Mochachino_60

Hello Kulkarni. Thanks for your input on my essay. I did time myself, and I took around 32 minutes (with some distractions). I just started practicing for GRE. But I've some writing experience from Highschool. To be honest my Issue Essays are not of the same standard as my argument essay. I suspect this has something to do with my Debating history. I'm more comfortable with arguments.
Anyway, as for tips, I can give you some.
I really liked this argument of your's
Moreover, it states no Palean boats have been found , but there's no evidence about Lithosean boats. Merchants , traders from
Lithos could have traveled to Palea and imported the Woven Basket which later on were discovered by archaeologists.
What I'd suggest is to elaborate on this. Your third (above one) and final argument is actually very good, but the first two hinges upon pedantic details. Brainstorming more would surely help. But overall it was a good essay.
You also made some grammatical errors, which happens. But one thing that stuck out was that, you used Instigate wrongly. Instigate means to start/initiate something (as far as I know). I think you wanted to mean Imply. I'd suggest not to use words that you're unsure of. 
As you say, you buckle under pressure; so I believe you'll be able to write very good essays if you keep practicing (while timing). You'll surely improve.
 

Since you are applying in the same undergrad field (I think?) then it should be less of a stretch. But, the U California schools are still very tough for international students across almost all fields (unless ECE is an exception!)

For the GRE, Magoosh was an invaluable resource.  I studied vocabulary intently by writing short stories using new words daily. I used Magoosh for everything else and was able to bring my GRE from shit in practice tests to less-shit (165/160).  
 
For the SOP, just reading, mostly non-fiction.  I thought really thought deeply about what the evaluators might see on the other side.  For example, they have my resume, so there's really no point in re-living my life in the SOP (especially if its only 500-600 words).  As a more unconventional applicant, I didn't want to bore the admissions panel with the same tired format.  
 
Some observations over the course of writing the various SOPs and then reading lots online:
1. Write drunk, edit sober
2. If you have an incredible stroke of genius, write it down immediately (I have Evernote on my phone).
3. Don't fall too hard for your first concept.  I don't think a single sentence of my first draft made it into the final, even though I thought it was perfect at the time. 
4. Write a new SOP for each school based on the program.  After reading a lot of others' work, its becomes pretty obvious where they just plugged in classes, professors, and school names. 
5. Wait until the final week to submit, even if you are done early.  I submitted my first choice school (because the dead-line was earlier), had a stroke of genius, and completely re-wrote the concept for other schools.  
6.  If you hate your SOP the more you read it, its time for a re-write.  
7. Make your voice both confident and humble.  
8. If you did something notable, don't self-suck about it all the way through your essays.  Imagine your friends rolling their eyes hearing the same stories again and again.  
9. Don't try to make people feel sorry for you when they probably shouldn't.  If you fought through serious adversity to make it, good on you.  Having to take adderall is not adversity.  I'd like to be prescribed amphetamines too.    
10. Get people that know you to proofread and some who don't.  Be weary about over-edits, as they have the tendency to strip out uniqueness.
11. Don't be afraid to go unconventional, especially for fellowships with boring topics (Why do you want to get money from us?)
12. Let your freak flag fly, politely. 
13. Have a purpose in your statement of purpose.  
 
All things considered, I've only been notified for acceptance by one school so far (that had rolling admission).  Take this advice with a grain of salt.

Sometimes I think it is best to avoid outside sources for some application help. For basics things such as sending tests scores and deadlines you can look it up but when it comes to the fuzzy part of the application process I think you should do it your own way. When I was writing my personal statement I had looked at some writing samples from online sources and for the most part, I thought they were horrendous. I decided to write my personal statement exactly how I think a personal statement should look and added my own touches. I know many  of us think that people in the application process do not read or read in-depth personal statements but as soon as I got to the campus of the university I was admitted to the program coordinator told me how impressive part of my essay was and remembered almost exactly what I wrote. I think it helped me a lot to get in. Being that I am a social sciences field, I think it helped to think outside the box and be different. It helped leave an impression.