The ‘Additional Information’ Boxes on the Common App and the UC Application — What to Write, and When to Leave Them Blank
Every year, Elite Prep helps seniors through the college application process. We hope the information below is useful.
The essay is done. The activities list is trimmed. Just when the application looks ready to submit, one empty box catches your eye. On the Common App it is called Additional Information. On the UC application it is Additional Comments.
Two questions come up in front of that box more than any others.
“Will it look careless if we leave it blank?”
“Wouldn’t it help to add one more story we couldn’t fit in the essay?”
The short answer: this box is not a place for another essay, and for more students than not, leaving it blank is the right call. Some students do need it, though, and when they do there is a right way to use it. On top of that, the Common App and the UC application differ in what the box is called, where it sits, and how much it holds.
This guide covers:
| Part | What it covers |
|---|---|
| 1 | Four boxes at a glance — two on the Common App, two on the UC application |
| 2 | What changed recently — 650 words became 300 |
| 3 | Three principles — optional, not an essay, an explanation |
| 4 | Common App: Additional Information |
| 5 | Common App: Challenges and Circumstances |
| 6 | UC: Additional Comments after Academic History (550 characters) |
| 7 | UC: Additional Comments after Personal Insight (550 words) |
| 8 | The biggest difference — the UC application takes no recommendations |
| 9 | How to write it, and a pre-submission check |
| 10 | Frequently asked questions |
1. Four boxes at a glance
Between the two applications there are four of these boxes. The names are similar. The purposes and limits are not.
| Application | Box | Where | Limit | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common App | Additional Information | Writing section | 300 words | Facts that did not fit anywhere else |
| Common App | Challenges and Circumstances | Writing section | 250 words | Hardships and circumstances that affected school or activities |
| UC | Additional Comments | End of Academic History | 550 characters (about 100 words) | Explanations about the academic record |
| UC | Additional Comments | End of Personal Insight | 550 words | Anything else UC should know |
⚠️ Check the unit. On the UC application, the Academic History box is 550 characters and the Personal Insight box is 550 words. Same number, more than five times the space.
2. What changed — advice from older siblings may be out of date
The Common App box changed starting with the 2025-26 season (August 2025). What worked for an older sibling, or what an older blog post recommends, may not match the application your student is filling out today.
| Item | Before | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Additional Information length | 650 words | 300 words |
| The box for hardships | Community Disruption (added during COVID) | Challenges and Circumstances (broader) |
| 2026-27 update | — | Wording changed from “care-taking” to “caregiving” |
The reason for the cut has been widely reported: over the previous five seasons, students averaged under 300 words in this box, with a median below 200. It was never meant to be long.
3. Three principles first
| Principle | What it means |
|---|---|
| All four are optional | Any of them can be left empty. A blank box is not held against the applicant. |
| They are not essays | UC states plainly that the comment boxes should not be used as a continuation of the PIQ responses. The same logic applies to the Common App. |
| They are for explanation | This is where you answer the question a reader would otherwise have: “Why does this look the way it does?” |
Most strong applicants leave Additional Information blank or use 100 to 250 words. If the application makes sense without it, leave it blank.
4. Common App: Additional Information (300 words)
When to use it
| Situation | Example |
|---|---|
| A sudden change in grades | Six weeks out for surgery in the spring of 10th grade |
| An unusual grading system or course structure | The school caps AP courses at three; a block schedule limits the number of courses per year |
| Online or outside coursework | A course the school does not offer, taken at a community college |
| A core activity that does not fit in 150 characters | The research question and result; the scale and outcome of a program the student built |
| Acronyms or certifications that need explaining | A regional competition, a credential a reader may not know |
| A diagnosed learning disability | When it was diagnosed, what support was used, what changed afterward |
| A link to work | A paper, a portfolio, a code repository |
When it hurts
| Do not | Why |
|---|---|
| Write a second essay | Different purpose. It reads as not following directions. |
| Repeat the activities list or paste a resume | The reader has already seen it. |
| Explain one B+ among straight A’s | It turns a non-issue into an issue. |
| Make excuses without ownership | “The teacher was unfair” leaves an impression about attitude, not the grade. |
| Paste a dense research abstract with no context | The reader is usually not a specialist. |
| Name a specific college | This box goes to every college on the list, word for word. |
5. Common App: Challenges and Circumstances (250 words)
This box opens with a question.
“Would you like to share any details about challenges or other circumstances you’ve experienced?”
If the answer is yes, the student describes the challenge or circumstance and how it affected them. The Common App lists examples such as these.
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Family | Caregiving · divorce · job loss · a family member’s illness or death |
| Living situation | Housing instability · military deployment · natural disasters · war or conflict |
| Health | Physical health · mental well-being |
| Environment | Community disruption · discrimination · lack of access to clubs, a safe place to study, or reliable internet |
Circumstances that are easy to overlook
Many families say, “Nothing especially hard happened to us.” Then a conversation turns up something that belongs here.
| Circumstance | What it explains on the application |
|---|---|
| Working at the family business after school and on weekends | Why the activities list is short |
| Looking after younger siblings while both parents worked | Why the student could not join after-school activities |
| Interpreting for parents at medical or government appointments | A real family responsibility the student carried |
| A family member’s illness or death | A dip in grades in a particular semester |
| A move or a change of schools | An unusual course sequence, or an activity that stopped |
💡 This box is not a request for sympathy. It gives the reader the context to read the transcript and activities list accurately. Minor inconveniences that did not affect school or activities are better left out.
