<p>How useful would it be to write the 3rd personal statement? I'm from a family with what I would consider an "excruciating circumstance" but I'm unsure if the adcoms would favor certain details over others.</p>
<p>Any suggestions?</p>
<p>by 3rd essay you’re talking about the 3rd section in the personal statement where you put any additional comments you need to about yourself or your UC application right? I dont think putting anything there would hurt, so go for it. maybe you could’ve written the “excruciating circumstance” in prompt 2 for the personal statement but it may be to late for that. use the third section for clarification for things that might sound confusing on your application. don’t try to get extra points in your application by talking about an excruciating circumstance… but like i said, it probably wouldn’t hurt. your call! good luck :)</p>
<p>Definitely don’t brag about accomplishments or achievements in that last section as I’ve read ad coms hate that. I would say if you can write a succinct and articulate account of your excruciatingly circumstanced family situation without making it sound like a sob story in search for extra points, then it wouldn’t hurt. I’d suggest putting emphasis upon how that adversity defines you as a person, your goals in life, etc. because of the hurdles you had to overcome.</p>