thing.

Being moved by a song holds the key to mental health. Music says: “Here’s what happens to us. We and those around us move like chords unfolding in time, throwing off fantastic sparks and harmonies. And then the chords end. Here’s how to feel sad about that. And how to hear how that sadness, too, will pass.”

I suspect that none of the dozen species of birds singing outside my window know that one day their song will stop. But every human does. We carry the knowledge of our own death with us all life long. Awareness of mortality is the first and hardest challenge to our sanity. In my life, the best consolation for my approaching death has always been to sing it and to hear it being sung. I think that’s why the world’s great sacred ways of coping with death are so often built around music. So many times in this life I’ve heard friends say, “I love this piece. Play this at my funeral.” Music can train us in goodbyes. In giving us a little taste of our own finitude, it lets us, for a moment, feel the infinite.

“The Parting Glass” lasts only two and a half minutes. Soon enough, it reaches its final stanza. But in those one hundred and fifty seconds, the song lights up my brain in several ways. First, there is the sheer glory of the sound: three clear voices tuned tightly to each other. Then there is the stepwise tune and its dramatic pauses, its phrases always taking their leave, always coming home. Those simple syncopations lay out the plainest two‑step dance, reminding me of all the dancing I won’t be doing when I no longer have a body. A good song—a great movement—is a way of saying, Dance now, if only in your mind, for there is no dancing where you’re going. Finally, there is music’s uniquely vertical trick, stacking up companion lines in step with the one that my ear keys to. The tune contains its own accompani‑ ment, and all the regions of my brain fire in harmony. It reminds me of what good company I’ve spent my life in.

Of all the comrades that e’er I’ve had Are sorry for my going away. And all the sweethearts that e’er I’ve had They’ d wish me one more day to stay. But since it falls unto my lot That I should rise and you should not, I’ ll gently rise and softly call Good night and joy be with you all!

Of all music’s health benefits, teaching us how to be okay with our own disappearance may be the deepest. A good song lets me hear how the chords go on, far beyond the double bar. As another good song puts it:

Music, music for a while Will all our cares beguile.

That it can do so with sadness is a pure delight.

“The Parting Glass” does what all good songs do: it ends. It gets up in the stirrups, takes a last deep drink, and is off. My Canadian singers spring a surprise minor final cadence, and the tune is done. The morning chorus starts to disperse. I land back on Earth, turn from the window, and get on with my full day’s work. For what it’s worth, I get a ton done.

As I fall asleep, the night is all melancholy owls and mournful whip‑ poor‑wills. Birdsong, too, knows the uses of sadness. At two a.m., when I briefly wake, there is nothing but dead silence. I’m fine with that. The song is ended, but the melody lingers on. Even in the long rests, I can hear how the morning chorus will begin again in the dark, just before sunrise, for whoever may or may not be there to listen.

From 'Music and Mind' edited by Renée Fleming, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright © 2024 by Richard Powers.

This segment aired on April 9, 2024.

Robin Young Co-Host, Here & Now Robin Young brings more than 25 years of broadcast experience to her role as host of Here & Now.

Emiko Tamagawa Senior Producer, Here & Now Emiko Tamagawa produces arts and culture segments for Here & Now.

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Britten: Violin Concerto Chamber Works album review – bravura and brilliance as Faust turns to Britten’s violin writing

Faust/Melnikov/Faust/Symphonieorchester des Bayerische Rundfunks/Hrůša (Harmonia Mundi) Violinist Isabelle Faust, violist Boris Faust and pianist Alexander Melnikov honour Britten’s exuberant works with vigour and determination

I sabelle Faust takes a rewarding dive into the violin music of Benjamin Britten , putting the Violin Concerto next to some far less familiar early chamber music. In fact, the work that here gets its recorded premiere – the Two Pieces for violin, viola and piano, for which Faust is joined by her violist brother Boris and the pianist Alexander Melnikov – dates from as early as 1929, when Britten was still a sixth-former. They show a confident, lyrical composer busy digesting his influences, in particular the Second Viennese School.

Unsurprisingly, Britten hadn’t found his distinctive voice at that point, but it was very much there five years later when hebegan the Suite, Op 6 for violin and piano, which includes an engagingly skittish March and an exuberant Waltz, played by Faust and Melnikov with just the right balance of humour and bravura. It’s also there in 1937’s Reveille, a beguiling piece that sounds like an early study for the opera Peter Grimes. The Violin Concerto followed in 1939: here, teamed with the Munich orchestra conducted by Jakub Hrůša , Faust gives a performance that’s impassioned and intense, slightly downplaying its potential for dreaminess in favour of vigour and determination.