6. UC: Additional Comments after Academic History (550 characters)
This box sits at the end of the Academic History section, where courses and grades are entered. At 550 characters, it holds roughly 100 words, three or four sentences.
| Good uses | Example |
|---|---|
| The reason for a weaker semester | Illness, a school change, a family situation |
| Why a course was not taken | The school did not offer it; a schedule conflict |
| An unusual school calendar or grading system | Non-standard terms, how grades are reported |
| A note about course entries | Why a course was repeated; a course taken at another school |
This box is only for the academic record. Activities and personal context belong in the next one.
7. UC: Additional Comments after Personal Insight (550 words)
This one is at the end of the Personal Insight section, after the four PIQs. At 550 words it is longer than a single PIQ (350 words), which is why so many families want to treat it as a fifth PIQ.
UC’s guidance is direct: do not use it as a continuation of the PIQ responses. Use it only for something not covered elsewhere in the application, or something that would benefit from further clarification.
| Write | Do not write |
|---|---|
| A learning difference and its impact | A fifth story that did not fit in the PIQs |
| Circumstances or opportunities that significantly shaped the student’s education | A repeat of the activities list |
| An unusual event that gives context to what was accomplished | Why UC, or praise for a campus |
| The reason something could not be accomplished | An essay written for another college |
There is no need to fill all 550 words. Use what the explanation requires.
8. The biggest difference — the UC application takes no recommendations
This is where the two applications part ways.
| Common App colleges | UC | |
|---|---|---|
| Counselor recommendation / School Report | Yes | No |
| Teacher recommendations | Yes | No |
| Someone who can explain family or school context on the student’s behalf | The counselor | No one — only the student |
For a Common App college, the counselor can write, “This student went through a difficult period in 10th grade because of a parent’s illness.” UC does not accept recommendations. If the student does not write it in Additional Comments, UC has no way of knowing.
That is why the same student may leave the box blank on the Common App and need to use it on the UC application. They are separate applications, so the same circumstance has to be written separately, fitted to each box and each limit.
9. How to write it, and a pre-submission check
Four things are enough
| Step | What to include | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | What happened | My mother had surgery |
| 2 | When | Spring of 10th grade |
| 3 | How it affected school or activities | I took over care of my younger brother, paused after-school activities, and my chemistry grade fell to a B |
| 4 | Where things stand now | I returned to A’s in 11th grade and resumed my activities |
Plain facts, no adjectives. A list format is fine. There is no need to describe feelings or close with a lesson the way an essay would.
Pre-submission check
| ✅ | Check |
|---|---|
| ☐ | Is this already stated somewhere else in the application? |
| ☐ | Without this box, is there a part of the application a reader would misread? If not, leave it blank. |
| ☐ | Does it read as an explanation rather than an excuse? |
| ☐ | On the Common App, is there any specific college named? |
| ☐ | On the UC application, did the 550-character box and the 550-word box get mixed up? |
| ☐ | For family or health circumstances, has the student talked with the counselor? (Common App colleges) |
Where parents can help
The writing is the student’s. The facts are often clearest to the parents. Which semester the surgery or the move happened, roughly how many hours a week went to the family business: sorting those out together lets the student write it briefly and accurately.
10. Frequently asked questions
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Is a blank box a disadvantage? | No. These are optional, and more applicants leave them blank than not. |
| Can we add a story that did not fit in the essay? | Not recommended. These boxes are for explanation, not extra essays. UC says explicitly not to use them as a continuation of the PIQs. |
| Do we have to use the full length? | No. Use only what is needed. Three sentences can be enough. |
| Can we paste what we wrote on the Common App into the UC application? | The content can be the same, but each box has a different purpose and limit, so it needs to be adapted. |
| One semester of grades dropped. Do we have to explain it? | If there was a clear reason (illness, a move, a family situation) and a real effect, yes. If the course was simply hard, better to leave it out. |
| Is it appropriate to write about family finances? | If they truly affected school or activities, yes. This matters most for UC, where no one else can explain it. |
| Can the two Common App boxes cover the same thing? | Split it so they do not overlap. Hardships and their impact go in Challenges and Circumstances; other factual clarifications go in Additional Information. |
Closing — do not be afraid of an empty box
Back to the first question. This box can stay empty. If the grades and activities make sense as they are, a blank box is the cleanest answer.
But if a reader would stop and wonder, “Why is this one semester different?” or “Why did this activity end here?”, that is when to use it. What happened, when, how it affected things, and where things stand now. Those four, briefly, are enough. And if UC is on the list, keep this in mind: there are no recommendations, so if the student does not explain it, no one will.
Elite Prep reads through each senior’s application one last time with the family, and helps decide whether these boxes are needed and what belongs in them.
For a closer look at your family’s plan, reach out to your nearest Elite Prep:
📍 Elite Prep Suwanee
From SAT preparation to financial aid, and AP and college courses accepted by universities across the United States — brought to you by Elite Prep Suwanee.
Andy Lee / Director of Elite Prep Suwanee powered by Elite Open School
- 📍 Address: 1291 Old Peachtree Rd. NW #127, Suwanee, GA 30024
- 📞 Phone / Text: 470.253.1004
- ✉️ Email: andy.lee@eliteprep.com
- 🌐 Website: https://eliteprep.com/suwanee
- ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@andyssamTV
