<p>For the common app in the additional information section, is it okay to put a second, personal statement type essay? Or do colleges find that too excessive</p>
<p>My counselor said we should consider it to be more of a “special circumstances” essay and that we should try to keep it on the shorter side. But I imagine it all depends on what you’re writing about. </p>
<p>^^^^I agree with the above. Although your ideas are very well-intentioned, it may not serve in your best interest. This area is solely for extenuating circumstances you feel are worth mentioning to the admission committee. </p>
<p>That is not a space for additional essays, really. It is for things like:</p>
<ul>
<li>EC information you can’t fit into the tiny activities space they give you (list the EC in Activities and say “See Additional Info”, then bullet out the info.</li>
<li>Classes that won’t fit anywhere else (MOOCs would be an example)</li>
</ul>
<p>You can use this space to give a brief (a few sentences) explanation of something in your application. But if it is something that negatively affected your grades or made it difficult for you to participate in ECs or something like that, ask you GC if they can include it in their recommendation instead. </p>