• Classical music
• Benjamin Britten

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UC selects dean to lead renowned performing and media arts college

Peter jutras, phd, will serve as dean of the college-conservatory of music.

Peter Jutras, PhD, professor of piano and piano pedagogy and director of the Hugh Hodgson School of Music (HHSOM) at the University of Georgia, has been named dean of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, effective Aug.1, 2024, pending approval of the UC Board of Trustees.

Jutras, an award-winning professor and educator, has been a member of the HHSOM faculty for 18 years and served as associate director for research and graduate studies prior to being named director in 2019. The HHSOM is a nationally recognized, large public university music school with more than 500 majors.

Peter Jutras, PhD

“Peter Jutras has a strong record of inclusive leadership, visionary thinking, fiscal responsibility, community building and student-forward curricular development, all of which will serve our College-Conservatory of Music as it continues to grow its legacy as an internationally renowned performing and media arts institution,” says Valerio Ferme, PhD, UC’s executive vice president of academic affairs and provost. “His experience in the development of interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary partnerships with programs in the humanities and sciences will continue to fuel our innovative approach to education.”

During his tenure at HHSOM, Jutras has become known for an innovative and creative vision, community building and student success. He led school-wide efforts to launch new curricular offerings and review core requirements to create opportunities for more relevant and flexible course options. Additionally, Jutras has tapped innovative collaborations across campus to partner with new educational programs such as an Innovation Bootcamp for musicians and an interdisciplinary arts Lab.  

I have a strong passion for advancing the cause of music and the arts on a global scale while supporting and empowering students, faculty and staff. I can’t wait to partner with members of the UC and Cincinnati communities to build on the college’s rich history.

“It is an honor and privilege to be chosen as the next UC College-Conservatory of Music dean,” says Peter Jutras, PhD. “I have a strong passion for advancing the cause of music and the arts on a global scale while supporting and empowering students, faculty and staff. I can’t wait to partner with members of the UC and Cincinnati communities to build on the college’s rich history to prepare students for successful careers that positively impact society.”

An avid researcher, Jutras has published numerous articles in leading music journals, and he is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences. Jutras served as editor-in-chief of Clavier Companion Magazine, a leading national piano pedagogy publication, for 11 years.

Jutras holds a BM degree in music education from the Eastman School of Music, an MM degree in piano performance and pedagogy from Southern Methodist University and a PhD in music education with an emphasis in piano pedagogy from the University of North Texas.

About the College-Conservatory of Music

The University of Cincinnati's nationally ranked and internationally renowned College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is a preeminent institution for the performing and media arts. The school’s educational roots date back to 1867, and a solid, visionary instruction by internationally renowned faculty has been at its core since that time. Declared "one of this country's leading conservatories" by the New York Times, CCM offers nearly 120 possible majors, along with a variety of pre-collegiate and post-graduate programs and workshops. The synergy created by housing CCM within a comprehensive public university gives the college its unique character and defines its objective: to educate and inspire the whole artist and scholar for positions on the world stage.

Learn more at ccm.uc.edu .

• College-Conservatory of Music
• Next Lives Here
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• Arts & Culture

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Peter Jutras, PhD, professor of piano and piano pedagogy and director of the Hugh Hodgson School of Music (HHSOM) at the University of Georgia, has been named dean of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, effective Aug. 1, 2024, pending approval of the UC Board of Trustees.

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Music Features

Can rap beef exist when no one agrees on what's being fought for, j. cole, kendrick lamar and drake in a conflict without a cause.

Sheldon Pearce

J. Cole and Drake perform during the 2023 edition of Cole's Dreamville festival in Raleigh, N.C., last April. Their collaborative track "First Person Shooter" recently touched off a war of words with fellow MC Kendrick Lamar. Astrida Valigorsky/WireImage/Getty Images hide caption

J. Cole and Drake perform during the 2023 edition of Cole's Dreamville festival in Raleigh, N.C., last April. Their collaborative track "First Person Shooter" recently touched off a war of words with fellow MC Kendrick Lamar.

