"Additional Information" Portion of the Common App????

Hello all! I was looking at all my application schtuff this past week and I noticed that in the common app there’s a section for any additional info anyone would like to add about themselves and I was wondering what I would potentially put in there? I’m applying to Stanford (my top school) and do they even look at that section? I was thinking of mentioning that I’m have dyslexia and OCD. Thank you!

They read every section of your application. Regarding dyslexia and OCD, think about why you want to disclose this to them. It honestly isn’t very likely to improve your chances of admission at top schools. If it has affected your grades and you have improved in high school as you have gotten treatment or learned to cope, then you should discuss with your guidance counselor whether they should put a note in their recommendation about it.

Things that might go in that section are courses that don’t fit in the list space they give you (my kids went to a school with lots of little slices of classes that meant they had a lot of classes for small amounts of credit, and they ran out on the number of classes). Or one of my kids took a MOOC, and there was no place logical to put it. For ECs where they couldn’t fit the info in the itty bitty space provided, they created a more general EC (eg, “Music”) with “See additional information”, then concisely bulleted out their related activities and awards under a Music heading in the additional info section.

In case you are thinking about it, it is not a place for an extra essay. Colleges ask for the essays they want – it doesn’t improve your chances to add an extra one into that part of the application.

I’d argue that for the majority of applicants the additional information section should be left blank. This was the advice of my kids’ knowledgable college counseling office,

“Regarding dyslexia and OCD, think about why you want to disclose this to them. It honestly isn’t very likely to improve your chances of admission at top schools. If it has affected your grades and you have improved in high school as you have gotten treatment or learned to cope, then you should discuss with your guidance counselor whether they should put a note in their recommendation about it.”

Good advice and if its relevant to discuss it, it might be better discussed by your counselor in their statement than by you.

I don’t have any advice for you, @love4studying; I just wanted to say that “schtuff” is my new favorite word. :))

Agree these issues may be better left to the GC, who can comment not just on the challenge, but how you overcame and what a great gal you are. But any advantage depends on the particulars for an individual kid.

Some use Addl Info to explain a sched quirk, some EC that needs a little more description than fits in the Activities section, some legit interruption in studies, etc. If you’re aiming for top schools, as you said elsewhere, you need to be brief and to the point- and careful in what you choose to include. Know your targets well enough to produce a good app/supps.

Some high schools encourage kids to use Addl Info to supply a resume. But that’s rarely needed, rarely includes the sort of more detail a college needs to see, over and above the Activities section.