Guide for Common App Additional Information Section 💡

With the academic world becoming ever so competitive, students are looking to exploit any opportunity that comes their way to get into the college of their choice. With that being said, they get so many windows of opportunity. The idea is to outshine in all possible ways, to increase your chances of landing that spot you wanted. 

The common app additional information section is one such opportunity, where you can highlight all of your achievements that you think will make you stand out. If you are wondering how to write additional information on the common app, continue reading to help you get helpful insight!

What to Write in the Common App Additional Information Section?

College applications can be pretty stressful. With multiple deadlines approaching, it can be quite difficult to juggle so many things together. That being said, the common app additional information section is one section you can use to your benefit. It allows you to add in all that you wouldn’t in the other sections. In most parts of your common application, you get to input only specific information that you feel is very important. However, you want to go above and beyond, highlighting parts of your profile that make you stand out. The common app additional information section allows you to do just that. So, as a student, you must make the best effort to go above and beyond and impress the examiner with all you have to offer. 

It is crucial to read what is rolling admission, that would help for sure.

This section has a 650-word limit. This is sufficient for you to write about all of your activities and interests that you feel add to your value and make you a competitive student. It would help if you used this word count in a way that allows you to highlight aspects of yourself that make you achievement-oriented, enabling you to be a class apart from the rest. To every college you apply to, you must send this section in. If used correctly, this application section is your chance to stand out. You can use it to your benefit and can include things that make you look like a very worthy candidate. With thousands of students applying, you need to make your profile stand out to get the chance you were waiting for.  The info about how to write a successful Common App activities list in 2023.

What you write in the common app additional information section is what you wish to highlight. It is what you think stands out about you, allowing you to work your way through, putting yourself forward as a competent candidate. If you’re wondering how to write additional information on the common app, think of it this way: say, you had to work alongside studying to pay your bills, which is why you haven’t been able to do much volunteer work. This is something you want to clarify with the college about. So this is something very valid to include in the additional information section. It speaks volumes about you and helps them understand you better. Here is an interesting article to read .

Remember that you have a 650-word limit, so do not write an extra essay (How to stand out with your Common App essay article is here). You need to write about things that you think are useful, like in writing supplemental essays. So only touching upon the very important things that you know will make your application heavier and will land you a greater chance of getting in. Only write about what you really think deserves to be in there. When writing, make sure not to complain about things. That doesn’t reflect positively on you as a person. Not just that, but don’t blame anyone for anything that happened to you or with you in life. No college admission officer wants to hear a student whining. So only write about things that you think are meaningful, and add to your profile, allowing you to stand out. Also, you can read the article on most common mistakes in college applications and avoid them in the future.

Here is a list of things you might want to include in the common app additional information section. These speak volumes about you, allowing you to give very useful explanations about yourself. 

• Physical Disabilities – include in the common app additional information section

If you have any physical disability that hampered your performance as a student, it would be useful to mention that. This will give the admission officer useful information about you. So if you would like any accommodations to be made for you, based on this, that becomes very much possible when you talk about it. 

• Learning Disabilities –  include in the common app an additional information section

If you have any learning disabilities, it would be very useful to point them out. These disabilities mean that you may face further issues when learning as well. It would be best if the examiner found out about these so that they can again make any accommodations needed for you. 

• Childcare Responsibilities –  include in the common app additional information section

If you have any childcare responsibilities like looking after your siblings, which affected your academics, then it would be very useful to talk about those as well. This would give the examiner reason enough to know why you didn’t perform at par academically if that was the case. So from here, you can see how this section can be very useful for giving justifications to the examiner if needed. It allows them to understand you in a much better way, which is exactly what is needed to help you get that favorable image that you want. 

• Extra Curricular Activities – include in the common app an additional information section

This section is also very useful for highlighting all the extracurricular activities that you were a part of. Activities like these are very useful, and they help you get on the road to becoming an all-rounder. So you can use this section to highlight other things that you did, which you feel added to your personal growth, and helped you become the person that you are today. This can be anything at all. Maybe you could talk about sports activities or even other activities like debating or leadership. 

So are you still wondering how to write additional information on the common app? While you already know what you should include in this section, it would be very useful to also know what you shouldn’t have here at all.

What to Not Write in the Common App Additional Information Section?

Here are a few things that should be avoided in this section under all circumstances. 

• If there are things you have already touched upon in other parts of your application, try to avoid writing about those again. When your application becomes redundant, it doesn’t give a favorable image. This means that the admissions officer loses interest, lowering your chances of getting the desired position. So avoid repetition under all circumstances. 

• Different explanations that are not required should also be avoided under all circumstances. These also again give a very bad image of you, which is the last thing you need at such a crucial time in your life. 
• Explanations about why you didn’t score up to the mark or don’t like one particular subject are also not useful. It only reflects very badly on you and is the last thing you need. It only comes off as very shabby and doesn’t make you look good at all. The examiner thinks that you are making excuses and terrible use of these extra words. So never use this section for any reason. 
• If you have already written about extracurricular activities, avoid writing about them again. That will only give you a very bad image, and it may look like you are just trying to complete the word count. So never give the examiner that image. What you write should be valuable information that should tell the examiner about you as a person. It should not look like useless information. 

Also, avoid any information that makes it look like you are trying extra hard. anything that looks like a deliberate attempt to impress examiners will not come off as great at all. It will only put them off and will not make them want to consider your application. There are many sources where you can read and here is additional information in the Common App additional information section. 

Summary

So now that you know what you should include in the common app additional information section and what you should be avoiding, try to make the best use of these words that you have been given. Read as much useful content as possible, like the Common App Fee waiver. When you do that, you will see how you can make the best use of this section allowing you to get into the college you want.