How should I approach writing the additional information section?

Applying to College Common and Coalition Application
1

This is my first post - so sorry if formatting or something is weird.

I’m not sure if I should explain some circumstances I’ve been in during high school in a more matter-of-fact, concise way, or in the same kind of narrative style as the common-app essay (although I’m not quite sure how I’d do that, to be honest).

I want to write something to explain what happened my freshman year with my attendance record (became suddenly severely ill for most of the year and racked up over 70 full-day absences), and what has been happening with my dad starting half way through my junior year and is currently ongoing (diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer, and that coupled with his declining mental state/dementia means he has required a lot of time/attention/care).

My current plan is just to write two separate paragraphs and explain each situation and then how it has impacted me and how I approach school/work. Would that be an appropriate way to explain the situation? Also, is this the kind of stuff that would be okay to bring up in the additional information section at all? Thanks!

2

You don’t have to do it in a narrative. They just want to know why you missed school. I have a friend who went through something super similar and was homebound for most of the year. He essentially just wrote down the what and why of the situation and he still got into his top schools so don’t worry about it.