<p>What should I write here?
Should it be in an essay format?</p>
<p>**For my first personal statement, I briefly referred to some financial hardships and moving to a new school. In the additional comments section, should I elaborate on this? My grades were still decent but not as good as I could have done. I feel like the personal hardships caused me stress that ultimately took a toll on me. Moving to a new school, I felt uncomfortable putting myself out there and joining a bunch of extracurricular activities. Is this something I should mention in this section? If it is, how do I go about it, without sounding like I'm making excuses?</p>
<p>***Will a short paragraph (about 100 words) about how defeating challenges suffice?</p>
<p>if I make it less generic? </p>
<p>I just want to say that my personal hardships have made me stronger and more sympathetic without sounding cliche or redundant or overly broad!</p>
<p>I just did a quick paragraph (150 words maybe?) outlining my goals while in university, as I felt my EC’s didn’t really give indication of wanting to be an engineer.</p>
<p>Like they say 9001 times throughout the application, they want to get to know you, not your teachers or friends who proofread. If you feel like your financial situation made you stronger and more sympathetic… say so! Don’t worry about being generic, because if it’s about you and your life, it’s anything but. :)</p>
<p>As for making excuses, do what I did. My main essay centered around joining tennis with no experience, and making my way to the top of varsity. The first year was terrible and every way I tried to write about it, it sounded like a sob story. So instead I focused on the determination of making it through a tough season, and practicing hard to make the next year better. Don’t dwell on the negative. Put it out there, explain it; but support it with lessons learned and how you bounced back. That’s the best advice I can give!</p>
<p>You are making excuses. I can’t think of a way for you to put this in the extra info session without saying so. If I am a college, I think, “Oh, this student can’t put themselves out there in a new situation, less reason to accept them to our school.”. You already mentioned it (hopefully productively or how you overcame it!) in your essays. Do not dig the hole deeper. </p>
<p>You do not have to put anything in the add’l info section. All my kid put in hers was a few things that would not fit in that teeny-tiny description section for ECs and one online course she took that there was no place for (Udacity course, just no where in high school or college course lists where it could go).</p>
<p>If you genuinely have something about your personal situation you think college should know (eg, death in the family affected your grades, serious illness that affected your grades or ability to continue ECs, etc.) ask you guidance counselor if they could handle telling the colleges this info. It has more credibility and sounds less like an excuse from them. But… moving and having a hard time getting into the swim honestly does not sound like something that is going to get you any sympathy in the admissions process. Sorry.</p>