What Should I Include in the Additional Info Section?
What Should I Include in the Additional Info Section?
The Common App provides a space for students to input additional information about themselves that doesn’t fit neatly within the essays or activity list. But just because you have this space available to you doesn’t mean you need to use it.
For admissions officers who read thousands of applications a year, less can be more. If you can tell your story without using the additional information section, you should. It will not put you at a disadvantage. However, there are some circumstances that high school students encounter that require further explanation. Read on for a better understanding of whether or not it makes sense for you to plan on using the Common App Additional Information section to best share your story.
Answer Potential Red Flags
Are there spots in your academic or extracurricular record that might cause an admissions officer to have more questions about you than answers? Perhaps your grades dipped in an unusual way for a semester, or you suddenly stopped participating in activities after sophomore year.
Rather than leave the reasoning behind these changes in pattern up to the interpretation of your reader, provide a meaningful explanation in the additional info section. In our experience, admissions officers tend to draw conclusions about unanswered red flags that aren’t helpful to students. With so many quality applicants to choose from, they rarely have the time to try to guess the mitigating factors that a careful, articulate explanation can provide.
This is not the space to make excuses for yourself or to blame others for any shortcomings you experienced. Rather, it’s to provide context so your reader understands why this stretch of your application is not indicative of who you are as a student.
It is a great idea to make time to go through your application with an admissions expert or college counselor to search for any red flags. Benefitting from the experience of someone more familiar with the process will help you avoid unnecessary pitfalls.
Additional Awards and Activities
Some students have more significant contributions or activities than there is room for in other areas of the application. Likewise, some of the activities students engage in require more than 150 characters to fully explain their role. For example, perhaps you wrote the abstract for a major research project and need more room than the activity list provides to detail your contributions. In cases like this, we recommend using the Additional Info section to your advantage.
To be clear, this isn’t the place to count every one-off service event or short-term commitment. If an activity (or, more accurately, your contribution) doesn’t feel significant enough to you, it likely won’t to an admissions officer as well. Be judicious with how you use this space.
That said, adding valuable context about a research or personal project you undertook, elaborating on the criteria for a local award you won, or detailing the special responsibilities you have at your unique job can help the admissions officer understand the level of your engagement more clearly.
Hidden Challenges
Some students face obstacles that are worth disclosing but they don’t want to dedicate an entire essay to the explanation. Examples include chronic illnesses, unusual family circumstances or responsibilities, or self-identity expressions that are being actively realized. In these cases, we also recommend using the Additional Information section to provide added context.
You should never feel obligated to use your essays for anything other than your best or most impactful stories. Think about your application as one complete unit rather than a series of individual components. It may be more impactful for you share about your challenge in a short, digestible bite than a full essay.
One of the major ways we help our students is in thinking about how to use all the space available to them most effectively. Being intentional about your additional info is one of the many small choices the most successful applicants make throughout their process to best position them at highly selective colleges.
The expert admissions consultants at Wise World Prep have helped hundreds of students maximize their potential of being admitted to their top choice colleges and universities. Over 20 years, we have successfully guided students through each stage of the application process – from choosing competitive high school courses to building an appropriate college list to drafting winning essays to writing persuasive update and appeals letters. We would be happy to answer your questions and partner with you to create a successful admissions roadmap.
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