In 2016, then-President Barack Obama weighed in on an issue of utmost national importance: Who would win in a rap battle between Kendrick Lamar and Drake ? "Gotta go with Kendrick," he said. "I think Drake is an outstanding entertainer, but Kendrick, his lyrics ..." It was pretty clear what distance he was covering between "entertainer" and "lyricist"; it's one that has been subject to debate since hip-hop's earliest days. But just as fascinating, to me, is the idea of asking the commander-in-chief such a question in the first place: not simply pitting the two divergent stars against each other in the critical imagination, but supposing that any such showdown could be conclusive — that it could say something substantial about the artists' standing — when even the framing of Obama's answer seems to be partitioning them.

Such a battle may yet come to fruition thanks to Kendrick Lamar, who recently made a surprise appearance on Future and Metro Boomin's " Like That " to take aim at Drake and the other peer with whom they have formed the defining rap triumvirate of the last decade, J. Cole . Kendrick, no stranger to putting others on notice, made plain his distaste for the duo collaborating and asserting their primacy on the chart-topping 2023 single " First Person Shooter ," and decided to shoot back. On Friday, only a few weeks removed from the explosive Kendrick verse, Cole provided his own lukewarm response on the song " 7 Minute Drill ," from a surprise album called Might Delete Later . His fire didn't even last the weekend: During a set at his Dreamville festival, he denounced the song , calling it "the lamest s*** I ever did." "I felt conflicted 'cause I'm like, bruh, I know I don't really feel no way," he continued, "but the world wanna see blood" — in essence admitting he was going through the motions of a ritual he does not believe in.

In recent years, Kendrick, Drake and Cole have been frequently lumped together as a stable of thoroughbreds sometimes known as the "big three," in part because of how their respective rises overlapped across the 2010s. Drake was the first to break through, as a teen-drama bit player turned passive-aggressive love bomber, and his performance of emotional availability and inclination toward pop melody quickly made him a pervasive (and sometimes malignant) presence, consuming everything in his path. As Drake was expanding from Young Money scion to capital asset , Kendrick emerged from the indie-rap giant TDE's Black Hippy supergroup as a world-weary eyewitness powered by a formidable, disarming lyricism; his cinematic debut, good kid, m.A.A.d city , set the stage for a blue-ribbon career, elevated by the intrepid jazz-rap pièce de résistance To Pimp a Butterfly and capped by rap's first-ever Pulitzer Prize win for music. Cole, a small-market rapper-producer studying at St. John's, realized his rap dream by becoming a Jay-Z apprentice , and the striving, parochial focus and withdrawn disposition of his subsequent albums made him a self-tormented rap monk for a devout following of armchair intellectuals.

Every aspect of the recent exchange between these three makes me question who and what beef is for, especially now. There is an obvious thrill in rappers going head-to-head for the sport of it, particularly at this level of visibility, where exposure becomes theater. But in today's game, the terms of the wager feel opaque: None of the participants seem to even be playing by the same rules, much less for the same prize. Any pursuit of rap's invisible throne seems almost immaterial without real matters of succession to be settled. Can such a thing have meaning if the factions don't at least agree on what is being fought for?

Conflicted: Two Battles Illustrate How Hip-Hop Is Fueled By Competition

Even if the gladiatorial spectacle of great competitors duking it out for glory has historically been entertaining and at times career-making, rap beef has usually come with tangible stakes. The Bridge Wars were fought over territory, airplay and rap's birthright. Drake's feud with Meek Mill was about authorship. His feud with Pusha T is an extension of Pusha's feud with Drake's mentor, Lil Wayne, over style. Every Nicki feud — Lil Kim, Remy Ma, Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion — seems to come back to the Highlander principle that there can only be one successful woman in rap at a time , which has long been dispelled and yet seems to remain primary directive driving her quarrels. Even Jay-Z's shots at Nas on " Takeover " were a response to Nas claiming he was taking Biggie's name in vain, as both men made a play for his vacated title as King of New York. This latest feud isn't predicated on any slight, real or perceived, but instead is largely about positioning — who gets to finally break away from the pack — and yet there is little for any of them to lose, and less to be gained.

Drake and Kendrick are natural foils that play into an established binary, the commercial juggernaut facing down the highbrow philosopher messiah. Neither portrayal is entirely fair: Drake has, on many occasions, displayed not just bars but battle savvy (and a love of the form, co-hosting a King of the Dot rap battle in 2011), and Kendrick spent much of his last album rebuking any attempt to put him on the cross as a lyrical emancipator. Yet there is still something symbolic at play in pitting them against one another. It is hard to imagine a more blatant dividing line for hip-hop morality, and it helps that they are the most celebrated rappers of their era, if by vastly different measures.

