What (If Anything) Should I Put in the ‘Additional Information’ Section of the Common Application?
Perhaps the most important things to remember when completing your application to USC are that our application review process is holistic and we do our best to take each student’s own unique context into account. We read everything you send us to try as best we can to gain an understanding of who you are and where you come from.
I suggest thinking about your Common Application and USC supplement, with all of their parts, as painting a picture of you. As you put the finishing touches on your application, is there something about you not yet mentioned that would help someone understand your identity or background? Consider using the Additional Information of the Common Application to share this with us.
Maybe your grades dipped one semester in high school, and you use the Additional Information section to tell us about some hardship you were facing during that semester, or how you realize now you were over-committed and couldn’t give as much time your schoolwork as you would have liked. Maybe you didn’t have as much time to get involved with activities outside of the school-day because of how long it took you to commute to and from school. Maybe there is some part of your background or experience you don’t yet feel ready to reflect on in your personal statement or a short-answer response. Consider briefly sharing more about this part of your life in the Additional Information section to give those who review your application more context to who you are and where you come from.
The ‘Additional Information’ section is not a place for you to continue your essay or write another one. One or two sentences is usually enough for a student to give us some context about the other academic and personal information in their application. There are other places in the application for you to spend time talking about all the things you’ve done in high school. Remember, the Additional Information asks you if you want to “provide details of circumstances or qualifications not represented in the application.” There’s also the optional COVID-19 information section, if you and your family have been especially impacted by COVID-19. Check out this blog post for more tips for talking about COVID-19 in your USC application.
It needs to be said that most applicants choose to leave the Additional Information blank. Most USC applicants find that the other sections of the Common Application allow them to thoroughly represent themselves. Do not feel pressure to put something in the Additional Information section just to have something in every part of the application. Even though we ask you to share with us as much about your background as you are willing, we recommend “quality over quantity.” Use the Additional Information if you think it would be helpful to give more context to who you are and where you come from.