What are we supposed to write as an additional qualification in the common App section?
You don’t need to write anything. It’s there in case you have something additional that didn’t fit in any of the other sections. I believe most people leave it blank.
My daughter, as an example, wrote she only took two years of Chinese because the school withdrew Chinese 3.
Would the school counselor have covered - don’t know. But it gave her comfort to let the colleges know, especially those wanting three years.
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I’m of the personal opinion that these types of bullet points regarding curriculum should be covered by the GC and/or the school profile, not the student. It is the rare 17 year old that does not come across as whining when “explaining” such things.
The additional info section should not duplicate anything you already covered and should not be used as an overflow, eg expanding upon all your ECs because you could not fit the character count. It can be used to discuss any extenuating circumstances - family issues, financial issues, health (other than Covid) issues - that you think the college should take into consideration.
But it is also perfectly fine to leave blank.
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You may be right but when you are at a large school, you don’t really see the over worked counselor to know them nor do you have access to what they provide, she wanted to be sure.
At worst, she was duplicative. At best she was informative. We don’t know what the schools were told but she was 17 for 21, including some great schools.
It gave her peace of mind. I’m just saying that’s the kind of thing one can add.
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Since most people leave it blank I suggest to use it to communicate something positive that is not already on the app. One kid used it to say he performed his personal best in track coming in second place in X. Then went on to say as a student he is like this and will be determined to always do his best.
So I am not think a positive comment can be refreshing.
My D22 is struggling with this. She wants to add context about her magnet program. We’ve seen the school profiles and it is not at all descriptive, just notes its existence. It’s a big public school and the counselors each have hundreds of kids so there is no personalized info. Several videos we’ve watched recently— Essay Guy, several schools, also say they want this information about programs and course choices in additional information.
Here’s where I have the most heartburn — her explanation also notes that these courses, while considered honors level, are not weighted. Thus, it reflects in her weighted GPA. She’s doing this very succinctly and factually. It’s not whining- she gladly is in the program - but it is explaining an area that may give AOs pause. I think it’s worth it, but who knows.
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The last three words can be said about every day word a kid writes and over analyzes.
I might write but not include context to grades.
But again it’s up to you. And who knows.
This stuff probably is far less impactful then any of us believe. The published GPA, test rigor etc are what matter.
GA Tech admissions has a podcast on this topic. We found it helpful since my kid is applying there, but of course they cannot speak for all the universities.
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Very helpful! Thank you!
Thanks for sending this podcast.
Would you know how is computational Media as a major and how hard it is to get in?
Have you registered for any of GA Tech’s virtual sessions with Q &A? That would be a question they could best answer. Their admissions website has lots of data about general admission rates. In general, it is a reach school for an OOS student, and somewhat less “reachy” for in-state.
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I thought 60% is in state for GT. Is that not true?
No-it’s not 60%. Perhaps you’re thinking of some other university in GA.
As I mentioned earlier, you really should visit the GA Tech admissions website for more info.
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@skieurope For the extenuating circumstances under health, why are you specifically excluding COVID? Thanks
Because there is a separate Covid question
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Got it. Thanks