Appropriate to include in UCs' "Additional Comments" section?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - GENERAL
1

I have a couple topics I wanted to include in the “Additional Comments” section, but I’m not sure how admissions officers will interpret them the way I want them to.

  1. Chronic Ankle Instability: I was on the swim team in freshman year, but I eventually quitted after that season ended because my ankles, weak from constant sprains in the past, made me swim very slowly. As a result, I had to use extra effort to swim and this also affected my asthma as well.

What refrains me from including this is the fact that I have been in a dance club for all four years. My ankles do not bother me when dancing, compared to swimming where constant kicking is required. Would the officers be skeptical of how I’m able to dance then?

  1. AP Biology: I am applying under the biology major, specifically because of my favorite class Physiology, but I never had the chance to take AP Biology because of scheduling issues. AP Biology is only offered for early schedule, whereas I have late schedule and that conflicted with transportation issues. Is it okay to include this?
2

This is something I would let Medical Services know, not the admissions committee. What are you hoping the adcoms will do with this information?

3

I was hoping they would understand why I wasn’t able to commit to the swim team

4

They really don’t have time to discriminate every detail like that.
Your GPA and SAT/ACT are king; those, they view.
Details about your EC’s are not scrutinized under a microscope; either you did them or you didn’t.

They don’t search for “conflicts” since they don’t have that kind of time; they get thousands of apps!
When you try to explain minuscule details, these sound like excuses, and they will check for other discrepancies in your application.
AS for AP classes, you either took them or didn’t.
Just list what you did.

5

I see what you mean now! Thank you so much!