Cole has often felt like the odd man out in this conversation. Neither hitmaker nor auteur, his inclusion in the so-called "big three" seems to be out of respect for the relevance he enjoys via a reverent fanbase, but his limitations stand out when compared directly to his peer group. What's more, even though it was in part his invocation of the "big three" on "First Person Shooter" that started all this upset, he has never had the disposition for the pugnaciousness and scheming of rap kingmaking. Drake is petty and has never met a dig he couldn't take to the grave. Kendrick is proud and has never met a challenge he couldn't take personally. Both modes lend themselves not only to settling gripes in the open, but the shoulder-checking required to emerge atop a hip-hop scrum. Even releasing his diss on a project called Might Delete Later implies an apprehension in Cole that simply does not fit the format.

Microphone Check

J. cole on competition and writing honest songs.

The Blast Radius Of Kendrick Lamar's 'Control' Verse

As declarations of war, "Like That" and "7 Minute Drill" could not be further from one another, and each one says a lot about the rapper who made it, perhaps more so now that Cole has backed down. On "Like That," the barbs are strung together like razor wire, and there is a charge that runs through it, the exhilaration of getting something off your chest. Kendrick is teeming with energy, on the front foot, making a case for his skill as singular and undercutting Drake's advantage in the process. "I'm really like that / And your best work is a light pack / N****, Prince outlived Mike Jack," he raps, nodding to Drake's recent move into a dead heat with the King of Pop for most Hot 100 No. 1 singles. (It is clear that most of his vitriol is for Drake, with whom he has traded jabs for many years.) The verse was effective in riling up the internet, enough to pressure a response from Cole, and it's hard to argue against its potency, but it's unclear what is being accomplished. Unlike his scorched-earth verse on Big Sean's " Control ," where Kendrick was an upstart staking claim to an authority that had yet to materialize but felt inevitable, "Like That" does not say anything his work hasn't already said for him, and it cannot cut into the market cap of his competitors. He also has not changed the state of play, as Pusha T once did. He sidesteps detailed talking points for undermining both artists to come at them straight on, which is more in line with a move to maintain the status quo than to shake things up.

"7 Minute Drill" is the response it deserves — halfhearted and full of pulled punches. The song and its subsequent disavowal are befitting of the rapper who made " Pride Is the Devil ," one wrestling with the pressure of his ego at all times. Cole directly cites "Takeover," critiquing the Kendrick album arc (and TPAB , specifically) by reusing Jay's blueprint: "Four albums in 12 years, n****, I can divide." There was never a path to victory in this for Cole; the worst Kendrick album, whatever it may be, is better than the best Cole album. His has always been an underdog story, underscored by the "platinum with no features" mantra, and to play to that persona in this situation is a tacit acknowledgment that he is punching above his weight. In this way, Cole recusing himself from the clash feels less like some damning confirmation that he is not The One, and more like proof that he and his opponents are simply after different things. And it underscores something that fan accounting of rap beefs tends to overlook: The case for your legacy is made by your music in its totality, no matter what you do in battle. After all, Jay-Z, the one being cited for his landmark offensive against Nas, is recognized by many (myself included) as the greatest rapper ever — and he lost that fight.

Each member of the "big three" has, at one time or another, revealed themselves to be students of Jay's tactics; though Nas' " Ether " ruled the day back in 2001, "Takeover" has held as a defining document for them. Kendrick once said that the latter was better because Jay was "saying more facts." I'd say it's more that it makes you believe a fiction — that it carefully rewrites the Nas narrative to suit Jay's ends. You can hear Kendrick's obsession with "facts" in the upfront "Like That" verse; Cole clearly shares the ethic in his bending of the truth; and the debater's methodology surfaces in a Drake diss like " Duppy Freestyle ." But their paths diverge in their adoption of this gospel, as each seems to have a different Hovism running in their mind. For Cole, it is " I hear you baiting me lately , I been doing my best just to stay hater-free / Still, watch what you say to me," as the ease-seeking, reluctant combatant. For Kendrick: " Don't talk to me 'bout MCs got skills / He's all right, but he's not real," as the obsessive heir apparent. For Drake: " Men lie, women lie, numbers don't ," as the all-consuming data machine in a time when fans wield figures like a cudgel. One seeks success in solitude, one in culture-shifting, one in quantifiable ubiquity. Militancy suits Kendrick best, and to play by those rules is to skew the elusive target at the center of rap discourse in his favor.

