What should I submit in the 'Additional Comments' section in the Common App?

Applying to College
1

<p>Hey guys!</p>

<p>I am a student from India and am about to submit my common application in about 24 hours, and I am not sure whether or not to leave the 'Additional Comments' section blank.
Could someone please advise? Should or add another essay or something? I had totally forgotten about it till now, so any help ASAP would be GREATLY appreciated.</p>

2

<p>Most applicants put nothing in the Additional Info section. You only need to put something there to clarify another part of your application, special circumstances, etc. Definitely do not put an extra essay.</p>

3

<p>Definitely NOT another essay. The types of things people might put in:

  • Additional information on awards or activities if the small space allowed in that part of the application is not sufficient. My kid had a lot of awards in one activity, so she put some bullets on that in her additional info section.
  • Info on courses taken that might not fit under college or high school headings (eg, open online courses that are not for college credit).
  • Sometimes students give a brief explanation of issues that may have caused a dip in grades (eg, serious illness, family issue, etc.). Generally not too specific.</p>
4

<p>entomom and intparent: Thank you so much! That really was a relief. I have taken some online courses; I will go ahead and mention them there.</p>

5

<p>My S listed some of his hobbies that did not fit as ECs and also a summer program he attended that was relevant to his intended major.</p>

6

<p>Most people I know didn’t put anything, but if you want to, it is always better.</p>

7

<p>It is not “always better”. Admissions officers have thousands of applications to review. They do not want irrelevant information. If you have something to tell them that does not fit in the rest of the common app, use it for that. Don’t put something in just to have something – it will NOT make the admissions officers happier if it is not added value.</p>

8

<p>Also a more detailed explanation of your internship and/or summer activities can be put here. For my son, the available space in the Activity section of the Common App was not enough to write about the specifics of his internship so he explained it here. similar to what @intparent’s kids, he also put the EC award list here. </p>

<p>Be very careful with the formatting and review your final PDF preview before submitting. I remember strange things happened to DS after he finished and had to go back multiple times, trial and error, to fix the problem.</p>