Common App中的Additional Information要填写吗？写哪些内容对申请有帮助？

在Common App中，有一个栏目叫Additional Information，填写指示非常含糊，只是说你可以提供你想分享的额外信息。

可是，可以写的东西那么多，写什么好呢？这个栏目是必须要填写的吗？如果小伙伴们有这样的疑惑，那赶快接着看下去吧！这篇推文会帮助大家了解如何高效利用Common App中的Additional Information部分~

Additional Information是什么？

登录Common App网站，在侧边栏中选择“Writing”，然后就可以看见“Additional Information”啦~

这个部分是可选的，也就是说，虽然接下来会说很多你可以写进Additional Information的内容，但是如果你觉得没有必要写，那么完全可以不写。

当然，招生官一直想要寻找申请者与众不同的地方，Additional Information的信息或许可以帮你脱颖而出，因此，还是建议小伙伴们在有素材可以写的情况下，尽量写一下~

小伙伴们需要注意的一点是，Additional Information的字数上限是650字。

Additional Information中可以写什么内容？

未能写进Activity List中的活动信息

假如你做了一个非常有意义的筹款活动，对当地的社区产生了积极的影响，但你的文书中并没有提到这件事，Activity List中的描述也不能够完全体现这个活动的意义，那么你可以在Additional Information中对这个活动进行详细描述~

在描述活动的时候，要注意的几点是：

保持简洁。阅读Additional Information对于招生官来说是额外的工作量，所以为了不浪费招生官的时间，尽量言简意赅。

提供具体细节并说明影响。这个和上一点并不冲突，你不需要写假大空的内容，但需要给出令人信服的细节，回到筹款活动的例子，你可以写：筹集了多少资金？对谁有帮助？如何产生帮助？

按重要性降序排列。最重要的东西应该放在顶部，因为读者可能会略读。

避免特殊格式。粗体和斜体等格式可能不会在Common App中正常显示，因此请确保在没有那些花哨的格式的情况下，你仍然可以强调重要信息。

假如你为别的学校写了一篇有关某一课外活动的小文书，并且你想让这所学校也了解你在文书中提供的信息，即使这所学校没有要求提供这一主题的文书，你也可以直接复用这篇文书，把它复制粘贴到Additional Information中。

不过，直接复制并不是最好的选择，取而代之的是，你可以适当简写文书，以便读者可以更快地获取信息。

比如：

The Durham Youth Commission is a teen-led faction of the Durham County government that was created to provide youth input in local politics. To get into the Commission, applicants must submit a thorough description of their extracurricular and academic interests as well as answer questions about what they would like to see accomplished during their time in office. Out of 100 applicants, I was selected to serve on the commission two years in a row along with about 25 other high schoolers attending school in Durham. Along with promoting efforts to combat gun violence during my time serving in the DYC, we also pursued advocacy projects to address mental health challenges and food insecurities. The Commission was regularly updated by various city officials about the nature of their work, including the mayor of Durham. The DYC also attended several conferences hosted by other city youth councils to build leadership and communication skills as well as encourage active community involvement. I volunteered over 60 hours each term. I served on this commission for organizations like Mobile Market, Peace Toys forward Toys, Habitat for Humanity, and Kids Voting. (187 Words)

甚至更短，变成Bullet-point的形式：

– The Durham Youth Commission (DYC) is a teen-led faction of the Durham government created to provide youth input in local politics.

– Out of 100 applicants, I was selected to serve on the commission two years in a row along with about 25 other Durhamhigh schoolers

– Promoted efforts to combat gun violence, mental health challenges, and food insecurities.

– Regularly updated by city officials and Durham Mayor about the nature of their work.

– Attended several conferences hosted by other city youth councils to build leadership skills and encourage active community involvement.

