University of California - Davis Undergraduate College Application Essays

Snowflakes, soft and silver in the dark, drift past the window, casting shadows on the floor. The door creaks open as my mother peeks into the room to check on my brand new baby sister. She finds me crouched besides the tiny swaddled figure,...

In fourth grade, I invented the “Swiss Army Cook” for the Invention Convention. In fifth grade, I hand wrote and drew entire magazine issues, scanned them, and sent them to all my friends and relatives for 50 with the hope of becoming the next...

I find it humorous when my family debates who looks more Asian versus White, me or my twin brother. My parents also joke that Brandon and I would be even taller or better at math had it not been for the “shortcomings” each contributed to our...

I possess superpowers that I inherited from my namesake, Geraldine, my dad’s late mother. Grandma Jeri was the daughter of Portuguese immigrants who worked on the pineapple plantations of Hawaii and the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard (during the 1941...

I collect rocks.

I promise it isn’t as lame as it sounds.

On a winter afternoon, the wet mulch crunched under my feet as I walked towards the school bus after my third-grade field trip to the Boston Science Museum. My small, calloused hands held...

During P.E., my friend whispered to me that “Aunt Flo was visiting” and she didn’t have a pad. I took a pad from my backpack and handed it over to her, only for her to squeal “Don’t take it out so obviously!” Followed by, “I don’t have a pocket,...

“This has to be the worst summer ever,” I thought to myself. The only television in our apartment broke.

Unsettled by pure boredom, I started to flip through books on the shelf. I read voraciously that summer, and became inevitably fascinated with...

“Feminism is witchcraft.” someone said.

Adrenaline rushes through my body. Friends I’ve had for years vanish when we discover that we held polarizing stances on at least this issue and perhaps more. I found myself in a similar situation during...

I sat stagnantly in confusion with Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude" open in my hands. Bewildered, I closed the book. On the cover, transcribed in glittering gold, was a sticker with the words: "Nobel Prize Winner!".

How did...

Every Friday at seven a shouting match commences in my house. The same argument is dredged up week after week like clockwork but the end result is always different. Sides change and so do loyalties. Some days it’s children versus adults and on...

I watched as eight people plummeted at the speed of lightning towards surefire slaughter. I watched lines of people eagerly waiting to embrace the same fate. I watched my sister giddy with excitement for her turn. Being voluntarily strapped to a...

When I was nine, my parents purchased a seemingly unspectacular piece of land. Eight years ago it was just mud and brick surrounded by a boundary wall. Today, it’s my home. Every weekend my father, an impassioned civil engineer, would drag me to...

“Can’t you make it 40? I come here every day!” my grandma smirked at the vendor’s defeated face. She looked at me with a victorious smile as she claimed her trophy from the vendor. The vibrant color of the freshest produce, the unforgettable aroma...

For as long as I can remember, my parents have always been insistent on taking photos whenever they got the chance. I used to find it annoying, always having to look at the camera, smile, and pose on demand, but now I realize the value of those...

I held up a self-portrait that I drew in my beginner art class during junior year. The shadows were off, my eyes were lopsided, and my lips were triple the size of what they were supposed to be.

“Um... try again,” my art teacher said, as she tried...

Silence filled the room as twenty-two first graders watched me.

“What is it?...” my first grade teacher asked me as I held up my prized possession, a Hello Kitty charm, for Show-and-Tell.

What do you mean “what is it?” It’s the best thing I’ve...

Opening the door to the Cat Assessment room was like entering a world with a myriad of lessons, some delightful and others difficult. This program, Kitten Garten, was brought to my attention by volunteer services at Pasadena Humane Society &...

Thump Thump. No sound had ever sounded better to my ears, although through a balloon encased in a beaker, it resembled more closely to "woosh woosh". For the past five months, I had been working on the model of an artificial heart for my...

At my first karate class, unimaginably intimated, I picked up my big black burly uniform and my inflexible white belt and attempted unsuccessfully to put it on myself. An older girl graciously helped me. I stood in the very back of the class, and...

"That's art?" my seating neighbor exclaimed in the crisp air of our busy art classroom.

I had to admit, staring at Russian modernist Kazimir Malevich's Black Square painting, I didn't particularly see the esthetic appeal or even the intellectual...

How does one prepare for a test with no correct answer? There aren't flashcards to flip through, past practice tests to predict similar problems, or a study guide to fill out. How would a test like this even be administered? The answer - a...

Crystals fell from the sky, images of a never-seen winter wonderland falling into place. Snow flurries drifted through the air; a faded yellow fluorescent light from the rundown Chinese restaurant radiated through each flake, reflecting the...

Grasping the air bulb in my hand, I squeeze till the arm cuff is snug around the nurse. Methodically, I turn the valve on the bulb, letting out a faint stream of air, still pressing my stethoscope firmly upon the brachial artery, listening for the...

When I look back at the videos of my so-called dance performances as a 5-year old, I feel my soul cringe. Little 5-year-old Tara had herself convinced that even Beyonce couldn’t hold a candle to her dance moves. Why did my mother allow me to make...