That's why it is hardest to imagine what Drake might get out of all of this if it continues into a second phase. He has yet to respond, but it feels as if any response would only diminish him. Drake is too big to fail , a chart certainty at this point, and he will likely never be "rap" enough for those who really value this kind of exercise. Unlike previous Drake foes, Kendrick is the only rapper in his class who isn't dwarfed by his numbers, and thus presents a true challenge for a shrewd competitor. Why take the risk for no reward? There is no cachet to be earned in such a clash because, as every Drake album this decade makes clear, he has no interest in playing the prestige game anymore. His security lies in his sheer undeniability — an armor that even a perception-shifting diss labeling him a self-hating deadbeat dad couldn't pierce. This even being a conversation must be as unfathomable to him as it is to Kendrick.

If that feels like an anticlimactic outcome for hip-hop's reigning titans squaring off, blame it on the context-flattening effect of our current social reality. Rap purists and pop number-crunchers are all wading around in the same murky discourse soup, and a lot of the metrics that used to feel like a given are looser now, superimposing a shape on something gray and amorphous. It figures, then, that the truest means of ascent is to try and to get to the top of the trending list, and to stay as long as possible; the only thing of equal value to everyone is collective attention. The diehards will never admit it, but beef has become far more about the drama than the bars or even the hostility, which explains both the overenthusiasm for a pretty down-the-middle shot from Kendrick, and the sourpuss complaints about Cole's retraction. Watching the video of that apology, I can't stop thinking about his characterization of beef as a vicious spectacle: "The world wanna see blood ." In that context, you can think of the "Like That" verse as chum in the tank, bait that hooked Cole into a squabble he didn't even really want. Maybe if there was something that actually needed hashing out, it'd be worth it.

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Lizzo Says She Is Not Leaving Music Industry After ‘I Quit’ Post

Lizzo clarified that she was not quitting music after writing on Instagram last week that she was “starting to feel like the world doesn’t want me in it.”

By Amanda Holpuch

Lizzo, the Grammy Award-winning singer, clarified on Tuesday that she was not quitting the music industry, days after her social media post saying “I QUIT” led some fans to speculate that she was ending her music career.

In a video posted on social media, Lizzo said she was not leaving the music business and instead was quitting “giving any negative energy attention.”

“What I’m not going to quit is the joy of my life, which is making music, which is connecting to people, cause I know I’m not alone,” she said in the video. “In no way shape or form am I the only person who is experiencing that negative voice that seems to be louder than the positive.”

She continued: “If I can just give one person the inspiration or motivation to stand up for themselves, and say they quit letting negative people win, negative comments win, then I’ve done even more than I could’ve hoped for.”

Speculation that Lizzo was leaving the industry arose after she posted a message on Instagram on March 30 that ended with the words: “I QUIT.”

“I’m getting tired of putting up with being dragged by everyone in my life and on the internet,” she wrote in the initial post. “All I want is to make music and make people happy and help the world be a little better than how I found it. But I’m starting to feel like the world doesn’t want me in it.”

Lizzo has won four Grammy Awards and rose to fame with hits including “Truth Hurts,” “ About Damn Time ” and other feel-good songs that promoted self-love. She built on her success by launching the shapewear line Yitty in 2022, and creating a reality television show on Amazon Prime Video, “ Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls ,” which aired the same year. On the show, dancers competed to back her up onstage.

These ventures have been clouded by criticism, including over a perceived contradiction between her promotion of body positivity and sale of shapewear, while lawsuits were filed last year accusing her of creating a hostile work environment on tour.

Three of her former dancers, including two who competed on the television show, filed a lawsuit in August 2023 accusing Lizzo of creating a hostile work environment. Lizzo denied the allegations . In February , a judge dismissed some of the claims, but allowed the case to move to trial.

In September 2023 , a former wardrobe designer who had worked briefly on Lizzo’s 2023 tour before being dismissed filed a lawsuit asserting that the tour’s wardrobe manager had created a hostile work environment, which tour management and Lizzo had failed to address. A spokesman for Lizzo called the suit an “absurd publicity stunt,” and her lawyers asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit in December .

The response to Lizzo’s “I QUIT” statement was not the first time she has been the subject of speculation that she might leave the industry. In 2023 , she made her Twitter account private several times, and said it was because of comments people made about her weight.

Amanda Holpuch covers breaking news and other topics. More about Amanda Holpuch

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