Adding information about sickness affecting grades on Common App ''additional information"

In early November, I got a bad case of strep throat and missed a week of school and then I got the flu two weeks later and missed 3 days for a total of a week and a half of missed school. While my absences were all excused by my doctor, I fell behind on my course work and I was not able to keep my grades up and received two C’s (Anatomy, Finite), one B (AP Lit), and four A’s (Drama, Newspaper, AP Gov and dual enrollment Intro to Admin of Justice).

I was thinking about adding information about this to my ‘‘additional information’’ and sending an email to my regional rep for my deferred school but I’m afraid they will see it as excuse making and it will hurt my chances even more. To make matters worse, I was a bad student freshman year where I received a 2.0 although my other two years were somewhat good with my junior year being 4.0. I’m afraid they will just see this as me returning to my freshman year ways. Do you think I should just let the dices roll as they will or should I add it to the Common App and email my regional rep for my deferred school?

Relatively minor illnesses like you had will not be an excuse for low grades. If you had undergone chemotherapy and missed half the school year that may carry some weight. +

And yes you will come across as an excuse maker.

@TomSrOfBoston Thank you for your honesty. I will not add it to the Common App. Merry Christmas.