– Volunteered over 60 hours each term for organizations like Mobile Market, Peace Toys for War Toys, Habitat for Humanity, and Kids Voting. (106 words)

健康相关情况

心脏手术是否使你无法在11年级获得最好的成绩？身体的残疾是否给你的生活和学习造成不便？如果是这样，并且在其他地方你没有机会提到这件事，你可以在Additional Information中说明。

在描述健康状况的时候，请注意：

专注于信息。不要在这里讲故事，只需要陈述事实就足够了。

专注于影响。具体说明疾病对你的影响，比如你错过了多少天/周/月的课程？在这段时间里你是如何完成学习的？后来你的成绩提高了吗？你可以说：“虽然我的成绩在那段时间有所下降，但一年后我得到了全A的成绩。”

如果你选择讨论心理健康问题，请务必在提交之前和申请顾问或老师进行讨论。抑郁和焦虑有可能会让招生官产生迟疑，因为招生官不确定大学能否提供给你足够的支持。当然啦，并不是说你不应该提及心理健康问题，只是说要注意表达的方式。

解释可能对录取产生负面影响的信息

在整个申请中，你提供的某些内容可能会给招生官留下负面印象，例如，某一门课程的成绩很差，你放弃了曾经参加过的运动，或者想申请数学专业但高二没有上数学课。

针对这些信息，你可以提供相应的解释，比如成绩差是因为你的身体原因，没有上数学课是因为高中的政策问题……

不过，所写的内容一定要合情合理，而非狡辩，尽量简洁，以下是一个可供参考的示例：

I dropped water polo and cross country after sophomore year due to chronic back problems. My back healed by Junior year and I returned to water polo as an assistant coach but chose not to return to the cross country so I could focus on academics and get a job to help pay bills at home.

阻止你参加更多课外活动的特殊原因

你可能住得离学校很远，单程通勤将近两个小时，这使你没有足够的时间参加放学后的社团活动，又或者是家中有需要你放学后照顾的弟弟妹妹……

这些信息最好能在推荐信中传达，但由于你不一定能看到推荐信，在不能保证招生官一定能知道的情况下，你可以在Additional Information中提及，写的方法和上一个部分相同~

家庭成员残疾或父母失业

如果家庭成员残疾或无法工作，并且这对你的生活或学业产生了影响，你可以考虑简短地解释一下相关信息，以下是来自三名学生的例子：

I would like the admission committee to know that my younger brother has spina bifida and my family and I devote a considerable amount of our free time to his care and trips to the doctor. It also means that my mother has not been able to work outside of our home since he was born.

In 2018 my father suffered a series of strokes which left him partially paralyzed and with severe cognitive impairment. He was obviously unable to continue his career as a professor at the local university. With the help of many therapists and medical professionals my father has slowly gained back some of his faculties, but it is rare that he is left at home alone. My mother and my brother and I are typically by his side making sure he has what he needs and that he is safe. For the first half of last year while my father’s condition was critical my mother was unable to work at all.

My mother is a beautiful, warm, and passionate person. Sadly, she also suffers from schizophrenia which she allows to be treated only periodically with medication. She is rarely able to hold a job for more than a few months at a time, and our family depends on my father’s job driving heavy equipment for the city for income as well as insurance. Dad isn’t able to take time off on those days or long periods of time when mom needs extra attention. My sister and I have taken over household chores and bill paying to fill in some of the gaps.

解释高中的特殊课程/评分系统

如果高中的某些课程或评分规则比较奇葩，又或者你高中期间转过学，导致前后的评分标准不统一，你都可以在Additional Information中解释一下~

IB Extended Essay

让人秃头的IB Extended Essay除了让你pass IB之外，还可以为你的申请加分，毕竟完成Extended Essay对于高中生来说真的是件非常了不起的事了，如果与你的专业相关，那写进Additional Information中，更是能给申请不小的助力~

以下是一个描写IB Extended Essay的例子：

For my IB extended essay requirement, I wrote a 4,000-word thesis arguing that French art film director Gaspar Noébreaks the conventions of classical narrative structure as defined by story theorist, Robert McKee. My close reading of Noé’s film Irreversible (2002)seeks to prove that Noé defies McKee’s principles of the inciting incident, law of diminishing returns, and balance of high and low pace scenes by Noé’smanipulation of the Russian Formalist elements of fabula and syuzhet.

同样，如果在高中阶段你完成过其他的论文，同样可以用类似的方式介绍，如果论文Abstract比较短的话，也是可以直接复制到Additional Information中的！