<p>Hi, I want to write a letter in my additional info section on the common app to the university. Kind of just more about myself and how much I want to be apart of the school. Any advice? Who do I write to? To whom it may concern? Dear office of admin?</p>
<p>Ths sort of thing should be approached with caution. The main parts of the app are usually where your match is made. Good luck.</p>
<p>And don’t forget the Common App Additional Information essay will go to ALL your schools. That’s what makes it, well, Common. (Unless you make separate versions of your common app.)</p>
<p>Save the special love for a particular university for any supplement that school requires. Only that school will see it. But if you choose to do it in a letter format, Dear Admissions Committee would probably make the most sense.</p>
<p>Yes, I would really hesitate to do that. Your great desire to be part of their school isn’t what usually gets you in, especially at a more selective school. If they have a “Why X” type of supplement essay, you can use that to describe some of the specific reason you think you would be an asset to their community and how they would be a good fit for you. The more specific you can be about a particular program, class you attended, or activity offered at that school, the better. But I would not put anything like that in the additional info section. That is for things like:</p>
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<li>Academic classes that won’t fit on the list they give you (not enough spaces for my kid on the common app, so she had to do that)</li>
<li>Extra classes you took that aren’t college or high school credit classes (eg, my kid took a Udacity class, and listed it in that section)</li>
<li>Additional information on extra curriculars that won’t fit in those itty bitty spaces they give you to describe your ECs</li>
<li>Sometimes people use that to describe some specific issue with their past applications or grades. For example… if you were made homeless for six months due to Hurricane Katrina in your freshman year of high school so your grades were terrible, that is the sort of thing I would put in. Or your house burned down, a parent died, etc. But you have to be careful with that, sometimes it isn’t info that you do want to share… your guidance counselor might be able to help with deciding if something is appropriate for that section or not. If your cat died and your grades were trashed for a semester, that just going to sound like an excuse (true or not). So use with caution.</li>
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