Writing about a disability or difference in a personal statement is fine, but some kids feel that they don’t want to be defined by the disability/difference, so instead write a personal statement about something else. The addiotinal info section is then a good option for writing about the disability/difference briefly without making it one’s overall identity.
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@drea426 my opinion….the essay your kid wrote is about him…and what he is doing. If written well, it hopefully gives the adcoms a feel for who he is which is really what they are looking for (we were told this in multiple info sessions about essay writing). I just can’t see a reason for re-working a well written essay.
Plus this thread is about using the additional info section…as Compmom noted, your son can wrote a very short thing there.
My opinion….the additional info section should not contain anything that is already covered in another part of the application. Saying something a second time is not necessary. But a short say 4 sentence paragraph from the student POV might be good.
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Does anyone else see the meta issue here? OP gives advice about how to write essays that catch attention. His own essays definitely do, and from people who read gobs of posts every day. But his posts are polarizing. I imagine that if some of the readers were AOs, they would be put off by the tone and not admit. Others would like the confidence and clarity. It goes along with OP’s “go big or go home” approach. Which isn’t for everyone, but is a valid approach. Just know the risks. He is a good example of what he is preaching, with predictable mixed results.
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My issue with the OP’s pronouncements have to do with the fact that he holds himself out to be an admissions expert, when, while certainly knowledgeable, he is no more expert than many others on this board.
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My post offers a specific piece of advice based on my personal experience reading applications. That’s it. If you find it makes sense, great. The focus here should be on the content. Not commentary on me or my writing style.
We’re in the middle of application season and students and parents–the silent majority reading along–are trying to make live decisions about how to handle a Common App section or how to open an essay. Let’s keep the discussion to our advice on tactics for doing that and why we think they make sense.
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Again, let’s keep the discussion to the content of the post, not the poster. I’ve offered some reasons why I think using this section is generally a bad idea. Maybe you agree or disagree. Let’s hear some good thinking on the best way to use and not use this section to guide students currently working on it.
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First of all, you did not confine it to your experience but spoke for other AOs as well:
Second, I did focus on the content, in this case your sweeping generalizations. Third, you of all people (i.e., as an ex-AO and current admission consultant advising students on their college applications) should understand that the style of writing impacts how it is perceived. What I did not do was question your integrity, motive, etc. (I actually was trying to provide constructive feedback).
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Michael, don’t forget that the applicants are in many cases not adults who haven’t applied to colleges before. You say that when you see extra info added you conclude that this is an arrogant person and this addition of extra info represents bad judgment.
You could consider taking this approach instead: assume they are kids who haven’t applied to colleges before. Then there would be no need for your own negative judgment and lack of proper perspective, right?
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Deleted.
Cheddar: I totally agree! That’s why I’m sharing it!
It’s not a fair perception. At all. These are just 17-year-olds. But underpaid AOs getting through record-levels of applications are ruthless! And this reaction–it’s one I had as a reader, and I can tell you for a fact many other readers I worked with had the same reaction. We talk about all of this stuff!
So I’m sharing it on a forum like this so kids–who are not arrogant jerks, who are good kids that just don’t realize the issue–don’t make this mistake!
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I agree with this. Except, when it comes to giving advice about writing or communication generally, it is additionally useful to consider how successful the advice-giver is in the craft they are giving advice on. OP is really good at getting attention on his writing. As an illustration of how to get your writing to stand out from a stack of applications, that is worth taking note of. So is how people respond to his writing. It is a two-part analysis. Writers should always put themselves in the position of the reader in order to evaluate whether their writing is effective. That is ultimately the message OP is trying to convey: Don’t write something you want to say; write something the reader needs to know. There’s a difference.
I posted a couple of other examples of other “expert” essays on the exact same topic, with very specific examples. People can judge for themselves what they find persuasive among them.
I am not meaning this as anything personal to OP. I am fine with his original post and I personally found it persuasive. I don’t know if his specific advice is correct, but he is persuasive to me. Apparently not so much to others here. From a technique perspective, that result is interesting.
While I don’t pretend to have experience in teaching how to write college app essays, I have taught writing before. This is a unique opportunity to evaluate writing styles and effectiveness of people giving advice on how to write. See/feel how readers respond in this thread. Is the writer of each of the articles doing a good job of putting themselves in the position of the reader? Is the work successful in conveying the intended message succinctly? Why or why not? Is there something in their work product that, as a reader, you think would work for you in your own essay writing? Added bonus: you learn something along the way about what you should or shouldn’t put in the “additional information” section of the common app, from multiple resources.
