Not surprisingly, the UCs will check all responses to the Personal Insight Questions for plagiarism. Here is their statement on the subject:

“UC Personal Insight Question (PIQ) Plagiarism Check

After the November 30 deadline, UC reviews all PIQ responses for plagiarism by using a plagiarism detection software program. Applicants who are found with a potential plagiarism violation will be emailed in early January.

Applicants will be provided instructions on how to provide information regarding the authenticity of their PIQ statements. The information applicants provide will be reviewed by several campus admissions officials and applicants will be notified of a decision on the authenticity of their PIQ statement.
 
The deadline to respond is January 31, 2022. Failure to respond to the request by the deadline will result in cancellation of the application.”