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Counterpoint:
Both my kids filled out the Additional Info section, and both were near the 650 word limit. Both were completely unhooked but were accepted to top 10 schools.
One of them received a note stating that because her application was both early and so good that it was used to train the junior AOs on what a great application looks like. The other nearly ran the table in terms of elite college admissions.
Apparently these AOs didn’t see a problem with the Additional Information content.
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I agree with the OP on this one. Application numbers have sky rocketed. Even one cycle can make a huge difference in numbers. Unless it’s really essential info, the additional info section can dilute the rest of the application and accomplishments. AOs aren’t going to spend more time on a thicker application, they’ll just read the whole thing faster.
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Evaluating writing style and effectiveness is one thing, making a judgement about the writing’s content is another. Assessing the credibility of a source is one of the first things an educated reader should do.
I do think @anon45019500 has a degree of credibility, in general, and interesting ideas. There is no “one size fits all” approach to college admissions though, which is one reason I push back.
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Amusing! In another OP, you told applicants not to answer the question asked in the prompt to demonstrate individualism (which I strenuously disagree with). Now, you’re suggesting that they must be constrained in their essays; otherwise, they will tick off the admissions officer “with too many words.” Again, which is it?
According to Google, it takes around 2.2 minutes to read 650 words. How much resentment exactly will build up with the AO for 2.2 minutes additional time?
For me, that’s more info for me to make a good decision (I review lots of lawyer resumes; while I am not an AO, I want MORE rather than less relevant info. And as humans, every one of us has something or many things unique about us. I’d love to know that.
It’s not so much your ideas that are controversial, but it’s that your advice and OP titles contradict each other, that your “advice” comes across as an unbreakable rule when there are plenty of folks that have shown otherwise despite your causation v. correlation aphorism, and that you say that the mods and “regular posters” have a pre-conceived dislike of your thoughts. For sure, in my case, that doesn’t apply. As a parent, I am looking for all the great advice that folks at CC give which is manifold.
Guidance to students that “you may want to think carefully before filling out the Additional Information Section and make sure you have something to say” is far more meaningful and realistic than “don’t fill out the Additional Information Section” and, when challenged, your response that this applies in 99% of the cases.
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The conflicting information kids are getting from various sources on everything admissions-related is indicative of the murky waters of holistic admissions. The OP was an AO for Stanford. Last I saw the admissions rate for Stanford was under 4%. I think it is disingenuous at best to tell kids that if they do not bore the AOs (because that is in essence what the OP has insinuated many times in his posts, that AOs do not like to be bored) their chances at a spot at Stanford will be any better than a raffle ticket drawing. The university admits who they want to admit and the OP may know the directive for the specific year(s) he worked there but that changes from year to year. I have read many essays that were “successful” in admissions. There were a few that I really liked but most were not good. And the ones I liked did not hit all the self-promotion and marketing points, and tying in your major and ECs etc. often discussed in these threads. They were just plain good pieces of writing. Gladwell would have liked them.
I have no problem with the OP coming on these threads and offering his advice. I don’t think anyone’s specific guidebook gets kids into Stanford (unless they are the new and improved Rick Singer) and the OP certainly doesn’t make any such claims.
Here is my unpopular advice: Don’t apply to Stanford. It’s a waste of your money.
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The first post and title of the thread is a gross generalization that I would not follow. Yes, the majority of students don’t need anything in their Additional Information section. For example, don’t insert an extra essay.
But there are some instances that call for using this section.
I’m a college counselor. I’ve had students use it to share why they are an early graduate, why they took a Gap Year and how they spent it, sharing about a learning disability, explaining extenuating circumstance that affected an uneven academic record, significant life events such as illness (perhaps taking them out of school), death of a parent, having to work to support the family, natural disaster, etc. They may wish to share an abstract of a research project. There are certain instances where using this section is appropriate, but for most, they won’t need to use this section. I would never generalize that nobody should use this section. It is there for certain reasons, such as some examples I gave.
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Note that there are tactical decisions here. For a particular college application, the applicant may choose to do things that stand out (but which may stand out in either a good or bad way, depending on the reader) in terms of essay writing and the like, or play it safe to avoid the risk of standing out in a bad way.
The tactics here can differ based on the college. For example, at a reach college like Stanford, playing it safe to avoid the risk of standing out in a bad way is likely to result in not standing out enough to be admitted, so choosing the risky essay topic to try to stand out in a good way may be the best tactic. But at a low match to likely college, the applicant will likely be admitted as long as the applicant does not stand out in a bad way, so playing it safe may be the best tactic.
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OP has decided to leave CC. I’ll leave this thread open because it’s a legitimate point of discussion, but let’s focus on the argument presented rather than the OP.
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